The joys of a 30 second infomercial

Those of us in small business who have ever thought about joining a networking group or attending a networking event will have faced the question: “What do you do?” Probably we have all sat in line as the creeping death of everyone else’s introduction works it’s way inexorably around to us. Maybe we have had the experience of the group leader saying: “OK, let’s all give our 30 second infomercials and we will start with……..Jerry.”

However familiar we are with giving our well practiced speech there is always a slight frisson or excitement in this process. Perhaps we are one of the last to speak and by the time it gets around to us there have been three other people in a similar line of business who have already explained why they have the best products and the best customer service. So, what do you say that makes you stand out?

Think about your best testimonial - that is the place to start

In my experience most people answer the “what do you do” question literally i.e. with a list of what they do. The difficulty with this is it makes you sound the same as everyone else and it is all about YOU. Think about the best client testimonial you have received. If it is in writing go back and look at it again. If not, you might like to talk to your best client and ask them again what they love about you, specifically.

I bet you won’t see many testimonials that include things like: “He had services I had never heard of before” or “What clinched it for me was she was based on 103rd street” or “I’ve never met anyone else who has been in business a combined 55 years - wow!”

Now I am being flippant and exaggerating for effect BUT I have heard all those statements made as reasons to do business in a 30 second introduction.

So what is in a testimonial that I can use?

Usually testimonials include how you made someone’s life better, or a particular unique feature you provided to your client but it will be about them. How you helped, what you did that improved their life etc. Look more deeply than comments about  great customer service and find out what that means specifically - took away worry, helped me sleep at night, solved a frustrating problem. There is your uniqueness and there is how you can help other people who match your ideal client profile.

Hint: Stop talking about yourself and base your message on what your clients get personally from the experience of working with you.

Great book!

Reading is greatly underrated in my view. There are so many things that you can pick up from reading, even in books you really don’t enjoy. It is always worth having your personal view of the world challenged by an author! Right now I am in the middle of:  “What got you here, won’t get you there” by Marshall Goldsmith

As I intimated there are things I disagree with in most books and there are a few here. There is a lot of material of great interest in this book though, much of it having direct relevance to small business marketing. Perhaps the most important nugget I have come across so far is the notion that:

Being smart is a turn on, telling people how smart you are is a turn off (I paraphrase!)

Are you showing off too much?

As a business owner you are probably the world’s foremost expert on your company (I hope that is so). In addition you are likely to be extremely well informed on topics that affect your business and/or the field in which you work. Again, this is an assumption when you own a business, you should be an expert in what you do. It is likely you are passionate about what you do and the difference you want to make.

It can be difficult to reign in that enthusiasm, especially when a prospect demonstrates some interest in what you do. It is very tempting to dazzle them with your expertise. Most of the time we end up talking too much, and talking about ourselves, overtly demonstrating who expert we are.

It’s about them, not you

So how do people get to see and experience how expert you are? It seems counter intuitive to say “talk less” but that is part of it. The other part of it is : “Ask questions”. When you are an expert it is relatively easy to ask perceptive, probing questions. Anything that gets your prospect to talk about him or herself and their challenges is what you are aiming for. Ask them what their challenges are, ask them their opinions and you will find they open up much more.

 Also, they will come away from the encounter thinking much more of you and your expertise than they would have if you spent half an hour telling them about how great you are. It really works! Although it is simple, it isn’t necessarily easy - as Goldsmith writes in his book, there is a difference. With practice, and by listening closely to what others say, you will find that natural curiosity will help you pose perceptive questions.

I encourage reading generally and “What got you here..” is shaping up to be a good read specifically. Here is a link to his blog for anyone interested : Marshall Goldsmith blog

Who do you love to work with?

One of the most common mistakes we see small businesses make when they get set up is a head long rush to implement some marketing tools. It seems like a good use of time to get into action straight away. Most of us are “doers” and getting going on activity feels good!

However it is often the route to frustration and wasted money. Why? Well, activity is all very well but without clear focus it is often a wasted effort. If you are not talking to the appropriate audience, such activity is likely to be ignored. The frustration this causes can lead to frequent changes of tactics, more money spent in unrelated activity. This is what we call “episodic marketing” and commonly includes activity such as: brochure, website, direct mail, widely dispersed networking activity, joining of groups etc.

The starting point

It sounds easy, in practice it is harder. However you really need to define, specifically and in a targeted way, who you preferred clients are. Not necessarily the ones who pay best (although that may be part of it) but those you have a passion to help. Those that make your day, that you look forward to speaking with. You may be able to find them in your client base now (hopefully you have at least one!) but if you are new in business then it is those that you envisaged helping when you started out.

Spending some time on this will help you avoid the excesses of episodic marketing. When you know who you want to help you can define their problems, how your services make that better, where these people hang out, what they read, what they want and so on.

