Saw a pretty cool movie on Valentines’s Day with my wife.

A movie that explains why a LOT of customers don’t buy.

And reveals a “secret” way to automatically make more sales.

Anyway, the movie is called “Fire Proof”.

It is an unabashedly Christian movie about a fireman and his wife on the path to divorce — but whose hearts are changed by a 40-day “test” the fireman’s father gives him.

Whoa!

I can ALREADY see some peoples’ eyes rolling reading this.

“C’mon Ben! Why are you wasting my time with this!”

Patience, grasshopper.

All will be revealed in a second.

You see, there are many themes running through this movie.

Some are obvious (such as, “never leave your partner behind, especially in a fire”.)

And some are not-so-obvious.

The sales lesson is one of the not-so-obvious ones.

It goes like this:

When the main character (the fireman) first tries to save his marriage, he only goes through the motions as he follows his dad’s 40-day plan.

In fact, he goes the first 20 days without his heart being in it at all — only thinking of what he will gain from his efforts.

And his wife (not surprisingly) sees right through him.

She doesn’t buy his act.

And as a result, she DISTRUSTS him even more.

Which is where the sales lesson comes in:

How many of us go through the motions like this when selling?

Without truly CARING about our prospects?

Without caring about their pain and challenges?

Without caring about anything except “sucking as much moolah as possible from their bank accounts”?

I’m not saying this attitude can’t work.

Especially when selling to the low-hanging fruit (who buy anything).

But most people see right through it.

And will naturally distrust you (and not buy from you) as a result.

This is why I believe if someone wants to take their business to the “next level” they can’t just go through the motions.

You gotta CARE about your customers.

Your heart has to be into helping THEM first.

And you have to believe (REALLY believe) what you’re selling is going to change their lives for the better.

I realize this is kinda “touchy feely”.

But when your heart is into helping your customers like this, success is almost automatic.

You automatically do what’s in your customer’s best interest.

Automatically create (or pick) the BEST products to sell.

And automatically do things that POSITION you as someone who cares — and is therefore trusted and believed.

This caring stuff ain’t always “sexy.”

But it works like gangbusters.

And in most cases, your competition is probably NOT doing it.

Ben Settle

P.S. I can’t recommend “Fire Proof” enough.

A bit hokey in some places, but a great movie with lots of cool sales lessons in it. After all, isn’t winning back a spouse the ultimate “sale”?

You can grab a copy at any video store, or on eBay: