Category: Business Success

The Trick to Opening UP Your Prospect’s Mind

It’s all just a blur. Y’know, all that information that comes at you daily – via email, social media, Internet?

So, how do you reach your prospect?

With a message that is in their immediate interest.

So, here’s the trick to that. Say you’re selling a glue product. In your sales material you say…

  • XYZ Glue contains Xylophosphate
  • XYZ Glue has a turtleneck nozzle

And to that your prospect will say… “so what?!”

But let’s try that again…

  • XYZ Glue contains Xylophosphate –
    dries fast so you’ll have your repair done in 1 minute.
  • XYZ Glue has a turtleneck nozzle –
    no drips, no mess, no glue on the table for your wife to complain about.

What’s the difference? By adding the benefit to the listed product feature, you’re thinking from your customer’s point of view – what will they gain? what’s in it for them? what actual, ‘on-the-ground’ problem does it solve for them?

And that… that… they are likely to find much more interesting and persuasive. No longer just a blur, but a solution.

So, in the copy on your website, in a brochure, in your business profile, on your business LinkedIn page – always think of benefits to your prospective customer. Make them feel understood. It opens their mind. As a result, they’ll buy.

The Power-Packed Two-Punch Persuasion Combo.

Major positive impact. Tipping the scale in your favor. In a moment, sparking a ‘buy’ decision.

That’s what the right testimonial can do – on your website, on your business card, on your business profile, on an advert. Here’s what this means. Here’s why it works.

An Example

First, here’s an example – a testimonial I received:

“Gerard really took time to understand me. I felt down a career hole. I was tired and burned out. I was being trampled on by younger people wanting my job. Gerard took my CV and completely transformed the way I saw myself. He picked out the golden threads of my career, experience and skills. He showcased my value, value I’d all but forgotten. He presented me in a confident, bold, modern way. I cannot tell you how it boosted my confidence. It lifted my spirits. It gave me hope that I could open new doors.”

– GM: Finance, XYZ Corp, CA(SA)

How & Why it Works

Here’s why the right testimonial can influence and persuade.

  1. It connects. Yes. It can be so relateable – where your reader / prospective buyer says to themselves: “Sounds like this guy had exactly the problem I have. And he got a great result. Mmmm.”

    See how the right client prospect may find that persuasive. They may well identify with the feelings. That’s powerful.
  2. It conveys credibility, creates trust. The person giving the testimonial is not a ‘small fry’. He’s experienced. Qualified. A leader in a large corporation. So the thinking is: “if he believes in Gerard, I should too.”

With those two things: connection / relateability and the credibility of the source… it’s a very powerful combination.

Collect these. Go back to your favourite clients. Ask them for one. Just a casual email is fine. No need for letterheads and perfect grammar. Then showcase them as a weekly post on your FB page, on your website, on your LinkedIn business page, in an email to a prospect as a P.S. at the bottom or as part of the sig text.

[Need my help in putting ideas like this to work in your business? I can help. A lot of it revolves around writing the messages and coming up with the ideas. Let's get on a call for 15 minutes to see if we're good to work on this together. I'm on gerard@gerardleroux.me]

The #1 Low Cost Way to Get and Keep Getting New Business

Very few small businesses do this. But for those that do, they get new business coming in from seemingly ‘nowhere’ every day. It’s easy to do. But it does require some writing, some organisation and scheduling.

Here’s who this is for:

  • Small businesses with small marketing budgets
  • New businesses, just starting out with a few customers
  • Larger businesses facing tough competition

The Big Idea

And here’s the idea: collect email addresses and stay in touch with your existing clients.

To explain the power, here’s scenario:

Restaurant #1 and Restaurant #2

Both #1 and #2 are great places. Good food. Value for money. But they’re both facing tough times. Inflation. Patrons who don’t come as much, don’t spend as much.

But #1 has, over time, made a practice of staying close to their customers. On the very first visit they collect an email address from the customer.

  • They offer them a ‘restaurant family recipe’ to reward the patron. They send it via email. Once a month they send a light email, detailing their specials.
  • Via email they invite patrons to special events. In winter they send out news about their very affordable “Wednesday Winter Soup and Artisan Bread” evenings.

Restaurant #1 also collects anniversary and birthday dates.

  • Two weeks ahead of these events, they send out an invitation to celebrate at their restaurant. They offer a special discount voucher. Even a special dish, your favorite!

Restaurant #2 does none of this. They just put an ad in the local newspaper. They put up the odd Facebook post. Then they hope for the best.

So, a question: which of #1 and #2 will get and keep getting business more consistently? And which of the two will be subject the the ups and downs of the market more?

#1 will. Obviously.

Benefits

Here are the benefits of collecting and using email like this:

  1. They’ll maintain better top of mind awareness in the mind of their customer.
  2. They’ll build better relationships with their customers.
  3. They’ll build a better reputation for service and care.
  4. Through feedback they’ll understand their customers better and will be able to adapt to their needs better.
  5. They’ll have access to their customers at the simple ‘send’ of an email.

And it applies not to just restaurants. Mechanical workshop. Hey, a place that sells bearings. A jeweller. A cleaning supplies business.

I think I have only been asked for an email at a restaurant on two occasions. One I remember well, for it’s follow up via email. The other took the email address but did nothing with it. Pity. Because it works.

[Need my help in putting ideas like this to work in your business? I can help. A lot of it revolves around writing the messages and coming up with the ideas. Let's get on a call for 15 minutes to see if we're good to work on this together. I'm on gerard@gerardleroux.me]

How to Make People Trust You – Building Credibility

Here’s a fact. Whatever you put in front of people – your CV or resume, a business profile, a presentation – if you want it to make an impact it must do two things. Minimum.

  1. It must communicate clearly and concisely. Which means state clearly what you’re offering and to whom. It must immediately provide a “what’s in it for me” moment to the reader.

But it’s #2 I want to focus on in this post.

  1. It must make the reader trust you. Your grand claims of having the “quick fix” for the reader has to be believable. Very few will ‘jump in’ with you otherwise.

Here’s how to do that.

Build credibility.

Here’s what can happen if you don’t:

  • Someone lands on your business LinkedIn page – but there’s no custom banner, no logo. No content. It looks derelict, forgotten, abandoned.
    Their conclusion: “this business isn’t serious”
  • Someone gets your resume – but it looks like a million others. Formatting is poor. It’s all just a barrage of bullet points.
    The conclusion: “I’m bored. This guy looks left behind.”

Here are some ‘credibility builders’ (thanks for the term, Bob Bly, copywriter).

  1. Use associations – with a university, a well known brand – feature the logo, perhaps, to make it stand out?
  2. Use a client association – feature the fact that you do business with a major, high profile corporation.
  3. Include an extract from a strong testimonial – from a client, from an employer (the CEO, perhaps).
  4. Make a confident, bold statement of intent: “I slash logistics costs and ignite customer service ratings.”
  5. Share regular, helpful content on LinkedIn. Look like an expert. Contribute to conversations. Just a few a week.

These credibility builders encourage people to trust you. And people buy from people they trust.