Soft Sell Marketing — Expanding the Common Good

People in commerce, and especially economists, have used the term “common good” to mean products and services that benefit anyone and everyone such as parks, education, police and fire protection, and the like.

And certainly they are part of the common good—the external version.

But are there others?

The internal world can be seen to contain aspects that represent the common good as well though they are not typically recognized as part of the common good.

Using the definition of a common good as “a product and service that benefits anyone and everyone,” and using a bit of re-framing, it becomes apparent that there are many aspects of our internal lives that can be considered as part of the common good.

For this to make sense it’s helpful to look at how the idea of a “product” is generally understood. Here are several definitions:

• something produced by effort or labor

A product produced by effort can be a thought-sequence or a clear intention whereas a product produced by labor is usually understood to be physical/material.

• that which is produced by or results from a process—such as a natural process, say an earthquake, a social process, say the new form of government emerging now in Iran, or historical one, say evolution.

These products can be non-material or emotional—for example, fear produced as an aftereffect of an earthquake; a sense of liberation in Iran; or a feeling of awe when gazing upon the majesty of evolution.

• the totality of goods or services that a company makes available

This is the traditional understanding of a product offered through a marketplace.

And now for the re-framing . . .From the soft sell perspective we have to expand the idea of what a product or service is  in order to include the internal qualities that are central to the emotionally-based, interpersonal connection-model of marketing and selling.

If your intention is to treat your customers and clients with respect, wouldn’t “emotional respect” be a product of your intention? Not a material product in the traditional sense, but a real and necessary part of your effort in the transaction between you and your buyers?

What if a sense of safety—for example, not being conned—flowed from your sales process giving your customers a feeling of trust and comfort? That’s as much a part of your sales process as is your guarantee or return policy—and even more important.

And if you’re doing therapeutic work—be it traditional therapy or coaching, a change of experience is the product you bring to the market. That new experience arises from a new sense of self, a new confidence, a new vision of what it means to be alive.

Or if you are a residential real estate agent, might not your true product be the feeling of coming home that your clients enjoy for which the house is the delivery vehicle? That is then a good or service that becomes part of your marketing and sales focus.

Emotional respect, safety, trust, comfort, new confidence, a new sense of self, a feeling of coming home—unlike the local park that everyone can walk through and enjoy, these internal “products” may be thought to be too personal to be considered of the common good.

But they are part of the collective consciousness in which we are all steeped and from which we all draw. And they certainly can be considered of the common good because they are experiences we all cherish and long for. What is more of the common good then that?

Selling As Spiritual ServiceAt our Soft Sell Marketers Association we use the slogan “Marketing with Consciousness and Conscience.”

Consciousness—awareness of the co-creative life that joins us all together, the customer becomes not just someone who will buy, but a necessary partner in determining the best outcome for both you and your buyer.

That “best outcome” is certainly a product of the way you do business and best outcomes never take the form of physical objects. They are always and only internal.

Conscience—reflects the care and respect for ourselves and our customers as feeling-filled human beings, not just walking wallets.

Relating to your customers as feeling-filled human beings reflects the care you possess for that dimension of life that is very often overlooked if not dismissed from traditional business transactions.

And it also is a conscious product of how you do what you do. Isn’t doing business this way quite rightly understood as “for the common good”?

What about peace, environmental sustainability, interpersonal honesty, personal authenticity, non-discrimination, and compassion — all emotional products, when consciously intended, that benefit anyone and everyone and are in support of the common good.

So the idea of the “common good” must be expanded to include the internal elements that are so important to soft sell marketing.

What do you think? We’d love to hear your comments, suggestions, and your point of view. 

Because It’s All in the Connection,

Judith & Jim

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