Taylor Swift from her latest video ‘Shake It Off’.
No Longer Shaking It Off
Big news yesterday as country turned pop singer Taylor Swift broke up from Spotify. According to American Public Media’s Marketplace program,
Swift’s single “Shake It Off” is currently the most played song on the radio, according to Billboard. And Spotify says Swift’s music was being streamed by 16 million of its users in the past month. The service has 10 million subscribers and and 40 million active users globally, according to Spotify.
It seems the the change in relationship status was caused by Swift’s concerns about how much — or in this case little — she and other artists were receiving from Spotify for each song play. According to Business Insider, artists receive as little as $0.06 per song play.
Lessons for Sales Professionals
When I first heard this story, it struck me that Swift — and her people — were using some key sales best practices. And we could all use a quick refresher. Here they are:
1. Sell Value – It’s been long established that successful sales people sell on the outcomes and value of their product and service. Swift is taking this approach by telling Spotify that her product is worth more than the small amount that they’re willing to pay her.
She has the confidence in her self and product to not discount to an unacceptably low level. Do you?
2. Create Scarcity – Swift is essentially curtailing the supply of her product by removing it from Spotify. (Yes, I know it’s still available for free on YouTube, but that’s not really the point.) She’s asking customers who want to listen in their cars or on their home stereos to go out and buy the CD. This approach seemed to work for The Black Keys in the release of their recent albums.
You can create scarcity for your product or service in any number of ways. Is this a deliberate part of your sales strategy?
3. Take Risks – and don’t over analyze the situation. Swift’s break with Spotify is risky. Spotify has over 10 million paying users and given the number of albums being released every week there is never a shortage of music to listen to.
You might be thinking “oh sure Taylor Swift has earned over $64M in 2014 (thus far), so she can afford to take risks, but I can’t.” The truth is that by not shaking up your sales approach you’re taking a risk. Are you happy with the results you’re getting?
Fearless Sales People of the World Unite
While Taylor Swift might not be the music you listen to, great sales people can take inspiration from the world around them to up their game.
For more thoughts on sales effectiveness and sales best practices, see my blog post on The Myth of Sales Productivity, or my musings on how in the future all sales people might be replaced by robots.
