This Article will help you sleep better…
21st of September, 2020
When we present ourselves to our customers, where is our focus?
Are we thinking of them and their needs? Or thinking of us, and what we want to do or sell?
To engage successfully, think outside of your own box.
Imagine you did want to sleep better. You would see the article title and read on to find out more. Now I have your attention, I can describe my therapies, mindfulness course, or prescribed medication. I can even offer a no obligation, free trial of my patented “InsomniAway” sub-sonic pillow device (if it existed!).
Yet would you engage if my article title said:
“Would you like some therapy?”
or
"New - InsomniAway! Just £999!"
Most people would not, and even if they did, they wouldn’t admit it.
"Would you like to sleep better?” is more likely to elicit an internal “yes please” as an instinctive response. It is also something that your customer might share with a friend who they knew wasn’t sleeping well. "Would you like some therapy?" elicits an instinctive "no thanks!", losing the engagement opportunity. While, "New - InsomniAway! Just £999!" will result in a confused shrug of the shoulders!
I see examples of poor engagement all the time in small businesses and local charities. Here is a simple process from my book which will help you work this out for yourself.
- Think of a recent time when you helped someone through your work.
- What was the difference they noticed after you had finished?
- Define and describe that difference in the simplest terms.
- That is your engagement strategy.
One of my favourite hobbies is to meet with people in community centres. There, I often find posters offering to do something. For example:
“Would you like to lose weight?" before going on to describe the class you can attend on Thursday, and the full details of the programme. Sometimes a bit of fear is added too (see the image above!) to scare people into attending.
Now, who amongst us will present to a stranger on Thursday and admit we are overweight?
I recently worked through this with a charity client. I asked, “What do your clients notice after they have lost weight?”
The answers included:
· Better sleep
· Playing with the kids more
· Playing sport again
· Ability to walk the dog again
Now imagine if the poster said, “Would you like to play with your kids more?” Or imagine four posters, each containing one of the desired outcomes?
All who have young children would love to do this, and perhaps we know friends who would like to as well.
This is engagement. Even better, your clients who engage will tell their friends. You boost your engagement with a simple tweak to your message, and no more effort.
The image attached was a poster campaign from a national charity in 2018. This poster tried to shame people into changing behaviour. Did this work? If you were already unhappy with your weight, a warning of an increased risk of cancer would be ignored, or would add to anxiety and misery. Wouldn't people rather play with their kids more?
If you think of what your client wants first, they will engage with you. Once you know what they have engaged for, you can then offer to help them with the thing you were going to do anyway. If your client is working towards their own desired outcome, they will work with you. When you have their attention, you can use your methods to help them.
So, when you review your public messages, ask yourself this. “Is this a difference my customer actually wants?”.
If it is, you’ve cracked it! Result? Everybody wins. And you can wake up now...