What An Author NEADS is Change

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

As we continue to share Tom Hopkins’ NEADS acronym found in his book Low Profile Selling, Act like a Lamb…Sell like a Lion, let’s return to the short explanation of the letters.

N – NOW E – ENJOY A – ALTER D – DECISION S – SOLUTION

I have used it not only as the fantastic sales tool Tom intended it to be, but as a problem solving tool as well. We have addressed the first letter N, the second letter E which is for ENJOY. This week we will address the third letter A. What is it we would ALTER or change?

In marketing we must find what the customers’ current situation is, what they like about it and what they would change. What they like is their “Hot Button” or why they buy. When we ask what you would Alter or change we find what their problem or concerns are. This could be called their “Cold Button” or what turns them off about a product. We then make sure we are able to meet their concerns with our product.

In life, change can be a hard thing for some of us. Customers are usually eager to make a change once it is presented and it is their choice to do so. But many times the changes are not of our choosing. Dr. Spencer Johnson wrote about the difficulties of dealing with change in his bestseller Who Moved My Cheese? The change he spoke of was indeed not change being sought but change being forced upon us. The change we want to deal with in the NEADS acronym is the change of choice.

We have identified where we are, what we like about it and now what we would change. This change, which will be of our choosing, will have two positive outcomes. One will be the identification of what we do not like and will leave behind. The other will be the positive direction we will move in the absence of those things we do not like while seeking more of what we do like. This can be very liberating.

Ask yourself what is it you would change at this point in your writing or your life for that matter? Could you see yourself without this thing you would change? Can you see yourself in a better position? Take some time to consider what it is you would change and the benefits of that change.  

As we continue to move into the remaining steps, prepare yourself by having an honest evaluation of where you are now, what you enjoy and what you have chosen to change. The next letter is D. Our next post will be about who will be making the Decision!