How do you sell “Ice to an Eskimo”?

Someone once told me that I could sell “Ice to an Eskimo“… referring to our earlier product as something that the end user should be able to do by themselves.

I wasn’t sure whether to take it as a compliment, that I am one of the world’s best sales people, or in a negative way, that our product isn’t necessary.

Then I began to think, can you really sell ice to an Eskimo? Of course you can. If you live as an Eskimo first, then develop a way to help them get the ice they need in a way that saves time, energy and frustration.

So many of us are told to do our jobs but aren’t given the necessary tools to do it efficiently. From the outside looking in, it’s easy to think we have everything we need.

I might think that a carpenter only needs a hammer instead of a nail gun when building a house. They both do the same job. A hammer is much cheaper, doesn’t require any maintenance or consumables, and only takes a few seconds longer to put in a nail. If I’m paying him to be there all day anyway, why pay all that extra money to save a few seconds here and there? It makes perfect sense, but I guarantee no carpenter will ever come work for me.

Prior to the nail gun being invented, carpenters were probably very happy to use a hammer. But now, something has streamlined their process, even if it is only a few seconds at a time. Streamlining a process is key to helping someone do their job. Every second that is saved, and every frustration that is removed makes the overall goal easier to achieve and makes that person happier in their role.

A team that can work together in perfect harmony for a common goal might seem impossible to build, but if achieved, can be unstoppable and invaluable. It all starts with understanding the tasks that each team member is doing and helping them to streamline their processes a few seconds at a time.

When building our product, we looked at dealership processes from the inside and worked out a way to streamline the job of the entire sales, management, and admin team. By giving them the tools to communicate with each other in real-time, and the ability to find the information they need to manage their role at the click of a button, we have made their lives a whole lot easier.

All of us have obstacles in our working life that look simple and obvious to overcome. But, unless you have the experience of doing the task, you will never be able to see the true solutions. Ask yourself what experience can you leverage that could make someone’s life that little bit easier?