We’ve driven 9-digits in sales and 8-digits in growth

More than Black and White: The Chess Match Secrets of Amazon Sales Consultants

In what ways are a chessboard like the branch of a tree and your product listings on Amazon? The parallels might surprise you, but there’s one that matters most: they’re all places soon to witness the miracle of flight.

But flight is a funny thing. It’s transformational. One moment something is earthbound, heavy, and weighted. The next, it’s lighter than air. Watching this phenomenon in real time, you see that a flap of the wings and a leap of faith make the difference.

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The Many Levels of a Level Playing Field: How Quickly An Amazon Marketing Strategy Can Shift Sales

“All competitors have an equal chance of winning before a single move is made.”

We mentioned this critical perspective in our last post as we launched this series of articles comparing strategic Amazon selling with precise, analytical games like chess. And while we do acknowledge that the odds of winning on paper are almost 50-50, it’s sadly time to shatter that illusion.

Opportunity is equal, but the rest is up to you.

Continue reading about the impact of shifting your Amazon marketing strategy 

Master the Pieces to Own the Game

Identify the right game pieces to boost your Amazon sales

We began the metaphor between chess and Amazon with a straightforward assertion: before a single move is made, both players have an equal chance of winning.

Then, we shattered that illusion. A level playing field? That’s not how the world works.

Continue reading about which pieces of Amazon are more important and how to best utilize them 

Start With a Plan; Pivot as You Play

Learn to Plan, and Plan to Learn

The quickest way to win a game of chess is in two moves, The Fool’s Mate. But, chess wouldn’t be any fun and you wouldn’t keep playing if you lost (or won) in two moves every time. Instead, you learn and improve continuously.

You’re at the table ready to play “the game” because you’ve recognized Amazon as a lucrative marketplace for your business needs. You’ve mastered the fundamentals, understanding the capabilities of each piece of the game and how they can work best together. Now you must build a playbook and learn how to optimize as the game unfolds.

Continue reading about how to learn to pivot as you are growing your Amazon sales

Moving Sales Beyond the Marketplace

Study the industry greats, learn from them, and innovate to beat them

This series of articles has focused on the parallels between playing chess and selling products on Amazon. We uncovered many links between the approach to a chess match and the ways you can improve your Amazon sales. But what if that was just the beginning? What if the levers you can pull and pieces you can control were only half the battle? In our last article, we talked about the importance of making a plan but anticipating instances where you would need to optimize or pivot. All of our focus up to this point has been on the game board and the pieces. The pieces are all critical but don’t forget to look up from the board and realize you are playing against actual people. And if you look a little closer, you might see your opponents have coaches whispering in their ears. Or fans cheering them on. There may be outside forces influencing what happens on the board, at a level beyond your control.

Continue reading about how to study, learn, and grow on Amazon

For the Love of the Game

Keeping Sales Fresh and Exciting for the Long-Term

We began this series of articles with a simple premise: Amazon sales is a game much like chess. And, similar to most games, it is something that you can improve with the right studying, planning, practicing, and learning. In short, you learn and grow by reflection and repetition. The ultimate goal is to achieve incredible sales volume on Amazon. That’s a business objective and an important one. Maximizing ROI, finding efficiencies to automate, building strong communities of customers and influencers. All of these things correspond to business objectives, but it is impossible to transform your sales toolkit and build prowess without changing a bit yourself, too. For the greatest chess grandmasters, each match was just as much about their own journey as it was about winning a game. As a growing, evolving sales professional, these articles will hopefully have reshaped the way you view Amazon sales and the approach you bring to the game. Once you’ve learned the ropes and played a few rounds, you can continue to keep the game fresh and energizing by learning the fun tricks to round out your playbook, and find a community to stay regularly engaged.

Continue reading about your final moves and the value of partnership