Air...

PJ and I attended his friend's 10th birthday party at a pottery studio last weekend. He sculpted a rhino with a bowl of macaroni & cheese...



When the kids were done with their project, the pottery teacher began poking a few small, discreet holes in each piece with a toothpick.

"Why are you doing that?" I asked.

"So they don't explode," she replied.

"Explode?" I said.

"Trapped air can make the piece explode when it's fired," she explained. “That could destroy everything in the kiln."

I never thought of hot air as dangerous before.

But it is in sales and marketing. Too much hot air can destroy a sale.

You've been there before. A salesperson spends too much time talking and too little time listening. All that hot air creates doubt. The customer becomes worried. He thinks: "That's a pretty hard sell. Maybe it's not as good as it seems if he has to push it that hard."

Pottery explodes if the air trapped inside expands with nowhere to vent to. The salesperson has the same effect by trying to create an airtight argument for his or her product. Don't be afraid of the customer poking a few holes in your presentation. It will let you know what his concerns are. Listen. Let him "vent" his concerns. Then answer his questions -- and no more. Saying too much can be far worse than saying too little.

Next time, I'll cover how to let the hot air out of your advertising without deflating its effectiveness.

Takeaway: Let the trapped air out of your sales pitches and you could sell far more. A few discreet words can sometimes say it all.