You can solve Maggie’s kind of problem. It may have happened to you
when the person you thought would be “so perfect” for the business turns
away and says it’s not for him, or not for her. You scratch your head and ask,
“What’s wrong with these people? Can’t they see the opportunity here?”
The answer is no, they cannot. They cannot see it because the business
that was presented had nothing to do with them. “So how can I make it im-
portant to them?” you may ask.
Values are the keys to knowing who people are and what matters to
them. Values function like a code of ethics by which people live. The expres-
sion “That’s what makes them tick” holds the key here. Your values are what
make you tick. Those same values may not apply to the people you prospect.
Values get you up in the morning, take you through the day, and go to sleep
with you at night.
Let’s take a look at some of the more common values people live by.
Here is a partial list:
Acceptance Joy
Adventure Order
Appreciation Participation
Belonging Peace
Comfort Perfection
Communication Pleasure
Contribution Power
Creativity Recognition
Family Relationship
Freedom Respect
Harmony Safety
Honesty Security
Humor Spirituality/God
Independence Trust
Integrity WorkYou may see some words that feel very important on that list, and oth-
ers that are not as essential to your daily life. Yet, whether or not we can iden-
tify these for ourselves, the values we hold dear are part or our operating
systems as human beings.
Have you known parents who are very neat and orderly who cannot get
over how their teenage children keep their rooms messy and in disorder?
There is conflict there that sometimes breaches the bond between parents and
Values-Based Selling 129