In Sales, Words Matter!

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Words can have a negative or positive impact on your sales efforts. Guest author Gary Kurtis shares some examples….

The interrogation with the overhead light:

Sales people are rightfully taught to ask questions to uncover problems. Often this comes across to the customer as an interrogation. Before asking the questions, be sure you have created a comfort level with your customer, and then have the questions be “conversational”. The best questions are thought-provoking, meant to elicit a reply such as “What a great question! No one’s ever asked me that before!” With questions posed in this manner, prospects will be more likely to tell you about their problems.

The 50/50 dilemma:

How many times during the sales cycle do we ask a question or make a statement and not get the answer we are looking for? For example, we say “I am calling to follow up on our proposal”, only to be told “Well, nothing has changed”. (Why ask a question if there is at least a 50% chance you will not get your desired answer?)

Dealing with the competition:

Here are two scenarios we all want to avoid. a)You had a great call leading to an anticipated sale, but the customer goes with your competition. You never had the chance to address your advantages – because you didn’t ask if they were looking at other options!  b) Following another great call, you remember to ask the prospect if they are planning to look at the competition. They reply, “What a great idea! We hadn’t thought about doing that, but it now makes perfect sense.”  Neither scenario is good for you. Rather than suggesting there is competition, once the customer expresses a desire for your solution, simply ask them what next steps they plan to take to have your solution fully approved. (If they do plan on looking at the competition, that will be revealed in their answer.)

Getting the customer to state what they dislike about their current vendor:

Sales people are often taught to ask this question to determine how they can become a better source compared to the current vendor. The problem is most (particularly if they don’t know you), prospects will not automatically open up. In fact, they may become defensive, since it was their decision to select that vendor. Take the high road. Ask your customer what they like about their current vendor. Then ask them what they would improve or add. This technique essentially gives you permission to ask what they don’t like, doing it in a positive way.

Requesting a meeting:

Sales people are given numerous scripts to request a meeting. These are performed by cold calling, phone, email, letters etc. The basic request is to make it about you and your company and having an opportunity to introduce yourself to eventually “earn” your business. In this era of information overload and “pushy” sales people you become part of the noise. A better approach is to identify your differentiation from others, learn what’s most important to your targeted customer and request to have a conversation to share how you helped other similar customers to see if there is a fit.

In sales, the words you use and your choice of questions to ask – matter – a lot!

 

Today’s guest post was contributed by Gary Kurtis, Principal of Sales Tips101. For more information, call (301) 775-1318 or visit https://salestips101.com.

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Content Marketing Must Make Readers the Winners

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“Shark Tank likely would not be the household name it has come to embody had it not been for Clay Newbill, Daymond John admits. “it was Newbill who pitched the idea and his choice of ideal cast members to a team of writers and editors”. In his book Powershift, Daymond John recalls a key change to the seating arrangements on the set that Newbill had made in the show, putting the Sharks at eye level with the entrepreneurs instead of on a raised stage. John’s advice to entrepreneurs is to “hone a win-win negotiating style”, striking a deal that works to the benefit of both parties.

In order to bring about a successful result in negotiating any deal, John elaborates, you need to do your homework, set the tone for the discussion, make the first move, and play to win-win. Understanding that people are people, just like you, bring value to the table without expecting anything in return, he advises. Always consider the needs of the buyers, not only those of the sellers.

Think like a buyer in your blog, I tell content writers. As Keith Rand, my late friend and co-member of Circle Business Network put it, achieving success in business means understanding – and focusing the conversation on – not what you have to offer, but on what the other party is seeking. Keith would explain that in a business transfer, the focus needs to be not on why the seller has decided to sell, but on what on what’s going on inside the buyer’s head as he or she pictures owning and running that business going forward. 

In advising professional speakers on ways to drive revenue, Aussie consultant Peter Sheahan advocated being buyer-centric, doing everything with buyers’ needs in mind. Your content marketing, I tell business owners and professional practitioners, will succeed only if two things are apparent to readers: 

  1. You understand their concerns and needs.
  2. You and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs. 

The content  marketing principle emphasized ten years ago in a piece by socialmediatoday.com remains true: “Content marketing should be beneficial to your customer, reflective of your brand, and optimized for Google, in that order.

Content marketing must make readers the winners!

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Focusing on the Reader of the Story

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“Here’s how to introduce yourself to a reporter so that you will be a source for a news story on the subject,” consultant Janet Falk writes. The five W’s, she advises (who, what, when, where, why) should serve as the framework for your pitch.

In blog marketing, the “Who”, of course, denotes narrowing down your audience in order to “target” the content to those you most hope will be reading your post. “Be as specific as possible,” Falk cautions.

The “what?” has two components: What idea or concept will you present? Then, what will they do next with that idea? Think of readers’ situation before they learned this information; compared to after they hear about it, Falk writes.

Translated into content marketing, the “what” relates to the “where”. In the Call to Action, what alternatives are you offering for next steps? There should be more than one: those ready to buy should be enabled to do that right away (link or phone number). Those who need more information before making a decision should be able to message you. For those not quite ready for any of those steps, provide a link to a video or white paper. Navigation to that “where” needs to be very easy.

