Selling a Bundle of Booze

When you think of Dan Aykroyd what do you think of?

Most likely Saturday Night Live. Between 1975 -1979 he was a writer and the youngest cast member in the show.

According to Wikipedia Aykroyd is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, and winemaker.

In fact, he can teach you a thing or two about sales and marketing. Let me explain!

He makes and sells vodka. But it's not ordinary vodka.

His bottle is a glass depiction of a head.

There's a controversial archaeological mystery that involves 13 crystal heads which have been found all around the world. They're dated between 5000 - 35000 years old and were supposedly polished into shape from solid quartz chunks over several hundred years.

The crystal heads are thought to offer special spiritual power and enlightenment to those who possess them and so they are symbols of life.

So their bottle is unique!

Their quadruple-distillation process is unique!

Their water is also unique!

The purity is unique because it contains absolutely no additives!

Aside from having a very unique product which has very unique packaging there are several other secrets to his success.

He had an idea but he had very little cash so he had to tap the college fund for his three daughters. He took a chance on himself - not a bad idea!

He launched the company in 2008 and his sales have exceeded $50 million.

When promoting his product he talks of course about the things mentioned above.

But he is also a relentless marketer. I remember him standing and autographing every bottle of his Crystal Head Vodka that was sold for over two hours.

He's doing what very few other celebrities are doing. He's not just putting his name on his product.

Are you selling what's unique about your products? Do some homework and some research to find out what's unique about the products you're selling.

Here are just a few ideas to help you uncover what's unique about your products.

1. Ask the president of your company:? "what's unique about our products?"

2. Ask your VP of sales: "What's unique about our products"

3. Ask your VP of marketing: "What's unique about our products?"

4. Ask your VP of research and development: "What's unique about our products?"

5. Ask your VP of engineering: "What's unique about our products?"

6. Is your customer service manager: "What's unique about our products?"

7. Ask your shipping and receiving manager: "What's unique about our products?"

8. Ask your CFO: "What's unique about our products?"

9. Ask your CIO: "What's unique about our products?"

10. Ask some of your best customers: "What's unique about our products?"

You'll confirm what you already know and pick up some pretty good ideas from the key people in your company.

In sales "Little things mean everything." As soon as you get some new ideas on what makes your products unique, start sharing these things with your sales prospects and customers.

Are you relentless in your sales and marketing efforts?

What's different about the way you're selling your products? If you can't think of anything - it's time to start thinking about how you're selling your products.

Following the herd will never enable you to achieve spectacular selling results.

Do whatever it takes to create a buzz for your products in your sales territory.

Here's a simple example to get you thinking about this. If you owned a bagel and donut shop you would create a buzz for your bagels just by putting a sign that said "Hot bagels" on the counter. How brilliant is that?

It's not brilliant, but it is different and that's all it takes to create a buzz for your products. A lot of thinking and a lot of extra effort will enable you to differentiate your products.

And please give it more than 10 minutes of your time. It deserves so much more.

Are you selling what's "HOT" about your products?

Success seldom comes from an ordinary effort; it usually comes from an extraordinary effort.