Power Play: Be the first to know, first to try, first to buy

Power Players walk the walk.

They don’t stop at knowing – they progress to trying and then to buying.

Power Players know that nothing beats firsthand experience. Trying, tasting, using and experiencing are critical in showing employees, customers and clients that nothing can ever replace genuine firsthand knowledge.

The story

I found myself at a lunch hosted by the CEO of an Aussie-owned fast-food chain. The fast-food honcho asked the around table (stacked with other rich honchos, all running marketing companies, who eat at fancy joints most nights) whether anyone had recently had one of his burgers.

I watched one CEO talk in specifics about the entire product range and the fact that he’d placed a drive-through order a few nights before.

His description of the burger, fries, dessert, pricing and special offers was nothing short of enthralling. Everyone else at the table looked sheepish, not to mention snobbish, at their lack of knowledge.

No surprise what happened after that. When the fast-food honcho was shopping for a new PR company, he went straight to that knowing CEO without even so much as a pitch. Be the first to know, be first to try and the first to buy.