SELLING IS MUCH MORE PERSONAL THAN EVEN I THOUGHT

Last week I did a guest spot on The Big Biz Show, a national and international radio and TV simulcast. CBS is the primary carrier. I had been asked to share topics I think will work for both big and small businesses. That has turned out to be very easy to do as I’ve discovered that literally all of the marketing distinctions I have created while working on the big brands, are just as applicable to small businesses.

This was my eighth appearance, and as a result of a positive reaction from their audience, I am now considered a regular. This is all very new to me and while I was very intimidated at first, I now find it exciting, a lot of fun and I truly look forward to the next broadcast. I confess, I have been very surprised to discover that I am well suited to it. Given my limited experience, I can only conclude that training for such a thing must be secondary to simply having some degree of innate ability to just do it. I feel very lucky.

At this point, the hosts introduce me and I am allowed to take the show in whatever direction I choose. They jump in and it seems to go in a direction of its own. My first appearance was characterized to me as one segment in length, about ten minutes. That appearance went so well they held me through two. Last week they found the subject so interesting it went for three segments. I was blown away. After the session, while on the way home, I realized that I had learned something very valuable for myself during that appearance. While my intention was to share that “selling propositions have a gender,” I discovered much more for myself. I will share it here with you.

I began the first segment by suggesting that it is useful to look at your product or service as if it were alive and had a personality. I did so because consumers literally encounter hundreds of them on a daily basis. These selling propositions are quickly evaluated and either cast aside or acted upon. That’s very personal and I am clear that when a stranger encounters your selling proposition, it is a personal experience on many levels.

To begin with, I recommend you consider that your selling proposition is a one-way conversation with your target consumer. Right off, you better say something about them or they will think all you care about is yourself. The best thing you can possibly say about them is how they will benefit by using your product or service. Men’s Warehouse, “You’re going to like the way you look, I guarantee it. " Enough said there.

Our lives are very gender-centric and so are our products and services. Women respond to our selling propositions differently than men. Women are very comfortable with their sexuality while we men are less so. Given that, I recommend you make sure your selling proposition is somewhat more masculine than feminine if you want to be safe. Notice the Trojan package and how masculine it is. It is a fact that approximately 35% of all condoms are purchased by females…apparently comfortable with its gender.

I find it fitting that years ago I chose the word character to define what I say you should add to appropriate elements of your selling proposition, to make them appear remarkable to your target consumers. My definition of character is anything structural, graphic or words that cause the target consumer to develop relatedness to your product or service. Check out the abundance of character in the Go-Gurt package and imagine how remarkable it was when introduced years ago.

All marketers want their target consumers to be loyal and continue to purchase on a regular basis. Loyalty is of course a very human trait as is character. What I can share with you here is that there is a very direct relationship between character and loyalty. You show me a selling proposition with lots of character and I will bet that product will have lots of consumer loyalty.

I could continue talking about many more human characteristics but I am committed to a short blogging. The learning here is to remember to stay present to the idea that your selling proposition is human and in a one-way conversation with your target consumer. I promise, that mindset will be more a part of my own marketing context as I move forward. I’d love to know if it is part of yours.

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com

follow my blog by clicking one of the links below







visit my site, www.pullbizbook.com

HOW IS YOUR SELLING PROPOSITION TRACKING?

My son Eric likes to refer to me as a “clicker.” He has frequently observed me clicking away on my computer as I have become impatient to the point of not wanting to wait more than a split second for it to respond. He is right by the way. I think I’m simply a product of the times where we are all very impatient. This phenomenon is pervasive among humans in general and if you are not careful, it can affect how well your selling proposition is perceived.

When working on a positioning assignment, we break the total message down into its communication elements. We then dedicate ourselves to creating the most powerful means of communicating each. element We do so knowing that it is essential to developing a powerful selling proposition. This is true irrespective of whether it is a product or a service. It is just as correct to assume that you must make your selling proposition both fast and easy for your target consumer to encounter and comprehend, or you will lose them.

Assuming you do not have money for sophisticated eye tracking research, I offer the following. I will discuss the critical elements that will be initially exposed to your target consumer. You will want to consider all elements you feel are necessary to complete your selling proposition. Your selling proposition may be communicated at any one of many impact points. You could be working with a billboard ad, a yellow pages ad, a bus bench, a package, a radio or TV commercial, a billboard, the cover or first two pages of a brochure or whatever your impact point is. The process is exactly the same.

The most important element is almost always your benefit or a bold statement. Your benefit is a two or three word statement of what your target consumer gets out of using your product or service. An example is “Less Work” on the 3M Sandblaster sandpaper package seen below. A bold statement is a significant claim about the performance of your product or service. An example is “The Most Interesting Man In the World” on the Dos Equis billboard ad below.

Your brand or your generic descriptor can be the initial elements that target consumers are exposed to because target consumers encounter them without judgment. They are perfect to function as an attention getting element. Target consumers encounter them then move on quickly to the next most prominent element. The next element should be your benefit/bold statement. Beyond the benefit or bold statement, you will add supporting attribute drivers. They should be located in close proximity. Close enough that they function as one design element as in the 3M sandpaper package. Notice the statements directly adjacent to “Less Work."

This methodology sets up one of the strongest communication scenarios I know of. Your brand/generic descriptor works as your attention getting first element. Your benefit/attribute drivers work together as your second element. Assuming you have developed strong communication elements, you will have a powerful selling proposition and your target consumer has only had to encounter two elements. Additional subordinate elements should be added carefully.

The learning here is that you and I are responsible for how target consumers encounter selling propositions. Simply having all of the elements present is not enough. We must manage the order in which the elements are exposed. If we force them to sort it out they will tune out.

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com

follow my blog by clicking one of the links below







visit my site, www.pullbizbook.com