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The Recipe for a Product Offering that Will Sell

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SIMPLE SALES SERIES

It’s No Good if It Doesn’t Sell

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We don’t decide what is a great product or service. Customers and clients do. If we what we do well is what our customers value, it will sell. In my publishing job, I said this over and over . . .

It’s not a good book, if it doesn’t sell — at a profit.

Customers decide whether our offer is better than any alternative. They let us know by how they vote with their money. Our job is to make an offer they find attractive, knowing full well that we cannot coax or coerce them to behave.

The Recipe for a Product Offering that Sells

While I was publishing, I spent a great deal of time talking to customers who used my products and to customers who did not.

Most marketers would recommend that you find out how folks are using your “stuff,” what they like, what they don’t, what they wish for, and what other “stuff” they like just as much or better. They would suggest that you especially find out why folks who aren’t using your “stuff,” aren’t using it. I did all that — but only about 10% of the time.

The other 90% of the time we talked about THEM, not about my “stuff.”

That’s how I got to my recipe for a product that sells. It’s the recipe I used when driving the strategy of the company we turned around.

  1. Talk to your ideal customers about
    • what wish they had more time to do.
    • what they wish they could learn.
    • what they wish someone would invent.
    • what problem they would love to get off their mind or off their desks.

    Listen actively to understand the outcome they prize. Find the patterns in what they say.

  2. Build a product or service that does one thing well — in less time. If you bundle more than one need, do it carefully. Less is more. Simple is elegant.

  3. Design the product or service to match customers’ sensibilities. Make it beautiful and functional, and a reflection of what they value. Adding “quality” they can’t see or don’t want is adding cost they don’t want.

  4. Price the offer at what the work is worth — what you need to make a profit and what it saves the customer.

  5. Test what you plan by asking customers who know you, who don’t know you, and who are notoriously on the opposite side of the fence.

Every bit of the development is about how the features of the product or service benefits the customer. Add to “How are WE doing?” the additional question “What drives YOU crazy?”

How do you find customer needs customers that aren’t being met? Are you your own customer? How might you use that in your favor?

I’m really interested in informal ways we get customers to talk about their experiences.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

1 Word, 1 Sentence, As Many Words as You Need Test

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SIMPLE SALES SERIES

Still The Decision Model

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Chris Garrett and I had a conversation yesterday morning. We discussed the difference between the way we see our blogs and the way our readers see them. That got us talking about testimonials.

Testimonials are more than meet the eye. They tell us what customers value . . . what we do for them.

Chris and I talked about using surveys to focus a businesses. We agreed that the key is to listen carefully. Read every word that is said. Look deep in the text for the hidden testimonials.

One goal of great survey is to gather what customers say and use it to promote our businesses.

But don’t stop there.

Look closely at what the testimonials say — testimonials often reveal what we don’t know about ourselves and how people see our work.

That’s what Chris and I were talking about . . .

The 1 Word, 1 Sentence, As Many Words as You Need Test

Other people see what we do in ways that often surprise us. Try this test about your own work then pass it on to a friend. Here’s how it works.

Do a favor. Write a testimonial for someone’s blog — in this case would you do mine, please? (Write your answers in the comment box.)

1. Describe my blog in one word. _______.

2. Describe my blog in one sentence. _______________________________. < 3. Describe my blog in as many words as you need. _____________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Now write a testimonial for your business or blog. Write your answers in the comment box too, if you are ready to. 1. Describe your blog or business in one word. _______. 2. Describe your blog or business in one sentence. _____________________. 3. Describe your blog or business in as many words as you need. _________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ What do you think other people will see in you? Make a prediction. Now print out this page and do it a few more times. Each time as another friend to do it with you. Compare each new person's testimonial to the one that you wrote. Write a new each time, you'll find you'll get closer to your message if you do. Pay attention to what bits your friend calls out. When you have finished the exercise, check to see how close your prediction was. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself. --ME "Liz" Strauss Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

How to Answer the Only Customer Questions that Count

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Still The Decision Model

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Used well, this four-point definition/decision model can make your business thinking solid, swifter, and more customer-centered.

  • An explicit description of our customer and the niche market he or she represents
  • A company name and identity that fits and appeals to that ideal customer
  • A tagline that states what we promise and deliver
  • A “do line” that answers “What do you do?” in a few words

The goal of the four-part definition is the deep thinking. That’s the only way to stand on solid ground when the tough questions come. By thinking through and answering the four parts of the decision model, we’re writing the unique and compelling story of the business. .

