The number one reason that I receive from a potential new clients is because they have spent a lot of money on marketing and received absolutely nothing in return.
When I first start wi
th a business, the first thing we look at is what they actually sell. Nearly 99% of the time, business owners (or the people doing the marketing) are marketing what you deliver, not what your product or service can actually do for a potential client. These two things aren’t the same.
The second thing I hear from a business owner is that it is obvious what I need to market.
Or is it? For example
If you’re a financial advisor, you probably think you’re marketing financial advice. If you’re a HR advisor, you may think you are marketing HR advice. If you own a clothes shop, you may assume you market clothes. If you market a restaurant you may think you are selling a meal.
In each case, you’d be right in terms of your deliverables, but you are wrong about what they are buying.
What you’re marketing and what you actually deliver are two different things. The key to increasing your sales is to realise that what you are really marketing is hope – your clients’ hope of achieving their goals.
I have worked with a variety of business owners from design agencies to bridal shops. They have all faced the same problems when increasing sales. They have confused their marketing with what they deliver.
For example, if you are financial advisor, yes you deliver financial advice, but what the client really wants is hope. Hope that you can help them with their money and deal with things that they don’t really understand. Ultimately, they want to make money, which you can’t promise, but you can offer hope. If you sell carpets, you deliver the carpets and lay them in the house, but what you are selling is hope. Hope that at the end, the room/house is going to look better then the owner has visualised it in their heads and also practical for their needs – you are helping to create a home. If you own a restaurant, you are not selling a meal, you are selling hope. Hope that the evening will be something to remember, that the meal will be better then what they can do at home. That for once, they don’t have to do the dishes! The meal may be for a special occasion i.e. birthday, reward, celebration.
You’re marketing to your prospects’ hopes that they’ll be happier, more successful, more attractive, smarter, richer, more comfortable, and more secure, etc. Target you’re marketing to the real reasons people buy and you’ll be much more successful in motivating them to make a purchase from you.
Do you see the difference? Let me know your thoughts.
The first question people normally ask me is what can I do next to market my business?
Most businesses I talk to tell me that when it comes to marketing, they feel overwhelmed. So many decisions, options and tools to use. Which one will work, which one will not cost much, which one will take up the least of my time??
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