April 4, 2008

This is the final post in a two-part series by Peter Aldin from Great Circle.

 

As a life-coach, my service is difficult to define, and this is largely because its usefulness (& therefore my service) will differ according to the individual client. So I hate it when – early on in a conversation with a stranger – I am asked “So what do you do for a living?”

When I meet someone new, I seize the day quickly and become curious about them. (It helps that I am genuinely curious about human beings and that I’ve been brought up to place high value on the individual). Let’s say I’m having a conversation where I’m beginning to see where I could be of service to new acquaintance: they’ve made it known (inadvertently) that one of their goals in life is to get a job which is more meaningful to them. When it comes my turn to answer the “What do you do for a living” question, I might say “I help people who are in career transition to get out of a crappy role and into a more satisfying one.” I leave it at that, and wait for their response. If they feel like they’re being “played” or aren’t interested in that, it’ll be pretty clear. And in that case, I’ll leave it and try to have an enjoyable conversation nevertheless. But it’s quite likely that I’ll have struck a chord, and I can let them sell it to themselves. (e.g. “that sounds good, Pete, how do you do that? …. Man I could do with that …. Etc.”)

 

 

Let’s try a different scenario: you’ve started your own printing business (business cards, stationary, party invites, etc). It’s a competitive market, so any chance at a new customer is to be taken.

 

You’re at a barbeque and you start chatting with another guy there. You ask him about his job, take an interest and he opens up. It turns out he’s the owner-manager of a small accounting firm. It sounds as if one of his struggles is getting people to take notice of him and even to remember him when they need an accountant’s services.

You take a chance and actually say to him “It sounds like people aren’t noticing you from among all the other accountants out there.”

 

 

“Ain’t that the truth”, he responds.

You don’t launch into your promo here. You keep talking. Eventually, he will ask you what you do. But now you have your point-of-connection.

 

 

Eventually he asks you about your job.

“Well, I basically help people get noticed.” You smile.

 

He chuckles and asks “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, in my experience, catchy design on brochures, business cards, logos makes people say Wow I gotta know more about that business. And that’s what I produce.”

 

Note so far that you’ve not just said “I’m a printer”. You’ve painted your own picture of how valuable your service is and hopefully you’re making the guy more curious about you.

 

Let him start asking you questions now. Or ask to see his business card and compliment it but show him ways it could be improved (chances are, he’s not going to take you ideas and do them himself: he can’t!)

 

Let me tell you that this approach, like any, is a little awkward the first couple of times, but then it seems to click. It stops you from having to repeat the same ol’ spiel hoping it works. Or just appearing irrelevant: when you simply say “I’m a printer” or “I’m a life coach”, people don’t tend to think “Oo, I need one of them!”. (They tend to think “…” -that’s empty space folks!). When you introduce yourself as someone who takes care of the kind of needs, hopes, goals they have, you are well on your way to a home run!

Let’s recap on this strategy:

 

1. Discover you customer’s pain or need and find the way you take care of it
2. take control of the conversation with new contacts to explore their world and look for problems/needs they need help with
3. Describe your business/product in therms of meeting their needs or relieving their pain.

Remember, the one who asks the questions, controls the conversation.

 

Happy marketing!

Pacific Wood is a company that manufactures and sells treated wood to users all over the US from their base on the West Coast.

Specifically for those looking to buy railroad ties, they offer products that are guaranteed to stand the test of time.

I actually work in the rail industry myself so this is a product that carries interest for me. When a railroad tie burns, it BURNS. I had one at home and it caught on fire and we had to douse it 4 times before it finally stopped. By that point we had lost 70% of the tie. Whoops.

Anyway, for ties to stand the test of time out in the harsh weather conditions that the railways provide, they need to be treated well and need to be able to last for decades without replacement. We’re talking about good pieces of wood here, not your every day lump of timber.

The Pacific Wood website is aesthetically decent and although their copy can be a bit dry at times, treated wood isn’t about to set the world on fire as an entertaining topic. It’s a website that is aimed squarely at the wood product consumer and in that regard, it definitely does its job.

This is the first of a two part series from Peter Aldin, a life coach. You can visit his website and blog at Great Circle.

An interesting marketing axiom: “Uncover your customer’s need or pain and present them a solution.”

This was the principle I have wrestled with the most in my first 18 months of a solo business. I knew how to draw needs and wants out of people when I was a salesman, so I could guide them to a narrower list of products and help them see its value for their situation.

But now people weren’t coming to me to see what I had to offer. Rather I was meeting and going to potential clients who didn’t even know that they needed my services. How was I going to test the waters and spread the word about Great Circle when I was out meeting people?

Now that you are in business, you get opportunities to do just that (promote your service and turn contacts into clients) daily. At the same time, you recognise that it’s not good to make every conversation sound like a sales-pitch. I’m really not a big fan of that; neither are people on the receiving end!

Let’s say that you get into a conversation with a stranger at a product launch, a seminar or just at the pub. The worst thing you can do is to start talking about yourself too early. If you do, you’re likely to either bore them (sorry, but it’s true), or sound like you’re reading from your brochure. It’s also entirely possible that you’ll mention benefits/dynamics of your product/service that just aren’t interesting to that client; in this case, you will have effectively inoculated them against any future promotions.

What you want to do is (in a sense) control the conversation so as to find out as much as you can about their needs, aspirations, values, challenges. You do this by asking questions. It’s actually quite natural. Simply take an interest in them. Be careful here: people smell as salesman very quickly these days. So listen with 2 ears: the ear of genuine curiosity as well as the ear of the small business owner.

Back to the questions…

Allow their answers to paint a picture of their world. You’re listening for things that would make life:

• “better”
• easier
• more fun
• less stressful
• more successful/satisfying
• more productive

As you hear these things, sift through the features/benefits of your product/service for those that truly do make life easier/less stressful/more productive/etc.