How to Answer the Only Customer Questions that Count

The compelling story — the four-point definition — is important because it answers the only two questions customers care about when choose who to hire.

Key Question 1: What problem do you solve? (Can you, will you, do the job?)

Key Question 2: What is your unique value? (What do you cost? What are your benefits per buck?)

The two key questions are it. This is just one way the fou-point definition/decision model streamlines our business thinking. More on that laters . . .

Use the Two Key Questions

Now picture me back at that party where someone has asked, “What do you do?” I might answer this way, using the two key questions to guide my reply.


Answer to Key Question 1: I help businesses turn strangers into customer-friends who are fiercely loyal.
Answer to Key Question 2: I have a knack at seeing what businesses do in the way a naive, intelligent customer does. I show clients how they might fix any disconnects in their strategy and relationships.

When it’s you, be sure to answer the two key questions. Then STOP.

Let your audience have a chance to take in what you said. You’ll most likely hear your audience say it back to you in some way. Of course, it’s more meaningful when they talk about it themselves. Even their questions work in your favor.

Explian the problem you solve. Tell why you’re uniquely qualified. Then listen. When I do that I often hear someone tell me why I’m the right person to solve a problem.

Can you stand to hear a potential customer thinking, then talking, about how you might be the right person for a job?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

Three Steps to an Intriguing Answer to “What Do You Do?”

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SIMPLE SALES SERIES

Still The Decision Model

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You’re at a party, a social. Someone walks up. You introduce yourselves. She offers her card and asks, “What do you do?”

The rest of the conversation and possible future business hinges on how you answer that question. Before you start consider the outcome you’re going for.

Many folks would tell you this is the time for your “elevator pitch.” I suggest that term might not be the best way to look at a relationship. Why don’t we say that an authentic conversation is our goal? After all, if you’re looking for potential clients, we want to know them well and for them to know us too.

Let’s look at how we might talk about ourselves without getting caught in that self-promotional loop.

Three Steps to an Intriguing Answer to “What Do You Do?”

Marketing and self-promotion are only difficult when we’re not inside what we’re talking about. When we’re fully-expressed in what we’re saying, the words come out as if we’re talking over a kitchen table to a close friend. So how do we get to the answer that is ourselves fully expressed, that says what we do?

It takes these three steps.

  • First Define It. Pull all of the ideas your message needs to communicate into a one sentence. Your ideas should include: your customer, the problem you solve, your unique approach or service, and should reflect your most powerful skill. Let that sentence sit for a few days.

    My first try was something like this: I spark discussions that get thinking businesses to engage their customers in beneficial conversation. (I know. I know.)

  • Then Refine It. Return to the sentence edit it down to shortest most conversational form. Consider the sound and meaning of each individual word. Use the simpler words when you can. Avoid buzz words and don’t try to say everything that you do — leave a little room for your listener’s imagination. When you’re happy with it, let the sentence rest again. If you get frustrated, leave the task and go back later. Take your time.

    I refined it to: I teach businesses how to turn strangers into fiercely loyal customer-friends.

    Hint: You’ll know that you’re at a good one when you can hear someone replying, “How do you do that?” After all the goal we established was to get a conversation started.

  • Then Make It Part of You. When you’re sure it’s done, practice saying the sentence until it rolls off your tongue. Keep practicing your answer until it becomes as easy as saying your name.

Everytime you say the sentence in answer to the question “What do you do?” listen and watch the response. Use that feedback to adapt it even more.

The idea is to have the answer inside and thought through before the question comes up. Then the self-conscious blues won’t get in the way of you being able to show your best thinking and skills to someone new.

Try on a few answers, if you’re not sure. Having a handful is better than being caught out without one.

What do you say when someone asks you, “What do you do?”

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

Three Steps to a Killer Tagline that Customers Pass On to Others with Enthusiasm

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The Decision Model

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Back to business . . .

We’re on the way to Building an Outrageously Solid, Customer-Centered Model to Test All Business Decisions. What we’re going for is to define the business by building these four parts.

  • An explicit description of our customer and the niche market he or she represents
  • A company name and identity that fits and appeals to that ideal customer
  • A tagline that states what we promise and deliver
  • A “do line” that answers “What do you do?” in a few words

My version might look something like this:
Ideal customer: Thinking businesses and entrepreneurs who understand that relationships are crucial to success
Company name: Successful-Blog
Tagline: You’re only a stranger once.
Do line: I show businesses how to make irresistible products and services that attract fiercely loyal customer-fans.

