When you send a letter to a friend, or pen pal, the stationery can give clues to your feelings, and your opinion of the recipient. Many times the clues are as subtle as body language in a face-to-face conversation. What does your stationary say about you and your attitude towards the recipient? You wouldn’t dream of sending a business letter on a sheet of notebook paper torn out of a notebook, maybe with calculus notes in the margin, so why send a note on ripped out notebook paper with notations in the margin to a friend.
Notebook paper has its place, and if neatly trimmed can make excellent stationary for a friend who is in school, or getting ready to take tests. Notebook paper would not be appropriate to your aunt Mildred, unless of course you are asking for money to buy better stationery.
When selecting stationery for letters consider who you are sending the letter to. Your friend Jamie who likes bugs and has a pet tarantula would probably get a laugh out of stationary with bug stickers on it. Susan, who is a lace and ruffles kind of girl, would not appreciate it, but the stationery that has lace edging would tickle her. When considering the person who is receiving the letter try to describe them with adjectives, then see what type of stationery would be described using those same adjectives.
It isn’t just the printing, or fancy edging that portrays your opinion of the recipient. If you use cheap stationery all the time, then you say that they are not worth the few extra pennies good stationery will cost. If you truly need to cut costs when mailing a letter, use the good stationery for the first page and for subsequent pages use less expensive paper. This will show you care about them, but that the cost of mailing a letter is prohibitive.
The condition of the letter when it reaches your pen-pal says a great deal. Don’t send a letter that has a coffee cup stain in the middle, or chocolate fingerprints on the edges. This shows they are not worthy of your care and concern. Send a nice clean sheet of paper, unmarked by debris and dirty marks. When you fold the letter for the envelope, take the time to fold neatly, if you fold the letter in thirds, then it will usually fit in the envelope that goes with the stationery.
Using a matching envelope is a nice touch and shows how much care and consideration you deem the recipient of. As with anything written, the cues given by your letter should let the recipient know with what high regard you hold them. Take the time and find the perfect stationary to match both your recipient and your letters contents. You wouldn’t want to send a letter expressing your sympathy over the loss of a pet on paper that has sunshiny faces, a more subdued stationery would be most appropriate. On the other hand, stationery that has a black border wouldn’t be appropriate for the letter about your penpals upcoming wedding.
Before you place the pen on the paper consider the message you are sending with your paper and envelope. A little bit of thought will insure that your friendship is not strained because of unspoken/unwritten messages. Happy writing.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Value of a Thank You Note
It seems like a lifetime ago when thank you cards were a strong part of everyday life. Thank you’s were sent to show appreciation for everything from someone sending an unexpected gift to getting help with a garage sale. Over time, thank you cards only seem to be sent for shower and wedding gifts.
Why is this? Have we lost our appreciation for random acts of kindness? Do we not value the help we receive from others? Have the generations of parents following this lost tradition forgotten to teach their children the special meaning behind sending a written note of thanks?
I’d like to believe the answers to those questions are, “no.” How many times have you done something for someone and received a thank you note? When it happens, don’t you feel more appreciated? How many times have you received help from someone or a random act of kindness and sent a thank you note? When you did, didn’t you feel a great sense of gratification for expressing thanks?
Sending and receiving thank you notes has really opened my eyes to a whole new level of understanding gratitude and appreciation. Since I began diligently sending thank you’s three years ago, I’ve noticed I have been blessed with a lot more to be grateful for. It seems more people are available to offer a helping hand or favor when I need one.
For those who don’t actively write and send thank you notes via the postal system, I have a challenge for you:
Next time you receive a random act of kindness, a much-needed helping hand or any type of favor from someone send them a thank you note within one week. It doesn’t need to be long, just long enough to express yourself.
Sending a written thank you is much more personal than sending an Internet greeting. Yes, this method is quicker and more convenient than using the postal system. Yes, the majority of the sites offer free cards. Yes, the recipient will receive the thank you much quicker. BUT, that’s part of the problem!
What am I talking about?
Technology can sometimes cause a loss a appreciation, particularly in the areas of greeting cards and letter writing. How many times have you received a letter this past year? Probably once. How many times have you received an email letter containing “half-thoughts,” poor grammar and not much personality? Probably more than once per week. This same problem holds true for Internet greetings a lot of times. I’m not putting this system down, I just know from using these sites how effortless and easy it is to send them. This is what I do when I’m really pressed for time and can’t get to the store, not when I really want to show someone I care.
Remember, the thoughts expressed in this article are purely my opinion. I welcome any feedback or suggestions you’d like to offer.
Why is this? Have we lost our appreciation for random acts of kindness? Do we not value the help we receive from others? Have the generations of parents following this lost tradition forgotten to teach their children the special meaning behind sending a written note of thanks?
I’d like to believe the answers to those questions are, “no.” How many times have you done something for someone and received a thank you note? When it happens, don’t you feel more appreciated? How many times have you received help from someone or a random act of kindness and sent a thank you note? When you did, didn’t you feel a great sense of gratification for expressing thanks?
