Six ways to get your customers' attention.
1. Identify WHO your customers are.
Find out their likes, dislikes, their aspirations, the peer groups they belong to, their motivations and the size of their wallets. One thing you know about your customer is four times as valuable as anything you might pick up in marketing text books.
2. Get inside your customers' heads.
Vance Packard wrote The Hidden Persuaders in 1957. His copy reflected moves in large American ad agencies to stir up the desires and dreams of American citizens. Image-led advertising campaigns were carefully designed and positioned to encourage customers to buy into life, status, happiness and wealth enhancing products, societies or services. As the head of one large agency put it “The stuff with which we work is the fabric of men's minds.”
So ask yourself, what are your customers looking for?
• Do they want to save money?
• Do they want a personal service?
• Do they want to save time?
• Do they want to lead a healthier life?
• Do they want to find happiness?
You get the picture.
3. Work on your customer proposition.
You can learn more from studying a salesman at Smithfield meat market in London than studying from a book. The meat salesman may not have a university education, he knows little of grammar, nothing of rhetoric, but he surely knows how to sell. Or more accurately, what makes people want to buy. There’s simple greed. (‘I want more for less’). There’s looking for a bargain – and definitely the fear of missing out on one. (A well-known, tried and trusted technique in direct response advertising and sales promotion). Listen to how he cajoles his customers with “I’ve only got 10 packs of prime beef steaks left today!” (Return half an hour later and miraculously he's found another 10 packs). The point is, he is touching a 'nerve' in his customer. His proposition is irresistible.
Oh, and avoid generalities like the plague. If you deal in platitudes such as "We are experts in our field" or "We can offer you the lowest price ever" your customers will interpret every statement you make with caution. You are simply stating the expected in a superlative way. Customers expect license in the claims you make about your business, so superlative generalities count for very little. Instead be as specific as you can.
When the Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency gained the Avis car rental company as a client, they recognised that Avis had a flawed product and no amount of clever advertising would change that. To quote Bill Bernbach "It's always a mistake to make good advertising for a bad product." So before any ads ran the company overhauled its customer service and product offering. The positioning the agency then created was very specific and very honest: "Avis, we try harder because we have to." The first advertising ran with the headline "Avis is only No 2." And the "We Try Harder" tagline became one of the longest-lasting and famous of all time. Not only that, but Avis' turned in a profit for the first time in 13 years and its market share grew from 11% to 35% in the following 4 years.
4. Develop your best positioning.
Positioning is everything! Notice how the meat salesman will start off his ‘offer’ with an expensive sounding joint of meat. “This prime beef would cost you £25 at your local butcher!” Then the second offer of “I’m not even going to ask you for half that!” – already the customers’ brain triggers are tuning into the bargain of the century! When he then offers to throw in a couple of extra joints FREE – and “all this for a tenner!” – his customers are putty in his hands.
Here’s another parallel. Walk into an art gallery and view two identical paintings. One has a price tag of £50, the other £5,000. Which do you perceive to be the most valuable?
The same goes for how you position your own product. Sell it cheap and people perceive it to have little value (and you really will have to stack it high). For a small business this can be commercial suicide. Start on the expensive side of your product's value, without overcharging. You can always reduce your price later (And get you customers’ bargain triggers twitching).
It’s also worth testing different ‘positionings’ with different customer groups. It may change your mind as a result. As David Ogilvy once said “Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving”.
One of the classic re-positionings of all time was Leo Burnett’s advertising of Marlboro cigarettes. Originally a ‘niche’ cigarette targeted at women, the agency introduced the rugged, iconic cowboy and Marlboro Country. A 'U' turn that made Marlboro the biggest selling cigarette of all time, which it still is today.
5. Be unselfish.
Never forget the people reading your ad or glancing at your website are selfish. They don't give two hoots how many letters you have after your name or how many years your fantastic company has been trading.
Don't ask people to buy your product. They'll decide. Instead offer them a choice; give away a free sample or at the very least a 'try it before you buy it' offer (The latter is many times more successful than a 'money back' offer).
This is not altruism. But an essential recognition of human nature.
The business that bangs on obsessively about 'footfall' and website 'hits' is ignoring - at its peril - the very things that can make it a real success.
And of course, there are those who simply want their logo bigger. Does a customer go online to buy your logo?
People remember your brand because of the quality of your product and service, not the other way round.
6. Become your customers' friend for life.
So you got your customers' attention and you've made a sale. What next?
People today expect to be remembered. Your favourite brands online remember you. They call you by your first name, they remember what you bought and when. They are today's version of the door-to-door salesman. In our interactive world, online is a one-to-one communication.
So, you need to treat your customer as your best friend. Speak to them regularly; find out how their business is doing and don't just wait for them to call you. Become part of their life.
The top car salesman in America - by some distance - was Joe Gerard. His success was built around knowing his customers personally and delivering outstanding service. Some people have called him the greatest salesperson of all time. If you want inspiration, look him up.
Ignition Marketing Communications Ltd
www.54321ignition.co.uk, tel: 01252 711318
Further reading ...
What's Buzzing | Marketing Tips | Design Tips