Communicating to Your Market

Your messaging is the key to winning opportunities. Get it right and you will be unstoppable. Be like everyone else and you'll constantly be competing on price. Messaging includes: 

• How you introduce yourself
• Your voice mail message
• Your signature line
• The first paragraph on your web properties
• That "elevator" pitch you worked so hard to get right

Messaging for Impact

Your message is the very thing that captures the potential buyers interest and gets their attention. The battle for attention is fierce. You must give careful attention to this. You have about 15 seconds to make a impact before the the listener decides to tune in or turn away. 

Don't blow this critical time by talking about you, your product, or your company. I can't say this loud enough...NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT THAT!

I always figure that in the first 15 seconds my job is to convince them their their life will be better because we met. Why would I blow that by talking about a company or a product. 

Creating a High Impact Message

Note: When you have completed this lesson you'll be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, "I express my value to my market in a meaningful manner that puts them first!"

We are on the third level of the pyramid. You have laid a foundation of knowledge of your market. You've built the brand called you. 

You understand your market's pains/problems/pleasures. You have listened to them express those in specific language. You've spent some significant time learning to speak in that language. You understand how to meet them where they are. 

You understand who you are and what you bring to the conversation. You know your value. You can verbalize your value in a way that captures attention. 

Now it's time to start building on that understanding. 

Your marketing message comes from that understand. It isn't in addition to. It isn't separate from. It is built firmly upon! 

Your marketing message must be about why. My business results changed immediately when I added these two words to my introduction: "I help..." That's my why!

I may have just interrupted you, but I'm here to help... You might not be ready to buy, but I help... You may have just purchased from my competitor, but I help... You might be frustrated, but I help... Eric, what do you do? I help... Eric, what brought you here, I help... That's my "why" I get that out of the way in two very short words. Then I can't talk about me again. 

I can't talk about me because they don't care! They care about them. Their needs, their concerns, their pain, their problems, their goals, their aspirations, and their experiences are where we connect. 

Avoid Your Competition

The moment you say that you are an insurance agent (or banker, gym owner, stock broker, bartender, etc...) the person you're talking with immediately has an image in their head of some one they know who does exactly the same thing. You now have introduced competition to your prospect. 

They just stopped paying attention to you and started comparing you to the people they know who do what you do. Your chances of winning the business were just cut drastically. 

Avoid Past Experiences 

When you start talking about what you do you introduce past experiences to your listener. You'll compete with that image in their head for the remainder of your conversation. If the experience was bad they will assume you'll be the same. If the experience was good they will be convinced you can measure up. 

You could have eliminated all of this if you had only crafted your message in such a way that they were focused on you as the solution to their pain/problem/pleasure. 

Your Message Must Be...

• Unique - being unique eliminates competition and comparisons until you have had a chance to win their attention
• Simple - the worst thing you can do is confuse your listener (Eric's rule: if you must explain something, then use the explanation instead)
• Address Objections - understanding your market allows you to address objections before they are presented
• Eliminate Ineligible Listener - as politely as possible you want to eliminate people who aren't in the market 
• Benefit Rich - when you know your market you know what benefit will capture their attention. 

Let's use a message that I created while in the insurance industry: 

"I help employers help their employees be happy, healthy, and on the job so they can enjoy a more productive workforce." 

• Unique - I can promise you that no one has ever heard that before. At that moment they like what they have heard. I have their attention. 
• Simple - While there are three components they are easy to identify and easy to remember. 
• Address Objections - I discovered that employers were concerned that disability insurance would lead to time off the job so positioned at the end of the benefit was "on the job". Let's eliminate that major objection right up front. 
• Eliminate Ineligible Listeners - my message is specifically targeted at employers with employees. 
• Benefit Rich - "so they can enjoy a more productive workforce." Does that even require explanation? 

Cut Out The Cheesy Crap

Some networking groups focus on that 30 second elevator speech. Rarely does anything of value come from that. I'm going to leave you with the four worst I've ever heard so you will never want to go there: 

• Taylor & Taylor Insurance - where two Taylors are better than one
• Hertz Rental Rep - It hurts if you don't rent from Hertz
• FastSigns - We're not just fast and we're not just signs. 
• Direct Mail Company - We are direct mail to the upscale

I serious hope that you'll never stoop that low. 

Four things a week I do a series of messages we call "bucket talks". Below you'll find two that illustrate the impact of messaging.