Sending and receiving thank you notes has really opened my eyes to a whole new level of understanding gratitude and appreciation. Since I began diligently sending thank you’s three years ago, I’ve noticed I have been blessed with a lot more to be grateful for. It seems more people are available to offer a helping hand or favor when I need one.
For those who don’t actively write and send thank you notes via the postal system, I have a challenge for you:
Next time you receive a random act of kindness, a much-needed helping hand or any type of favor from someone send them a thank you note within one week. It doesn’t need to be long, just long enough to express yourself.
- Think about how sending this thank you note made you feel.
- Think about how appreciative the person receiving the thank you feels.
- Think about how good you would feel if someone sent you a thank you note each time you did something for them.
Sending a written thank you is much more personal than sending an Internet greeting. Yes, this method is quicker and more convenient than using the postal system. Yes, the majority of the sites offer free cards. Yes, the recipient will receive the thank you much quicker. BUT, that’s part of the problem!
What am I talking about?
Technology can sometimes cause a loss a appreciation, particularly in the areas of greeting cards and letter writing. How many times have you received a letter this past year? Probably once. How many times have you received an email letter containing “half-thoughts,” poor grammar and not much personality? Probably more than once per week. This same problem holds true for Internet greetings a lot of times. I’m not putting this system down, I just know from using these sites how effortless and easy it is to send them. This is what I do when I’m really pressed for time and can’t get to the store, not when I really want to show someone I care.
Remember, the thoughts expressed in this article are purely my opinion. I welcome any feedback or suggestions you’d like to offer.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Your Voice on Paper
It's wise to match the personality of your prose with your business image and your target market. Do you want to present yourself as the customer's ally? As a no-nonsense expert? As a refined, cosmopolitan colleague? As an efficient, down-to-earth service provider?
Whenever you speak with a stranger on the phone, in just half a minute, your listener gets an impression of a personality, background and attitudes. Brusque. Upbeat. Slow-witted. Prissy. Confident. Similarly, whenever you put words down on paper for business, you create an aura that accompanies the meaning you intend to convey. Your reader gets an impression of what you'd be like to do business with. Energetic. Pretentious. Genteel. Candid. Slimy.
For instance, imagine the person behind each of these four business communications.
To me, person #1 appears brash, but not arrogant. Person #2 strikes me as unusually timid. Writer #3 comes across as a faceless, insincere corporation, not a person at all. Person #4 gets the biggest rise out of me, impressing me as a rude egomaniac who assumes that I owe him my business.
Your reactions may differ. You might appreciate person #2's apprehensiveness or find person #4 refreshingly forthright. There is no magic voice that appeals to everyone, every time.
Still, it's wise to match the personality of your prose with your business image and your target market. Do you want to present yourself as the customer's ally? As a no-nonsense expert? As a refined, cosmopolitan colleague? As an efficient, down-to-earth service provider?
Whenever you speak with a stranger on the phone, in just half a minute, your listener gets an impression of a personality, background and attitudes. Brusque. Upbeat. Slow-witted. Prissy. Confident. Similarly, whenever you put words down on paper for business, you create an aura that accompanies the meaning you intend to convey. Your reader gets an impression of what you'd be like to do business with. Energetic. Pretentious. Genteel. Candid. Slimy.
For instance, imagine the person behind each of these four business communications.
- Next January 15, I will be crossing the finish line of the first ever, nationally televised Pensacola Pentathlon -- first. If you act right away, your company's logo will be exposed to millions on my shirt.
- I don't know if you remember me, but I'm the short red-haired woman who spoke to you after your talk to Pen Women United in Kenarsie last September. I hope it's all right to take you up on your invitation to send the completed manuscript of my first novel.
- We appreciate the opportunity to serve you. So that we may continue to offer you the finest business information available, kindly fill out our survey form.
- Despite the good work I did for you, doubling your profits, I haven't heard from you again. Have you gone out of business? Died? Unfortunately, if you don't set up another appointment this month, I will be forced to expunge you from my file of contacts.
To me, person #1 appears brash, but not arrogant. Person #2 strikes me as unusually timid. Writer #3 comes across as a faceless, insincere corporation, not a person at all. Person #4 gets the biggest rise out of me, impressing me as a rude egomaniac who assumes that I owe him my business.
Your reactions may differ. You might appreciate person #2's apprehensiveness or find person #4 refreshingly forthright. There is no magic voice that appeals to everyone, every time.
Still, it's wise to match the personality of your prose with your business image and your target market. Do you want to present yourself as the customer's ally? As a no-nonsense expert? As a refined, cosmopolitan colleague? As an efficient, down-to-earth service provider?
- Feel free to use words you rarely see in business, such as "haggle," "wacky," "peachy." Distinctive language makes your message more memorable.
- Avoid stuffy word choices like "apprise," where shorter, ordinary words like "inform" or "tell" communicate well.
- Convey a friendly, personal spirit by addressing the reader as "you" and referring to yourself as "I."
