Albert Einstein may have said “Imagination is more important than knowledge”, however, modern western society still tends to value what can actually be ‘seen’ (in the physical sense) more highly than ‘un-materialised’ ideas or visions alone.

This raises a very important question: “How can we leverage the power of the ‘physical’ to raise our own or your product’s perceived value, so you can sell more, charge more and ‘become’ a key influencer within your marketplace?”

If we can’t see it, can we trust ourselves to trust it?

A study conducted by B. Bushong, L.M. King, C.F. Camerer and A. Rangel found that the mere fact of having an actual ‘physical’ product in front of an individual (as opposed to an image) increased how much the individual was willing to bid on the item by a staggering 60%.

The findings highlight how little value we have been taught to place on soft and intangible skills and – in my opinion – how wasted some of our most useful sensory abilities and talents can be.

Put simply, for the majority of people walking around ‘seeing is believing’.   If they can’t ‘see’ something concrete, the value placed upon it (your products / services) significantly decreases and won’t be taken seriously.

This is why strong personal branding and packaging are two vital keys to increase your own perceived value in the marketplace.

Increase your desire by 60%

For decades now the self-help gurus of the world have hypothesized that to attract abundance into your life you must create a dream board and fill it with images of places you’d love to go, amounts of money you’d like to make, and possessions you long to obtain.

This may work for some but the science says otherwise, making a very valid argument for physically engaging with whatever it is you want to acquire as much as possible (rather than simply visualising it).

This is why test driving your dream car or actually attending auctions to ‘walk through’ your dream home is far more effective than simply leafing through pictures in a glossy magazine.

You are likely to value each desire 60% more simply through the physical realisation of your idea in the real world.

Imagine what that extra 60% of extra augmented enthusiasm could do to improve your zest for life and help you bring a more determined ‘no-excuses’ attitude to everything you do!

What this means for business

While you might be able to use use this reasoning to change our own attitudes, how can this be applied to your business?

Does this mean that to successfully increase your customers’ desire to purchase your product / service you must be able to manifest some form of physical realisation of it?

Increase Service Based Sales:

For service industries, this may mean creating information products that can be produced into a CD / printed report or even workshop with physical copies of manuals they will receive when they engage with your services. It could also mean, ‘YOU’ getting out and networking directly with individuals to expose them to a packaged version of your ‘personal brand.’

Increase Product Sales:

To increase product sales create sample products and share them wherever and whenever you can — exhibitions, tradeshows etc. You could even send out samples via a website or take SMS requests to teach prospects to value your goods more highly and, therefore, drive their desire to buy.

Seeds of ‘YOUR’ Imagination

As for Einstein, it is still true that imagination is more important than knowledge. So, it’s time to tap into your imagination and see how you can create physical realisations of your ideas that will seduce people to buy more from you, more often.

Ben Angel is the author of the brand new controversial book, ‘Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business – The Ultimate Guide to Attracting & Seducing More Customers.’ Grab your copy today by visiting www.benangel.com.au