Sales people like to talk.  The good ones listen.  Marketers, on the other hand, tend to be verbal but more focused on reading and writing.  They wind up working on the copy for websites, PR releases, direct mail, email, literature and whitepapers.  The problem is… no one reads any more.  So much of this activity is wasted.  Too bad.  What are you going to do about it?

It’s time to consider a couple of things.  Getting your ‘prospect universe’s’ attention and then finding the best way to communicate with them.  This doesn’t mean that marketers can stop writing, thinking, generating relevant content and being creative at getting attention.  Just that the medium might change.

To illustrate the point, one extreme example of this change is the movement from posted advertisements above urinals in men’s rooms to flat screen video. (I hear women read more than men, but I don’t know what goes on in the other side.)  Or another example is tweeting.

Let’s get use to the idea that our attention span is limited.  We have so much competition for our attention, we want our information pre-digested in bullets so we can determine whether it’s worth another 30 seconds.  Many marketers slave over written case studies trying to satisfy this need.  Don’t waste your time.  No one reads case studies anymore.

Instead, try using the 30-second client testimonial video.  This is especially important at the point in the sales cycle that requires proof, especially in the “tornado” portion of the market (see my post on Crossing the Chasm).  Buyers in the mainstream want to know who else has your product and service, how are they using it, and what it’s done for them?  Since buyers today are much further down the sales path before they call or contact you, they often need this information before you even know they exist.

Here’s an example of 20 seconds from the CFO of a small company:

Now imagine a library of 200 of these videos catalogued by customer experience, benefit, savings and service.  I know one company that accomplished this and there are more.

There’s nothing more credible than a customer saying how much you’ve done for them.  Many marketers will tell you how difficult it is to get a client or customer on camera.  It’s less difficult than you think, and I’ll cover the “how” in my next post… I mean video.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)

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An IT vendor interviewed me recently about how satisfied I was with their services.  I told them I was very satisfied.  However, they were surprised to learn I had purchased several major systems from other vendors.  When they asked why, I simply said, I was unaware that they offered similar capabilities, and that this was the first time anyone from their firm asked me about my business issues.

Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm is a watershed book on product innovation and marketing.  For those of you who are not familiar with the core concept, it essentially states that products go through lifecycles, and that buyers and clients, have different buying needs depending on where they are in that lifecycle.  For example, in his classic diagram below,

early adopters do not require the same level of support that the early majority needs.  Early adopters can see how they can put a technology to use for their advantage and don’t need much support, while the early majority wants to know who else has it, how has it saved them money and will it have good support.  Many new technologies fail to “cross the chasm” because they fail to recognize the change in buyers and needs.  Marketers and sales people need to know this and need to be in alignment with each other and where their product or service is in the lifecycle.

While crossing the chasm applies to technologies and products across an industry lifecycle, Stocking’s corollary is that it can also apply to a single customer or client.  It’s not only the industry or technology that goes through a cycle, individual clients and customers do as well.

When you have offered a service or capability that solves a customer’s problem something happens.  The customer now sees that your solution has solved a problem and can begin to focus on other problems or issues.  They appreciate the solution less and less because, if it’s working, the problem is essentially solved.  They may come to understand that other vendors offer similar technology more competitively and then begin to think about price.  In short, they think, “What have you done for me lately?”

If you are concerned about the lifetime value of a client, you have to bring new ideas, services and products to your existing base, otherwise they are going to forget about you and go somewhere else.  It’s surprising how often this happens. When it does, you’ll often find yourself driving into your own chasm.

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