Sell Your Process, Not the MacGuffin Product

What u sell is a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin, so dubbed by the late Irish film director Alfred Hitchcock, is the object around which the whole story focuses. In Raiders of the last Ark, it is the ancient Ark of the covenant that the archaeologist Indiana Jones is racing to prevent the Nazis from obtaining. In The Maltese Falson, it is the jewel-studded falcon statuette that triggers multiple murders and betrayals. In The treasure of the Sierra Madro, it is the precious gold hidden in the mountain that Humphrey Bogarts Fred C.Dobbs and his partners are desperate to find.

Here's the funny thing though: When you get to the end of the story you realize, that thing the story is about? That's not what the story is about.

Indiana Jones succeeds in his quest, but the ark itself is quietly buried., filed away in a warehouse under lock and key. The Maltese falcon statue turns out to be a fake. Fred C.Dobb's gold dust blows away in the breeze. The characters themselves are devoted to their pursuit of the MacGuffin - but the value of the story lies not in the MacGuffin but in the process they go through. Whatever it is you're selling, it is a MacGuffin.

It's not that the product isn't important, it is: It's just not what the sales process is all about. Then what its about, its about adding value to the other person's life! Remember, this process is not about you, and it's not about your product. It's about the other person.

Source: Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann.