Imagine for a moment that you went to a friend’s house. They were very excited because they’d just started a new business. When you asked them to show you the product, they said it was invisible. When you asked them for proof of the product’s benefits, they couldn’t provide it to you or make any guarantees about what you would experience. When you looked online, you saw multiple negative reviews.
When you went back to the friend who was attempting to make the sale and asked them to explain the product to you, they couldn’t. When you asked about the process and how it worked, they told you it was different for each person, so they couldn’t give you one.
The authorities who were championing this same product all had conflicting reports about it and all of them said they were the only authorities who knew the real truth. Furthermore, the regime that your friend describes seems to involve a whole lot of sacrifice on your part and has a very high rate of failure.
Would you buy that product? Would you trust your friend’s judgment?
If you are a reasonable and intelligent person, the most likely answer is “No!”
And that is why God is a tough sell.
If You Can Sell God, You Can Sell Anything!
There’s good news about this, though. If you can sell God to someone else, you can sell anything. The principles of sales work the same whether it is God or a Mercedes Benz you happen to be selling. And if you learn these sales skills, you’ll be equipped with the skills you need to start and run a successful business of your own, or to improve your existing business.
No Physical Product
You can’t hold God in the hands. You can’t point Him out in a crowd or give someone something tangible that shows God’s existence. You can’t identify a single smell or feeling or taste or sound as belonging to God. That’s part of what makes God such a tough sell.
No Proof of Benefits
We’re asking people to sacrifice a whole lot of their existing lives in order to adopt a program and we can’t prove the benefits of it. We can’t promise them they will get a result. Why? Because what we’re really offering them is a relationship and the results vary based on where they are in life, how open they are to the relationship, and how God chooses to interact with them. There will be benefits, but what may be beneficial in the long run often comes disguised as a whole lot of suffering up front. That makes the sale even tougher.
Multiple Negative Reviews
People these days do not trust the church. They’ve seen too many charlatans and they’ve seen too many examples of people behaving badly in the church. Many who were a part of the church and got hurt have left it – and, quite often, God with it. These people go out and speak loudly about their negative experiences to anyone who will listen. Those negative reviews are far more likely to be paid attention to than your single positive because people are wired to pay more attention to pain than they are to pleasure.
Inability to Explain Things
This one is the saddest part of all. So many of those who are in the Church can’t explain why they are in it or why we believe what we believe. They stopped educating themselves about Church teaching after confirmation, and often the education they received before that point was delivered by volunteers who didn’t know the faith much better than the kids they were teaching. The result is that when someone asks questions, most of us can’t answer coherently.
No Standardized Process
Let’s say that we’ve not yet lost our prospects attention and they’re still willing to give us a try despite all the other hurdles I’ve brought up. Now they want to know how this whole faith thing works. What are they supposed to do and how are they supposed to do it in order to get the benefits? We admit there is no standardized process. There can’t be. A relationship doesn’t have a standardized process to it.
Conflicting Authorities
Of all the problems facing the Church and Christianity in general, this is the biggest one. Nobody can agree about anything, and everyone tells consumers that they are the one with all the answers. In the face of all the conflicting authorities, your prospect doesn’t know who to trust and the thought of wading through all the information to find the truth is exhausting. It’s far more work than most people are willing to put in for the promise of benefits with no proof behind it.
Tough Regime, High Rate of Failure
This is where most people give up before they even get started. If you look at all the things they are required to do and to sacrifice in order to enter into a relationship with the God they can’t see for the benefits they can’t guarantee, it’s daunting. Moreover, anyone who is being honest about it will tell them straight up that they are going to fail to live up to the regime, and they are going to fail often. It’s a non-stop battle with the will to do the right thing, and that is a discouraging thought.
That’s why we have confession, but confession itself is a tough pill for most people to swallow. The thought of having to go sit in a small closet with a priest and admit to your biggest failures? Most people would rather die first. It’s painful.
There’s Hope On the Horizon
I’ve laid out all the reasons that God is a tough sell. Tough doesn’t mean impossible. Each Tuesday, I’ll be coming back to teach you the skills you need to “sell God” to someone else. And, along the way, you’ll be learning vital skills you need to sell anything – including yourself – so you can build a business or improve your finances.
Join Our Mailing List
I’ll be giving out free exercises and feedback on our lessons to subscribers. If you want to learn how to take your marketing, branding, and sales skills to the next level and become someone who can lead people into the Catholic Church at the same time, just sign up below.
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