What’s packed in that definition? Let’s concentrate on the tagline for now.

Three Steps to a Killer Tagline that Customers Pass On

A tagline is brand statement. It’s what we want folks to remember about us — the perception and reality of who we are rolled together in a few words. Nike said, “Just do it.” Burger King said, “Have it your way.” Verizon knew we were all saying, “Can you hear me now?” Think on the businesses you know. How many taglines can you remember? My point exactly.

A killer tagline is not just one that we remember. It resonates. We find something we recognize, something we identify with inside the words. That’s why we wear a “Just Do It!” t-shirt.

Killer taglines describe something about who or where customers want to be.

Here are three steps to a killer tagline that customers pass on.

  1. Make a promise that benefits the customer.
    Do you remember ever saying, “But you promised. . . .”?

    Promises are things we don’t usually forget.

    If you want folks to remember a tagline, make a promise. Make it a promise that your customers will care about. That means the promise has to offer something for THEM.

    Make your promise about what you will do for them. What one thing will you deliver without fail. What need will you fill? What can your customers count on you to do over and over again?

    I want to work with thinking businesses that care about relationships. My tagline promises they’ll learn ways to establish long-lasting relationships with a community of customers they want.

  2. Say it simply, out loud, and often.

    Powerful taglines don’t waste words. The longest example I gave has only five. Five words make it easy to understand, remember, and repeat. Five words means that there’s nothing hidden, no small print, no “take backs,” no thing to worry about. Five words means that you have through what you’re promising and that you know it well enough to say it in five words. Can you use six? Sure, but be certain that you need every one.

    Talk about your tagline promise often. In other words, repeat your promise out loud. Call attention to it. Let folks know that you stand behind the words. No one does this better than Phil Gerbyshak. He’s the Make It Great! man.

    When we say the words out loud, or write them in a comment box, it tells folks that we use those words with intent. Every time we repeat our tagline, the subtext is “and you can say I promised.”

    Imagine a promise offered that comes with a subtext that says “You won’t be disappointed.” Who wouldn’t want to try that? How many folks wouldn’t talk about it after they did?

  3. Deliver on that promise every time.

    Under promise and over deliver. You’ve heard that before. But don’t back off on what you can do. Be there. Show up. Put your head and heart fully in it. That’s what you’re following your passion to do.

    Nothing beats the feeling of a promise that someone kept. Even better than that is when someone keeps it a second time. That moves a person to a special category of friend.

    When a business delivers on a promise once we’re impressed. When a business makes it their business to keep their promises every time, we give them back our loyalty and our trust. The next guy has a hard time stealing us away from that.

Three simple steps. We’ve known them since we were kids. Make a promise that means something. Say it out loud to show that you mean it. Then deliver without fail.

Who wouldn’t want to tell their friends about service like that?

What do you know about promises that businesses have made to you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

Building an Outrageously Solid, Customer-Centered Model to Test All Business Decisions

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Me You Me You

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Are you still with me?
Here’s where we are.

We started inside our hearts and looked inside the hearts and heads of our ideal customers, as best we could . . . hopefully we’ll keep doing both. It’s not a spreadsheet. It’s personal, from me to you, to me, and back to you again.

Me you me you

Now that we’re used to that, we can work on the most basic decision model. Every decision that follows will have this model as a test.

Here we go. We started building it sometime last week.

Building an Outrageously Solid, Customer-Centered Model

the model that we’re building will test future decisions about a specific business. To do that we need to define the business by building these four parts.

  • An explicit description of the customer and the niche market he or she would be part of — The group will be relational and easy to describe The goal is to crawl inside the customer’s head and to feel his or her needs before he or she does.
  • A company named for the customer — will fit and appeal to the ideal customer “Call it what it is,” a wise man once said to me. A customer can find us more easily when we let them see who we are.
  • A tagline that does its job — will state what you promise and deliver It’s a promise that explains the value we offer to the people we want to serve.
  • A “do” statement — will be a few-word answer to “What do you do? This answer becomes easier to get to once we’ve reached the answers to the first three parts.

All parts work as a whole to define the business from view of the ideal customer. When all parts are defined together, this definition becomes the touchstone to which all future questions and definitions can be tested and verfied.

Does what I’m about to do fit within this model to make the business stronger, clearer, and more real to my ideal customer . . . or does what I’m considering weaken my plan and fogs up my message?

Use the model to be sure that future decisions support how we’ve defined the company.

What do you see here so far? What questions do you have?

More is coming I promise.

Next: The tagline

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.