Can knowing too much make you lose money?

I was speaking with a gemmologist today.... An expert in gemstones, who's seen all facets of the gem trade, from traveling around the world looking for gems, running his own small mine, and running his own store.... He said something intriguing....

He said, the people who make the most money with gemstones DON'T know all the details behind the gems. They DON'T know very nook and cranny of knowledge, how ever little defect of the gem is caused, what processes deep within the earth created the features of gem you admire in the glass case of the jewelry store....

He said, those who know too much seem to lose their ability to sell!

It reminds me of something Gordon said.... When he was selling hi tech sound systems (I think), he didn't need to know all the details of how the thing worked, since that's not what people bought.... They bought what it did for THEM (the benefits)....

Before today, I never heard so explicitly that knowing TOO much can hinder your ability to sell (since it takes your focus off of what's important).... But now it rings true. What do you think?

Dien (the knowledge-sponge) Rice

...the best salespeople can sell practically anything. They understand that selling involves human emotion more than it involves the specific details of the product, like you said...benefits, not features.

They don't need to understand every little detail about the product, just the fundementals that the customer is hot for.

On a similar thread, I was going through some old copies of a well known markerter's newsletter and I found something that makes a lot of sense about choosing what kind of businesses or products to become involved with.

Someone he knew who sold cars for a living, said...You make money when you buy the car, not when you sell it.

Which means if you buy the right car, the one that people want then you increase the odds of a sale compared to buying a heap of junk no one wants.

And it's the same with anything that involves making money. You make money (in a sense) when you choose the product or the type of business you get involved with before you do anything.

If you choose the wrong kind of business at the start, then no matter how hard you work, you may be destined to fail.

That's one reason, why 80% of businesses go broke in the first 12 months, people jump into something they think will work without doing the necessary research to see if people even want what they're thinking about offering.

Max