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What Free Credit Report Can Teach Us?
I was listening to the radio while redesigning our sales training programs, and heard the commercial for freecreditreport.com. This was not the first time I’d heard it – and I’m sure you’re familiar with it. I’ve seen it on TV, heard it on the radio, and it’s even been played at a piano bar I go to from time to time.
What was interesting this time is that as it came on, I turned up the volume. While, I don’t have knowledge of the business impact of this ad program, I couldn’t help but notice how effective this is as an ad. I speak regularly on positioning and messaging and this ad does it all in 30 seconds. Specifically:
- It’s simple
- It tells a story, making it easy to remember
- It provides a clear contrast
- It makes a clear promise
And, it’s fun. Next time your communicating, compare yourself to freecreditreport.com.
Defining Your Field of Play
In The Five Unbreakable Rules for Creating Demand, I share that the first unbreakable rule is to: Know and understand your customer better than they know and understand themselves. This means that you must identify who your customer is. As a matter of fact, there is probably no greater nor more valuable effort for a business to take than clearly identifying and articulating their WHO.
Inevitably, whenever I see a sales cycle bogged down, margins compressed, or momentum on the downswing, the underlying cause for these problems is that the company doesn’t clearly understand WHO their customer really is, or WHAT they are really buying.
Understand, if you don’t fully understand your WHO, you cannot know what they are buying. Knowing your WHO, means two things: first, it means fully understanding who your Best Few Client is, and, second, it means knowing who your customer isn’t.
The lack of clarity or confidence about the WHO forces companies to approach the market with vague messaging and weak value propositions. Afraid to turn away someone, they fail to provide a compelling reason to buy for anyone. This means longer sales cycle times and increased costs to make sales.
When you are clear about your WHO – you define the playing field, for both your and your customers. When the playing field is clear, you can create messaging and you structure your go-to-market strategy to play to your strengths. You can innovate with confidence. Differentiation becomes simpler, because it becomes clearer. You begin to stand out in your market. Frankly (and at the risk of hurting my consulting fees), if all you do is focus maniacally on defining who your best few markets and clients are, the vast majority of everything else that needs to be done becomes natural.
So, stop now and start defining your WHO. If you’d like a tool we use to help our clients define who their WHO is, let us know – we’ll be glad to share it with you. If you have ideas or tools that work, please share them in the comments section.
The Accidental Power of The Web
Too many websites miss out on the demand creation potential of the web – thus contributing to their own commoditization. One of the smartest (and wisest) pieces of advice I ever received from a coach of mine was, “Doug, remember that everybody wakes up in the morning with one goal in mind – to get through the day without meeting you.” While he was certainly being facetious (maybe), there is a lot of truth in the statement.
People go through life pursuing their objectives and not considering yours.
What does this have to do with websites, you may ask. Quite a lot. I’ve been involved in several projects reviewing websites and working with my clients in the creation of new ones. The biggest “intent” mistake that I see with websites everyday is that they are designed almost exclusively for those people that are going to your website on purpose.
The problem with this approach is that you are only communicating with people who already know who you are, believe they know what you do, and believe they know how they may need to use you. There is certainly value in this function, but the hidden (and real) value of the web lies in those people who “accidentally” find your website.
The web is a powerful “answer” mechanism. People regularly search for answers to their questions, or (dare I say) solutions to their problems. (Side comment – when I say solutions, I DO NOT mean products/services/ offerings posing as solutions – I mean the intelligence and knowledge of HOW to solve their problems.) Now understand when your prospect is searching the web they are not “looking” for your website – nor are they looking for your services. They’re looking for – well – whatever it is that they are looking for.
In my experience, you need to keep three things in mind if you want to make the accidental visitor a repeat visitor – and eventually a customer:
- You must make you website a resource. Highlight your knowledge – not just your offerings. The most effective question I’ve used to assess whether your site is supporting this aim is: What reason would an accidental visitor have to bookmark your site?
- Remember that your web visitors view the world from their perspective – not yours. This means that you need to be careful how your label your site. You may know what “custom services” mean, but it’s a good bet your accidental visitor doesn’t. Next time you view your site, view it through the lens of someone who knows nothing about you.
- Stop making your visitors work so hard to understand what you do – they can’t. Drop the we-do’s. Your biggest competition isn’t someone (or some company) who claims to do the same things you do, your biggest competition is noise and clutter. You job is to break through the noise. You do that, not by bragging, but by demonstrating that you understand your customers, instead of forcing your customers to understand you. Demonstrate your competence by demonstrating the intimate knowledge you have of your desired visitors.
I realize that it’s a lot easier to develop a website for your “on-purpose” visitors – but the real marketing leverage comes when you turn the accidental visitor into the on-purpose visitor, and then a customer.
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Resources
Doug's Washington Business Journal Columns- Intelligent Growth Articles
Third Wave Selling Blog
Products to Grow
