SUBTEXTthe subtexts of three things: you [the seller], your company, and
your product. Each has a subtext, and believe me, the subtext
of any one of these three can make or break a sale."
It was another expert, a sales-training specialist for United States
Rubber, who, many years ago, explained just what the subtext
of a product was. "Too many salespeople," he said, "make the
mistake of trying to sell only the product and forget all about the
product's subtext." To show what he meant, he told the story of
a young heating system salesman who called on an elderly woman.
She lived alone in a big house, and she had shown interest in
an oil burner. The salesman was a pro and knew his product.
For a good hour he lectured this woman on boiler capacity and
combustion and all the details of the boiler's construction. He
told her everything, and then, rather smugly, asked if there was
anything else she wanted to know.
She sighed. "Well, yes. Will it keep an old lady warm?"
The point is, the most vital subtext of any product is not how
it is constructed and how intricate it is, not even how long it
will last, but simply whether or not it will work. In this case,
the woman cut right to the heart of the product's subtext: "Will
it keep me warm?"
Actually, the subtext of a product is quite complicated. For
any product, subtext is a two-part thing. One part is how well it
works: in the case of the heating system, "Will it keep me warm?"
The other part is the product's aura. Webster's dictionary defines
an aura as a subtle sensory stimulus, and I have used the word
very deliberately because an aura has a subtext of its own—a
mystical, ethereal subtext.
Every product has an aura about it. Ideally, the aura is related
to how well the product works. In the best case, the aura depends
on performance. However—and it's a big however—the aura can