When I say Justin Timberlake, what one word comes to mind? Singer? Rich? Celebrity? Sexy? All of those words are correct. Add a couple more: Performer. Musician. Dancer. Entertainer. And of course, the .5 would be Britney.
I went to a Justin Timberlake concert. Paid a premium and sat in the front. Actually, stood in the front. But I didn’t care. It was a spectacular event that none of the 20,000 plus attendees will soon forget.
What’s that got to do with sales? Justin Timberlake did not have to sell one thing. People bought. Every ticket. Every bag of peanuts. Every drink. Every T-shirt was bought by fans who stood in line for a half an hour waiting to overpay. And they were happy they did.
Justin Timberlake is the essence of the law of attraction. His customers are his fans. His theme, “Bringing Sexy Back” should prove once and for all that sexy sells.
But let me put this in perspective. I’m 61. What the hell am I doing at a Justin Timberlake concert, singing and dancing for three hours? I’m having a blast, that’s what I’m doing. And I’m learning the difference between the rock concerts I attended growing up in the early 1960s, and the rock concerts of the 21st century.
Six months ago, I went to see Panic at the Disco.
Both of these concerts had one thing in common. Excellence. You may not like the music, you may not appreciate the music – but the quality of their performance and the performers’ dedication to their craft are undeniable.
What’s your level of dedication? How excellent is your performance? Who is willing to pay to watch you perform – and buy the T-shirt? That’s what I want to talk about for the next 400 words.
Let me give you the qualities that Justin Timberlake exuded during his performance, so you can see how they match up to your sales qualifications.
In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one note.
In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one word.
In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one dance step.
There were 20 other dancers and musicians in his troupe who also performed to perfection. Everyone gave their BEST performance. Justin sang, played, danced, spoke to the audience and performed as well as any entertainer I have ever seen. He owned the audience of 20,000 people from the first note. He’s 26. How old are you? How well do you perform?
If you’re going to sing and dance and play instruments for 2.5 hours, you better be in shape. Justin Timberlake is in sexy shape. And the audience responded in kind with the appropriate singing along to every word of every song, and shrieking every time he came close to them.
I wonder if being in shape, and giving his all, and preparing for months, had anything to do with his ability to sell out the house, win the approval of fans, win Grammy after Grammy, and make millions of dollars.
I wonder how in shape you are? And I wonder how that affects your ability to perform and earn at the level of “best.” How many “Sales Grammys” could you win?
And, oh yeah – he also writes his own music.
From a business perspective, there are a lot of lessons you can learn from this event and this performer.
His image, his reputation, his music, his attraction, his marketing, his level of performance, his self-confidence, his team and his ability to communicate are all beyond excellent. And when combined into a concert, it’s not just an event; it’s an experience.
After 2.5 hours of Justin Timberlake’s performance, no one wanted the concert to end. Appropriately, he ended with his current anthem, “Bringing Sexy Back.” Not just singing and dancing and playing – but literally jumping on top of the piano with one leap. He didn’t win the approval of the crowd; he earned the accolades of the crowd.
If he would have said, “OK, everyone give me 100 more dollars when you leave,” EVERYONE would have gladly donated.
And they will talk about it, write about it, blog about it and YouTube about it for years to come.
What do people say after your sales performance? Your service performance? How much applause do you get from your customers?
Maybe you should attend a Justin Timberlake concert and discover his sex, er, sales magic.
If you would like a few of Justin’s lyrics to get you in the sexy selling frame of mind, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first time visitor and enter JUSTIN in the GitBit box.
