You’ve heard that when you’re marketing your business services or products, you should focus on the benefits, not the features, right?

But if you don’t have an MBA in marketing, it can be confusing to figure out exactly what that means and how to do it when promoting your business offering.

Here’s a simple way to think about it – results. What results does your client get after they work with you or buy your products?

If you’re a photographer, the result your client gets might be a flattering head shot. (Who doesn’t want that?) But the promise of a flattering head shot may not be enough to convince a prospect to choose your services over any other photographer who does head shots.

If you want to COMPEL your prospective clients to seek out your photography services over any other, go even deeper than results. Tap into their emotions.

Emotions are what actually drive people to buy. The promise of an emotional need fulfilled is a very, very powerful motivator.

If you own a business or provide a service, the most important thing for you to know is what is driving your customer. What does he or she want, need, crave, fear, avoid, hate, covet, hope, desire, love?

Here are three simple questions that can help you to get to know your customers and prospects on a deep, emotional level:

1. What are you trying to accomplish this year in your life/business?

2. What frustrates you most about your life/your business?

3. What have you already tried to improve your life/your business? What worked? What didn’t work?

It’s alright to modify the questions slightly to fit your needs. Listen carefully to the exact words that people use when they answer your questions. Write them down.

Then, use those very same words and phrases in your marketing materials, in your presentations, in your sales conversations. Voila! Your marketing copy is done for you and you’ve tapped into the emotions that will compel your ideal prospects to hire you.

Your Fame Building Assignment:

This week, ask these three questions of as many potential clients as you possibly can. Really listen to their answers. Write down the words and phrases they use. Boo-yeah! Pure marketing gold.

3 Comments

  1. […] If you need a boost, I’ve got three simple questions to use to get to know your clients on a deep, emotional level. […]

  2. BizSugar.com on June 9, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    The Magic Formula that Lets You Crawl Inside Your Customer’s Head

    If you want to COMPEL your prospective clients to seek out your services over any other, go deeper than results. Tap into their emotions, which drive them to buy. Here are simple questions that can help you.

  3. Jarod Billingslea on January 5, 2016 at 10:16 pm

    I always knew benefits were more important than features, but I never looked past results like you outlined in this article. This is definitely an eye opener for me, and I’m definitely going to try it. I’m just starting out freelancing, and I want to try this out on a few of my prospects I’ve been reaching out to.

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