by This ever happen to you?
You meet someone new and they ask what you do. Or what your business does.
So you proudly tell them about the biz you’ve carefully nurtured and grown, and watch as they are completely and utterly…
…underwhelmed.
Huh.
Now, if they’re housebroken, they probably won’t say as much, but you can see it in their face…
Inside they’re thinking:
“Well… that sounds easy. I could do THAT myself.”
This happens to most entrepreneurs, biz-owners and freelancers at some point.
No matter what level of success you’ve reached, what incomparable genius you’ve cultivated, there will always be some eejit someone who believes they could do your job just as well.
Deep breath:
It’s ok. It means you’re doing it right.
Because there’s a vast difference between something that’s SIMPLE to understand…
…and something that’s EASY to do.
The first definition is key to how many of our businesses work…
We take something complex and make it simpler to understand, so we can attract clients and customers who have a clearly defined need.
It’s marketing 101:
If you don’t explain what you do and how it helps them in simple enough terms, you’ll never sell enough of your products or services.
But if what you help people achieve was so easy they could do it themselves just as effectively – without it costing them as much as you charge – you’d never sell ANYTHING.
It’s one thing to know WHAT to do, and another to know HOW to do it…
Like most people, I can look at a broken appliance and figure out what needs fixing.
But actually fixing or replacing it is another matter…
That’s when I call an expert, so I don’t get soaking wet / lose a limb / waste a(nother) afternoon swearing at an inanimate object.
This knowledge gap between WHAT and HOW is your window of opportunity…
It’s where you get to express and demonstrate your unique value.
It’s crucial that your ideal customer is able to grasp what you do at a level where they just ‘get it’.
So you need to express what you do simply…
They need to understand the WHAT, but not necessarily the HOW.
You don’t have to be a magician, protecting your ‘tricks’ from those who want to know what’s up your sleeve…
Nobody can ‘steal’ or ‘swipe’ what’s truly unique about your products or services
In fact, as we’ve seen from the success of content marketing, demonstrating your knowledge and process by teaching through articles, podcasts, video etc is actually a great way to sell in clear daylight, with both hands above the table.
Exposing your unique methods to the world takes guts, but it pays off.
I’m fortunate to work with some businesses who are great at this:
Like the specialist digital marketing team who help ambitious travel and tour companies make more sales…
They express what they do well simply enough that their ideal clients are often familiar with some of the tools and processes they use.
So they talk about them all the time in their marketing.
Their best prospects understand that Facebook ads, SEO, emails and chatbots can all help them grow their business, and see the potential…
But those companies also have a knowledge gap that means they don’t know HOW to execute on this effectively, or even which tools or tactics to use in a given situation…
Meaning they can’t easily do the work themselves, BUT they want the outcome badly enough that they’re willing to pay for it.
Then there’s my equipment monitoring client, whose software helps manufacturing plants keep their machines running…
Their system is pitched simply:
It identifies and reports on errors in their customers’ production process so they can be fixed quickly, avoiding expensive losses (sometimes saving businesses millions of $$ a year).
Often these businesses know they have problems, but they can’t easily identify where they are or what’s causing them.
So they’re happy to invest in my client’s software to solve their problem – not to clone the process and cobble something cheaper together a month later…
But because the uniqueness of the service means there’s more to it than just a templated system, swipeable code or ‘magic formula’.
Speaking of formulas…
In the copywriting world, templates and formulas are rife.
Their appeal is that they make a complex process appear simple, which is understandably attractive.
But the most successful businesses don’t rely on them, because their limitations are clear.
No formula works all by itself, every time. They’ll only get you so far.
For a sales message to really succeed, the creator needs to know more not just about what they’re selling (which is where most amateurs start)…
But also to deeply understand the individual they’re selling to – which is something no PDF template or ‘swipeable’ formula can do.
So it doesn’t matter whether you’re a large company developing groundbreaking tech solutions, or a company of one relying on your own wits, personality and experience to help your clients…
As long as your messaging strikes the right balance between what’s SIMPLE to understand and what’s EASY to execute…
…between revealing plenty of WHAT and just the right amount of HOW, you’ll always be ahead of the game.
Want to spend an hour together getting my input on that for YOUR sales message?
Head here to find out how.
