Category: Business Profiles

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.

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.