The old adage “Don’t Sell the Steak, Sell the Sizzle” was first used by super salesman Elmer Wheeler in 1936. Well, it’s still used more now than 70 years later. But, is it as effective? Today we understand a lot more about human emotion and how to effect it. It’s now necessary to take that well worn phrase to the next level.
We all know a great prime aged steak is neither uncommon nor rare. It can be found in thousands of good restaurants around the world. So the steak idea by itself is a nonstarter. The sizzle is the teaser, the fantasy, with its smell and anticipated taste.. Sure it can be effective but everyone of your competitors is now offering it. Bottom line is everybody sees it coming and it’s not as effective as it once was.
You need to go to the next level if you want to capture interest and excitement. You may ask the question, WHY. A great steak with lots of sizzle smells great, tastes great but the basic primary emotion it arouses is that it gives a sense of success, comfort and well being. You want to capture that feeling, the why behind the sizzle so you will stand out.
In today's competitive world marketplace, the mundane and obvious are insulting. Everybody is offering “Faster, Better, Cheaper”. It’s tired, expected and disingenuous. If you really want to be heard, you need to ring a different bell. Go deeper into your customers’ emotions. Stop pointing to what they already know and grab their attention by showing them you understand their desires and concerns at a deeper level. For this, you will receive their acceptance and attention.
Focus on the well being and comfort that will result from the knowledge that your product or service will solve their problem and improve their life. You want your customers to feel comfortable in the knowledge that they have made the correct choice. Then segway into the sizzle, the physical benefits of the steak.
Many companies promise whatever they think it takes to close a sale. Often once the sale is made, you are passed along through a system that discourages contact with a real person. Sometimes it take hours, days or weeks to get beyond the person trained to say “how can I help you” who has no authority to actually do it.
Over the years I have heard from numerous customers in varying ways that when they select a provider for a project they still worry at night about the phone call they may get in the morning about production problems or the delivery that will be late or what the quality may not be as expected when the job is delivered. These emotions are beyond the sizzle and the promise of satisfaction. After thinking about this and realizing that if the job was late or the quality not as expected (even if the price was adjusted), the customer would still have been forced into a compromise without true satisfaction.
If you add the WHY to your marketing strategy and establish tracking systems in the process, you will have better information through the job cycle. This will improved communication throughout the process will build trust from your customers in a way they will know you haven’t just dropped them after the sale and that you will go above and beyond. It says you will jump through hoops and bend over backwards to make sure that they have a positive winning experience, even when stuff happens. No person or company can operate at 100%. Human error, machinery breakdowns, systems go down- all these unexpected events are a reality of business . The true worth of a vendor is how they handle a situation when things happen. For example, If there is some problem in your production and you are going to be late with delivery, make sure you tell your customer before the shipping date. Try to offer a partial overnight shipping to get them what they need for their trade show. It may cost you but it is not worth losing a customer by hiding the bad news from them. By building this understanding and trust, you will distinctly separate yourself from the competition and re-enforce your own brand. Only trust builds loyalty.
For free samples and information about Wow Factor go to: http://www.colorprintingpros.com
We all know a great prime aged steak is neither uncommon nor rare. It can be found in thousands of good restaurants around the world. So the steak idea by itself is a nonstarter. The sizzle is the teaser, the fantasy, with its smell and anticipated taste.. Sure it can be effective but everyone of your competitors is now offering it. Bottom line is everybody sees it coming and it’s not as effective as it once was.
You need to go to the next level if you want to capture interest and excitement. You may ask the question, WHY. A great steak with lots of sizzle smells great, tastes great but the basic primary emotion it arouses is that it gives a sense of success, comfort and well being. You want to capture that feeling, the why behind the sizzle so you will stand out.
In today's competitive world marketplace, the mundane and obvious are insulting. Everybody is offering “Faster, Better, Cheaper”. It’s tired, expected and disingenuous. If you really want to be heard, you need to ring a different bell. Go deeper into your customers’ emotions. Stop pointing to what they already know and grab their attention by showing them you understand their desires and concerns at a deeper level. For this, you will receive their acceptance and attention.
Focus on the well being and comfort that will result from the knowledge that your product or service will solve their problem and improve their life. You want your customers to feel comfortable in the knowledge that they have made the correct choice. Then segway into the sizzle, the physical benefits of the steak.
Many companies promise whatever they think it takes to close a sale. Often once the sale is made, you are passed along through a system that discourages contact with a real person. Sometimes it take hours, days or weeks to get beyond the person trained to say “how can I help you” who has no authority to actually do it.
Over the years I have heard from numerous customers in varying ways that when they select a provider for a project they still worry at night about the phone call they may get in the morning about production problems or the delivery that will be late or what the quality may not be as expected when the job is delivered. These emotions are beyond the sizzle and the promise of satisfaction. After thinking about this and realizing that if the job was late or the quality not as expected (even if the price was adjusted), the customer would still have been forced into a compromise without true satisfaction.
If you add the WHY to your marketing strategy and establish tracking systems in the process, you will have better information through the job cycle. This will improved communication throughout the process will build trust from your customers in a way they will know you haven’t just dropped them after the sale and that you will go above and beyond. It says you will jump through hoops and bend over backwards to make sure that they have a positive winning experience, even when stuff happens. No person or company can operate at 100%. Human error, machinery breakdowns, systems go down- all these unexpected events are a reality of business . The true worth of a vendor is how they handle a situation when things happen. For example, If there is some problem in your production and you are going to be late with delivery, make sure you tell your customer before the shipping date. Try to offer a partial overnight shipping to get them what they need for their trade show. It may cost you but it is not worth losing a customer by hiding the bad news from them. By building this understanding and trust, you will distinctly separate yourself from the competition and re-enforce your own brand. Only trust builds loyalty.
For free samples and information about Wow Factor go to: http://www.colorprintingpros.com
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