What do you care about? What would attract your attention? Those are questions you can (probably) answer very easily. But can you do the same for your prospects and customers? Can you think like them long enough to determine:

• What do my customers care about?
  
• What would get my prospects' attention
  
• What words should I use to explain things to them?
  
• What images could get my point across more effectively?
  
• What do they expect when they contact us?

Whether you're emailing, direct mailing or calling them, you have to know the answers to those questions. Why? Because if you don't communicate with them at their level of interest -- and in language that's familiar, using terms they understand -- they won't become qualified leads.

Six steps to better communication

Let's start at the beginning. You've got a product or service that you have to sell, and you want to get people to buy it.

Step 1. Determine which characteristics have the greatest appeal; for example, size, price, performance, special features, product compatibility, uniqueness, etc. The things you consider most important may be minor concerns to your prospects, so talk to likely buyers to find out what they care about the most.

Step 2. Present everything from your buyers’ point-of-view. Your first objective in gathering leads is not to sell. It's to create the desire to buy. Once the allure is there, salespeople have a much easier job.

Step 3. Be provocative. Depending on the marketing medium, create a headline, opening paragraph or spoken greeting that gets people thinking about what you're offering. But don't pose a question. The sooner a prospect can say "No," the sooner your chance to create the desire to buy has passed.

Step 4. Reposition your competition. Don't just be specific about all the things you are; be subtly obvious about what the competition is not. You don't have to name names, but you can make it clear that your primary benefits, functions, features, value, etc., aren't available from "the other guys."

Step 5. Use pictures or imagery to speed comprehension ... even over the phone. If the words you use are effective, they can conjure up mental images that help the prospect understand your offer and, in print, the right illustration or photograph can help reduce the length of your copy.

Step 6. Don't ever ask for the sale. Everyone says that's essential, but if you understand your buyers completely (see steps 1-3), the presentation of your product or service can be compelling enough to generate only one response: "I want it."

Four ways to hold onto customers

If you've done this right, you'll get a sale. But will you get a customer? Here are four more things to do to ensure it.

1. Be thankful. Express your gratitude for the sale, either in a post-sales email, a note with the product when it arrives, or while the customer is still on the phone.

2. Be concerned. On the phone or in a follow-up email, ask the customer if everything is clear. Do they understand all the charges? Do they know how to reach you with questions or problems? Were they happy with the way the transaction was handled? It will demonstrate an interest in serving them well, and you may gain vital feedback in the process. For mail interactions, send a survey with the order and offer an incentive to complete it and return it (postage paid, of course).

3. Be informative. Let buyers know when items ship. Give them any appropriate tracking information. Provide contact numbers and email addresses. In other words, make it easy (and enjoyable) for customers to do business with you.

4. Be in touch. At the time of the transaction, get permission to contact the consumer in the future ... and let that person decide how you do it. Does the person want to be told about sales, and if so, about sales on everything you sell or only specific types of products? Does the person prefer email, postal mail, or phone calls? Does the person want to hear from you once a month, once a quarter, or any time there's something new that fits the person’s preferences? You can do this using email or printed forms or by asking during a telephone transaction.

What do you get for all of this? Qualified leads and loyal customers. Both reduce the cost of sales ... and increase long-term profitability.



Peter Altschuler is the chief creative officer at Wordsworth & Company, a business-to-business advertising and marketing agency that's been “Making Products and Services Irresistible™” since the birth of the PC. For a free copy of Wordsworth's Marketing Program Guidelines, email Peter at altschuler@wordsworthandco.com, call him at (310) 452-1022, or write to him at Wordsworth & Company, 723 Raymond Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405-4519.