- Present tense ("Our program brings you...") conveys more confidence than past tense ("...brought..."), future tense ("...will bring...") or the conditional ("would bring...").
- Unless you're an uncommonly nimble writer, don't try to become someone in writing that you're not. Phoniness hurts in marketing. Even if your sleight of words worked, you'd run the danger of disappointing the prospect when he or she called or showed up at your office.
Avoid These Mistakes in Your Online or Paper Brochure
Someone who picks up your brochure or clicks onto your World Wide Web page is thinking, "Why should I buy from you?" or "What's in this for me?" And right at the top, during the first moments of contact, those are the questions your marketing piece should answer.
Suppose I tell you I'm interested in five plain-paper fax machines, and ask why I should buy them from you. Would you stand up straight and proclaim, "We're Frank Fenn Faxes, serving Sinclair City since 1985"? I doubt it.
Yet that's exactly what hundreds of thousands of you have been doing, in effect, for years on printed brochures and more recently, on electronic World Wide Web pages. "We're Frank Fenn Faxes, serving Sinclair City since 1985" will not move even a motivated buyer closer to the decision to buy. Nevertheless, it's the most common (and ineffective) message on the front panels of printed brochures or headline for home pages on the Internet.
Someone who picks up your brochure or clicks onto your World Wide Web page is thinking, "Why should I buy from you?" or "What's in this for me?" And right at the top, during the first moments of contact, those are the questions your marketing piece should answer.
Computer consultant B.F. Boudreau of Waltham, Massachusetts, heads her brochure, "Puzzled by computers?" If I'm an appropriate prospect for her services, I'll think "yes!" and turn the page. Similarly, the Sagat Speech Institute would do better with "Secrets of Spectacular Speaking" as a World Wide Web page headline than with the name of the organization.
Once you motivate your reader to find out more, spell out what you sell or do for people in language that makes sense to your customers, not your own jargon. Someone who is indeed puzzled by computers responds more readily to "We patiently get you past the frustration of learning your software" than to "Specializing in Windows applications, SQL and RDBS's." A homeowner needing trash disposal should encounter, "We get rid of it safely and legally," not "We comply with all 5.4893 regulations."
Yet another common mistake is citing credentials and achievements as if they were selling points. Notice how the "After" statement in the following pair slants the facts to show prospects vividly why business qualifications matters.
BEFORE: From 1987 to 1997, Keith Stone served as outplacement director for Textron, Inc., and started his own firm in January 1998. He holds an M.A. in counseling from the University of Wisconsin.
AFTER: With a decade of corporate outplacement experience and a counseling degree, Keith Stone offers jobless or job-unhappy folks guidance and support while shortening their path to the ideal job.
A fourth common mistake in brochures is failing to ask for action. After you catch prospects' attention, describe your product or service and bolster your offering with qualifications, explicitly ask your readers to do something. "Call 800-XXX-XXXX for a free evaluation of your business lease today." "Call 213-XXX-XXXX from your fax machine for a catalog of free legal reports available through our fax-on-demand system." A parting gesture like this makes an enormous difference, either because we human beings are obedient creatures or we enjoy being reminded to take action.
Suppose I tell you I'm interested in five plain-paper fax machines, and ask why I should buy them from you. Would you stand up straight and proclaim, "We're Frank Fenn Faxes, serving Sinclair City since 1985"? I doubt it.
Yet that's exactly what hundreds of thousands of you have been doing, in effect, for years on printed brochures and more recently, on electronic World Wide Web pages. "We're Frank Fenn Faxes, serving Sinclair City since 1985" will not move even a motivated buyer closer to the decision to buy. Nevertheless, it's the most common (and ineffective) message on the front panels of printed brochures or headline for home pages on the Internet.
Someone who picks up your brochure or clicks onto your World Wide Web page is thinking, "Why should I buy from you?" or "What's in this for me?" And right at the top, during the first moments of contact, those are the questions your marketing piece should answer.
Computer consultant B.F. Boudreau of Waltham, Massachusetts, heads her brochure, "Puzzled by computers?" If I'm an appropriate prospect for her services, I'll think "yes!" and turn the page. Similarly, the Sagat Speech Institute would do better with "Secrets of Spectacular Speaking" as a World Wide Web page headline than with the name of the organization.
Once you motivate your reader to find out more, spell out what you sell or do for people in language that makes sense to your customers, not your own jargon. Someone who is indeed puzzled by computers responds more readily to "We patiently get you past the frustration of learning your software" than to "Specializing in Windows applications, SQL and RDBS's." A homeowner needing trash disposal should encounter, "We get rid of it safely and legally," not "We comply with all 5.4893 regulations."
Yet another common mistake is citing credentials and achievements as if they were selling points. Notice how the "After" statement in the following pair slants the facts to show prospects vividly why business qualifications matters.
BEFORE: From 1987 to 1997, Keith Stone served as outplacement director for Textron, Inc., and started his own firm in January 1998. He holds an M.A. in counseling from the University of Wisconsin.
