Let’s talk about selling. The glorious, gritty part of the business when everything is on the line. Selling matters more than anything. Because, really, when all’s said and done, you can have the most dazzling product in the world and the slickest service, but if no one buys it? You’re basically just a very expensive side hustle.
Hard sell, soft sell, no sell, sell-sell
Selling is not simple. Selling is hard. And right now, it’s harder than ever. For businesses trying to sell a multi-layered portfolio of “mission-critical solutions” selling is – most definitely – hard. Let’s break it down:
- Thanks to the advances in technology, products have become more complicated – and harder to explain.
- The thing you sell is not really ‘a thing’. Half the time, you’re trying to sell something you can’t even physically show people. How do you pitch a professional service? Or a solution that lives in the cloud to someone who thinks you’re talking about the weather?
- Then there’s the moment when you realise – ohhhh, our stuff is basically the same as everyone else’s. Same features, some promises, same price point – just dressed up in slightly different packaging. And if there are differences, they aren’t always immediately obvious.
- Selling processes are convoluted. There are complex digital journeys, 14 touchpoints, 3 nurturing sequences, and a drip email funnel just to sell a £9 subscription box. Whatever customers and clients are buying and wherever they’re buying it, it’s a bombardment of choice, methods, discounts, offers, prompts and loyalty plays.
- People are hard too. People are savvy. People are tired. The world is loud. The world is crazy. Everyone’s being marketed to approximately 50 – 400 times (fact-checked from a reputable industry source.) before breakfast ALONE. People have got decision fatigue, choice overload, algorithmically enhanced scepticism and all-out boredom. Keeping their focus and building relationships – whether that’s a customer, client or talent – is the holy grail.
- Next up, the ‘why’ just isn’t often there. Sure, the product features the latest bees-knees innovations, but where’s the story? Where’s the meaning?
- And finally, the lie-awake-staring-at-the-ceiling-at-3am feeling – does your business really have what it takes to give customers and clients the competitive edge?
So that’s just seven quick reasons why selling has got a whole lot harder.
But despite the chaos, despite the complexity, we believe there is a way through. A way that doesn’t stop the world of selling spinning fast but makes the ride a whole lot more comfortable.
Ta-dah! Let’s hear it for the Brand Idea
Yes, we know. “Brand” can feel like one of those slightly woolly, vibe-y words that lives in a presentation of ‘sensory’ colours and a stock photo of a person smiling at a panda. But that’s because most people don’t look at brand the way we do. When it’s done right? Literally, brand is the single most powerful sales tool you’ve got. It is the thing that will make you memorable, distinctive and meaningful.
And a powerful Brand Idea makes you memorable because it simplifies complexity down to one unforgettable thing they’ll remember after the pitch, or the meeting or the conversation.
A Brand Idea makes you distinctive because in a market full of product parity, it stops you sounding like the competition and makes you sound like, well, you.
A Brand Idea makes you meaningful because it gives people the ‘why’. It connects with them. It reassures them. Because it’s built on and from real values and real beliefs.
A hook to hang your business on
A Brand Idea is not just a slogan or a logo or a nice bit of design. It’s the thing that makes a client or talent or customer choose you above anyone else. It gives true, deep, lasting value. A Brand Idea sits above all the complicated stuff and the hard stuff and helps give your customers, clients and talent a hook they can hang your entire business on. It helps them understand what you’re all about better, it helps them remember you above all others, and it helps your talent understand why the heck they should care. It helps you cut through the waffle and pack a punch:
This is who we are.
This is what we stand for.
This is why we’re different.
And this is where we’re going.
When it’s done well, it works across everything. Your comms. Your culture. Your sales materials. Your new product development. Your customer service. Your leadership decisions. Your selling strategies.
Making the complex simple
Take what we did with Güntner—a global leader in heating and cooling. They’ve got teams all over the world. Engineers, marketers, factory workers, sales managers. Complex products. Different audiences. All the stuff that makes alignment difficult. But with one powerful Brand Idea—Always a Solution Ahead—we gave Güntner a simple, unifying reason to believe. From the factory floor to the boardroom, everyone knew what they were contributing to: the continuous progress and innovation of a company.
It changed the way they talked about what they did. It made sales easier. It gave the brand meaning and momentum—inside and out.
The big takeaway
That’s the power of a Brand Idea. Without it, you just have a brand. With it, you can turn confusion into a compelling truth. You can have a reason to buy above just product or service attributes. It puts you ahead.
Suddenly your sales team aren’t floundering with 56 slides decks and jargon. They’re confidently channelling the Brand Idea, knowing what they stand for and how to show up and why their products can hands-down beat everyone else’s. They’re not just selling products, they’re selling meaning. And that feels good.
So, if selling feels hard right now—like you’re pushing a slippery boulder up a mountain with more crevices than Everest—maybe the problem isn’t what you’re selling. Maybe it’s because you haven’t figured out your Brand Idea yet.
And when that happens? No matter how complex what you sell is, or how complex the world around it gets, selling feels simpler.
