Hi folks. BJ here.

Some of you may know that I ride a motorcycle (I’ve ridden them since I was a kid. And no Jon, that DOESN’T mean I rode one before the combustion engine was invented (But DO see my other note titled ‘museum piece’ for a good chuckle on THAT topic!).

Well, as happens with motorcycle, I’ve spent a fair amount of money on mine (folks who ride refer to something called, ‘C and L’ disease’ That being ‘chrome and leather’.) And I now want to change the suspension on the bike. Why you ask? Interestingly, that’s exactly what Azra (my wife) asked. And I gave her what I thought was a good reason…only to find out that even though I spend the better part of my life in the realm of ‘value’ and ‘benefits’ selling, I had missed the mark (fortunately, I eventually found it!)

“I’m going to change the shocks on the bike,” I said. (Not even thinking thorugh whether Azra even knew what a ’shock’ was.). She replied with, “No. You’ve spent enough on that bike.”

“But I want to replace the air shocks with ones that are gas charged and have external springs, said I.”

Looking at me like I had spoken in a foreign language, Az said,”No. And why would you want to do that?”

I answered (and those of you who can already see where this story is going will, no doubt, be amazed I hadn’t figured out what I was doing wrong at this point. Nope. Not a clue here.), “I want to be able to adjust the dampening and well as the rebound speed.” And waited for her to grasp my very logical reasons here. As you might guess, she still didn’t buy into my perfectly logical reasoning.

And then it hit me, and I said to my self. “Okay BJ (and yes, I think this WAS out loud). Let’s think about this. Where the ‘benefit’ for this. How can you sell it?” and there it was.

“Askim (Turkish [my wive’s native tongue],” I said (in a tone that I hoped would convey caring concern and the utmost desire for her comfort), “I know how it can get uncomfortable for you on long rides. And I want you to be as comfortable as possible. There’s a change I can make to the bike that will make it much more comfortable for you.”

She said (and I quote here), “Do you think you can have it done beforew the weekend?”

So, onoce again I re-learn/remember to get back to the basics (and isn’t that what I’m always saying to clients and pariticpants. It almost always comes back to the basics.). In this case it’s that value - based on the direct benefit to the user - is what has the best impact, cuts thorugh the noise level and gets the approval (and in this case got me the shocks I wanted - the gas chraged, exterbal spring, aluminum ones! :-)

(And because someone is sure to ask what bike I ride- it’s an 04 HD FLHRSI, lowered, duals, 96 kit.)

Ok, I admit to having presented the information in that way so I could also point out how annoying it can be to use abbreviations or jargon when speaking to those who might have be as familar with the topic. For those who fall into this category and wish to know what all that ‘code’ means, it translates to it’s a 2004 (year) Harley Davidson (brand), Road King (model - the FLHR in Harely speak), Custom (sub model designated by the ’s’), fuel injected (the ‘i’), with an engine that’s larger than stock (95 inches) it sits lower to the ground and it has two separate pipes instead to two which are connected.)