What’s missing in most sales & marketing messages?
The right intention and real empathy
That’s right: it’s all about intention and empathy.
Take a look at them, the messages on Facebook or elsewhere, messages where people want to sell you something.
You have them in all shapes and sizes.
One better than the other.
You will also notice from the messages whether the message writer has attended a commercial copywriting or marketing or sales course.
Opposite to what you would expect, those messages are therefore no better. On the contrary.
Especially not if you have attended a course with someone who is still a follower of old school marketing.
In many of those courses, you are taught to talk about the client’s pain.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
It’s the way you talk about that pain that makes a difference.
The worst are those who talk about the pain and the injury and then throw salt and acid on it to make the potential customer feel extra pain so they have no choice but to buy the product.
That is the (outdated) idea behind this.
But I already talked about this in a previous post.
People sometimes ask me: “Greetje, can I no longer talk about the pain?”
And my answer is: “Yes. But do it with the right intention.”
If your intention is, “I will talk about the pain and then hopefully the customer will want to resolve his pain and buy from me.” Then that intention is too focused on winning the deal (that’s my personal opinion).
If it is your intention to show the customer that you really understand him and that you really care about him and that you really can and want to help him …
Well, that’s something completely different. Isn’t it?
“Okay, but what if I sell shoes? Or toilet paper?
Do I really need to talk about the pain?”
Toilet paper and pain ….. my wicked mind is running wild, I admit it π
It is true that it depends on what product and sector when we talk about the nuances.
Sometimes it is nonsense to talk about the pain at all, and you are more likely to talk about the dreams.
Or you show something, instead of talking about it …
It’s all relative.
And yet, if you sell services, why not giving the idea of intention and empathy a second thought?
π I am curious what your opinion is on this theme. Do tell…
PS: You don’t have to agree with me. I like a substantiated discussion, so go for it, share your thoughts π.