In today’s world of marketing and sales, a significant key to unlimited leads is a company’s ability to get potential buyers to find them. There is an entire industry dedicated to inbound marketing and one of the leaders in the industry is HubSpot.
If you go to their site you will find an endless number of ‘free’ products and services to use to help you drive potential buyers to your site, your blog, and the variety of social networks you might be using. My good friend Pete Caputo also has a company, Databox, that provides a dashboard to help you make sense of all your data. All of this is important but the systems and processes don’t stand-alone when it comes to having impact on internet traffic to your company.
What is still needed is powerful messaging. Messaging that captures the attention of the market. Messaging that helps the market become aware of one of two things:
- A problem or potential problem they where unaware of
- A growth opportunity or positive outcome that is available
Mark Roberge, in his book The Sales Acceleration Formula, describes this first step in the prospects buying process as the ‘awareness stage’. Effective marketing helps create that awareness. But there are multiple stimuli that could cause someone to buy, change behavior or take action:
- A neighbor raves about a new movie – you go see the movie
- A friend suffers severe water damage in their 25-year-old home, hires a company to repair the damage and relates the story to
you– you call the company to inspect your basement to head off potential problems. - A co-worker talks about completing a financial plan that will help them secure their future – you want to know who they are working with and you call that advisor to set up an appointment.
These leads for the movie, the basement sealant
You must have your own message that stands alone; a message that when read, heard or seen causes the awareness that takes a buyer from passive to active. The question becomes – “What must that message say to procure this transition?”
Let me start with something that George Emmons, former president at Key Community Bank, described as a ‘blinding glimpse of the obvious’.
There isn’t a single marketing message that will tell a prospective new buyer:
- The company’s products are very expensive,
- Should you need support after purchasing, the support will be poor,
- Should the product fail to perform or should it break, there is no guarantee,
- The people you will be talking to are not competent, are biased in the approach and do not have experience
When I have this discussion in my keynotes and training programs everyone starts to chuckle and at least smile because they all know it to be true.
No one communicates to the
- Top of the line products,
- Great pricing,
- Un-paralleled service,
- Guaranteed or your money back,
- A professional and courteous sales associates who
cares only about you and your family
With that as the
The answer? “Deliver a message that doesn’t look, act or sound like everyone else’s message. Communicate in such a way so that people instantly think ‘This is different’.”
- The elevator pitch
- The value proposition
- The 30-second commercial
- The unique sales approach
- The brand promise
The message has many names, but it should communicate, in a brief, appealing and effective manner, how the company and product will work for the end user.
Apple – “We make great computers. They are beautifully designed and easy to use.”
The Late John Savage (Insurance professional) – “I deliver buckets of money when people need it the most”.
Geico – “15 minutes or less can save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”
Anthony Cole Training Group – “We provide answers to the most common business question – How do we grow sales?”
Your compelling message should elicit one of the three following responses.
“Tell me more.”
“How do you do that?”
“That’s me (us). How can I fix it?”
The best way to create a powerful message is to listen to your message as a prospective buyer. When you deliver your message to you, do you look, act or sound like everyone else? If so –change the message. You want it to cause people to react—“Tell me more.” “How do you do that?” “That’s our problem. How can I fix it?”
If your message is not having this effect, change it.
If you’d like more information, send me a text or call at 513-226-3913 – Provide your name and refer to USA (Unique Selling Approach). I’ll be happy to help.
