I was recently reminded of Seth Godin’s book with the same title when I was looking at new cars the other day (the original title was: “All Marketers Are Liars”).  The salesman was very polite and talkative, which isn’t bad.  He started telling all kinds of stories, and when I asked him for further information and where I can find it, based on his story, he couldn’t give me the information.  

Seth says in his book, “When you find a story that works, live that story, make sure it is a true story, authentic, and subject to scrutiny”. 

This particular salesman had stories, but they were not authentic.  They were designed to get a sale only.  They weren’t the result of a story the company was committed to wholeheartedly and as a reason for being.

If a story can’t stand up to scrutiny, as in my experience, you lose a customer and a sale. Eventually it catches up to you. 
Seth gives an example in his book about a glass maker.

According to Georg Riedel’s message on the glass maker web site, “The delivery of a wine’s message, its bouquet and taste, depends on the form of the glass…”

Robert Parker, Jr, the king of wine reviewers, said, “The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel.  The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound.  I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make.”

Perhaps thousands of others are now believers.  “Millions of wine drinkers around the world have been persuaded that a $200 bottle of wine (or a cheap bottle of Two-Buck Chuck) tastes better when served in the proper Rieidel glass.”

But when the proper scientific tests were done that eliminated “any chance that the subject would know the shape of the glass, there is absolutely zero detectible difference between glasses.  A $1 glass and a $20 glass deliver exactly the same impact on the wine: none.”

The idea that the form of a glass makes a difference is the story.  They sell millions of dollars’ worth of glasses every year.  The resulting perception is that the glasses help you to enjoy your wine more than you did before drinking it in a Reidel Glass.

“Marketing apparently makes wine taste better.”  It seems that “an expensive glass and the story that goes with it, has more of an impact on the taste of wine than the oak casks it’s brewed in.  Georg Riedel makes your wine taste better by telling you a story.”

Very interesting lesson!

What story can you tell about your product or service?

But before you answer and rush off to create a story, you may want to get a copy of Seth’s book and read it.  There is much more to the story of creating a story…the most important being that it must be authentic.  But when you get this right, it is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business.

Technorati Tags: all marketers are liars, all marketers tell stories, business story, Georg Riedel, robert parker jr, Seth Godin

In last week’s blog post, I received the questions below from a couple of our subscribers.

First question:

My question is with all of the information, marketing, and social media blasting our email or mailbox. All trying to get a min of our attention and gain a response. How do you get the attention of your target market?

Second question:

1. What is the most effective way to reach decision makers in mid size companies?

2. Is it better to reach an HR director or a CFO?

Background: I am looking to market an employee benefit program. This is a service that may already be provided by HR with limited success.

Here’s a way for everyone reading this article to hone your skill…

Take just a couple minutes and think about how you would answer these questions.

Then read my answers in the Comment section of the original blog post at http://www.kenvarga.com/news/can-you-imagine/ .

Compare your answers to my answers.  Are they different?  If so, make a comment and tell us how they are different.  If you agree with what I’ve said, you can say so too.

Share your inner genius with us.

Looking forward to your responses.

Technorati Tags: how to get attention of target market, how to reach decision makers

Most small businesses are confused about their marketing message.  Some think that a slogan will suffice, some think that an ad about how great their company is will do, or that saying how long they have been in business will work.

How about those companies that think it’s their mission statement and vision statement that is their marketing message.

It’s none of those.

Whenever I consult with a company, I ask them, “What is your marketing message,” and the above are most of the answers I receive.

However, your marketing message is what will grab your prospects’ attention.   It tells your prospects why they should trust you, why they should choose to do business with you rather than your competitors, and says how you can solve their problem.

That’s it in a nutshell.

It should “speak” to your prospect.  This is done by appealing to your prospect’s hot buttons and whatever will trigger an emotional reaction. You must research and find those hot buttons.

