Frame your proposal in terms your clients are familiar with

- [Woman] Blink four of six. - [Man] Everybody wants to be an innovator and a trailblazer. Salespeople are no different. There's an undeniable excitement to the idea that your product or service could revolutionize the world. But your clients might not feel the same way. They're likely to be more hesitant. This is just human nature. Whenever we're presented with something that's completely unfamiliar, we put on the brakes. Your clients might be thinking, "sure, this revolutionary product may seem attractive but what are the risks?" Rather than looking for something new, they're likely to fall back on the comfortable and familiar. So what's the lesson here? - [Woman] The key message in this blink is frame your proposal in terms your clients are already familiar with. - [Man] There are over 1000 different ice cream flavors in the world. That's a lot. And yet, the most popular one remains plain vanilla. It isn't too hard to figure out why. The more exotic flavors may sound interesting once in a while but we know what we're getting with vanilla. It's a reliable flavor that we can dress up any way we choose. When you're pitching your idea, product or opportunity, you should describe it in plain vanilla terms. Sure, you're most excited about all the features that make it unique and different, but your prospective buyers will be most interested in all of the ways it's familiar. This doesn't mean you need to hide all the exciting new features, but you should group them all together and present them in a way that demonstrates that what you're offering is the new normal. Imagine you're trying to attract investors to a new bar and restaurant you want to open. You have a great location and what you think is a one of a kind hook. The bar features nine holes of playable a miniature golf. If you focus entirely on how exciting it is to play golf in a bar, you'll probably turn off more people than you attract. Instead, you should focus on all the ways your place will be just like every other bar, your extensive beer selection, the great chef you've got lined up, the parking, things like that. When it comes time to introduce the golf idea, you'll show how themed bars like sports bars or arcade bars are booming in popularity. People want more of them. Themed bars like yours are becoming the new normal. No matter how new or unique your proposal, it can always be traced back to something familiar. To close the deal, you'll need to hit the sweet spot between the new and the old.