Rhonda K. Kitchens Shares Free Ideas, Tips and Hints for Library Programming, Outreach and Events v Library Program Ideas Blog v Bio v Resume v Program Idea Examples, Definitions and Ideas v So What? Find an audience/volunteers/ ideas and a USP! v Suggested Reading v Suggested Links Rhonda K. Kitchens is a Librarian, Writer, Poet, Pug Enthusiast, Florida History Buff and Kayaker. This purpose of "Sell it With Sizzle" is to provide free ideas and tips for adult librarians who do programming. To contact me: Rhondakwrites @ …aol.com

#2) RETHINKING RESOURCES "I learned decades ago to sell the steak you've got to sell the sizzle." founder of Ruth's Chris Steakhouses The phrase "don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle" first appeared in 1936 when according to Elmer Wheeler it was deemed to be principle on of salesmanship. "It is the sizzle that sells the steak and not the cow, although the cow is, of course, mighty important". If you read current sales tips books you'll find an increasing movement to what almost works like a reference interview. The movement is towards solving the customer's pain. Sandler Sales Institute rides on the core premise that uncovering pain is the key to qualifying opportunity. That uncovering your prospect's motivations is key to the selling relationship. Mike Bosworth wants this confession of pain from upper management. His customer centric selling technique revolves around understanding the needs, jargon and language of different people with an organization. That one sales pitch does not fit all even with an admission of pain. But even in a field of competing and compelling experts some essentials of the pitch, the sell and of basic marketing remain the same. First: people buy ideas, not products. A person at K-Mart buying a seed package of those nice green flowers that Martha Stewart sells isn't buying seed. He or she is buying the idea of the flowers on front. The purchase decision maybe based the mood that Stewart creates of a studied perfectionism and whimsy. The person may not be buying the flowers as much as buying a future bouquet. Or maybe they are purchasing a moment when they have company and someone marvels over those off beat, lovely mint green flowers. They are buying the Ohh! Ahh! Wow! In short, the sell isn't the seeds it is what the seeds can do. It is the "So what" of the seeds, the "what is in it for me of the seeds. If we think about an electronic resource like RefUSA, the seed is the engine of the product while part of the bouquet maybe "free ways to find new business." This is the Ohh! Ahh! Wow! Of RefUSA. It is a dream that is being promoted. Second: A product service has a feature and a benefit. It's the benefit you use to sell and promote the product. People buy ideas not products. Benefits trigger emotions and the "what is in it for me" factor. A benefit is a positive outcome the patron will enjoy from the feature or features of your product/service. Many features have more than one benefit. Back to Customer Centric salesman Mark Bosworth. He says that product marketing is obsolete but product usage marketing is hot. Which inadvertently is what happens at the reference desk every minute of the day. A client asked you a question, you identify the product that will be useful, explain the key points and demonstrate usage of the product. A program is and can be an amplification of that process. Of packaging the Ohh! Ahh! Wow! In the boy and girl scouts, the steak is the character development and leadership skills that kids learn. The sizzle is the outdoor programs and associated adventures that kids want. Third: Narrow down these benefits into a Unique Selling Proposition. A statement or claim that differentiates like things one from the other. A USP is a short key message you want to deliver about a product or service. It is your competitive advantage. It is also excitement and its enemy is routine. The USP is an opportunity to spread an easy to remember, easy to share idea that people can understand immediately and share easily with others. It is a reason people should do business with you. A unique value perceived by the client. These days the USP is mutating into storytelling. Where it is the lead in a narrative about a product or service where the hero of the story is the product or service. Also there is a growing emphasis on changing your USP from audience to audience. An internal audience has different needs than an external one. Create a story for each of your service offerings. One story does not fit all. After writing down all the benefits of your product/service the points that stand out as unique are the very words to use to name, create and describe your program. We aren't selling resources, we're selling solutions. A USP answers the "why" of what we're using in a program. Read daily newspapers, business periodicals and review what seminars, programs and other paid programs are available. Find the products at your library that performs the same function. Be a good thief. Sam Walton copied K-Mart and Price Club. Shop your competition: other libraries, nonprofits, adult education centers, organizations and keep considering what others do and how your resources fit into people's lives. Matthew Lesko writes books gathered from free sources about what is free. He began with a massive book called, "Free Money to Change Your Life." Now he's pushing smaller books based "free money" for seniors, for house repairs, for bills and more. If you go to his website, he essentially provides free sources that he uses in his books. He offers a monthly contest to win advice from his organization which is a list of free sources to write grants. He doesn't write the grant for people, but he does give his main winner a Lesko book on how to write and win grants. Any Lesko book is a no nonsense old fashioned here's how you do it library program.