Once while at a speaking engagement, I was seated next to a nice elderly man. During the course of the luncheon, we made small talk. I must have made a good impression because upon learning that I was single, he told me that he thought I should meet his granddaughter.
As as veteran of many blind dates, I’m not intimidated by the prospect of being set up. I’ve learned that meeting people through people is a good thing.
The challenge was that the man could not tell me much about his granddaughter. He did show me a wallet sized picture of his grandson. “She looks like him, but she’s a woman,” he explained. I couldn’t make the jump in my mind to come up with an attractive image.
I took the mystery woman out of the running when he revealed that she lives in Philadelphia. As a resident of the Sunshine State, I’m suspicious of relationships that require a large amount of jet fuel. Perhaps I carry the air of someone who appears to have a lot of frequent flier miles.
Later I realized that the man suffered from the same problem that holds back a lot of companies: Being able to accurately describe your services in a way that makes someone want to buy. Often, the description is vague or derivative of your competition.
What if my elderly acquaintance had said that his granddaughter was like Angelina Jolie but with a law degree. This is a better description than a wallet sized photo but it still relies on my knowing Jolie and having a positive view of her. If I don’t like Jolie then my image of the granddaughter would change.
If you promote your business as being like another company but cheaper, you’re relying on the customer having a positive association with that company. You’re also assuming that price is the main point of differentiation for them.
What if Company X has problems you don’t know about like poor customer service or a dirty waiting room? Do you want to still say that you’re like them but cheaper?
Instead describe what you do and how it will help the customer. For example: We offer you X, Y, & Z which will help you do A, B, & C. We set ourselves apart from the competition by providing you with D, E & F.
If you can’t come up with these answers, then you’re probably not going to be very successful in sales. A wallet sized photo can only do so much.
