Last night, for my step-son’s 13th birthday, we went to his favorite type of restaurant – Hibachi. You know, where they cook on the table.
The only thing I like less than Hibachi is Mexican food but at least that’s cheap. Hibachi is probably the biggest eating out ripoff on the planet.
Now, if you know me, I am not one to shy away from paying a lot of money on dinner. Heck, my favorite restaurant in the world costs $450 a person so that’s not the issue.
At Hibachi, they charge you a lot of money for a mediocre meal. But here’s the dealio:
You really aren’t paying for the quality of the food, you’re paying for the experience. You’re paying for the “entertainment” factor.
You get the big burst of fire and everyone oohs and ahhas. You get the “enjoy” the chef’s “comedic” repartee with the classic “egg roll” joke, onion volcano and choo train displays. (The next time you think you have it rough, think about having to do that every night.)
Stay with me, grasshopper. There is a point to all of this.
People crave entertainment – yes, even in your sales presentations.
You can deliver irrefutable proof that what you’re selling delivers the most amazing results but if you don’t do it in an entertaining way, your sales will suffer. Sure, there are some people who will be persuaded by a dissertation of facts and statistics but the majority of people will be bored and tune out.
Be entertaining and you’ll sell more.
Hey, maybe you can twirl a chef knife around at the beginning of your presentation. My 13 year old thought that was pretty cool.
Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!
Dave “Hibachi Hater” Dee
P.S. The last train out of the Digital Insanity world is leaving the station. How bad is your digital insanity? Take Perry Marshall’s ingenious “Digital Insanity Index” to find out. (Takes less than 2 minutes).