Sounds easy but it takes work! Spend some time defining who these people are and you won’t regret that time!

Are you prepared to give your message at any time?

I am struggling a bit this week as I just returned from a trip to the Philippines. Partly this was a vacation, partly a trip to see relatives and partly (the most rewarding part) was charitable work with a local hospital and school. This is the reason that there has been no blog from me for a couple of weeks. However, as always it seems, there was a marketing lesson I learned in an unexpected place. In this case, it was on a plane.

So, what do you do?

The flight from Kansas City to Manila is a long one. You can’t get there non-stop. We went: Kansas City to Chicago to Tokyo to Manila. I don’t know exactly how many hours that is in the air but it’s a lot. It was about 30 minutes before landing in the Philippines, around 27 hours since I last slept that I fell into conversation with the person in the seat next to me. She asked me the classic question: “What do you do?”

We had a great conversation but I am not sure that I answered her question very effectively even though I have been asked it hundreds of times and like to think that I am always prepared for it.

What’s the lesson?

My travelling colleague was based in Manila so may not have been a good target for me but her business was definitely one of my target types. I was so tired and not thinking in a business mindset due to the nature of the trip but so what? We were having a nice conversation and there was always the chance we could do business together and I allowed my guard to slip and was taken by surprise.

This is not a beat myself up issue at all. It is a learning point - you never know. You really don’t. The next person you meet might be your perfect client/referral partner/whatever. Make sure that you are always prepared to answer that question - it takes some up front work but it is well worth it.

I have a very good friend here in Kansas City, Stephen,  who gives me loads of ideas for books that have really helped me in business and also personally. Generally speaking I agree with his (very educated) opinions but we do diverge a little when it comes to “The Four Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss.

What can you give up?

I encourage you to read this book even though I have a couple of issues with it! I went to one of Stephen’s book review sessions last week and it has encouraged me to re-read it to see what different aspects I can pull out the second time around. The key point I am particularly interested in is the concept that there are things that we should all give up to make our lives less cluttered and more rewarding.

In the context of marketing, what does this mean?

Is everything strictly necessary?

As much as I love books and thirst for knowledge, I can’t really agree with Ferris when he recommends going 5 days without reading, following the news etc. However in the marketing world there are surely a lot of things that we do that we could give up, or should at least evaluate as to their effectiveness.

So the simple point of this post is this: Take a look at your marketing activities - do you know why you are doing them and what you expect out of them? Can you point to the results and are you tracking those results?

Here’s the kicker - what would giving up those activities cost you? Is it really necessary that you do them yourself or can you outsource them?

I suspect there are a great many marketing things we do that are not particularly effective but we continue with them because they are fun, we can’t think of anything else to do, someone told us to etc. Make sure you know whether this is the case or not!

Maybe I should read the book again - perhaps I am coming round to it’s key message!

We are having a great seminar series running at the moment - group discussion is always so valuable, not least when it provides material for this blog! We are at the stage when we get to talk about moving from initial contact to gaining attention using that ubiquitous tool: The 30 second introduction.

How many versions should I have?

How many intros do you need? Here is the key: Figure out who the message is for - in other words what is the profile of your ideal clients? What do those businesses (or individuals) have in common in terms of their demographics/size/industry type and so on. This will form the first part of your message:

“We work with Fortune 500 companies” or “I work with small businesses and independent professionals in the service sector” are a couple of examples. You can perhaps vary your message around this theme (more on that later) but who the message is for should ALWAYS be clear.

OK, what do you do for them?

Think about the problems that your target audience is facing and will readily relate to. These are the issues they deal with and will gain their attention. For example:

“We work with small business owners and independent professionals in the service sector who want to grow but struggle to attract high quality clients consistently”

Now, you can vary the second part a little as far as the words go. Figure out what works best but you should be highly comfortable with the words. They should be things that you would say in a conversation or it won’t sound natural. However you may want to vary some of the words just so as you don’t sound like a tape recorder. Make sure that the core message is the same though!

There are a number of ways to think about that question but I invite you to consider it in terms of your business (or career).

How easy is it to answer the question: What are you passionate about?

I think it is easy to see and hear when someone is passionate about their business. There is an energy about them, they speak in more elevated tones and their eyes twinkle. Have you ever seen that? It can be very attractive as a prospect, it leads you to think: “here is someone who really cares about their business and by extension will probably care about me”. Remember the quotation from Theodore Roosevelt: “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care”. That applies hugely in putting together a marketing message

How does your passion for what you do impact others?

Here is the key marketing rub. How do you get people to connect with your passion and ultimately hire you? As a clue, I have never heard anyone say they are passionate about the money that their business makes them. Even if it is true, it is not always an attractive message. Much more commonly the passion is for something that is intangible at first sight. Examples include: helping people, people generally, making something better, serving, being seen to make a difference, standing out from the crowd and so on.

