What Steve Jobs taught me about sales
People don't know what they want until you show them
In June 2007, Steve Jobs stood on the MacWorld stage in San Francisco. He said, This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years. Today we’re introducing three revolutionary products. The first is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device. Three things. A widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communications device. An iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone… Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device and we are calling it iPhone.
With that, he launched the most successful non-consumable product in history. Over one and half billion iPhones have been sold. Much of the success of Apple’s products is down to technical innovation and marketing. However, a critical element was Steve Jobs’ persuasion techniques. These included, the labour illusion, the halo effect, anchoring and the recency bias.
Labour illusion
Details matter. It’s worth waiting to get it right. - Steve Jobs
If we see the labour going into a task then we value the end product more. There are numerous examples where Steve Jobs used the labour illusion in Apple keynote speeches. Here are two. Firstly, on his return to Apple in 1998. It’s been 10 months since the new management team took over at Apple and people have been working really hard. Because of their hard work, I’m pleased to report to you today that Apple’s back on track. Secondly, when introducing a new version of iOS, he said: About ten years ago, we had one of our most important insights and that was the PC was going to become the hub for our digital lives. Steve often highlighted the labour that had gone into Apple’s products.
Halo effect
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. - Steve Jobs
If we have positive associations with a person then we’ll often have positive associations with the things that person is associated with. If you like George Clooney then you’ll be more inclined to try the coffee he’s promoting. You will likely think it tastes better because he’s drinking it. Steve Jobs knew the power of the halo effect. The Think Different ad campaign was one of the most successful ever. It featured some of the world’s greatest risk takers and innovators, including Einstein, Gandi and Picasso. The ad implied that these great people were like Apple. They think different. This is the classic halo effect. It helped save Apple from bankruptcy.
Anchoring
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. - Steve Jobs
When presented with new information we are be heavily influenced by a particular reference point or anchor. In an experiment, Dan Ariely asked US students to pull out their social security card and remember the final two digits. He split the students into two groups: those with high numbers and those with low. He then asked them to bid on a number of items, e.g. a keyboard, wine and a book. The students anchored by a higher social security number bid three times more, on average, for the items. An initial reference point can influence our purchase decisions. Steve Jobs knew this and used it many times. When launching the iPod, he anchored the audience based on cost per song, not the cost of the device. This was neatly highlighted in the tag line, A 1,000 songs in your pocket.
Recency bias
We’ve got something a little special today. Let’s move on to that. Actually, there’s one more thing. - Steve Jobs (introducing the Mac Mini)
Steve Jobs’ presentations would often conclude with One more thing. When launching the iPod Mini, the one more thing was that it came in multiple colours. When launching iTunes, the one more thing was the ability to get TV shows. Why One more thing? Steve was aware of the recency bias. If we give people a list of things to remember, they are likely to recall just the last one.
Other resources
Think Different ad by Apple
What Steve Jobs Taught Me post by Phil Martin
Finding Our Initial Customers post by Phil Martin
One more thing… If you know someone who might benefit from this post then please share it with them.
Have fun.
Phil…
