Quit Boring Your Prospects

By Dana Severson

People don’t care all that much about your kids. A few cute pictures, Tommy’s latest accomplishment and maybe an anecdote or two is pretty much all folks want to hear before they start looking for the nearest door. Even if you’re chatting up someone with a couple rug rats at home, you can almost guarantee he’d rather be talking about his own.

This is a common problem plaguing many marketing efforts. They’re just so egocentric. All of your time is devoted to your favorite topic — you — rather than focusing on what prospects really care about...like, I don’t know…them?

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk about yourself. Prospects do need to get to know you for them to ever consider doing business with you. But the majority of your stories must somehow relate to your target audience.

Make Marketing More Engaging

Consider for a moment why you do business with a particular company.

Is it the eye-catching images on a website? Or the awards and accolades bestowed on its team?  What about the breadth of products it sells or the services it provides? 

Each of these things may get your attention, and can weigh into your purchase decision, but are they the deciding factor?

Probably not.

If you’re like most consumers, you ultimately buy a product or service because it benefits you in some way. Duh, right?

But we seem to forget this simple fact in our marketing efforts.

When talking about yourself, all of your stories should demonstrate how you could add value to the lives of your prospects if they were to do business with you. How you can solve their problems. How you can make their lives a little easier.

You are a consumer, so think like one. Switch your perspective from being a seller to being a buyer.

Stop talking about your products or services like they’re your kids. No one cares how much you think your offerings are great or wonderful or revolutionary. What prospects really care about is what your products or services can do for them.

Once you change your perspective, you can change how you talk about what you have to offer.

Give people a reason to do business with you, and they will.