AFTER: With a decade of corporate outplacement experience and a counseling degree, Keith Stone offers jobless or job-unhappy folks guidance and support while shortening their path to the ideal job.
A fourth common mistake in brochures is failing to ask for action. After you catch prospects' attention, describe your product or service and bolster your offering with qualifications, explicitly ask your readers to do something. "Call 800-XXX-XXXX for a free evaluation of your business lease today." "Call 213-XXX-XXXX from your fax machine for a catalog of free legal reports available through our fax-on-demand system." A parting gesture like this makes an enormous difference, either because we human beings are obedient creatures or we enjoy being reminded to take action.
Twist Your Head Around for Better Ads
To appeal to people different from yourself, you use your own reasoning at your peril. I've seen this obstacle raise its head in the wording of marketing materials and pricing as well as ad images. How can you think your way into the mindset of others?
Not long ago, I visited North Dakota for the first time and had some free time to explore. I thought I'd sightsee, but had a hard time finding charm in its fields, fields and more fields. A native North Dakotan told me she'd had a hard time feeling comfortable amidst the crowded-in, built-up environs of Boston, my home. "I need to be able to see to the horizon," she said. "Seeing nothing between here and the horizon bothers me," I said. We laughed.
This ad in the magazine Business 2.0 was attempting to lure non-Dakotans to uproot themselves and move to the hinterlands. Unfortunately, though, the ad pictured the very emptiness that appealed only to those who'd already grown accustomed to it. The image thus sabotaged the admaker's goal.
If the admaker had put himself in the place of the target market, he could have come up with a wealth of other reasons non-Dakotans might have moved to work for Great Plains software: affordable homes and land, a great place to raise a family, classic American values. Indeed, buried in the ad copy was the news that Fortune magazine had named Great Plains software one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, two years running. Surely Fortune's reasons would appeal more than the landscape.
The lesson: To appeal to people different from yourself, you use your own reasoning at your peril. I've seen this obstacle raise its head in the wording of marketing materials and pricing as well as ad images. How can you think your way into the mindset of others?
Traditionally, marketers seeking to understand what motivates buyers run focus groups, in which a facilitator gets people in the target audience talking about the factors that matter to them in a buying decision. But you can get similar input prior to a marketing campaign in some more cost-effective ways.
Just find people in the target market, ask them open-ended questions and listen.
If I worked for Great Plains, I would look for technical people visiting from other parts of the country, ask them how they felt about Fargo and their hometown, and what might persuade them to move elsewhere. Then I'd shut up.
Or, I'd go online and find a forum of software professionals and ask them what kind of location they'd look for if they were going to relocate, what criteria would influence them. Then I'd look for patterns in the answers.
Remember, people whom you're trying to persuade may have quite divergent values from yours. Appealing to your own motivators can boomerang!
Not long ago, I visited North Dakota for the first time and had some free time to explore. I thought I'd sightsee, but had a hard time finding charm in its fields, fields and more fields. A native North Dakotan told me she'd had a hard time feeling comfortable amidst the crowded-in, built-up environs of Boston, my home. "I need to be able to see to the horizon," she said. "Seeing nothing between here and the horizon bothers me," I said. We laughed.
This ad in the magazine Business 2.0 was attempting to lure non-Dakotans to uproot themselves and move to the hinterlands. Unfortunately, though, the ad pictured the very emptiness that appealed only to those who'd already grown accustomed to it. The image thus sabotaged the admaker's goal.
If the admaker had put himself in the place of the target market, he could have come up with a wealth of other reasons non-Dakotans might have moved to work for Great Plains software: affordable homes and land, a great place to raise a family, classic American values. Indeed, buried in the ad copy was the news that Fortune magazine had named Great Plains software one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, two years running. Surely Fortune's reasons would appeal more than the landscape.
The lesson: To appeal to people different from yourself, you use your own reasoning at your peril. I've seen this obstacle raise its head in the wording of marketing materials and pricing as well as ad images. How can you think your way into the mindset of others?
Traditionally, marketers seeking to understand what motivates buyers run focus groups, in which a facilitator gets people in the target audience talking about the factors that matter to them in a buying decision. But you can get similar input prior to a marketing campaign in some more cost-effective ways.
Just find people in the target market, ask them open-ended questions and listen.
If I worked for Great Plains, I would look for technical people visiting from other parts of the country, ask them how they felt about Fargo and their hometown, and what might persuade them to move elsewhere. Then I'd shut up.
Or, I'd go online and find a forum of software professionals and ask them what kind of location they'd look for if they were going to relocate, what criteria would influence them. Then I'd look for patterns in the answers.
Remember, people whom you're trying to persuade may have quite divergent values from yours. Appealing to your own motivators can boomerang!
Guarantees With Oomph
The word "guarantee," like the word "free," has a specific meaning that the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general enforce.
