GlobalBX

Using food as an example, there are perhaps four ways to influence diners with meal offerings, and in descending order they are as follows: 1. tasting the food being offered, 2. seeing a photo of the meal, 3. glancing over a menu description of the meal, 4. studying a recipe relating to the meal.  None of that should be a revelation, but what is astonishing is that companies and their sales people almost always choose the recipe method when communicating with the market! Apparently, lots of detail will seduce customers and prospects, especially if the information in question is about the supplier and his products. I don’t think so. The moment potential customers hear someone talking about their products, they switch off immediately…right at the start.  Why? Because they already have all the products they need, that’s why. This catastrophic mistake is even made with most advertisements, which is why agencies recommend so many ‘spots’ be used, due to the message being too weak to gain and maintain the attention of potential buyers in one go…and yet I recall a man in New York using an ad so powerful he only had to air it now and then (on the radio). One form of ad I can think of that does ‘start at the end’ is one where weight loss is being sold, where it is normal practice to show someone ‘before and after’…to make it clear the benefits to be derived.

The reasons why otherwise intelligent people use recipe language, are that a) most of our knowledge is selfishly confined to who we are and ‘what we do’, and b) we seem to enjoy talking about ourselves, more than the world of those we serve. The market operates in precisely the opposite way! Customers and prospects are only interested in the results we can create, providing that they are much better than they currently enjoy…otherwise, keep the information to yourself. The market sees our offerings as being ‘a means to an end’, hence the focus and interest on end results first and methodology second.

In the dire economic situation we currently trade in, much better results are more important to markets than ever before, but not in the same way we think of in ‘good times’. In good times we want to soar, however in bad times we want to reduce soreness…and so the market right now is looking for relief from pain, not a way to move forward in style. And we should not undervalue the ‘relief’ factor; after all, how do you feel when a serious physical or emotional burden is removed from your life?

Our message then at this time should be along these lines: “Most suppliers are good at providing products and service, or they should be, but what they don’t always do well is look for the very best result for their customers…and so our company is focused right now on assessing whether people can achieve a much better result for the same cost. In addition, we don’t charge to provide this assessment, and it doesn’t take much of your time.” Imagine going to market with such a dynamic message; who would turn you away? To prepare yourself to go to market with this form of positive and topical proposition, it is important to find the answer to these questions:

• What results could I/we produce that would be very attractive to the market, compared to what they currently achieve? (it is a fact that while most incumbent suppliers are happy to ‘look after’ customers, they rarely do anything to improve [mutual] results…thus leaving the door open to you)
• How should I/we go about producing much improved results for the market, in the most cost efficient, timely manner? (this simply involves exerting more effort in key areas, beyond what the current supplier has done)
• In specific terms, how should we approach the market with our proposition, remembering that we will not have been asked to offer help? (it is critical to show respect for their current situation first, and then launch into your proposition concerning ‘progress’)

When you have found the answers, you are ready to use ‘positive aggression’ as the way to create sales.