The Almighty 3 E's Sales Philosophy Explained

What are the three E’s? This customer approach model, this customer philosophy took me from zero to a quarter million dollars in one year. Every consumer is different, but if you can master these three philosophies and use one out of three or all three, based on your consumer or your client right in front of you, you will be able to close the deal every time. For example, when I was back in New York City, I ran a company called City Demos. It was a food and beverage in-store demonstration business. I worked at Whole Foods Market, Fairway Market, every supermarket you could imagine on the East coast. I noticed a particular pattern. I use the three E's philosophy. I tested the market and I saw that based on the consumer, male or female, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, middle-class, upper middle-class or low income, these three philosophies worked, but you just have to know what customer to use it on. You know what I'm saying? You have to size up your customer within 10 seconds.

When I sold food products, for example, if there is someone coming into the store, he’s a nine to five, he’s tired, he looks upset and he walks in my store, I will use my entertainment philosophy to try to get that person to laugh. If you are upset, what do you want to do? You want to laugh. You want to feel good. That's why people smoke marijuana or they drink a glass of wine. They want to feel good. They want to feel calm. It is therapeutic for them. They might read or go to the gym or jogging.

So I use the entertainment philosophy for someone I feel is upset or in a bad mood. For example, if I'm selling a product like honey, one of my clients Mike's Hot Honey, I would say to a customer walking by, I would say, "This product will change your life." And they will say oh, where is the supermarket? What product in the supermarket is going to actually change my life? And then I always say after that, after they say how it's going to change my life, if they would play that game, it changed my life. I got a job. I made them laugh. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes they think it's too cheesy, but the point is I use that whole entertainment factor based on that person's emotion, based on what they would show me to sell their product. I would say 7out of 10 times, I would actually sell based on that line. I've got alot of other lines that I've used, of course, in order to sell that product, using that philosophy.

And then if you are at Whole Foods Market and you are selling a particular protein shake, this product might have whey protein; this product might use pea protein. There are people who are vegan or have stomach issues, and whey protein is not the best protein to digest. So they might like vegan protein, like Vega One, for example, or Rockin' Wellness. Those are two products I've marketed back in the New York City/New England area. The education philosophy part of it, I would tell what the difference is compared to that other product that they particularly use or something that they are familiar with. I would give them the rundown, and hopefully the product I'm selling has better ingredients, better packaging. Hopefully it's organic, it has certifications. Maybe a customer might not want to buy a product because it's not kosher. Maybe it's not non-GMO or organic. So you have to figure that out once you size up your customer, if they want the education part of things, or they just want to laugh, the entertainment part of things, and then you will be able to make the sale.

Third is economics. Economically, is this sound financially? Some people don't care about the product or how good it is. They don't care if you make them laugh. They want to know if I'm getting a deal. If it's two for four or two for seven, they just want to deal and that's it. Usually those are the people that are in a rush or they are not familiar with, let's say Whole Foods, Market or Dean and DeLuca on the Upper East side of New York City. They don't want to spend that kind of money. They want to know if I can get a deal. They have a certain sizable income every single month, and they can't spend a lot of money, so they want a deal. Once you understand those three approaches and size up your customer in front of you, you will be able to make the deal.

Then it gets slightly deeper than that, because men and women, we are different creatures. There is a book that I want you to read. It's called “You Just Don't Understand'' by Deborah Tannen, women and men in conversations, the male and female dynamics. Deborah Tannen is a genius. She wrote this book to help people who are in relationships, also people who own businesses to better understand their employees. For example, men, we prioritized independence. We always want to figure it out. We want to solve the problem. Women prioritize intimacy. The reason why we don't get along with the opposite sex is because we don't understand those two perspectives, but when you do, you will win. For example, men want to solve problems. Women don't want us to solve their problems. They want us to listen, reassure and understand. That's just one aspect of it in one example, but you get what I'm saying? Once you understand those two perspectives, that's how you will approach your customer, using those three philosophies that I just talked about.