Presentation-Secrets-Of-Steve-Jobs
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SHARE THE STAGE 131<br />
and then iPod. There was the phone and then iPhone. Apple<br />
does things in an intuitive, insightful, and innovative way. It<br />
will be a transformative version of the rental model, and we’re<br />
incredibly excited about it. We couldn’t be happier and prouder<br />
of our partnership.” 4<br />
Gianopulos had provided <strong>Jobs</strong> with a company’s best sales<br />
tool—a customer’s endorsement. Best of all, the two men<br />
appeared side by side. A reference is good. A customer or partner<br />
physically sharing the stage is even better.<br />
Number One Reason People Buy<br />
Your customers are always mindful of budgets, but in tough economic<br />
times they are even more so, casting a critical eye on every<br />
last dollar. Prospects do not want to act as a beta group. Your<br />
product must deliver what it promises—saving your customers<br />
money, making them money, or providing the tools to make more<br />
efficient use of the money they have. Testimonials and endorsements<br />
are persuasive because, as discussed earlier, word of mouth<br />
is the number one influencer of purchasing decisions.<br />
Successful companies know that a pool of reputable and<br />
satisfied customers is critical for sales success. In fact, some companies<br />
even have specific employees whose job it is to gather<br />
case studies and distribute them to their prospects. Most small<br />
business owners do not have the resources to designate a “case<br />
study” specialist, but they can easily adopt some of the techniques<br />
used by the world’s most successful companies. One<br />
proven strategy is to steal a page from the Apple playbook and<br />
invite your customers to share the spotlight, either in person,<br />
on video, or, at the very least, through quotes.<br />
Don’t forget the media. Sharing the stage with publications<br />
that rave about your product will bolster your message.<br />
<strong>Jobs</strong> has a love-hate relationship with the media, but for presentation<br />
purposes, there’s a lot of love in the room. In the<br />
first few minutes of his Macworld 2008 keynote address, <strong>Jobs</strong><br />
announced that Leopard (the latest version of the OS X operating<br />
system) had sold five million copies in its first ninety days,