Not long ago a real estate appraiser asked my opinion of his new brochure. "'Guaranteed on-time appraisals,'" I read out loud. "You mean that if it's not on time, the customer gets a refund?"
"No, I couldn't do that," he replied. "So many times things get delayed for reasons outside of my control."
"What do you mean, then, by 'guaranteed'?"
"Never mind, then. Strike that out. We couldn't give people their money back every time an appraisal was late."
He'd come close to landing his business in serious trouble. The word "guarantee," like the word "free," has a specific meaning that the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general enforce. Without any explicit qualifiers attached, "guarantee" means that the customer has the right to a 100 percent refund if the product or service disappoints them -- no "ifs," "ands" or "buts."
Further, because of the well-known strength of the word, a guarantee holds a powerful potential to increase business. I explained to the appraiser that an on-time guarantee would probably boost his business enough to cover the occasional refund. We then restated his guarantee to read, "We guarantee that we'll deliver your appraisal by the promised time, or it's free." He'd cover his flanks by being careful about the promises he made.
Like a sharp knife, guarantees can cut through a prospect's skepticism and fears. Handle them with care, but include them in your business's toolbox.
Not long ago a real estate appraiser asked my opinion of his new brochure. "'Guaranteed on-time appraisals,'" I read out loud. "You mean that if it's not on time, the customer gets a refund?"
"No, I couldn't do that," he replied. "So many times things get delayed for reasons outside of my control."
"What do you mean, then, by 'guaranteed'?"
"Never mind, then. Strike that out. We couldn't give people their money back every time an appraisal was late."
He'd come close to landing his business in serious trouble. The word "guarantee," like the word "free," has a specific meaning that the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general enforce. Without any explicit qualifiers attached, "guarantee" means that the customer has the right to a 100 percent refund if the product or service disappoints them -- no "ifs," "ands" or "buts."
Further, because of the well-known strength of the word, a guarantee holds a powerful potential to increase business. I explained to the appraiser that an on-time guarantee would probably boost his business enough to cover the occasional refund. We then restated his guarantee to read, "We guarantee that we'll deliver your appraisal by the promised time, or it's free." He'd cover his flanks by being careful about the promises he made.
Like a sharp knife, guarantees can cut through a prospect's skepticism and fears. Handle them with care, but include them in your business's toolbox.
- Try a long guarantee. The longer the guarantee, in fact, the fewer refund requests a business receives. If your competitors offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, extend yours to 90 days, a year or even a lifetime.
- Depending on your business, consider a performance guarantee instead of promising a refund. For example, a termite-control customer might prefer your promise to make the problem go away, no matter what it takes, to getting her money back if the treatment doesn't wipe out the pests.
- If you can stand behind outrageous-sounding guarantees, go for it, as in, "We guarantee that your credit-card application will be approved by one of the listed banks, or we'll return every penny you paid us, plus $10.00 extra for your trouble." Since this company knows that only 4 percent of applicants get turned down, their offer motivates without bankrupting them.
- Try guaranteeing some aspect of your product or service rather than the main product or service itself. One advertising firm promises that all calls will be returned in less than one hour, or the caller receives a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant.
- Act graciously and promptly when a request for a refund comes in. See what you can learn from the customer's dissatisfaction. Software returns were killing one catalog merchant until she wrote the catalog copy more carefully and tested it on her friends for clarity. Customer service research reveals that people whose complaints are handled well often turn into more loyal customers than those who never had a problem!
Galvanizing Buyers With Benefits
Most business owners are too immersed in their seller/provider point of view to switch easily to the perceptions of their customers. But once they get their marketing statements to pass the "So what?" test, readers of their revamped brochures, press releases and sales letters rise up and buy at startling rates.
A nutritional supplement seller says his product's uniqueness consists in its containing a "broad-spectrum, sustained-release antioxidant." A venture capitalist says his uniqueness is a headquarters in Vermont rather than Manhattan. A consultant attributes her uniqueness to delivering advice in three-hour rather than one-hour sessions.
All these claims, I'm sure, are true. But something essential is missing from each. What advantage does the buyer get from these peculiarities? Your uniqueness generates action only when you translate what's so about your business into a "So what?" for those interested in your product or service.
In traditional terms, you must translate the features of your business into benefits for the buyer to awaken skeptical, yawning prospects. This exercise is deceptively difficult and amazingly powerful. Most business owners are too immersed in their seller/provider point of view to switch easily to the perceptions of their customers. But once they get their marketing statements to pass the "So what?" test, readers of their revamped brochures, press releases and sales letters rise up and buy at startling rates.
Let's analyze the examples above.
Many nutritional supplements customers don't understand what's so great about a product being "broad-spectrum" and "sustained release" -- not to mention being confused what "anti-oxidants" can do for them. People who want to stay young-looking and healthy will respond better upon learning that this substance helps stall the aging process and prevent degenerative diseases, in a formulation that the body absorbs quickly and that keeps on working for a long time.
