Tens of millions of Americans saw Donald Trump’s sales skills in action on his hit NBC TV show The Apprentice. His triumphs as a best-selling author, branding expert and global real estate developer over the past 30 years also prove Trump’s skills as a master marketer.
In his pursuit of the Oval Office, however, Trump purposely sidestepped the four essential sales and marketing principles that had made his television and business achievements possible.
The president-elect regularly employs these tactics in his non-political pursuits, but when it came to his presidential run, he deliberately put them aside. This strategic decision allowed him to attract more than 60 million enthusiastic “buyers” and win the White House.
The four sales/marketing doctrines that Trump disregarded in his presidential campaign are as follows:
1. Use FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) sparingly.
Organizations that use FUD disseminate negative, dubious or false information about their competitors.
FUD is a disinformation methodology used by sales, marketing and PR professionals to sway decision-making.
After spreading this misleading information, the organization that originated the FUD positions itself as the safe solution.
FUD was a popular technique used by computer-hardware manufacturers to sell their wares in the 1970s (IBM was a notorious FUD practitioner). But the technique has fallen out of fashion in recent years.
Today’s sales and marketing pros are concerned that if they employ FUD, they might appear manipulative, untrustworthy and unprofessional — which can be costly to the long-term health of their employer’s brand.
In his business pursuits, Trump knows that spreading FUD about competing firms won’t help him to succeed. The quality of his offerings must be perceived as being exceptional, and no amount of FUD will influence the buying decisions of his prospective customers, lenders or investors.
In the general election, however, Hillary Clinton was the target of an ongoing FUD barrage from Trump’s camp about her health, ethics, demeanor, honesty and competence. While the media, Clinton and her supporters objected to Trump’s FUD onslaught, his target “buyers” welcomed the criticisms and clearly believed that they were both appropriate and justified.
2. When you close, you need to provide specifics.
To inspire incoming inquiries, prospects and leads for your organization’s products or services, your pitch must be brief and enticing. Once prospective buyers express interest in the solution(s) that you provide, you must offer detailed information…