The “Why” is the most important question of all, Falk explains. “How will your idea help someone save time, save money or make more money?”

When it comes to blog marketing, there’s a lot of talk about “traffic”. Yes, blogging is part of business owners’ and professional practitioners’ “pull marketing” strategy, designed to attract readers’ eyeballs. In practice, however, fewer might actually prove better, I explain to Say It For You clients. The real goal is attracting readers of “the right kind“, customers who have a need for and who will appreciate the services, products, and expertise being showcased in your content.

 

In the scenario Janet Falk describes, you are introducing oneself to a reporter as a source for a news story, In content marketing, the “reporter” is the search engine algorithm, which serves as a “gateway” for you to tell your story to the target reader. “Social media algorithms can be a powerful ally in growing one’s online audience. Think of them as virtual matchmakers designed to match users with content that suits their interests,” sproutsocial,com explains.

Whether you’re introducing yourself to a reporter or to an algorithm, define your five W’s, always focusing on the ultimate reader of the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In Content Marketing, You’ve Gotta Do More Than Rubbing Harder

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Earlier this week, we discussed the importance of infusing the unique personality or “esthetic” of the business owner or professional practitioner into their marketing content in order to “make things happen”. Ironically, the instruction label on a household product reminded me how often this good advice is apparently ignored….  

Preparing for the upcoming Passover holiday, I realized that my silver candlesticks had become tarnished and were in need of polishing. At my favorite hardware store, after selecting a packet of “polishing cloths for fine metal”, I began reading the instructions on the back of the package.. The first of seven bullet points of instructions read as follows (so help me!): “Rub tarnished objects gently. For tough jobs, rub harder.”  

”Writing a blog with relevant content proves to your audience that you’re a knowledgeable resource on the subject,” Mailchimp explains. “The content in your blog posts should be helpful and informational as that shows your customers you understand them and want to help them….How-to’s are a very popular type of blog post, explaining to a reader how to do a specific task.”

“When you teach your readers how to do something, it demonstrates three very important qualities about you and your business: You want to help 2.You can help 3.There is more help where that came from”, Linda Dessau writes on LinkedIn. Instructional posts are educational, offering advice and tops onn tackling either common complaints or niche problems, bigstarcopywriting.com observes. In fact, the authors add, instructional blog posts tend to be more successful than others in increasing landing page visits over time.

The thing to avoid, though, in creating content that helps and instructs, is exemplified by the inst4ructions on my silver polish package: talking down to your audience. (As Prince is quoted as saying “When you don’t talk down to your audience, they can grow with you.”)  The secret to success in instructional content marketing is making complex topics digestible without sounding as if your talking down to the reader.

Do I need the manufacturer to advice me that polishing my candlesticks effectively is simply a matter of rubbing harder? In creating how-to content, the one reaction you never want to elicit from readers is the one I had – “Duh!”

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Don’t Just Make It Work – Make It Happen!

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On a recent episode of Project Runway (one of my very favorite TV shows), designer Isaac Mizrachi offered the following gem of a statement (meant as a take-off on mentor Tim Gunn’s encouraging “Make it work!”).  To be an all-star, Mizrachi insists, it’s not enough to “make things work” – you need to make things happen!

“By developing a unique and recognizable brand identity…you can ensure that your brand stands out from the competition and is remembered by customers,” Brittany Bettini of the Forbes Business Council writes. Just as, on the fashion runway, designers strive to stand out (rather than blending in), business owners and professional practitioners need to establish a “brand” that stands out in the marketplace. Your brand identity:

  1. differentiates you from competitors
  2. creates a lasting impression on potential customers

It’s going to take more than offering exceptional customer service, JP Van Steertgeghem cautions in a LinkedIn piece. There are no shortcuts to greatness, but it’s important to create and share engaging, interesting, and valuable content.

Just as Mizrachi was stressing to the fashion design contestants, Kasey Murphy tells entrepreneurs in the the wesayhowhigh.com blog to “be bold” in their marketing campaigns. In a crowded marketplace, Murphy stresses, it’s essential to make your brand stand out through bold marketing campaigns that “shine brighter”.

“The one that stands out is in essence the one that is not like the rest,” onsightapp.com agrees. “When people cannot distinguish brands from each other, they cannot form reliable relationships with those brands.” Not only does an effective brand have a well-outlined target audience, it may even offer a service or product exclusively to that target audience.

As a frequent viewer of the show, I couldn’t help noticing a recurring theme in the conversations among the designers and the judges of project runway challenges about designers “staying true to their own aesthetic in developing runway-worthy garments. In marketing content, we understand at Say It For You, it’s crucial to let the personality of the owners and providers “shine through”. 

In my 2020 post “Don’t keep yourself a secret in your blog,” I was alluding to showcasing  the “aesthetic” of the people behind the brand, revealing not only what they have, what they do, and what they know how to teach others to do, but offering a glimpse into their  personalities..

In content marketing, in short, it’s important to do more than just “make it work”.  We have to make it happen!

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