Will a pink pineapple sell?

By raising the right questions, you can turn a zero into a hero.

Its like asking will a fish ever walk? Will a startup ever fly? Have you ever tried selling a product? Then you definitely know thats its quite challenging. Now imagine trying to sell a pink pineapple. I challenge you to take a min and ask yourself “Will more people buy a common pineapple or a pink one?”. You probably guessed the common one but reality is you will never know for sure unless you test it with real customers. Imagine your self holding a pink pineapple on the street asking random people if they would buy it. Well most people will assume you are insane and ignore you while others will say no. There will always be people that ignore and thats because they make assumptions, like the fact that you might be crazy. So lets ignore those for a second and concentrate on the ones that say no. There are two types of people, the ones that take no as an answer and those who don’t. Not taking no as an answer is not being rude, it is being curious to uncover the reason hidden behind it. No doubt most successful people are usually very persistent. Its not because they want to be annoying but to understand the reason why you wont buy into their product. Once the NO is unhidden an infinite pool of opportunities will submerge.

#1 Case-Asking the question

Bob-Madam, would you buy this pineapple?

Sarah-No, thank you

Bob-Alright, have a nice day

#2 Case-Figuring out why

Bob-Why wouldn’t you buy this pink pineapple?

Sarah-I have never eaten a pink pineapple before.

Bob-Is it the color that makes you hesitate?

Sarah-Yes

Bob-It is as safe and tastes the same as a normal fresh pineapple would you like to give it a try?

Sarah-Interesting let me try then.

By raising curiosity around someones “no” you can turn a zero into a hero. Your goal is to listen, process and understand why your customers would or wouldn’t buy your product so you can pivot or optimize accordingly. Listening is like wearing a set of glasses through which you perceive the world unfiltered. Without listening you are backfiring your inner thoughts as if circling around yourself and your idea with no progress to move forward and create change. Don’t be like a dog trying to bite its tail. I want to share with you a little ritual I do prior to presenting a product to my clients which prepares me to become vulnerable at listening for my customer's key points. Repeat the following sentence 10 times.

Listen, listened,

Absorb, absorbed,

Understand, understood.

Now you are a step closer to listening rather that talking, absorbing rather than reflecting, understanding rather than knowing.