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E-ssential
Message # 072:
Kiss the rock!
If you Google 'Kiss the Rock', you'll find that adventure writer Shelby Gonzalez writes:
"Kiss the rock" is an unexpectedly poetic phrase I learned years ago during a whitewater paddling course.
Imagine you're a novice kayaker or canoeist on a pushy river -- say the Little Jackfish in northern Ontario. You broadside a rock in the middle of a rapid. The current pins you.
You mutter a word that rhymes with "stuck." What now?
Your first instinct is to lean away from the rock. It seems logical, like Freud's famous postulation: seek pleasure, avoid pain.
Don't. Leaning away from the rock exposes more of your boat to the current. You'll only get more stuck. You might even flip.
Instead, you take a deep breath and lean towards the rock. The maneuver works. The current sweeps you around the rock, and past it.
I'll refrain from explaining the obvious metaphor. Just know that "kiss the rock" is my mantra not because I climb, not because I paddle, but because I live."
What Shelby learned on the Little Jackfish in Ontario, I learned on the Ashupamushuan River in Northern Quebec, (where I snapped the photo above). It's also what we teach in the Essential Message. Sales objections are not to be avoided; they actually create the conditions that help carry the conversation where you want to go -- if you embrace them.
The truth is, you can't avoid the negative stereotypes that prospects hold in the back of their minds, or the skepticism they have about what you're saying -- whether they express these things outright or not. And the more you 'lean away' from them, the more likely it is they'll sink your pitch.
So remember this the next time you come face to face with an obstacle: On the river, in your sales conversations and in life... kiss the rock.
Who is Michel Neray and What's The Essential Message?
The Essential Message is about discovering your true differentiation and then learning how to communicate it in the most compelling way. But higher sales, greater alignment of sales and marketing and a stronger brand position aren't the only reasons why so many independent professionals, entrepreneurs and emerging companies rave about The Essential Message.
Clients also say that one of the biggest advantages of the Essential Message approach is how it helps them gain the confidence, momentum and resilience that can only come from being absolutely clear about their strengths and unique difference – as companies and as individuals.
The Essential Message was created by Michel Neray based on 25 years as an award-winning copywriter, an entrepreneur, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. (He also rides motorcycles, does whitewater canoeing, and has his 2nd degree black belt in karate.)
For information about our corporate facilitation, copywriting and consulting services, or booking Michel to speak at your conference, please call 416 534-4766 or link to www.EssentialMessage.com.
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