The Little Pink Spoon : How to Give ’em a Taste
and Leave ’em Wanting More
One of the great pleasures of life is popping into a Baskin-Robbins and trying out a few different flavors with those little pink spoons. Who doesn’t love those little pink spoons! Between you and me, 90 percent of the time I just end up getting Rocky Road anyway, but it’s always fun to taste a few other flavors before ordering my cone.
If you think about it, though, why is Baskin-Robbins so willing to give away their product for free? Of course, it’s simple and obvious: they hope that by giving us a free taste, we’ll end up buying a cup or a cone or a pint or a gallon. So they gladly give away millions of little pink spoonfuls in order to make many millions of dollars more in return. It’s the same reason movies show trailers, cosmetics companies give away free samples, and car dealers offer test drives: people want to try before they buy.
So, with this concept in mind, how might you apply the Little Pink Spoon principle in your life? In other words, how can you give people a “free taste” of what you have to offer and leave them wanting more? Here are my three “show-ems”:
1. Show and Tell
No, “show and tell” is not just for kindergarteners. For example, verbally telling an interviewer how your background qualifies you for the job is one thing; visually showing them is another. As research has shown, vision triumphs over all other senses. John Medina states in his fascinating book Brain Rules that when people hear information, three days later they’ll remember 10 percent of what they heard; but if they see it, they’ll remember 65 percent of what they saw.
So what can you do to become more memorable? As we’ve been discussing all along: Be more visual! Bring stuff along to the interview with you that you can show. Samples of work you’ve produced, reports or PowerPoint presentations you’ve created, photos of projects you’ve worked on, awards you’ve received, copies of articles or blog posts you’ve written. Even if the interviewer doesn’t take the time to read or even look at what you brought, just holding it up and showing it to them makes it real…more real and tangible and credible than just telling them about it.
Additionally, just having these samples handy (even if you don’t show them to anyone) is a great, kinesthetic way to remind yourself of the real-life stories you can use when asked, “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of….” Holding these items in your hands will naturally bring back a flood of memories and feelings from that time and place and enable you to deliver your stories with the details as fresh in your mind as if it just happened.
Note that even if you are not, technically, an “artist” (though as Seth Godin always says, no matter what it is that you do, “your work is your art!”), it doesn’t mean that you can’t put together a “portfolio” of your career accomplishments. As Dan Pink reminds us in the title of his book, To Sell Is Human, we are all “in sales,” even if what we are selling is ourselves. And since so few people outside of the design world tend to think of creating a visual portfolio of their work, your proactivity and creativity in doing so will definitely help you stand out from the crowd.
2. Show Them That You Can Do It
While job interviews, sales pitches, and presentations can sometimes feel more like one-way interrogations than two-way conversations, there are things that you can strategically and proactively do to turn an awkward discussion into an engaging dialogue that better demonstrates your capabilities. Ultimately, what you want to do is to get the “interviewer” or “customer” to transform their perception of you from a generic “interviewee” or “vendor” to a “partner” by getting them to actually envision you working there.
One way of doing this might be to ask the person to provide you with an example of an actual, real-world business challenge that they are currently facing—one that you would be dealing with if they were to move forward with you. And then, by taking off your “interviewee” or “sales” hat and putting on your “employee” or “consultant” hat, you can transition the conversation from an interview into a solution-finding meeting…thereby demonstrating your capabilities. In many ways, asking insightful questions is just as valuable as providing thoughtful responses.
In fact, years ago when I was hired at Disney, I asked my new boss why he had hired me over the other candidates. His response was: “Because you asked the best questions.” Again, you may not be able to solve all the person’s problems right then and there, but you’ll be perceived as someone who is ready, willing, and able to get to work.
3. Show Them That You Really Want It
It’s one thing to show that you can do it; it’s another thing to demonstrate that you really want it. I once interviewed for a job that, on paper, I was totally perfect for. After I didn’t get the offer, I contacted the hiring manager to ask if he might be willing to offer me any feedback on why I wasn’t chosen. His response: “In terms of qualifications, I thought you were great. But it didn’t seem to me that you were that enthusiastic about this position. We need people who are passionate about working here.” Lesson learned: people aren’t mind readers, so make sure they know how much you want the job (assuming, of course, that you really do).
Secondly, here’s a question to consider: Are you willing to work for free? Of course, you need to earn a living and don’t want to undervalue yourself. But just as you might want to taste a new ice cream flavor before purchasing a whole cone, the prospective employer or customer might be on the fence about hiring you, or might not yet be ready to make a permanent offer. So one way to show what you can do and how much you really want it is to offer them a “free sample.” It’s not always possible, but what if you could start out as a volunteer or an intern, or in a temp-to-perm situation, or on a consulting or project or trial basis?
This might not be an option, but it never hurts to be creative and open to exploring out-of-the-box possibilities as a way of getting your foot in the door! And once you have one foot in the door, that second foot is now just one step away.
So, as you prepare for your next interview, client meeting, sales pitch, or presentation, think about how you might give people a “little pink spoon-sized taste” of who you are and what you have to offer. And, if all goes well, they’ll want all of you…with a cherry on top.
In Review
The Big Lesson: Give people a sample of what you have to offer, and leave them wanting more.
The Big Question: How can you give people a sample of what you have to offer to get them to buy in to what you’re selling?
Your Big Insight:
Your Big Action: