As I was writing some marketing material for my Marketing Certification Program this morning, it struck me that all I was really doing was solving a marketing problem.
What's a marketing problem?
Marketing Problem: When a prospect doesn't understand the value of what you offer and why they should do business with you.
All marketing problems, therefore, are communication problems.
If you understand how to solve your marketing problems through well-designed communications (usually written), you can dramatically increase your marketing results.
Let me outline the four key marketing problems:
1. Your prospect doesn't know anything about your business, who you work with, or the kind of results you produce.2. Your prospect knows something about your business, but not enough to be comfortable calling you for assistance.
3. Your prospect knows more about your business, but is not yet sure your service is the appropriate one for them.
4. Your prospect knows a lot, and is considering doing business with you but hasn't yet made a decision.
You cannot solve all of these problems the same way. You need to write very focused marketing materials that address each of these issues specifically.
Let's look how:
1. Your first problem is an issue of attention. You need a brief, concise message that communicates the essence of what you offer. You use this kind of message when you meet someone, send a prospect a letter, or greet a visitor to your web site.
You don't need to tell everything, just communicate the basics. "These are the kind of clients we work with, the kind of issues we address, and the kind of results we typically get."
This form of simple communication will get attention and generate interest. The aim of this communication is not to get the prospect to buy, but to get them to ask for more information.
2. Your second problem is an issue of familiarity and information. When you have someone's attention, they then want to know who you are, and how (and if) your services works.
These days you can best accomplish this on a web site. This material will answer most of the questions about your business, who you work with, your approach, track record and your background. The focus always needs to be on what the prospect will actually get if they work with you.
This more in-depth communication is often enough to get a prospect to respond with some version of "How can you help me?"
3. Your third problem is one of qualification. The information above can be enough to get a response, but sometimes not enough for the prospect to know if you're the ideal solution. And, just as important, for you to determine if the prospect could be an ideal client (instead of one who will waste your time).
The way to accomplish this when a prospect calls or emails you in response to your marketing, is to send them additional information by email that will qualify them. Let them know in more depth who your ideal clients are, the kind of results they get and the conditions under which you produce these results.
By the way, this is the one that you probably leaves out. You jump into the sales process too fast. Instead, play a little hard to get. If you tell your prospect that you don't work with everyone, they will often fight to get an appointment with you!
4. Your fourth problem is one of commitment. Once you have met with a prospect, learned more about their situation, and determined the best way to work with them, you need to persuade the prospect to move forward (and pay you).
The next solution is a proposal. And guess, what? It covers the same material you've covered before, only more specifically. You discuss the situation and needs of the prospect, the objectives you will meet, the measure of success, your methodology and terms of working together.
As Alan Weiss says, "A proposal is a summation, not an exploration." Come to an agreement as to how you can work together first and then summarize that agreement in a written proposal.
Note that all of these marketing problems are solved by communications that provide the right information at the right time. All of these solutions follow pretty much the same formula:
1. Who we work with2. The problems we address
3. The results we produce
4. How we do what we do
5. A call to action
The only difference in solving these four marketing problems is the depth and specificity of the communication.
I've found that the key to my marketing success has been my ability to develop solutions to these four marketing problems (i.e., create the right written materials). It doesn't take a lot of creativity, just an understanding of the process and a willingness to "tweak" the materials until they produce the desired results.
The More Clients Bottom Line: When you think of marketing as a process of solving marketing problems by communicating the right information at the right time, things get a whole lot easier.
Do you have an example of how you solved one of the four marketing problems with the right communication? Please share on the More Clients Blog.
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