I’m a big believer that in success communication is key.
It’s vital.
I wouldn’t be as successful as I am if it wasn’t for effective communication.
Knowing how to communicate with people gives you a better chance of getting what you want.
Andi who works for us is in the process of moving house and as part of that he is clearing out a lot of the stuff he doesn’t use. One thing to go is the drone he was given for his birthday.
He rarely gets to play with it and so the decision to sell was made. His good lady put it up for sale on Facebook marketplace for £20.
She soon received a message from a guy that said… ‘10’.
No pound sign, no question mark, no mention of the drone, nothing other than just ‘10’.
We can only assume that the guy messaging was offering £10 for the drone instead of the £20 that they were asking for.
The message was ignored.
Why?
Because both Andi and his good lady decided it was both rude and lazy.
You could argue that it was straight to the point and if you don’t ask you’ll never know… which is true.
However…
There is a way of asking which will give you a fighting chance.
They may have sold it for £10 had they ‘talked’ to the person, but he offered no incentive for them to reply.
Had he written something along the lines of…
‘Hi, is the drone still available? If so, would you consider taking £10 instead of £20? I can collect in ten minutes and have the cash ready.’
Then they would have replied.
The message above clearly states that he is talking about the drone, he has asked if they would consider selling it for £10 and has even given them a benefit and incentive for a fast sale by saying that he can be round in ten minutes putting cash in their hand.
The originally message had none of that.
The person contacting them was assuming that they would know what he was talking about but the drone was not the only thing they had for sale on Facebook.
With many other items listed for sale, they were receiving messages from other people all talking about different things.
Simply sending a message that only says ‘10’, has no meaning whatsoever.
The example message I wrote would have attracted a reply. That would have opened up conversation which could have resulted in a sale.
If Andi’s good lady replied and said that they wanted £20, I could have replied with something like ‘Well, if you don’t manage to sell it in the next few days and there’s little interest, my offer still stands. Give me a shout and I’ll come right away.’
That reply would still keep me in the game.
Whereas the guy who sent the original message, he is already out of the game. He was shunned as soon as the message was read.
I know that you are reading this and thinking ‘John, I know this, it’s obvious.’
And you are right, it is obvious… or you’d be right in thinking that it is.
Unfortunately there are far too many people who really don’t know how to communicate effectively.
Which is ridiculous in a world that is full of ‘me… me…ME’ people who are all out for themselves.
Communicating with people effectively is the best way of getting what you want in life.
What you say and how you say it is the magic between success and failure.
If you were single and you were looking to find a partner, what do you do?
You put the effort into making yourself as visually attractive to the kind of people you want to meet.
Some people get that wrong too… it’s a close call between being ‘who you really are’ and what the person you want to meet ‘wants as a partner’.
If you want a certain ‘type’ of partner… then you need to become the person ‘they want’ and not necessarily who you are… at least not on the first meet.
To start with, you need to show them what they want to see… but that’s a story for another day.
Communication is the same, you need to give people the information they want and need.
You tell them what they want and need to hear.
Communication is powerful.
An army can be sent to do the most horrendous atrocities by a person who effectively communicates his desires to them… no matter how wrong and barmy those desires are.
It can also feed millions of hungry people too.
For me… and for you… effective communication puts money in the bank.
Knowing what to say and how to say it can reap rewards you might not have originally thought possible.
Andi started working for us because of an email he wrote. We were not actively looking for a person to join our team when we received his email.
He wrote his own job role and placement so effectively that we had to say yes and gave him a job.
The use of words and effective communication can give you so much more in your life… a lot more than randomly messaging people with just ‘10’.
To learn how to communicate more effectively and use the power of words to put money into your pocket, go to:
One Letter From Retirement
Kind regards
John Harrison.
PS… By knowing what to say and how to say it when communicating with other people means that you can literally ‘write your own cheques’.
From emails, social media posts, adverts, mailings, sales pages and product descriptions, knowing what to say and how to say it can motivate people to do more of what you want and need… in a good and positive way.
Here’s that link again: