The Panhandler’s Secret (Seth Godin)
I wont turn this site into a Seth Godin Shrine, but this is just an example of the type of great content Seth posts on a daily basis on his blog. The best thing about Seth’s blogs, and more importantly, his amazing books, is that his ideas and thoughts can be applied to so many different sitautions across many different industry types.
The panhandler’s secret
as originally posted by Seth Godin on his blog
When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.
One day, I’m walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, “Do you have a dollar for four quarters?” He held out his hand with four quarters in it.
Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.
Then he turned to me and said, “can you spare a quarter?”
What a fascinating interaction.
First, he engaged me. A fair trade, one that perhaps even benefited me, not him.
Now, we have a relationship. Now, he knows I have a quarter (in my hand, even). So his next request is much more difficult to turn down. If he had just walked up to me and said, “can you spare a quarter,” he would have been invisible.
Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.
Interact first, sell second.