For the venture capitalist, being headquartered in Vermont means that he looks more favorably on some unconventional ventures than others, that he's more approachable than big-city competitors and that with low overhead, he can consider smaller deals than other firms. All of this, spelled out, would help attract the offbeat clients he envisioned when he moved to the country.
I'm not sure the consultant who delivers three-hour sessions has a rationale for why longer stints benefit her clients. If it led to faster resolutions, or deeper insights, or saved them money, those would be valid benefits. Asking "So what?" of her, I came up with "So nothing." The consultant invested a lot of energy and resources in believing that her uniqueness represents a marketing advantage. But until she can say what that is, her outreach to customers remains on shaky footing.
To perform this exercise yourself, divide a sheet of paper in half lengthwise and write each major fact about your product or service in the left-hand column and in the right-hand column, name the benefit of each fact. For instance, what's the benefit of Saturday and evening appointments? Convenience; clients don't squander personal job time for appointments during business hours.
Spelled-out benefits reach deep inside of people, where they feel their needs and become motivated to act. After completing this chart, you have the ingredients for marketing materials that generate telephone calls, appointments and checks in your mailbox.
A nutritional supplement seller says his product's uniqueness consists in its containing a "broad-spectrum, sustained-release antioxidant." A venture capitalist says his uniqueness is a headquarters in Vermont rather than Manhattan. A consultant attributes her uniqueness to delivering advice in three-hour rather than one-hour sessions.
All these claims, I'm sure, are true. But something essential is missing from each. What advantage does the buyer get from these peculiarities? Your uniqueness generates action only when you translate what's so about your business into a "So what?" for those interested in your product or service.
In traditional terms, you must translate the features of your business into benefits for the buyer to awaken skeptical, yawning prospects. This exercise is deceptively difficult and amazingly powerful. Most business owners are too immersed in their seller/provider point of view to switch easily to the perceptions of their customers. But once they get their marketing statements to pass the "So what?" test, readers of their revamped brochures, press releases and sales letters rise up and buy at startling rates.
Let's analyze the examples above.
Many nutritional supplements customers don't understand what's so great about a product being "broad-spectrum" and "sustained release" -- not to mention being confused what "anti-oxidants" can do for them. People who want to stay young-looking and healthy will respond better upon learning that this substance helps stall the aging process and prevent degenerative diseases, in a formulation that the body absorbs quickly and that keeps on working for a long time.
For the venture capitalist, being headquartered in Vermont means that he looks more favorably on some unconventional ventures than others, that he's more approachable than big-city competitors and that with low overhead, he can consider smaller deals than other firms. All of this, spelled out, would help attract the offbeat clients he envisioned when he moved to the country.
I'm not sure the consultant who delivers three-hour sessions has a rationale for why longer stints benefit her clients. If it led to faster resolutions, or deeper insights, or saved them money, those would be valid benefits. Asking "So what?" of her, I came up with "So nothing." The consultant invested a lot of energy and resources in believing that her uniqueness represents a marketing advantage. But until she can say what that is, her outreach to customers remains on shaky footing.
To perform this exercise yourself, divide a sheet of paper in half lengthwise and write each major fact about your product or service in the left-hand column and in the right-hand column, name the benefit of each fact. For instance, what's the benefit of Saturday and evening appointments? Convenience; clients don't squander personal job time for appointments during business hours.
Spelled-out benefits reach deep inside of people, where they feel their needs and become motivated to act. After completing this chart, you have the ingredients for marketing materials that generate telephone calls, appointments and checks in your mailbox.
Writing Testimonials: Magical Credibility Boosters
When it comes to forking over money to you, many people act like proverbial Missourians: hands folded across their chests, they demand "Show me!" You can't always mount a demonstration of your product or service, particularly at a distance. The next best thing: earning their confidence with testimonials.
Also known as third-party endorsements, or blurbs, testimonials boost your credibility because they move you from saying, in effect, "I'm great and you'd better believe it!" to "I'm great and here are real people who say so." They also help you convey elusive qualities about yourself and your business that don't easily come across on paper otherwise.
For maximum clout, testimonials end with a person's full name, his or her title where that's applicable, and either company name, preferably recognizable, or a city and state. To the extent that you water down or omit any of these ingredients, you weaken a testimonial's ower. "J.F., Santa Monica, California" is pretty weak. "J.F., California" is barely worth the ink needed to print it. Please don't give in to the temptation to concoct fake testimonials, which could amount to deceptive advertising.
Many people are under the impression that a testimonial should take the form of a complete, signed letter on a company letterhead. But because you're asking a lot of someone when you request one of these, you'll get many more usable quotes if you simply go after two sentences from each testimonial giver. Here are a few ways to do that.
If you happen to receive a wonderful letter of thanks, find the strongest two sentences to excerpt for your promotional materials. Feel free to combine several phrases and condense the wording, so long as you don't change the essential meaning. Many times the context is missing, and you need to supply it so an outsider understands the praise. If you do much more than change the punctuation, and add or omit little connecting words, get the writer's permission for the changes.
