How To Sell Your Expertise… When You Lack Expertise

A friend of mine pulled me aside after a lunch meeting.
“Did you hear what happened to Jim?”
“No, but I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“I can’t go into detail but he lost his job. The circumstances were a bit unusual.”
For the rest of the day, I poked around to see what I could find. Hearing about someone losing their job is one thing. Hearing that it was due to unusual circumstances piques my interest
Did he do something illegal? Maybe he violated a workplace dating policy. My imagination ran wild.
Here’s what really irked me. My friend went out of his way to let me know he had a secret — one he would not share.
In reality, it’s not surprising at all. Secrets seduce us. They seduce the holder of the secret with power. The mystery seduces those who desire to know the secret.
Secrets Are Powerful Weapons
Those who own secrets who wield power, influence and intrigue. People covet access to exclusive information. It raises our intrigue, desire and angst.
Some “religious leaders” claim direct access to the word of god that only they can access. That access makes them powerful. His followers covet the information he holds. He releases it in drips and drabs — just enough to keep them happy, but not enough to quench their thirst.
Better Than A Know-It-All
One of the first lessons I learned in business is that you don’t need to know everything. In fact, it’s far better to have access to all the masters than to master everything yourself.
Our religious leader who claims access to the secrets of the universe gives him more credibility. If he claimed to hold the knowledge himself, nobody would take him seriously.
A financial adviser with thirty years experience may gain success showing off what he knows. Compare that to a young financial adviser who meets Warren Buffet once a week for lunch while they talk investments.
I’d put my money with the novice who talks to Warren Buffet each week.
Access To Knowledge Beats Knowledge
There are two ways to exploit this strategy. If you have access to individuals with superior knowledge, use that as your selling point.
Our young financial adviser who eats lunch with Warren Buffet every week has a leg up on his competition because of that access. Through him, his clients find out what Warren Buffett knows.
What If You’re A Novice?
Of course, not everyone has access to top flight knowledge. What if you’re just starting out? I’ve seen this used with great effect by someone who scoured and collated research on a particular topic. His pitch is simple.
I’ve done all the research, indexed and analyzed it. I’ll summarize for you what the top experts say about this subject.
We all have access to his information but he’s the only one willing to put in the effort to make sense of it. People pay for that.
If lack of expertise hurts your confidence, don’t fret. Access to the experts beats real expertise most of the time.
Access Beats Knowledge is a powerful tool. Want some other tricks? Get my free guides on persuasion and creativity here. Oh, If you liked this story, click the ❤ so others may find it.

