HelpDesk: I Need To Get The Customers Attention
Alrighty another question from the MailBag.
Emmanuella Appiah asks: I want to know the real techniques in gaining the consumers attention
A: Hey Emmanuella. That’s the million dollar question! But seriously, this is a broad question that many have spent tons of money to find out… including myself. Having managed my own business for a few years, I can share some thoughts.
If I were asking myself this questions, the first inclination would be to ask, in which channel are you trying to gain attention? Online, in your emails, print ads, radio commercials, social networks, or even online video? Each of these channels will likely require different approaches.
It’s also helpful when you know your target audience well. The more intimate you are with them, the better you know what arouses their curiosity and commands their attention.
Anyhow, I am struggling with this because it is outside my arena (which is tech stuff – ask me a tech question next time 😉 ). I recommend you look up the following people to learn more about influence, persuasion and that kinda stuff. Maybe they may also be so kind to post a few words in the comments.
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Lynette, you asked a lot of the same questions I’d ask. Who is your target market, what is their pain, why should they care about you in the first place and what makes you different?
By asking those questions, you begin gathering information you can use to craft a powerful story that they want to hear. If you’d like to learn how to use storytelling in gaining attention, I’ve put up some videos on the topic on my squidoo page, http://www.squidoo.com/persuade. Those will give you a strong overview of how storytelling works.
The next thing you have to think about is positioning and packaging yourself in a way that makes you the visible expert to your clients. That means having them run across you multiple times. If your effort is primarily online, they need to see you popping up everywhere, Linkedin, Squidoo, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Google, your blog, etc. etc. the more they see you the more they consider you a viable choice.
But the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to lead with something that is important to them. Help them feel better about themselves, solve a problem or crush an enemy. Do any of those things and they’ll demand to know more about who you are.
For more advice visit my blog which is linked in the article above and visit my website boldapproach.com and sign up for my newsletter. You may also want to visit my persuasion site, http://www.howtopersuade.com, there is more free advice there that you can use to get more customers to pay attention profitably, faster.
Dave Lakhani
CEO Boldapproach.com
Yes, that is definitely the million dollar question! In my experience the best way to gain your customer’s attention is by standing out.
Basically you will need to develop your USP (unique selling proposition).
When you set out to develop your USP ask yourself this question – why would your customer buy your product from YOU versus every Tom, Dick and Harry selling exactly the same thing you are?
Now that’s actually a two-part answer and to develop your USP you’ll need to answer BOTH questions…
Why would your customer buy your product?
This one is usually easy to answer but it’s also where most people stop unfortunately. The answer may be it’s already selling well for others, there’s a need for this product in the market, etc.
But the second question is really the more important question – Why would your prospects by your product from you versus everyone else? Your answer will be your USP and will determine how you position yourself in your market.
It may take a little thinking but this is an extremely important step in any business. Competition is everywhere but it doesn’t have to affect you and you can take a piece of any market as long as you develop a unique approach.
Of course once you have your USP you’ll need to follow through with a variety of marketing methods. The best option is always to approach your marketing from many different directions, just one strategy isn’t enough.
But the bottom line is once you know your USP, it’s a whole lot easier to go after your target market with an approach that just about guarantees you’re going to get their attention.
Hey Mila and Dave. Thanks so much for the powerful information. I am learning a lot here myself 🙂
I’m not sure exactly what to add as Mila and Dave have already given some great guidance. It would be good to have a few more details about what Emanuella is working on…as concrete and relevant examples make it a whole lot easier to explain things. If she wants to give us more detail, I’m happy to come back and give some more input.
In a nutshell, it’s ALL about understanding your target market. Understand what makes them tick, what worries them, what their dreams are and never stop in your quest to get deep into this.
Tell us more Emanuella…and let’s get your potential customers paying CLOSE attention. 🙂
‘ve always only thought of what their dreams are but never about “what worries them”. Hmmmmm…Thank you so much Alice! I