When I first came up with the idea of Gratifu I knew for a long time that I was not satisfied with loyalty programs. I had my eye on it, dreaming up all kinds of fantasies of what it would look like. After a few years of working in marketing for an open source CRM firm, I learned about blockchain and it all clicked. Yet this story is not about how I started Gratifu. This is about its mission, how I lost sight of it and my renewed passion to bring it’s message to the forefront.
My first job after leaving home was working with Greenpeace. I knocked door to door signing up membership to our magazine and collecting donations. It was on the hot pavements of American suburbia talking to people about our planet, back when hardly anyone even knew about climate change, that I started to learn a valuable skill. There was no way I was going to get my friendly neighbors to believe ‘environmentalists’ without good old fashioned sales: what’s in it for them? And why should they care?
A couple of years later I became a teacher, and the best advice from my college professor was what are the kids buying? If I want the attention and cooperation of my students, what am I giving in return? Is it a grade? Or are some inner city students looking for something else? Was it recognition? I gave out stickers for accomplishments! It is amazing how an 18 year old senior wants her trophy. I had to find meaning. I had to sell.
Tack on two decades of sales and marketing, you get the picture. Now here’s the funny thing. When I started Gratifu, I wanted to send the message:, if we want to improve ourselves or make the world a better place, we better get really good at selling.
A few friends discouraged me. I was told selling is bad, it’s manipulative. People are going to get turned off if you say, “ learn to sell.” In countless movies, for instance, a salesperson is made out to be funny, yet a trickster, cunning and sly. Yet sales is not about manipulation, that is simply untrue, a falsehood. Sales is about convincing people to engage in your goal and demonstrate how it benefits them as well as you. If you want to motivate your kids to wash the dishes? Sell them, they may buy in with a little money or an extra surprise. Do you want your boss to go along with your proposal? Think sales. There is no way the world is going to get any better until people see the reason to make it better. When they do understand, there is reason , then they buy in.
Today we live in a world where the career jobs of the past are no longer the norm and unskilled laborers find fewer opportunities for employment. What are we going to do about it? Learn, develop skills, get better at servicing those skills. Then learn how to get other people involved so they can benefit from your offer. That process for better or worse, is the art of sales.
If you are not happy with your life, learn how to sell. If you are not happy with the world outside your home, learn how to sell. If you have a gift and your community will get joy from it, develop that talent and learn how to sell.
Selling is scary, I won’t lie to you. If you have not sold before, it’s like going for a run for the first time. The first day is sweaty and full of aches and pains. You may feel weak and vulnerable. Yet here is the amazing thing. You don’t get hurt. There is a brand new day in front of you. There are an endless number of doors to knock upon. Yes, you will have to modify and change your offer and strategy. I love games because it offers a great chance to learn and play. When your effort is most sincere that is when you will learn the best adjustments to succeed. Always give your best effort, that’s best way to learn.
I decided not just to create a loyalty program that will be awesome for customers and stores. Gratifu is making the program possible so anyone can invite new stores to join. Using Gratifu anyone can build communities of businesses and earn rewards. An individual can earn valuable loyalty points as a commission while also developing skills in sales.
Think about that: Gratifu arming the world with a sales game that empowers people to use consumer choice to build communities of business that support their interest. A loyalty program that is as loyal to the team that builds it, learn sales and earn residual income for a lifetime.
By Benjamin Burg