by Charlie Cook
Step 1: Know What You’re Marketing
You market your own business or you direct marketing for your company. You know what you are marketing – it’s obvious.
Or is it?
If you’re a financial advisor, you probably think you’re marketing financial advice. If you’re a sales consultant, you may think you are marketing sales training. If you are a realtor, you may assume you market homes or commercial properties. If you market big screen TVs you may think you’re selling the latest technology.
In each case, you’d be right in terms of your deliverables, but you’d be wrong about what your prospects are buying.
Over the years, I’ve worked with service providers ranging from plumbers to financial advisors, to data management firms as well as numerous marketing consultants. Despite the diversity of services they provide, they all face the same hurdle to increasing their sales. Each and every one has the product or service they deliver confused with what they are marketing.
What you’re marketing and what you actually deliver are two different things. The key to increasing your sales is to realize that what you are really marketing is hope – your clients’ hope of achieving their goals.
You’re marketing to your prospects’ hopes that they’ll be happier, more successful, more attractive, smarter, richer, more comfortable, more secure, etc. Target your marketing to the real reasons people buy, and you’ll be much more successful in motivating them to make a purchase from you.
You market your own business or you direct marketing for your company. You know what you are marketing – it’s obvious.
Or is it?
If you’re a financial advisor, you probably think you’re marketing financial advice. If you’re a sales consultant, you may think you are marketing sales training. If you are a realtor, you may assume you market homes or commercial properties. If you market big screen TVs you may think you’re selling the latest technology.
In each case, you’d be right in terms of your deliverables, but you’d be wrong about what your prospects are buying.
Over the years, I’ve worked with service providers ranging from plumbers to financial advisors, to data management firms as well as numerous marketing consultants. Despite the diversity of services they provide, they all face the same hurdle to increasing their sales. Each and every one has the product or service they deliver confused with what they are marketing.
What you’re marketing and what you actually deliver are two different things. The key to increasing your sales is to realize that what you are really marketing is hope – your clients’ hope of achieving their goals.
You’re marketing to your prospects’ hopes that they’ll be happier, more successful, more attractive, smarter, richer, more comfortable, more secure, etc. Target your marketing to the real reasons people buy, and you’ll be much more successful in motivating them to make a purchase from you.
Focus your marketing by identifying what your prospects want. Make a list that describes their hopes. Following are some samples to give you the idea:
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