Marketing Mistake #6 – Selling the commodity

Many a businessman has made the mistake in telling their clients about the ‘work’ they are going to do for them. They tell them for example: I’m going to do a survey, a customer interview, competition research, staff focus groups, training sessions, personal coaching, yatch yatcha yatcha. 

Buyers don’t care about any of that. In fact, personal coaching, training sessions, surveys and so forth are not worth much at all. Minimum wage salary at best. 

People hire you, because they want results. Period. They don’t care how you are going to get them. They don’t want your CV, credentials, a long opening sphill about who you are and what your company does. 

They want …

Results!

People don’t want 6 month gym memberships. They want to lose weight, have more energy and build muscle. People don’t want a degree. They want recognition, status and better job opportunities. People don’t want business coaching. They want increased market share, lower customer attrition and a better public image. People don’t want … Aah shoot – you get the idea, right?

The only reason people buy something is they want the end-result or the benefit of that product or service will give them. How will you use this in your business? Take a single piece of paper and start writing all the benefits your product or service has for a prospect. 

For example, I’m a marketing consultant. I would write something like this: lower acquisition cost per customer, increased cash flow, higher life time value per client, better sales closing rates, more sales, boost website conversion rates, prevent business loans, ROI guarantee and so on.

Once you know the benefits of your product, the end result or what I’d like to call, your clients buy button – you can start to press it. Weave your benefits into client conversations. Use them in your elevator pitches. Talk with them at networking events. Use these in your ads and brochures. Teach your salesmen how to use them (The good ones probably use them already). 

You know, of all the marketing mistakes, selling the commodity, or what you do is probably the most repeated marketing mistake most people make. It’s easy to say hey I’m a life insurance agent. Or hi, I’m a marketing consultant. Or I’m a personal trainer. Here again the focus is on “I” – this is not the way to persuade.

It’a about you, You, YOU – Eugene Schwartz 

Remember it’s the benefits that sell. And it’s about the benefits your client perceives to be most valuable to him, that you should focus on. People are in it for the end result. Go out and give it to them.

Marketing Mistake #5 – Not using direct response marketing

Remember in marketing mistake #4 how I ranted and raved about how you should not just put your name out there? How I said ads that don’t sell suck, because they compete with 3000 others each day? How I stated if you just merely put your name out there you have no idea if it’s working or not?

You say you do remember? Good, good, good. So if its silly to put your name out there – what should you be doing? I say you must assemble your ideal prospect list (where if you could get one client it would make your year) and market to them repeatedly. Mail a good old fashion letter to them, motivate and prove your case as to why you should be doing business.

Ask for the sale. Ask for the appointment. Ask for a phone call back. Ask them to mail a reply back. Ask them to visit your website. But just remember one thing – make sure you ask them for a response. This is known as direct response marketing.

“Direct response became my first love and later my secret weapon” – David Ogilvy

Think about this: to write, seal, lick and stamp a letter currently in South-Africa is about R3 per piece. If you send a hundred letters it would cost you R300. You may or may not get a client out of that mailing depending upon your unique selling proposition, the need for your product or service, your proof elements in the letter and so on.

But know this: even a letter written by a baby gorilla with a broken pencil will eventually get a response. Why? Because sooner or later your prospects are going to buy. According to Chet Holmes, 3% of your market are always buying now. When they do, don’t be surprised when your phone starts to ring and your bank account begins to sing.

Anyhow I’m starting to ramble on to much… here’s a simply 4 step plan you can follow to make yourself a bundle:

1.      Compile a list of your 100 ideal prospects (the ones that buy the most, buy the most frequently, needs your product the most etcetera)

2.      Write your most compelling offer on a piece of paper and ask for a response

3.      Spend a measly R300 per month and mail those letters

4.      Do so consistently month after month

You may find that you do not get a response in the first couple of months. It doesn’t matter. Eventually you will move your prospect from “I think I’ve heard of these guys” to “I should be doing business with these guys”.

Here’s another little tip for you: start selling high ticket items. It’s just as easy to get a R10 000 sale as to get a R100 000 sale. Or just as hard to get a R100 000 sale as to a R1 000 000 – why not make the R1 000 000 sale?

Back to my main point – The R300 per month on a direct mail campaign is a drop in the bucket for a step on the ladder to get to that big ticket sale. Which is why I’d rather spend that tiny R300 a month on my top 100 prospects with a direct mail campaign than scattershot advertising (general media ads).

The advantages direct mail and direct response marketing has over the big media (while its not as sexy) is clear:

·         It’s more cost effective!

·         It’s easy to track!

·         It’s easy to test!

·         It’s measurable!

·         It’s easier for the little guy… and last but not least:

It gives you 20 extra swings to hit the ball instead of

The one swing big media gives you