There is a great test of how effective your initial marketing message is being received. As we have discussed before, the key to establishing interest in prospects is engaging the emotional “stuff” they are dealing with. How do you do that? By tailoring your message to the pain they are suffering and/or a problem they want solving.

Engaging interest is vital!

How will you know when you have mentioned something that resonates with your prospect? They will ask you to elaborate, ask you “How do you do that?” or something similar. The response you don’t want is a blank look or worse, a vague: “Hmmm. Interesting.”

The “so what test”

The next time you go to a networking meeting, listen to what people are saying. Process the message in terms of the emotion that it generates in you. If not emotion, then a genuine feeling that you want to know more. You probably won’t want to ask this directly since it is rather abrupt, but ask yourself if “So what?” is an appropriate question.

For example: “We have been in business for 25 years” - So what?

“We have won numerous customer service awards” - So what?

See how it works? The so what question seems very valid. Specifically it is appropriate because it means, so how does that apply to me? Is it so appropriate as a response to the following statement: “We help small businesses owners frustrated that they are paying too much in personal income tax”.

Again, it is about them

Whilst you can still answer “so what?” I submit that it is far less likely. It is clear who the message is intended for, what pain (frustration) they are suffering and for what reason. The fact that the message includes “help” implies action and begs the question: “How do you help them?” Now you are into a meaningful conversation (at least potentially!)

The key thing is figuring out the pain, frustration, emotion that your prospects are feeling. Here’s a clue to how to figure that out if you don’t know - ask your clients how you help them and what RESULTS you have achieved with them.

Try the “so what?” test on your marketing message. How is it working for you?

The first time we speak to people, it’s probably true to say that we want to get their attention. This is true in social situations but we certainly want to grab attention in a business setting - why?

Well, once get interest we are into a conversation that may lead to a mutually beneficial outcome (that also applies to a social interaction of course!). So, what is one of the most common mistakes I see, that I also have to constantly guear against? Jargon - industry specific words that we are familiar with that we use all the time on the assumption that everyone else knows about too.

Here is an example. I recently went to a network event where we were all required to go through that right of initiation - the 30 second introduction. One of these was from a bank representative who talked about their range of services (that were industry leading of course!) that included “CD”. Now, I only know one definition for that term and it’s compact disc. I am sure that wasn’t what this was.

In the end I found out from a colleague sitting next to me (it means “Certificate of Deposit” by the way) but I missed everything that was said after the term CD was used as I tried to figure it out. I cannot now remember the name of the bank and I have no idea why a certificate of deposit is something I might be interested in. In short, I have no idea how it applies to me.

The lesson therefore is - avoid jargon! Sometimes I think people use it to sound smart but more often I think it is simply common language in their world but guess what? We are not in their world any more! It needs to be relevant to the listener.

Think about the benefits of the “thing” you are describing. In the example above, what does a CD do for me? What problem does it solve? Why do I need it? How will it make my life better? Then describe it in terms that really make sense to me.

I am talking about your business focus of course!

In a previous post (Attention Getting Message), we discussed the merits of keeping your message focused and thinkign about the specific problems you solve for your clients and prospects. There is a obvious objection to that and here it is: “But I serve a wide range of clients with different problems and I want to make sure I cover every possible issue so I don’t miss someone, and therefore miss out on business”.

Believe me, I get that. I’ve done it. The irony is you probably CAN solve a range of problems. However if you focus your message to a few specific areas that you are passionate about here’s the benefit: People will get what you do and if they have a related problem they will ASK YOU IF YOU CAN HELP THEM TOO.

For example our program is primarily aimed at helping small, service companies attract more clients consistently. If you are a manufacturing company can we help you? Probably, it depends on your issues and what you want to do about them. However if you are putting out a vague message (and I have heard people say this) that you can help anyone who “has a house” for example, it is so broad that prospects generally don’t bother to try and qualify or disqualify themselves or others on that basis.

Try it - what are you passionate about? What problem do you ideally want to work on with that best/ideal client. That is probably the message you will benefit from sending - keep it tightly to that and see what response you get…..