3 Principles to Make Sure Customers Hear Your Message

culled from:wobi.com

One of the biggest concerns expressed by marketing and sales professionals is that they are finding it more difficult to reach and engage with new prospects than they did in the past. Strategies they once used are no longer effective. But it’s not lack of effort.  In fact most say they are working harder than ever before; they just aren’t getting the results they once did. It is a particularly difficult issue for those who market business services in industries such as finance, insurance, legal and other businesses that sell complex, information intensive services.

If reaching and engaging with new prospects is a challenge you are experiencing, evaluate your marketing and sales through the lens of the three principles outlined below. Then take a moment to answer the questions thoughtfully and candidly.  Even the smallest changes can make a huge impact on how your communication is received by your customers.

Get Real.The days of Mad Men are over.  Even Don Draper would fail to win a new client if he used the same tactics and sales pitch today. Sure great creative helps a company stand out, but it won’t close a sale. Consumers today are too smart and too connected to believe whatever a company tells them. People stand behind brands they believe are real and authentic.  And this is especially true when selling professional services that require confidence and trust in the person who is selling them. One thing that does remain true today is that people want to do business with those they know, like and trust. But a customer will never get to know you if they don’t like and trust you.

Evaluate your marketing and sales style—is it personal and authentic? Do you really care about your customers? If you don’t, believe me, it shows.

Be different.It’s hard to stand out in a noisy world. People are bombarded with information at a relentless daily pace. If you find that your emails don’t even get opened, or calls don’t get returned, it might be because your message is the same as everyone else.  The only way to rise above the noise is to stand out from the crowd. Your value proposition must be unique and it must communicate something different than your competitors. Most importantly your message must communicate what your product or service means to your customer. You can talk all you want about the size of your company, your global footprint, or the awards your company has won. But it won’t mean a thing to your prospect unless it will help them.

Is your marketing really that different from your competitors? Does it clearly communicate how your brand is uniquely positioned to help your customers?  Evaluate your marketing communication and see what you can eliminate (because it doesn’t add value to the buying decision) before you consider adding more content.

Inform and Tell a Story.What your customers want is information that will help them. They want you to make a difference in their day because you shared something that was new and helpful to them, or at least entertained them. To be “entertaining” you don’t need to buy a Super Bowl ad starring a talking baby to sell investment services. Entertaining can be a story that engages the hearts and minds of your customers. Communication through storytelling accomplishes two valuable objectives. It enables you to deliver important information you want your customer to hear and it does so in a way that will connect with them emotionally so it is memorable. When you are a resource of valuable information for your prospects, it builds trust and confidence.

Does your marketing communicate information your customers find valuable or does it just interrupt their day? Does it engage them emotionally?  Would they like it enough to share it with their colleagues and friends? This is the ultimate litmus test.

The three principles apply as much to your internal customers, your employees, as it does to your customers. Using the same principles in your internal communications programs can radically change how messages are heard by employees.

To illustrate my point, I’ll tell you a brief story.

Starbucks is a company that has always been driven by a mission. When CEO Howard Schultz first took over the company, he was not a rich man and he didn’t own a house or even a car. He grew up poor in Brooklyn and he was influenced strongly by his dad, who never got health benefits from any of his employers. This fueled his drive to create a company that put employees first.

Howard Schultz is passionate that when it comes to customers versus employees, employees will always come first. He knows if he does this, he has employees that value their job, and if they feel valued and respected, they will in turn take care of customers—and that formula has always worked.

When Schultz tried to raise $2.8 million to buy the company from the three founders, he made 220 presentations and he got shut down in all but 12 of them. He was seen as an idealist who was going to put an unnecessary burden on the bottom line by offering benefits to part-time employees who viewed this as a temporary job. But Howard convinced them that turnover would drop, which it did. Store manager attrition was 15 percent, part-time hourly employees was 65 percent, compared to 200-300 percent turnover at the top fast food chains.

Today, Starbucks is one of the most successful brands in the world, loved by both customers and employees.

Scott Bedbury, the former senior vice president of marketing, told this story many years ago. We were both speaking at an Inc. Magazine conference and I was eager to learn about Starbucks so I made it a point to attend his session. I was captivated as I listened to his story of how Starbucks grew from an idea with a purpose, to a successful brand with more than 8,000 company locations and 5,400 licensed stores. He showed a video that illustrated Starbucks history and mission and it was easy to see the entire audience was fascinated. Not only was it informative, it was engaging and very memorable—even today.

One of the keys to Starbucks success is authenticity.  The Starbucks story applies all three of the principles in its marketing, but notice how without the first principle of authenticity, the rest is meaningless. And here’s the tricky part.  It sounds like it’s easy to do, but it’s not. Authenticity cannot be faked. What Starbucks stood for long ago is just as alive and real today. Starbucks just announced the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, a partnership with Arizona State that will give tuition reimbursement to employees working more than 20 hours a week.

The concept of marketing through informative, engaging stories and content is even more relevant today as it was then.  Smart marketers are implementing comprehensive content marketing strategies to tell their stories through a variety of methods ranging from ebooks to videos to social media. In my next post I’ll share how you can implement content marketing as a growth strategy.