By Suzi Elton
Have you ever found yourself thinking or saying something like, "My target market should recognize how superior my services are (to my competitors') without my having to describe them."? If so, you are experiencing Marketing Delusion No. 6. Just because you are so intimately knowledgeable about what you do and how your services work, does not mean that any potential clients would know what you know. If you think about it, it's a bit egotistical to expect a prospect to do all the work of finding out about your services. Why would they want to work with a provider who starts off by making it difficult? Here are a few of the reasons why this is a delusion.
1. No one knows your business like you do.
It's easy to lose sight of the fact that no one else knows and understands what we do like we do. It's necessary to convey the salient points of this information - from the client viewpoint - if you want to move prospects toward a buying decision. This does not mean that you dump onto them every fact of your policies and procedures. Instead, you are going to simplify the information so that they can get a good picture of your services. You leave out all the technical jargon and provider-centric viewpoint. They don't care about that. They want to know what it would be like for them to receive your services.
2. If you don't provide prospects enough information to decide that your services are superior, they will select your competitor.
When a member of your target market is shopping for services like yours, they will compare information side by side. If you have not given them all the facts, details, and benefits, you will not win out in the comparison. They will choose your competitor. You must be sure to showcase the aspects of your services that set you apart from your competitors. What do you do that no one else does? What benefits do your clients receive that prospects cannot get from your competitors?
3. You must understand and provide the quantity of information that a prospect needs to decide to buy.
Don't imagine that a few words on a brochure will be enough to close a sale, or even to get a prospect to ask you for in-depth information. If a prospect cannot figure out what your business does within the first few seconds of reading your marketing writing, they will give up. If you leave all kinds of questions unanswered, don't expect them to be intrigued enough to inquire further. Instead, they are likely to be irritated that you wasted their time and did not give them enough information that they could take a next step. They have to keep looking for a solution to their problem.
4. A prospect must understand your business and how your services work before they can decide to buy.
Just because you believe that your services are superior does not mean that a prospect will know that. You must understand that they want to be convinced, but they need to know the facts first. They want to end their frustrating search. If your marketing writing does not give them what they need to know to understand how your services work, you're "pushing" them back out into the marketplace. Whatever hope they had that their search was over is dashed. They need to know how your services work, and the details about you and your business before they will consider purchasing.
5. A prospect needs to appreciate the benefits they would receive from working with you.
A potential client must be able to picture themselves receiving the benefits your services bring. They must desire to have those benefits. Prospects want to know that they can get and have exactly what they want in their lives if they choose to work with you. Your marketing writing must be able to kindle a burning desire and passion in your prospects to have those benefits that you specify.
Don't expect your target market to recognize how superior your services are if you are stingy in providing the detailed information they need in your marketing writing. You can be absolutely the best among your competitors and still not have enough clients, if you don't take the steps to ensure that prospects know enough about your business to decide to buy.
Suzi Elton provides business writing that attracts targeted prospects to your service business and converts them into clients for you. She is a Robert Middleton Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach, as well as a professional writer. Her website offers a free series of 8 assessments you can use to analyze your own site.
To learn about her Robert Middleton style Web Site Tool Kit Writing Package, go to http://www.wowfactorwriting.com/services/web-site-tool-kit-package/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzi_Elton
No comments:
Post a Comment