Here are three things you should do and explore when putting together your Marketing Message:

1. Identify the problems that your target market is having.  You must ask yourself the following question: “What problems are the members of my target market having and how do those problems make them feel?” Each target market, individually, has its own frustrations and pains. The secret to putting together a message that will make members of your market sit up and listen is to identify the problem and the pain they feel as a result of that problem. They don’t care about your company, or how great you are, or how long you’ve been in business.  Identifying their pain and suffering tells them that you understand and empathize with them.  Let them know that you care.

2. Present them with your solution to their problem.  Ask yourself the question.  “What is the solution that I have to offer my prospect?”  Present your solution as a “cure” for all of the pain and suffering they are going through as a result of this problem.  Put yourself in the situation of your customer.  Would you make a decision on purchasing something unless you feel an excruciating pain?  Now is the time to identify all the benefits of your solution.  Identify how those benefits will improve their lives and how great they will feel when you take that pain and anguish away.

3. Explain what makes you different from your competitors.  To start, ask your present customers the following question, “Why do you deal with me rather than with (your competitor’s name).

Once you know how you are different from your competitors, you need to communicate your differences.  Those differences need to have a perceived value in the mind of your prospect, so help them along in your message.  It needs to be something they care about.

Remember what I always say to myself when I do any shopping.  What’s in it for me?

Again, all of this starts with knowing the wants, problems, needs, and fears of your target market.  It ends with you putting together a message that speaks to those problems in a very compelling and believable way. 

Do the above 3 things and you will create an irresistible message that makes your prospect want to know more.

Technorati Tags: market fears, market message, market needs, market wants, marketing message, marketing messaging, target market

There is a very short window of time that you have when you initially contact a new prospect by telephone, in a face-to-face meeting, or networking. If you fail to make an impression quickly, you have tuned them out.

Here are some of the things I’ve experienced where the person lost my attention.

1. Opening the conversation by introducing themselves, their company and what they do.

2. If they are in my office, making small talk about the “stuff” they see.

3. Explain to me how your product or service will benefit me. (This is not a misprint. Read below to understand.)

4. Telling me what other companies they have worked with.

5. Showing me the awards they have received.

6. Giving me a brochure immediately.

7. Starting a telephone conversation with, “Hi, how are you?”

Again, these are just a few of the things that have turned me off and you have probably experienced the same.

The moment your prospect senses that you are trying to sell them something that they don’t need or want, they will tune you out and look for a way to disengage or disconnect from the call.

They really don’t care about you. They don’t want to know about your company, listen to you talk about your products or services, or making small talk.

What they do want is a solution to a problem. They want to know how you can help them improve their business. Here are some thoughts on how you can accomplish that.

You must direct all of your attention on their situation and resist the opportunity to talk about you or your company.

When you meet someone, say something like the following, “Mrs. Prospect, many of our clients are currently experiencing (insert the problem here). How does that compare to your company’s situation?”

This demonstrates that you are knowledgeable about their business and/or the industry, and it gives them the opportunity to tell you about their most important concerns.

Over my last 40 some odd years, I have found that most people will tell you anything you want to know providing you give them a reason to do so. The key is to develop and ask high-quality questions.

Here’s really the bottom line…

The more time you spend talking about your product, the less inclined a prospect will want to continue that conversation.

The more you focus your attention on their situation—their problems—and demonstrate how you can help them improve their business, the more you differentiate yourself from your competition.

And this goes for anything you do in life. Whenever you are in any situation, if you talk about yourself, you lose them.

You only have a few moments to connect with a prospect, so keep it brief. Keep it focused. Keep it about them and you will keep their attention.

You’ve all experienced this, so tell me one of your stories.

Technorati Tags: differentiate yourself, differentiate yourself from your competition, differentiation, network meeting, Networking, phone contact, phone conversation, prospect's attention, sales meeting

Season’s Greetings everyone. I wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season! Have fun and enjoy your family!

Now on to our topic…

Can you imagine what your Social Networking followers would think if you sent them a card in the mail?

In our predominantly digital world, how much could you stand out by taking a few moments to select a special greeting card and sending it to your, here I go, “peeps” via snail mail? There is a company that I highly recommend to do this. It’s called Send Out Cards.