Over the telephone or face to face, whenever someone spontaneously utters quotable praise, grab a pencil or tape recorder, ask, "May I quote you on that?" and scribble it down. One approach that I've seen work well is to say you're collecting success stories from clients and would they like to be included? Putting it that way flatters clients and presents the blurb to them as a compliment rather than a burdensome request.
Or, distribute questionnaires at the time that people receive your product or service. Or send out a cstomer/client satisfaction survey. Either way, design the questionnaire or survey on a postage-paid card or a fax-back form, keeping it easy for them. Customer/client surveys also serve as a marketing tool by conveying the message that you care about feedback, and reminding people who were especially pleased with your work that they should call on you again. Some may rehire you when they return the survey!
Also known as third-party endorsements, or blurbs, testimonials boost your credibility because they move you from saying, in effect, "I'm great and you'd better believe it!" to "I'm great and here are real people who say so." They also help you convey elusive qualities about yourself and your business that don't easily come across on paper otherwise.
For maximum clout, testimonials end with a person's full name, his or her title where that's applicable, and either company name, preferably recognizable, or a city and state. To the extent that you water down or omit any of these ingredients, you weaken a testimonial's ower. "J.F., Santa Monica, California" is pretty weak. "J.F., California" is barely worth the ink needed to print it. Please don't give in to the temptation to concoct fake testimonials, which could amount to deceptive advertising.
Many people are under the impression that a testimonial should take the form of a complete, signed letter on a company letterhead. But because you're asking a lot of someone when you request one of these, you'll get many more usable quotes if you simply go after two sentences from each testimonial giver. Here are a few ways to do that.
If you happen to receive a wonderful letter of thanks, find the strongest two sentences to excerpt for your promotional materials. Feel free to combine several phrases and condense the wording, so long as you don't change the essential meaning. Many times the context is missing, and you need to supply it so an outsider understands the praise. If you do much more than change the punctuation, and add or omit little connecting words, get the writer's permission for the changes.
Over the telephone or face to face, whenever someone spontaneously utters quotable praise, grab a pencil or tape recorder, ask, "May I quote you on that?" and scribble it down. One approach that I've seen work well is to say you're collecting success stories from clients and would they like to be included? Putting it that way flatters clients and presents the blurb to them as a compliment rather than a burdensome request.
Or, distribute questionnaires at the time that people receive your product or service. Or send out a cstomer/client satisfaction survey. Either way, design the questionnaire or survey on a postage-paid card or a fax-back form, keeping it easy for them. Customer/client surveys also serve as a marketing tool by conveying the message that you care about feedback, and reminding people who were especially pleased with your work that they should call on you again. Some may rehire you when they return the survey!
Sad About Your Ads? Then Read This
Effective advertising begins not with a knee-jerk assumption that it's the only way to attract buyers, but with an analysis of the typical decision cycle with respect to what you're selling.
Here's a common lament from people promoting a small business: "I just spent $700 on advertising and got only two responses. Help!" And from those who've grown a business successfully I've heard: "I've built a half-million-dollar business without advertising. I guess it's time now."
Both of these comments derive from misconceptions about advertising -- as if it's the obvious and only choice for gaining new customers. Not at all. If something about your business is newsworthy, media publicity can bring you more credibility and visibility than advertising. If your product or service requires that customers trust you, personal networking, publishing articles that demonstrate your expertise and public speaking pay off better than advertising.
Effective advertising begins not with a knee-jerk assumption that it's the only way to attract buyers, but with an analysis of the typical decision cycle with respect to what you're selling. What is the way in which people typically realize that they need your service or product, and how do they usually go about making the decision to buy it? Given that, can advertising can reach prospects at a crucial point in their decision cycle and influence them to come your way?
For a service like plumbing, people usually decide to buy when a problem of crisis proportions has occurred. They find a plumber either by word of mouth or by sending their fingers walking through the Yellow Pages. Advertising plumbing services in a magazine or through sales letters most people would receive when they weren't experiencing a problem wouldn't work. Yellow Pages ads are the plumbers' #1 marketing vehicle.
For something like computer software, people generally have the leeway to investigate options over a period of time, and might look to magazines that cover software for leads and recommendations. Here advertising consistently in magazines read by your target audience makes perfect sense.
For products and services people may want but not urgently need, like self-help books, exercise equipment or vision improving surgery, attention-getting ads in magazines, newspapers and on television can create interest and with repetition, inspire people to act. However, this works only with a careful match between the product or service and the audience of your chosen advertising vehicle.
For advertising to pay off, avoid impulse buying of ads. When I ask people why they chose their advertising vehicle, I sometimes hear, "It seemed like a good idea" or "I subscribe" or "They offered me a good deal." Instead of this haphazard approach, be specific about the population you're trying to reach and investigate which options will actually reach that population at the best price. A reference work on advertising media called Standard Rate & Data Service, available at many public libraries, will be helpful, as will statistics in the media kits provided free by any medium that sells advertising.
