Ok, the Few are, according to Malcolm Gladwell, the Mavens, the Connectors and the Salesmen, who have disproportionate influence on the rest of us. I’ve talked about Connectors, and I’ve talked about Mavens, so what’s left is the Salesmen.
Finally, Salesmen are, well, persuasive. Not everybody has a talent for selling, and not everybody learns to use what talents they have. There are people who can sell the proverbial refrigerator to the proverbial Esquimoux, though, and if you can get one of those on your side, it sure helps. They aren’t all in retail, of course. I was Sold on Bible Study by a brilliant teacher who was, of course, a Salesman (technically, I suppose, a Saleswoman).
The point is that most of us think that we make our own decisions about things, and to some extent we do. But we can be convinced. We can be converted. We can be charmed.
The Salesman is very, very good at selling. He’s much better than we think he is. I mean, we are all somewhat persuasive, on occasion, to various extents. I acknowledge that the spectrum goes much higher than we like to think; a good Salesman is so much better a Salesman than an average one that it’s easy to think he is a different type of person. Is he? I don’t really know.
I tend to think of selling as happening through advertising, but in fact, real selling happens face to face (or on occasion over the telephone). It’s hard to see exactly how that would work with voter turnout, except... Well, some of our politicians are great Salesmen (and Saleswomen). Mostly, we think of those as our National politicians, but I feel sure that there are some great Salesmen in your State House. They could, perhaps, be employed to Sell voter turnout. It would need appropriate venues, but whether those turn out to be schools or shopping malls or actual polling places, I don’t know. I’m not saying it would certainly work, but it seems likely. One problem is Selling the Salesmen on it.
Another option is to get people who already interested in Selling voter turnout to be better at Selling. Mr. Gladwell doesn’t think much of this idea, as he thinks Salesmen are types. I’m never sure about that sort of thing. There are tricks and techniques that can be learned and practiced.
I will never be a real Salesman, however, I could be a lot more persuasive than I am now. I am, by nature, more of a dilettante than a Maven, but if I want to, I could learn a lot about a topic. I am not a Connector, but I could keep in touch with a lot more people than I do.
Redintegro Iraq,
-Vardibidian.
He’s much better than we think he is.
Yes, and when she’s very good, we never know we’ve been sold; and he may not know he’s been selling something. Who are your favorite examples?
a good Salesman is so much better a Salesman than an average one that it’s easy to think he is a different type of person. Is he? I don’t really know.
Well, what do you mean by “type”? Does the superb salesperson fall into a different personality category (use, for convenience, the 16 Myers-Briggs types here) than the pretty-good or the so-so?
It’s hard to see exactly how that would work with voter turnout, except… Well, some of our politicians are great Salesmen (and Saleswomen).
Hm. Not all great statespeople are salespeople. J. Carter might be a good (or better?) stateman, but he’s not a salesman, is he? Or is he?
I’m not sure politicians are the best-choice of frontline people to get out the vote; would some people be turned off about the idea of voting, if they felt the person bringing them to want to vote had such a clear vested interest?
It seems to me than an enthusiastic Maven is often a Salesperson. Not always, but often enough…
Using the Sales skills of politicians would be tricky, but could be done. Either by using retired politicians such as James Earl Carter (who is a terrific Salesman, just not at Bill Clinton level – the way that Neifi Perez is a great baseball player, in the top one or two percent, and a million times better than I could ever have been, while being one of the worst in the Major Leagues) who are not running for office, or by convincing officeholders to give up office for this purpose, or by getting both party’s candidates for an office to Sell, or even by simply couching the message in appropriate terms. The other question is, if not politicians, than who?
R.I.,
-V.
“if not politicians, than who?”
If Sales is not a type, but a learned skill, then anyone might be eligilble.
On the other hand, harness a politically-motivated person already invovled in sales in some form. Or am I missing somethign you’re asking?