It is a wonderful automated system.

After paying a membership fee, you can create and send out a greeting card via snail mail for under $2 (which includes postage). You can also send out gifts if you want.

With Send Out Cards, you can do annual campaigns, upload birthdays and anniversaries and send to groups of people or all of your contacts. Here’s what you can do…

Take a photo with someone well known, and then send that person a greeting card with the picture on the front. Or take a picture holding your favorite book or information product and send a card with that picture on the front to the author or writer of the information product. Make sure you put in a note thanking them. You can even upload your own handwriting.

The possibilities are tremendous.

Those of you who have assistants (virtual and otherwise) can use them to help streamline the process.

Setting up the system to work the way you want will be easier if someone takes you through the process the first time. So if after checking it out you decide you want to use it, I recommend that you contact Janet Ostrov at www.sendoutcards.com/36043 (This is Janet’s link. I am not an affiliate and do not get anything for this recommendation.) She’s an independent distributor for Send Out Cards and she’ll help you set up the system to do exactly what you want and make the process easy for you.

If you test this let me know your results.

Technorati Tags: customer relationship building, postcard mailing

Every business person has specific goals they are striving to achieve.

These can include everything from increasing their market share and sales, to reducing operating expenses, to streamlining the business, to being creative and taking share from the competition.

Here’s another worthy goal.

Invest the time to learn the key objectives of each of your customers. Then determine how your products or services can help them achieve their targets.

In some cases, you may not be able to help them, but you might be able to recommend them to someone else who can assist them. When you do this you will be recognized and remembered.

The more you can help them achieve their goals the more valued you will become.

Under promise and over deliver. This has been my motto for the last 40 years. As old as this expression is, it is still one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd.

Far too many people make commitments to their customers and fail to follow through as promised. It is easy to fall into this trap, especially for service-oriented occupations. We have every intention of delivering on a promise, but often unexpected circumstances crop up that prevent us from doing so. While once in a while this is acceptable by most people, frequent occurrences will drive your customers to your competition.

Consistently helping your customers achieve their key goals and objectives will put you above the crowd.

Let me know your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: being above the crowd, business goals, customer goals, customer satisfaction, differentiating a business, differentiation, standing out

All of us have competition.  Competition is an ugly word but competitors are a fact of life in business.  Your business must compete with other businesses.  You must create an edge separating your business from the competition. 

You should learn everything there is to know about your competition and to understand and know what their marketing strategies are.

The first thing you should do is to make a list of the competitors that are a threat to you and your future. Take the time to research them and get a feel for how they deal with their customers, then answer the following questions:

1. Do they have testimonials and are they positive?
2. Do they offer discounts?
3. Do they offer a guarantee and do they have a return policy?
4. By comparison, are their prices in line and competitive with yours?
5. Do they offer anything special like free delivery or double your money?
6. Which areas are they negligent in and how can you capitalize on it?
7. How do they promote their business?
8. What do they offer that you don’t?

Now you should create a profile of each of your main competitors.  Outline how they advertise and why you think their customers shop there; in fact, you should try to locate one of their customers and ask them that question.  Next determine what areas they need to improve on and how successfully you can expect to compete with them.

Doing the above will help you understand your competitors strengths and their weaknesses.

Now, evaluate and compare your own strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to the competition.

Once you have this list, you can now shout the differences between you and your competition in all of your advertising and marketing methods.

The information that you glean about your competition will also help you formulate your Unique Selling Proposition.

This is why it’s important to research your competition first.  One of the keys to a successful business is identifying what makes your business unique and letting everyone know about it.

This in turn will help your prospects understand why they should buy from you, rather than the competition.  When it is used successfully, it makes you the obvious choice in their minds.

The best USP’s consist of unique concepts that set your business favorably apart from your competition.

A business that employs USP’s has a way of competing in the marketplace that goes way beyond price.  Price will never be an issue.

Let me know what your USP’s are in the comment section.

Technorati Tags: beating the competition, competitive advantage, competitive intelligence, competitive strategy, USP