What is it for you?

So what’s the point of all this?

It is very common - I mean very, very common - for the initial message a business sends to concentrate on a laundry list of services. Whilst we may love what we do, the services are the tool, a means to an end and the end is what we are passionate about. Most people would much rather hear about the difference you seek to make generally, and how that applies to them specifically, than about the list of things that you do.

When you provide a list you are asking prospects to turn that into a message that applies to them, and they generally won’t. Remember that they have things they are passionate about as well. As these relate to their business they may well be looking (or know someone who is) for a solution to a problem that would allow them to deliver THEIR difference making service better.

Find out what your clients and prospects are passionate about and how what you are passionate about helps them. Within that lies the foundation of a strong, attractive marketing message

Probably of the most often quoted lines from the movies is Yoda from Star Wars when talking to Luke: “Do or do not, there is no try”. Apologies if I mis-quote that for all the Star Wars experts out there.

 I have used this a number of times and usually it is in connection with trying to do something. In other words saying that we will try to do something sets us up for failure, gives us an excuse where we can say: “well, at least I tried”.

However there is another side to this quote that applies to marketing and it’s this: Do or do not are the two options. This is often what we see with small businesses, the desire to do something leads us to carry out a lot of unfocused activity, many of it unconnected to the goal.

The alternative, “do not” is the other thing we see. Paralysis - rearranging the business cards and filing papers because there is uncertainty about what to do next, indeed where to start.

So, it is important that we do things, equally important that we don’t do everything but stay focused on our target market, the flow of our business and the message we want to send. On this basis we can decide to do it or not do it (a particular marketing took that is) and then really do it (or not) and not just try!

Way too many small business owners rush into doing things without adequately planning and preparing. And marketing is a great case in point.

You set up shop and then hurry to get the word out about your business and services. You rush to get a brochure made up, develop a web site, and get out and start networking without much planning or preparation. And then you wonder why your results are so poor.

If you do nothing else from a marketing preparation standpoint, I suggest you spend some time thinking about your best clients. Your best clients aren’t simply the ones who pay the most money, but also the ones you enjoy working with the most. Spend some time to create a profile.

1. Define Your Target. How do you describe your ideal target market demographically and characteristically? Demographics are the basic facts like the kind of industry they’re in, size of company, revenues, geographic location, etc. If your target is individuals, then it means income levels, age, gender, education, etc. Characteristics deal more with things like the style, philosophy, and approach to business of your targets.
2. What’s The Problem? What are the problems, issues, challenges, or predicaments you’re trying to help your target customers and prospects with? Every product or service is designed to address some sort of issue or challenge for your client. What is your target market dealing with and what’s the potential impact of not being able to address those problems?
3. What Do They Get From Working With You? What are the solutions you provide? What benefits do you offer? What results do you produce? Note that this isn’t “what you do” or a list of services you provide, but what your clients actually get from you.
4. What’s It Like Working With Them? What is it about working with your best clients that makes them your best clients? What is the relationship like? How do things work? What is it that you’re able to uniquely do for them that makes it a great working relationship?

You’ll be amazed at what it can mean for your business when you spend some time preparing a profile of your best clients (and potential clients). If you know exactly who your potential clients are, then you can more effectively focus on them in your marketing efforts.

So now that you’ve defined your best clients, do your current marketing efforts really reach these folks and others like them?

Do you know what your prospects really want?

Well let me ask the question this way. Are you attracting all the clients you can handle? If not, then the answer is probably not really? Experience tells me that most small business owners feel like they have a pretty good idea what potential clients want, but they’re often missing the mark.

This much we all should know… If you want to get marketing results, then you need to get into purposeful marketing action. However, if you’re in action but still not getting results, then it means you’re not giving prospects what they want. (And by-the-way, trust me, not all prospects expect everything for free.)

The typical small business approach. If you think you’re going to pick up clients because you have the best product/service, the most experience of anyone in your field, or because you offer the best service at the best rates then YOU ARE WRONG! This flawed, but widely-used approach is based on trying to get potential clients to notice you so they want to come work with you. But that’s not what your prospects really want.

I’m not saying that your experience and quality products/services are not important. It’s just not as relevant to a winning marketing message as you might think. And that’s largely because the focus tends to be more on you and not on your prospect(s).

Your prospects want to know that you understand what they’re dealing with and that you’re focused on helping them. For the most part, your prospects are looking for the promise of a solution to some problem, issue, or challenge that has been weighing them down or holding them back from some greater outcome.

Avoid the “who cares?” information overload. People want to know “what’s in it for me?” They’re looking for information that will help them resolve that problem, issue, or challenge once and for all. That’s what your prospects really want.

On the Get More Clients Fast Path, we want to show you how to leverage this marketing insight. Will you join us on the Get More Clients Fast Path? Details Inside!