We all should be thinking about an appropriate and effective response to the hypothetical, yet critical question, “Why should we give you our business?” As I previously have mentioned, it was anything but hypothetical in the case of one of our clients who, while skilled at delivering those daunting “elevator speeches,” was nonetheless stumped when one of his was met with the challenging question shown above.

If this should happen to you, your “post-elevator-speech” response may be the last opportunity you will ever have to sell yourself, so it had better be to the point, and laced with relevant – and supportable – claims. Here’s a clue: Build your answer entirely around things unique to you and your business. The only things your prospect is interested are those things through which you can be distinguished from your competitors.

Vague generalities and empty or meaningless claims are verboten. Be clear, specific and benefits-oriented, rather than features-oriented in your response. And never rely on emotion rather than facts.  If you can’t dazzle your questioner on the spot, at least try to entice them with something of substance in order to “buy” enough time to give more thought to their needs and concerns before giving a more comprehensive response at a future date.

The keys are brevity, clarity, pertinence, and, if more time is needed to develop a truly appropriate response, enough “enticement power” to facilitate a follow-up opportunity.

We were delighted recently to again have had the privilege of writing a tagline for a client. It was a line that their top management adopted with enthusiasm, as did their key personnel.

A tagline – a good one, at least – is more than just a few words below a corporate logo. Like Finger Lickin’ Good, You Deserve a Break Today and Just Do It, these little descriptors go a long way toward giving a brand an identity that focuses prospects – and staff – on its benefits and creates meaningful differentiation from its “Brand X” competitors.

Try it, you’ll like it!

I really concur with what Gene Grabowski had to say about corporate spending in a bad economy recently.

Gene observed that, ” When revenues are shrinking, some (mistakenly . . . my word) think that communications and
public relations represent “nonessential” business practices that ought to be
reined in.”

He added, ” For corporate communicators, this economic skepticism raises questions about
what—if anything—we can do, outside traditional advertising, to help consumers
feel better about opening up their wallets and checkbooks. Here’s the
reality. While advertising tends to reinforce purchasing decisions, strong public relations creates
them—and that’s precisely what’s needed at a time when more consumers are
focused on what they need, as opposed to what they want.”

These all were good points. Speaking of points, here, specifically, are the “Big Five” to which Gene referred:

1. Avoid going into
the bunker when it comes to communications. Instead,
invest and apply your efforts strategically during a downturn to maximize the
return on your investment. You can curtail some communications activities and
postpone others that may be on the drawing board, but if you go dark in digital,
social, or traditional PR in a recession, you risk lowering confidence in your
brand.

2.
Shift your communications efforts away from corporate
responsibility and reputation issues and toward promoting your products and
services in ways that extend beyond traditional advertising. This will conserve
financial resources and keep you visible where you most need to be.

3. Talk
about value, not price. Right now, nobody wants to be
reminded of how much they have to shell out for a particular product or service.
They’d much rather be reminded of what they’re getting in return for their
money.

4.
Follow the lead of the best food and consumer product
companies by offering more of a product or service
for the same price. Reducing prices only conditions buyers to expect bargains
and makes it harder to raise prices when the economy picks up.

5. You may note that times are
challenging, but you must refrain from
sending any messages that paint the current economic condition as desperate.
When consumers are feeling overly anxious, they close their wallets and their
minds.

Well said, Mr. Grabowski. What do YOU think? Please share it with us.

In one of the more memorable scenes from that venerable Broadway and Big Screen smash hit, South Pacific, Nellie Forbush promises herself, “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair!”

I’m amazed to sometimes hear the following from otherwise savvy business people: “We rely on our sales force rather than marketing.” To me that’s something like saying, “Our car doesn’t need a transmission, it has a powerful engine.”

Figuratively speaking, such a notion should be “washed away” with all due haste. To continue along the metaphorical path on which I’ve begun this treatise, marketing is to sales what conditioner is to shampoo. To wit, when prospects are confronted by a salesperson, for what ever reason, they either are inclined to lean a bit favorably in its direction, or a bit negatively in the other direction. Their reasons for this may or may not be based on experience or valid information. What is important is the fact they have a tendency to lean one way or the other.

It has been proven time and time again that positive, persuasive marketing messages will cause most consumers, of most any product or service, to be swayed in (so far as sales efforts are concerned) in the positive direction. In other words, to varying degrees, “the skids will have been greased” for the salesperson.

Good marketing, in combination with competent, benefits-based salesmanship completes a marriage made in “bottom-line heaven.” With the addition of that all- important third member of the sales promotion “trinity,” good customer service, a brand may have won a customer for life.

In general, sales are pretty hard to come by, and the two-way communication they require (which should be reserved for closings) is, in terms of time and pure effort, too time consuming and expensive, considering the net value they produce. The answer is an intelligent sprinkling of the type of one-way communication marketing communication uniquely provides.

Sales and marketing, far from being mutually exclusive as many people seem to think, should be treated by management like the bosom buddies they actually are.

Wash that notion right out of your hair!

In one of the more memorable scenes from that venerable Broadway and Big Screen smash hit, South Pacific, Nellie Forbush promises herself, “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair!”

I’m amazed to sometimes hear the following from otherwise savvy business people: “We rely on our sales force rather than marketing.” To me that’s something like saying, “Our car doesn’t need a transmission, it has a powerful engine.”

Figuratively speaking, such a notion should be “washed away” with all due haste. To continue along the metaphorical path on which I’ve begun this treatise, marketing is to sales what conditioner is to shampoo. To wit, when prospects are confronted by a salesperson, for what ever reason, they either are inclined to lean a bit favorably in its direction, or a bit negatively in the other direction. Their reasons for this may or may not be based on experience or valid information. What is important is the fact they have a tendency to lean one way or the other.

It has been proven time and time again that positive, persuasive marketing messages will cause most consumers, of most any product or service, to be swayed in (so far as sales efforts are concerned) in the positive direction. In other words, to varying degrees, “the skids will have been greased” for the salesperson.

Good marketing, in combination with competent, benefits-based salesmanship completes a marriage made in “bottom-line heaven.” With the addition of that all- important third member of the sales promotion “trinity,” good customer service, a brand may have won a customer for life.

In general, sales are pretty hard to come by, and the two-way communication they require (which should be reserved for closings) is, in terms of time and pure effort, too time consuming and expensive, considering the net value they produce. The answer is an intelligent sprinkling of the type of one-way communication marketing communication uniquely provides.

Sales and marketing, far from being mutually exclusive as many people seem to think, should be treated by management like the bosom buddies they actually are.