I’ll admit I have a bias.
While I’m not a Luddite driving a buggy, I think that a lot of time we focus way too much on technology as the solution to our business development woes. For example, want to start a passionate conversation? Ask a group of marketers or business owners, “Does social media really work?”
“Yes it does.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“My friend Al got a big account from Facebook, so there!!!”
“I don’t care, you’re still ugly.”
On and on…missing the point. (Or a large part of the point.)
It’s not the technology…it’s not the medium…it’s WHAT you’re communicating.
People seem to forget that.
But I get asked these questions a lot…
Does email really work?
Do autoresponders really work?
Does video really work?
Does advertising really work?
And the answer is always the same…”Yes, if you communicate the right message.”
Which brings me (finally) to my point.
How can we do a better job of communicating to those we want to do business with?
This all came about as a result of an interview I read in this month’s CEO Magazine with Linda Heasley, CEO of The Limited Stores. (As an aside and to answer another question I get asked, “How do you think of things to write?” The answer is “Read lots of magazines and newspapers.” If you want my list let me know and I’ll pass it along.)
I don’t know how much you know about women’s retail (I knew next to nothing until I interviewed Les Wexner for a report I was developing for a client) but it won’t come as any great surprise when I tell you that it’s brutally competitive. Lots of “me-too” stuff, harder and harder for stores to carve out an individual niche for themselves, “branding” is extremely difficult…(sound familiar?).
But Ms. Heasley’s success in reinvigorated The Limited offers all of us a specific lesson that’s valuable.
One of the top challenge she and her team faced was how to hone in on what her target customer really wanted to buy? What really was going on in her head? To figure that out, they came up with a very simple, but highly effective solution.
They created one.
The article explains:
“The fictitious, Tyler Monroe-prototypical Limited shopper-became the touchpoint for decisions at every level of the organization. Strategic decisions were based on the answers to such questions as: What were her likes and dislikes? What type of house does she live in? What car does she drive? What appointments would be in her day planner? What does she do for fun?”
The answers to these questions then drove the answers to the next set of questions:
“How does Tyler dress? What would Tyler wear for the office? For the weekend? At a picnic? At a corporate event?”
And then ultimately the answer to…
“What marketing messages would she respond to? Which would she reject?”
Everything from buying to advertising to store layout was geared towards appealing to Tyler Monroe.
So what’s the lesson? Simple.
You need to create a prototypical client. When you create your website, write marketing copy, develop ads…it’s all done with the vision of this individual (and that’s key-it needs to be an individual) in mind.
To toot my own horn, I’m told by people who allegedly know about this stuff, that my 42% email open rate is extremely high, especially given how long some of my 25,000+ subscribers have been on my list. (For which I am very appreciative-thank you!)
I believe that a large part for why the open rate is so high is because I have a prototypical client in mind when I sit down and write to you. (It was one of the early exercises my coach and I did back a few years ago and it remains one of the most productive 2 hours I have ever spent.)
There’s a series of questions I like to ask my coaching clients to zero in on who this prototypical client is but you can probably do a decent job of creating this “character” with just some good thinking.
But the real point is this.
If you want to attract more new prospects…If you want to convert large percentages of them into paying clients…
It’s not about the latest technology.
It’s not about whether social media, direct mail or advertising work…
It’s all about WHAT you communicate.
Food for thought.
Talk with you soon.
Mark
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Tags: business development, guerilla marketing ideas, lead generation, marketing strategies, new clients, sales conversion
