I see a lot of guessing when it comes to building sales and marketing messages. I even see a lot of guessing when it comes to designing and building whole companies.
A clever phrase or piece of art gets created and the next thing you know it becomes a marketing campaign that garners laughs and awards, but fails to attract new customers and sales. Think Anheuser-Busch.
I’ve also seen plenty of companies fail by offering products and services that were poorly conceived, or just plain misses in the marketplace. There are also those that rocket to early success, but lack a sustainable business model that can own a position and make money long term. Think Groupon or Facebook.
The other problem for many companies is simply trying to explain the value they deliver. They use the best words and art they can muster, but those messages may not resonate in the marketplace.
There’s no reason for sales, marketing, and company building to be a guessing game. Designing your company, your products and your solutions is much more productive when you can find out in qualitative and quantitative terms what people want and are willing to pay for.
The funny thing is, prospects, customers and most anyone on the street will tell you what they want and how they like to buy. You just have to ask them.
I’ve learned a few effective questions over the years that seem to get people talking and sharing this marketing gold. These are a good start:
- What are you trying to get done? (More sales, reduced expenses, better efficiencies, etc?)
- What are you trying to figure out? (Hiring, bookkeeping, cash flow, etc?)
- What don’t you like about ______? (CRM software, social media marketing, legal services, etc.)
- What have you seen recently that has impressed you? (New product, service, company, etc?)
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to ask a prospect or client if they’d be willing to spend real money to fix, improve or acquire any of the above.
Message, market and grow by appealing to customer needs, using customer words.
Customer money will usually follow.
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