Cereal manufacturers know how to grab your
attention: bright colours, simple and compelling
messages (“Source of 5 essential nutrients!!!”),
catchy headlines. What about the ingredient list
with all the nutritional information? That’s on
the side; easily found, but obviously secondary.
The lesson: Ingredient lists don’t sell cereal.
Look at your business features as you would the
nutritional information on a cereal box: people
only look at it when they are already considering
buying the box. It displays important information
that needs to be communicated, but it does not
answer the first questions in the client’s mind.
For service providers, marketing is a
challenge: you know your service is useful and has
value, but because you don’t have a physical
product, the benefits may be harder to
define. After all, your client will only
experience what you do once they actually hire
you, which they won’t do if the benefits of using
your services are not convincing.
How will you, as a service professional, deal
with this fact? You must communicate with your
clients by being focused on their needs
first.
Attract, then Inform
I notice
that many of my clients put too much emphasis on
what they do instead of emphasizing why their
audience should choose them over the competition —
or choose them at all.
Note these claims:
- We offer a 90-day guarantee.
- I have over 15 years experience in my field
of expertise.
- I give 10% off all first-time buyers.
- We’ll set you a free e-mail account when you
purchase our 1-year plan.
- I’ll send you my 20-page report when you
sign up for my newsletter.
- My office is fully equipped to fill your
needs.
- I’ve done research in this field and found
...
- I am a member of these organizations: ...
What’s wrong with these claims? Absolutely
nothing, if they are true. In fact, these are
features your clients should be aware of. They are
part of what you are offering (the “what” of your
business), but they are independent of your
clients and their personal concerns.
Benefits are effective in attracting
people because they speak to what they can gain
personally. Once you have their attention, then
you can enhance your selling proposition with
features. Features can close a sale, but they will
usually not be your client’s first point of entry.
Your benefits should:
- Show the value of your services,
- Tell your audience what problems you will
solve, and
- Describe what they stand to gain by doing
business with you.
I vs. You
In the features list
above, notice how many times “I”, “we”, “our”,
“my”, and “me” are used. People are naturally
concerned with their own needs first. By
presenting them with a list of reasons why you are
so great, you are sending them the wrong message:
that their needs are secondary to what you think
they should know. Don’t make the mistake of
turning your marketing into a giant résumé of your
accomplishments. Use words like “you” and “your”
more often.
Be your own client
What do
your clients look for? Try a little role playing:
Pretend you are your own prospective client and
objectively evaluate your communication material.
Ask yourself: Would I buy from myself? What
would keep me interested? What am I looking for?
What do I really want?
Learn from how you search the web: If you were
looking for administrative help, would you be
searching Google for “15 years of experience”?
Probably not. You would be more likely to search
for terms like “database entry” or “transcription
services”. If that’s what you look for, chances
are most of your clients will do the same. Give
them what they want and organize your
information accordingly.
As you create any communication material,
answer these questions:
- What is the value of my service?
- What distinct problem will my service solve?
- What will my client gain?
- What does my client stand to lose by not
using my service?
- How will my client feel after buying/using
my service?
- What pain will it take away?
- What goal will my client achieve?
- What desire does it fulfill?
The answer may be different for each target
market, so it is important to know who your
prospective clients are before asking yourself
these questions.
Being completely objective about your own
business is not easy; you’ve worked hard to build
it and you know it inside out. Defining your
benefits from an outside perspective can enable
you to better understand how other people view
your business. Getting a view of your own “big
picture” is something a professional business
coach can help you achieve.
Whether you do it alone or get outside help, it
never hurts to think about what you have to
offer to potential clients. So, next time
you’re at the grocery store, stop by the cereal
aisle and ask yourself: “What are MY 5
essential nutrients?”
