The sizzle and the sausage

In selling, there is an adage that you sell the sizzle, not the sausage. This means that you sell benefits rather than the product itself. This is how it goes.

“Hello Madam. Would you like to buy some of these tubular cardboard coloured things with flecks of green and brown in them? You can eat them you know! They are called sausages. Would you like me to slip you a sausage Madam? You're going to report me to who? I'm sure there's no need for that……”

Or maybe it should go like this.

“ Hello Madam. Here is a quick tasty and nutritious meal for all the family. You can cook them really easily, and they go with all sorts of things. Everybody likes them. They are full of meat herbs and spices so they're really tasty. Can't you just hear them sizzling in the pan ready to be eaten, with that lovely smell wafting out? You'd like me to slip you one Madam? Well, really!”

Do you see what I mean?

However, there is often a difficulty both in sales and in other areas of life. Some people get the idea of selling the benefits very easily. But after they have sold the benefits, and got the sale, they stop. They miss out the last vital point. You may sell the sizzle, but you still have to deliver a sausage.

In other words, they over promise and under deliver. But if you deliver on your promises, whilst you will be in the minority, you will be trusted, and people will know that they can rely upon you. So make sure that before you make a promise, you think about the delivery, and negotiate if needs be time and space so that you know you can deliver. It's worth it. It saves an awful lot of hassle. And people will always be happy to see your sausage!