We all have a conversation going on in our minds. Sometimes this is referred to as our inner voice. That conversation will be very different for a purchasing manager than for the engineer who wants the most expensive tools to do the job. Or for a Gen-X, then it is for a Gen-Z. This is why it’s so important to understand your target market well.
A great way to enter the conversation going on in your prospect’s mind is to address the elephant in the room. It’s natural always to present your business in the most favourable light possible when marketing yourself. However, this often leads to one of the most common marketing blunders – discussing only the positive aspects of doing business with you.
Avoiding the elephant in the room, in other words, the risks associated with buying from you is a rookie mistake.
The amygdala region of the brain is primarily associated with emotional processes. It governs our reactions to important events for our survival, and it stimulates fear to warn us of imminent danger. If you’re being followed at night by a suspicious-looking individual and your heart is pounding, that’s your amygdala doing its job. That’s good.
However, the amygdala in your prospect’s brain can also stop them from buying from you. That’s bad.
Whether you manage a business development function for a manufacturing company or a private healthcare organisation, when a prospective customer considers buying from you, their amygdala is making a judgment call about the potential risks involved.
If you skirt around this issue in your marketing, you allow the amygdala in your prospect’s brain to run wild and potentially kill the sale. Given that this risk evaluation will happen whether you like it or not, why not participate in it and give yourself the best chance of addressing any potential deal-breakers before they get a chance to damage the opportunity.
Traditional selling tells us to overcome objections; however, objections are rarely voiced in reality. Instead, in our polite society, we say nonsense like “Let me think about it,” while inside, the amygdala is screaming, “Let’s get out of here.” Part of the job of good sales copy is to tell potential prospects who your products/services are NOT for.
Three reasons to tell people you’re NOT for them:
- It qualifies your contacts. It filters out people who aren’t part of your target market or those who wouldn’t be a good fit for what you have to offer. This ensures you don’t waste your time on low-quality, low-probability prospects. It also reduces the number of customers who suffer “bad feelings” after misunderstanding what they purchased.
- Adds credibility. It immediately makes it more credible when you tell them who this product is for. It feels much more evenhanded when you cover both angles by telling them who it is for and who it isn’t for.
- Introduces the notion of exclusivity. Your prospects will feel a lot stronger that what you’re offering is tailored to their needs, than if you had said it’s for anyone and everyone. It feels more targeted and exclusive.
Comments are closed