| A quick History Lesson In my last article --- "A Business that Requires No Selling?" --- I mentioned a fact from history that still boggles my own mind.
As Franklin D. Roosevelt so eloquently told the American people at his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
How many of you were surprised to read that date with this quote? I know I was surprised when I discovered this information. For more than two decades, I did know that Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke these words. However, I had always believed that he had spoken these words on December 7, 1941!
In fact, Roosevelt was not speaking these famous words out of any thoughts of war. Rather, FDR was thinking about how the American public should face their economic worries about the Great Depression.
How many of you believed as I had? Did you honestly know that FDR really spoke these words in 1933?
FACT OR BELIEF?
I learned something today when I was talking with a friend. Subconsciously, I always knew this, but today was the day I fully realized it.
History teaches us facts. Yet, people do not always rely upon facts to make their decisions. Instead, people believe what they want to believe. Neither persuasion nor facts can change the firmly held beliefs of a true believer.
THERE ARE MANY SIDES TO EVERY STORY
Many years ago, another friend suggested that no two people would see one event in precisely the same manner. He suggested this to support his reasoning as to why there are four gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all stood witness to the life of Jesus, yet the four seldom shared the same point of view concerning the events in the life of Jesus. Each of the four gospel writers had different life experiences leading up to the time they had spent with Jesus, and therefore, their own beliefs added to the testimonies they had to share.
EXPERIENCE IS ALWAYS DISTILLED THROUGH PERSONAL BELIEF
I was watching Neil Cavuto on the Fox News Network today, and Neil was sharing viewer email with his audience. As a result of a story he had run the day before concerning the situation in Israel, he received an assortment of email from many viewers.
One viewer commented that his story showed extreme prejudice against Israel. Another thanked him for his "fair and balanced" approach. While still another exclaimed that his bias for Israel was oozing out of every word he spoke.
All three viewers had seen the same piece, yet all three had seen his words to mean something different!
It is simply amazing to me. Reader email at Fox often exposes the willingness of people to infuse their own beliefs into a story. People all view stories and facts through their own life experience, often reaching the most diverse conclusions.
SALES PEOPLE AND MARKETERS MUST UNDERSTAND THIS PHENOMENON
Sales people generally work directly with the consumer.
While qualifying a customer, the sales person should be learning what the customer really wants to purchase with the resources the customer has available to them.
When the sales person is interacting with the consumer, he or she should also be trying to discover the beliefs of the consumer that could affect the sales process. These beliefs could very well prove to be the root of the success or the failure of the sales process.
The sales person should always strive to first learn, then to educate, and finally to close the sale.
Marketers on the other hand do not have the direct interaction with the consumer. Therefore, the marketer's job is more difficult since they do not have the same ability to discover the customer's belief that the sales person does.
Sure, a professional marketer will use tools to track the success of a campaign and to test the effectiveness of their copy. But, without the direct interaction, the learning process is much more difficult.
Good marketers understand that in order to meet the demand of consumers --- to learn about a product or service through their own eyes and their own beliefs --- they must be willing to try many more techniques and address the wider range of beliefs.
IF YOU DON'T LEARN FROM HISTORY, YOU ARE BOUND TO REPEAT IT
Tell a man his religion is foolish and the man will stop hearing your words. Tell a man his beliefs are foolish, and you will anger him to the core.
In the sales and marketing process, it is difficult to know the man's belief unless that man shares his belief with you. Do whatever it takes to discover the belief if it is within your power to do so.
Even contradicting an unspoken belief that you did not know that someone possessed can be as dangerous as telling a man his belief is foolish.
GETTING OVER THE BELIEF BARRIER
If you are a sales person, you should take the time to discover the beliefs that could derail any possible sale.
On the other hand, if you are a marketer, you should try to implement story-telling skills into your copy. A great storyteller understands that when a story is told, what remains unsaid can be more powerful than what is actually said. The reader will always insert his or her own images into the copy based on his or her own life experiences. | 
