You're An Octopus With A Jar

The task is easy. Your food is in a glass jar with the cap screwed on tight. A simple twist

flip of the lid and it's meal time.

And you're starving.

And...

... you're an octopus.

Not ideal.

The octopus on the other side of the glass is captivated by your situation. He's stopped everything. He can't take his eye off you.

Oh, the pressure!

But then, without thinking, you watch yourself grab the jar and lid with your tentacled arms. You have eight to choose from, so my guess is you use the two closest to the prize. Efficiency.

A little cephalopod brain math, and boda-bing-boda-boom the lid flips and you're face deep into the meal of the day.

Ah! Sweet victory and the spoils of war.

Your friend, on the other side of the glass, takes an exaggerated blink of his one big eye. His jar stands at his side. He blinks again.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your big eye, you see your spectator twist his cap like you just did. And that fast, he's consumed with... consuming. It turns out you had an effect on him. You moved him to action. Not by what you said, but what you showed.

You're an octopus influencer.

The preceding experiment took place for the first time at Brighton University in the 80's. The result sets up a teachable moment. You see, even though the subjects were two unsuspecting cephalopods, the conclusion is relatable to us humans.

Truly effective influence-to-action occurs at the convergence point of a relatable messenger--demonstrating a relatable solution---to a relatable need.

It's that simple.

You see, no one wants to be "sold". In fact, your customer has become wired to distrust anything that seems like a "sell". We can all smell it a mile away. And that's because the old model of a "features and benefits" script just doesn't work. Think used car salesman. Bad suit. Bad breath. Bad timing. We understand our problems and needs on an emotional level.

As a salesperson, you don't.

There's very little chance you can script your way to an emotional solution. So... you do what you do best. You give us your features and benefits spiel.

Don't. It's gross.

This is why UGC is so effective. The spiel goes away. The spokesperson is no longer a cheesy salesperson or a model of some kind. No, the spokesperson is now someone like us. Someone relatable. Someone who looks like us. Someone who deals with life's complications like we would. Someone we feel we can trust.

Someone who uses your product.

And sure, features are mentioned but only as part of an honest testimony. But this time they mean so much more because their benefits are demonstrated in the context of a familiar problem. A problem like ours. It all feels so right.

And THAT'S when the customer sells themselves, because that's how customers want it to be.

It's a beautiful thing.