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"Sell
the Sizzle, Not the Steak!"
It
is a sad truth to face, especially when
we have worked so hard on getting trained,
educated, and experienced. But, most of
our prospects don't really care what we
do, where we got our training or degrees,
or what tools we use.
At
least not at first. First, they want to
know what can you do for me? what problem
can you solve, what new idea can you bring.
Their primary concern is some version of
"When will I stop hurting?" or
"When will I start getting more of
what I want?"
Our
local cable company is airing their ad that
focuses on the power of sizzle...showing
the benefits the customer will get from
what you will do. It is designed to attract
local businesses from radio ads to cable
ads in their market. The ads are clever...first
they air an ad for a product,and then show
a video in living color for the same product.
So, instead of just hearing about new kayaks
and white water adventures, you see the
shiny kayaks and excited passengers shooting
the rapids. The description of the puppies
for sale on the radio ad pales in comparison
of several little, cuddly, licking critters
in childrens' laps.
It's
the sizzle. The emotions. The feelings.
The pain or the desire that the prospect
comes to you for.
Not
where you went to school, how many articles
you've written, what tv shows you've been
on. (Okay, Oprah still has tons of sizzle...use
it if you have been there. I've gotten clients
only because I've been on that show. They
go nuts when I tell them I was asked back.
Go figure, she has more of a draw than I
do!)
For
the most part, your marketing needs to focus
on what you can do for your clients, not
what you've done in your past.
Check
out the sizzle factor in your own marketing
materials with the classic exercise Randy
Gage laid on a group of seasoned 1Person
Business owners one day:
Collect
all your marketing materials, including
your web copy, as well as two highlighting
pens, one yellow and one orange.
Give
yourself a quiet time and start highlighting
in orange all the copy that is about you.
What you do, where you got trained or went
to school, how many years of experience
doing what you do, or comments like "we
use the latest in industry technology."
Next,
go back over that same copy of your material
and highlight in yellow everything that
references what the clients will get, what
problems you solve, what results they can
expect.
"Your
sales cycle will shorten as you increase
sales." "Employees will all be
on the same path." "Your relaxed
muscles and tendons will sigh with gratitude."
You get the idea. Highlight in yellow the
phrases and sentences about them.
Virtually
everyone in the room that day Randy did
the exercise, including yours truly, was
shocked and appalled by how much more we
had in our materials about us than about
our clients.
You
know what’s next: Change your marketing
materials to be more client centered than
you centered.
You
won't regret it. It will be energy well
spent.
Reprinting and
Reposting
An
electronic version of these articles is available if you
wish to reprint or repost one of them. Please contact Dr.
Pat Wiklund for permission to reprint, and to see if there
is a royalty required for reprint.
If permission is granted, we request a hard copy of the
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