“First of all, never badmouth synergy.” — Jack Donaghy, 30Rock
Ever feel like you get tongue-tied when it’s time to talk about what you sell?
Yeah, it happens to the best of us (seriously).
Here’s a better way to do it.
What do your customers ultimately want?
More money? More confidence? More me time? Less hassle? Less confusion?
If you can simply say…
“We offer ________ (your product or service) which helps _______ (your customer) do _________ (what your customers want in their words).”
….you’ll start many more conservations that end in sales than you do now.
Sound simple? It is. Truly.
Here are some examples: first, my friend Andy Hayes who runs Plum Deluxe (and is this week’s guest on PPP):
“We offer a monthly tea subscription which helps busy professionals create more moments that matter.”
Here’s one for Tanya Geisler, a leadership coach & Impostor Complex expert:
“I offer programs and coaching that helps high-performing women identify and achieve their biggest goals.”
And here’s one more for my buddy Megan Auman, a designer & metalsmith:
“I design jewelry that helps professional women show up to everything from board meetings to sales presentations to PTA meetings with the utmost confidence.”
The reason this works so well is because our products and services are merely tools that customers use to get what they want. You don’t need to explain your life philosophy, you don’t need to list our your company values, you don’t even need to explain your process (until they ask).
Definitely don’t use the word synergy. (Or any other industry jargon your competitors are spewing.)
All anyone cares about at first is how your product or service is going to help them get what they want.
When you open a conversation about your product by tying their ultimate desire (or one of them) to your product, you’ve created a context in which they’re open to hearing more. That’s huge.
Now, if this sounds like a “beginner” lesson, I assure you, it is not.
Look around and you’ll see all sorts of businesses that resort to spending tons of money on advertising and annoying marketing practices just to avoid making a simple statement about what their products or services actually do for people.
Don’t be like them.
I’ve also noticed while working with businesses like yours trying to break through to the next stage that refocusing on a simple statement of what they do can make all the difference in the world for identifying new opportunities.
You could completely change the way you see your business (and how it makes money) just by getting clear on what it is that you actually help people do–just like Andy did when he created the tea subscription service for Plum Deluxe.
Give this simple script a try this week and see how it goes! Let me know when you do.
