Knowing something doesn’t help your perception as an expert

I love to read. There is so little time and so much to read I always seem to have a pile of unread books to work my way through. There is a lot of value in the wisdom that comes from books. One of my favorites:

“Made to Stick - Why some ideas survive and others die by Chip and Dan Heath”

I highly recommend it generally, but it has specific relevance to marketing. In particular there is a concept that I see demonstrated again and again, called the “curse of knowledge”.  I paraphrase (and you can hear from the experts in their blog) but this curse is essentially this: when we know something it is almost impossible to remember what it is like not to know it. As a result we become poor communicators

When were you last confused by an “expert”?

In my experience this has proven true in marketing messages. Trying to demonstrate how expert you are by telling prospects all about you and the unique, technical things you do is a guaranteed turn off. If you are a financial planner I probably know that you are very familiar with your products and the state of the market (at least I hope so!). However a detailed explanation of everything you do is not what I am looking for and may actually repel my interest. Often this is the case with very knowledgeable folks with a great deal of experience - lawyers for example.

What about me?

The fact is most people are more concerned that you understand them, than that they impress you with deep knowledge of a particular subject. This can be a stretch. Of course you need to have that expertise to be effective but for a MARKETING point of view, showing that off is counter productive

The answer? You will be credited with a lot more expertise when you ask perceptive questions based on your knowledge that really get your prospect thinking, and shows them you understand them. To get there you need to understand the profile, preferences, hopes, fears and pain that your ideal client is experiencing. Tapping into this via insightful questions, and giving them information that helps them address it is far more effective than telling them all that you do and showing off how much you know.

Remember what it is like when you didn’t have the knowledge you have - does the jargon you use confuse rather than attract?