Personalized Analogies

If you use analogies in your selling, and who doesn’t, here’s a fun way to take them up a notch. Personalize them. In other words, plug in details that make the analogy even more meaningful to that person.

A quick review: The power of an analogy comes from matching something your prospect or client knows and understands with something they don’t know or don’t yet Analogies simplify things that are complex. They can influence someone’s thinking. And, they make what you’re presenting more interesting and memorable.

Here’s a simple example: If I’m trying to make a point about goal setting to an executive who likes football, I could use this analogy. “When a sales manager sets unfair goals, it’s like a football coach asking the kicker to try an 80-yard field goal and then criticizing him for coming up 20 yards short.

That works fine, but if I want to make more of an impact, I’d personalize it even more.

So, if I’m in Kansas City, I’d say: “When a sales manager sets unfair goals, it’s like Andy Reid asking Harrison Butker to try an 80-yard field goal and then criticizing him for coming up 20 yards short.” (If you’re not a football fan, Andy Reid is the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and Harrison Butker is their placekicker.)

And, if I’m in Philadelphia, I’d plug in the names, Nick Sirianni (head coach of the Eagles) and Jake Elliott (placekicker), for the same analogy.

To me, personalizing your analogies creates a deeper connection. In this example it shows you’re both football fans or, if you’re not, it shows that you’ve done your homework. Either one is a win.

So, we used sports and location to personalize that analogy.

Here are some other ways you can personalize your analogies:

• Marriage
• Parenting
• Exercising
• Other sports like golf, skiing and pickle ball
• Hobbies like collecting coins, knitting, gardening or painting
• Card games like poker or Blackjack
• Board games like Monopoly or Jenga
• Entertainment like iconic movies or well-known television shows

All have great, customized analogy potential.

Use title or position to further personalize your analogies. You’d use CFO duties or common tasks when talking to a CFO, for example.

Here are few more examples using personalization:

• For a parent: “In the children’s fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel left breadcrumbs in the woods to find their way home. When you use public wifi, you’re leaving breadcrumbs for the bad guys to track you.”
• For a CEO or COO: “Some experts have compared making changes to a legacy system to a junkie playing Jenga.”
• For a CIO who loves the outdoors: “Bad coding weighs down your app like going on a hike in the mountains with rocks in your backpack.”
• Telling a story to a fan of movie comedies: “Their problems had become more tangled than Clark Griswold’s outdoor Christmas lights in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

It’s a little more work, but I think a lot more fun. If you like this concept, start brainstorming how you can personalize the analogies you use today. Practice them out loud. Just by doing this you’ll create even more. And like any skill, more reps will make the process go easier and faster.

Good luck and have a great week!

Bob