Pay attention to the questions you’re asked to uncover what your messaging needs to address.
If you listen, your potential customers are telling you what’s stopping them from using you.
It’s in the form of a question.
At a networking event late last year, a woman asked what kind of marketing I do. Hmm. That can mean a lot of things. In a way it’s very broad, but it also made me think she’s looking for me to say THE right thing to her in that moment so it matches whatever she thinks she needs. I told her how I work and how I like to start with a marketing plan and then move into implementation. She said, “Do you do B2B?” That’s what she wanted to know. Yes, I work with business to business, and business to consumer. She was proactive in steering the conversation and asked another question when she recognized my explanation was not going to answer what she really wanted to know.
Sometimes the level-setting period is that short and sweet, and other times it can de-rail your success without you even knowing it. They don’t understand. They’ve made an assumption. They have a preconceived notion about what you do. All of these things will stop them from using you. But, if you talk to them and really listen to their questions, then you know what needs to be clarified.
HELP YOUR FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES
If you are aware of someone else’s misunderstanding, have your friends’ or colleagues’ backs. Clarify the confusion since you can see it and the two people trying to communicate cannot see it. This happened recently. I have been calling a person for the better part of the last six months to discuss an opportunity for a client. He just was not calling me back and it was weird. I met him last spring at a luncheon event and we chatted. In my messages to him (voicemails and emails) I mentioned how we knew each other to jog his memory. No luck. Last week, I saw a mutual contact of ours and mentioned it. I know the mutual friend better than the man I was trying to reach, in fact, he introduced us the very first time we spoke on the phone years before I met him in person. That friend texted him and the man I’ve been calling for so long, called me back the next day.
Of course, I thought this was hilarious! He told me that he thought my client was different than what it is. Our mutual friend cleared that up and now it looks like he’ll be working with my client. Woohoo! Without the mutual friend intervening, I don’t know that I would have had the opportunity to clarify what my intent was in the call. Whatever I was saying was not doing it. It also tells me that moving forward, I need to clarify for every contact who might be making that same assumption. Communication is the key!
ASK QUESTIONS IN RETURN
Without engaging in a Who’s on First scenario, ask them questions to help shape the conversation. I could have responded to the woman in the first scenario with, “I’ve done a little bit of everything in my career. Can you tell me what it is you are looking for?” She would have followed with an expansion of her B2B needs.
I know that everyone doesn’t talk about marketing the same way I do. The young woman selling sarongs on the beach told me she was in marketing. Hmm. It’s not how I spend my days, but that’s what a lot of people call marketing.
If you aren’t moving forward with someone, then find out what the barrier is, if at all possible. Along these same lines, recently I’ve encountered a few people who think public relations (PR) is only for crises. Oh dear! Time to spread the word and clarify that PRoactive begins with PR! Don’t wait for the worst thing to happen. PR is also not limited to press releases.
If you’re interested in learning more and sprucing up your PR efforts, here is a list of 25 PR tactics that are PRactical, PRomising, and PRofessional click here. A lot of great things start with PR.
Struggling with what to do first to promote your business or nonprofit?
My marketing guide “Laws of Promotion” will get you started.
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