#5 Writemas: The Way You Present Something Matters

If you had asked me 5 years ago, “Would you do sales?” I would’ve looked at you with disgust.

I’m introverted, typically quiet and observant.

But as Bloomstory’s co-founder, it’s one of my roles within the business.

In fact, I volunteered for it. Most of my responsibilities involve writing pitch decks and presenting them to clients.

It’s fun. There’s something thrilling about talking to a prospect, handling their objections and negotiating the price.

The sensation I get is similar to playing for a huge poker pot, where the adrenaline kicks in and surges through you.

So why sales? What has changed?

Well, asides from being an adrenaline junkie, it’s because I’ve always understood that how you frame something or the order you present information can have a significant impact on the outcome.

There’s a joke that explains what I mean:

A Dominican and a Jesuit were chain smokers.

Both were eager to be allowed to smoke while performing their devotions, but needed to gain permission from a higher authority.

‘I tried asking the Prior, but he was dead against it,’ said the Dominican.

‘What did you ask, precisely?’ enquired the Jesuit.

‘Well, I asked him whether it was acceptable to smoke while I was praying.’

‘Wrong question,’ replied the Jesuit. ‘I asked my Abbot whether I could pray while I was smoking. Permission granted.’

In behavioural science, this is known as the framing effect and is one of the best universal findings to have come out of the field.

It shows how important it is to think about how to present information. Done correctly, it can be potent.

I believe Night Nurse’s origin story started like this.

Someone had developed the medicinal syrup to relieve cold and flu symptoms but found it caused severe drowsiness.

A marketer took a look and said, “Why don’t you sell it as nighttime medicine instead?”

And thus, Night Nurse was born.

For daytime medicine, it’s useless because no one wants to fall asleep.

But marketed as a nighttime medicine, it suddenly sounds like a sensible idea.

Speak to you tomorrow,

Jason.