Be strategic in your advertising approach and your new lament may be "The phone is ringing off the hook. Help!"
Here's a common lament from people promoting a small business: "I just spent $700 on advertising and got only two responses. Help!" And from those who've grown a business successfully I've heard: "I've built a half-million-dollar business without advertising. I guess it's time now."
Both of these comments derive from misconceptions about advertising -- as if it's the obvious and only choice for gaining new customers. Not at all. If something about your business is newsworthy, media publicity can bring you more credibility and visibility than advertising. If your product or service requires that customers trust you, personal networking, publishing articles that demonstrate your expertise and public speaking pay off better than advertising.
Effective advertising begins not with a knee-jerk assumption that it's the only way to attract buyers, but with an analysis of the typical decision cycle with respect to what you're selling. What is the way in which people typically realize that they need your service or product, and how do they usually go about making the decision to buy it? Given that, can advertising can reach prospects at a crucial point in their decision cycle and influence them to come your way?
For a service like plumbing, people usually decide to buy when a problem of crisis proportions has occurred. They find a plumber either by word of mouth or by sending their fingers walking through the Yellow Pages. Advertising plumbing services in a magazine or through sales letters most people would receive when they weren't experiencing a problem wouldn't work. Yellow Pages ads are the plumbers' #1 marketing vehicle.
For something like computer software, people generally have the leeway to investigate options over a period of time, and might look to magazines that cover software for leads and recommendations. Here advertising consistently in magazines read by your target audience makes perfect sense.
For products and services people may want but not urgently need, like self-help books, exercise equipment or vision improving surgery, attention-getting ads in magazines, newspapers and on television can create interest and with repetition, inspire people to act. However, this works only with a careful match between the product or service and the audience of your chosen advertising vehicle.
For advertising to pay off, avoid impulse buying of ads. When I ask people why they chose their advertising vehicle, I sometimes hear, "It seemed like a good idea" or "I subscribe" or "They offered me a good deal." Instead of this haphazard approach, be specific about the population you're trying to reach and investigate which options will actually reach that population at the best price. A reference work on advertising media called Standard Rate & Data Service, available at many public libraries, will be helpful, as will statistics in the media kits provided free by any medium that sells advertising.
Be strategic in your advertising approach and your new lament may be "The phone is ringing off the hook. Help!"
Five Brochure Alternatives
Often, something besides a traditional folded envelope stuffer does a better job of galvanizing prospective clients or customers. Consider five alternatives: the one-sheet faxable flyer, the portfolio approach, a substantive sales letter, an audiotape and a computer disk/CD-Rom.
Horse and... carriage. Love and... marriage. Thick and... thin. For many business owners, the connection between "start a business" and "create a brochure" is almost as strong and automatic. Often, however, something besides a traditional folded envelope stuffer does a better job of galvanizing prospective clients or customers. Consider these alternatives:
Horse and... carriage. Love and... marriage. Thick and... thin. For many business owners, the connection between "start a business" and "create a brochure" is almost as strong and automatic. Often, however, something besides a traditional folded envelope stuffer does a better job of galvanizing prospective clients or customers. Consider these alternatives:
- A one-sheet faxable flyer. If your leads typically come in by telephone from business customers, a one-sheet may be her best response to the request, "Send me your stuff." Near-universal now in the speaking and conventions industry, it typically includes in a nicely designed layout a specially screened photo, a list of offerings, a client list and brief testimonial quotes. If you have separate phone and fax lines, you can send this one-sheet through on your fax while on the phone with a prospective customer.
- The portfolio approach. Common among high-priced consultants, this allows you to assemble a customized collection of ingredients for each prospective customer in a colorful pocket folder. For a hardware-store owner who is thinking of doing business with you, you include one set of price lists, company profile, press clippings and customer quotes, and another set for a stockbroker. A portfolio yields a high-class impression with a next-to-zero upfront investment.
- Substantive sales letter. Try conveying your whole marketing message in a two- or three-page sales letter. Begin by making it clear why the recipient should bother to read the letter, end by explaining the action you wish the reader to take, and in between lay out step by step your best arguments why your prospect should do business with you. I've seen this technique succeed for photographic services, mortgages, lawn care, vacation trips, and many other items.
- Audiotape. If you can convince someone to pop a tape in their car or kitchen cassette player, you may get their attention for a longer period of time than they'd normally spend reading. A pleasant, conversational human voice can go far in explaining a complicated product or service and persuading the listener that he or she is trustworthy. Your main hurdle here is the psychological distance from the mailing envelope to the tape machine. The cassette needs a cover letter or self-stick note persuading the recipient that a listen will be worth their time.
- Computer disk/CD-Rom. Don't bother with this marketing method unless you have overwhelming evidence that recipients have the proper equipment to place the disk or CD in. And as with audiotapes, you need a cover letter explaining what it is and why it's worth their time. With those two bases covered, though, this can get through wonderfully to high-tech customers who love anything electronic and wouldn't have the patience for the same content printed out on paper.
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