When you start marketing your business, it’s easy to get caught up in the design elements. Which color, font, pictures and design is right? What should you tell prospects about you and your companies’ successes that will convince them to hire you?
Stop Bragging and Let Go of Ego
Most small-business owners tell prospects how long they’ve been in business, how many years of experience they have, that they provide exceptional customer service, that they pride themselves on doing good work, and so on. In other words, they brag about all the positive features of their company.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but bragging about your accomplishments won’t net you more clients. Instead, look at your business critically … and from the perspective of your prospects and clients.
When you have your own business, it’s really easy to get caught up in your own ego. It’s easy to think that your prospects should be as excited and enthusiastic about your business as you are. And it’s easy to think that when prospects go with another firm, that they’re rejecting you, personally.
Start Educating Prospects About their Needs and Concerns
To be successful in business, you must let go of those beliefs when you’re marketing your services. Business is not personal. Your prospects are making the best choice they can based on what they know at the time and how that fits with their worldview. It’s up to you to show them why you are the best choice – not through bragging, but through educating them about their problem, key issues and concerns they have, and potential solutions.
One of the best ways to do that is to not assume things about your prospect. Being in the trenches of your industry day-to-day, you take a lot of things for granted. You keep on top of trends. You know the lingo. You’ve helped many clients solve similar problems.
Don’t Assume Your Prospects “Should” Know Something
Your prospects, on the other hand, don’t know any of that stuff. They don’t know the jargon. They don’t understand everything about the transaction. They don’t know what you will do for them. They don’t understand why you are the best choice for them.
It’s up to you to not only explain, but demonstrate, why you should be their top pick. Speak in plain English and be as clear as you can. This isn’t about giving a sales pitch or persuading them to buy something they don’t need.
Your marketing should clearly state your case: Why should they choose you? Why will hiring you be the best solution to their current problem? What do they get when they do hire you? What should they expect when working with you? What’s the intended outcome of working with you? In other words, “What’s in it for me?”
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