My 20-year-old son Tyler’s favorite band is Twenty One Pilots. He turned me on to them several years ago, and we have each seen them in concert five times (four together). They are an incredibly talented act with an amazing live show. Musically and lyrically, Twenty One Pilots are very thoughtful and creative.
Their latest song, ‘Level of Concern’ was released April 9, 2020, during turbulent and uncertain times. The video for the song shows the creation of the song and music video being a collaborative process between bandmates Tyler Joseph (with his wife Jenna and daughter Rosie) and Josh Dun (with his fiancée Debby Ryan) - Paul Meany of Mutemath also contributed. Each musician would record and film their parts and add them to a flash drive and snail-mail them back and forth since they were isolating at home (although it is revealed at the end of the video that Tyler and Josh are living next door to each other they do not reside near one another).
At first listen, one may think the song is addressing widespread fear and panic associated with the COVID-19, to acknowledge what the band felt its fans may be encountering and letting them know things will be okay. Listening deeper and reading several interviews with the band reveals something much deeper. Tyler’s mom inspired him to write the song for their fans in this unprecedented moment when the virus has taken such a huge toll on everyone, including him as a new dad now in lockdown, making him feel helpless. So, Tyler used the last time he felt out of control as a metaphor to convey his feelings. However, to go from feeling powerless
to empowered, Tyler chose to turn it into a love song about his wife. Tyler compares this time of little control to that moment when he decided to commit to a life with Jenna and that uneasy feeling of realizing that when you make that kind of a commitment to someone else, you give up a good portion of control. “It’s no longer all about you, it’s about us!”
So yes, the song is about Tyler committing to Jenna, and he’s not just nervous about the virus, because that’s the back story that most people will immediately relate to when they hear a word like “quarantine”, but for him, it’s really about that beginning of the relationship, the committed part of the relationship with his wife.
When asking “Wonderin' would you be my little quarantine? Or is this the way it ends?” in a relationship, it can go one of two ways – the relationship continues, or it ends. While the metaphor comparing the level of concern people have about a virus to the trepidation committing to a new relationship may seem cheesy, it works in a great song. So what does this have to do with in-home sales?
I witnessed salespeople and customers approach life from a place of confidence, strength, leadership, optimism, abundance, and certainty while others approached life from a doubt, hesitation, reservation, concern, insecurity, caution, pessimism, scarcity, and uncertainty.
My feeling is that we are all a little fatigued with all the static of world events that occurred in 2020, including the static associated with the pandemic. Everyone in the world has been impacted at varying degrees, and I am not about to attempt to rationalize a comparison of anyone’s plight. What I can say, is that I witnessed salespeople and customers approach life from a place of confidence, strength, leadership, optimism, abundance, and certainty while others approached life from a doubt, hesitation, reservation, concern, insecurity, caution, pessimism, scarcity, and uncertainty. Neither one is right or wrong or good or bad. The question is: Did the approach serve the person?
I have operated from a place of certainty in 2020. During my continued travels and online interactions with salespeople and customers, I saw that customers respond more positively to people that lead from a place of confidence, strength, abundance, and certainty. Not surprisingly, I have said many times in my training classes that certainty is the new currency. Certainty leads to a transference of confidence which leads to the formation of respect and the foundation for a position of trust. It is trust that gets to make purchases.
During my continued travels and online interactions with salespeople and customers, I saw that customers respond more positively to people that lead from a place of confidence, strength, abundance, and certainty.
When I educate and coach salespeople, I help them see that they have never, nor will they ever, sell anything to anyone. In fact, no one has ever, nor will they ever, sell anything to anyone. People choose to buy, or they choose not to buy. I go on to state that people don’t buy things, they buy problems or concerns going away, wants resolved, needs fulfilled, emotions realized, identity alignment, life impacts desired, and experiences expected. People justify buying things to get the experiences they want. People buy experiences; they get the things. People don’t really want the things. Things are logical, and people are emotional. No matter how much logic people feel they apply to a buying decision, at the moment of decision, the choice is emotional. As such, you have to learn to tap into people’s emotional currency since that’s how they decide with whom and how much U.S. currency they invest. You are not seeking to manipulate people or a situation, but rather seeking to understand how they approach life and showing them how you can make their home one less thing to worry about so they can focus on the health, safety, and well-being of their family.
Certainty leads to a transference of confidence which leads to the formation or respect and the foundation for a position of trust. It is trust that gets to make purchases.
People always crave comfort in difficult times such as this one, and even if certain comforting phrases or lyrics may not be entirely true or guaranteed, "Tell me we're alright / tell me we're okay" (obviously we, as a collective, are not alright or okay because of the many issues facing the world, a pandemic not being the least), people still want to hear some level of concern and assurance from those they trust most. Be the voice of calm, confidence and certainty in a world where uncertainty runs amuck.
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Drew Cameron is billed as "America’s Most Sought-After Sales & Marketing Strategy and Success Advisor to Home Services Contractors" and president of both Flow Odyssey (formerly HVAC Sellutions) and Energy Design Systems, LLC: the premier industry alliance providing leading-edge technology along with complementary marketing and sales consultative support, recruiting, training, and coaching for performance and profit enhancement of Home Services Contactors. Drew is a renowned author, speaker, educator, coach, consultant, software developer, philanthropist, and an International Consultant Award Winner. Drew is also president of the Cameron Family Memorial Foundation offering trade scholarships; a Board member, a Foundation Board Trustee, a Contractor University Founder & Faculty member, and Resident Expert of Contractor Connect for Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA). Contact Drew @ 610-745-7020 [email protected].