When we market our services, we always expect that we’ll have hoards of new clients demanding to do business with us. While that’s a delightful fantasy, it’s very unlikely to happen. What can you expect to happen and how can you figure out why that is not happening. Here are some ideas about what you can expect of a successful marketing campaign to sell your services.
1. Interested prospects will have questions and want more information.
You’ll know that your marketing is successful when you’re getting interest and attention from prospects who need your services. They will have questions, and will request more information from you. Though they are far from sold, they now know that you provide the service they need, and you’re “on their radar”. If you are not getting interested prospects asking for more information, there’s a strong possibility that your marketing writing and website writing has not clearly delineated a target market and the specifics of their problems. Unless you target your marketing writing, there’s absolutely no reason why anyone would show interest. Look at this from their viewpoint. You have obviously not cared enough about the potential client’s needs or it would be obvious in your website writing.
2. Your target market will be introduced to your business and identify you as a potential service provider.
Among all possible candidates to provide the needed services, your business should come into sharp focus to your target market. Your business no longer seems to be one of many competitors for the prospect’s budget. The prospect has identified you as a serious contender. If you are not getting this reaction from your marketing activities, your marketing writing and website writing has not done a good enough job of laying out the benefits that your clients get. You want your target market to completely understand how their lives will benefit from working with you. You must demonstrate value through the words you use in your marketing materials.
3. You will end up in a series of situations where you must explain your business in a minute or so.
You can expect to need to be able to captivate the attention of your target market in fewer than 60 seconds. In order to have any possibility of selling your services, you must be prepared with an effective elevator speech (30-60 seconds) that “grabs” and holds, and provides an opportunity that lead to a more in-depth conversation. If you fumble and bumble when asked what your business does, you will appear to be an amateur. Prospects will cross you off their list of potential providers, and take their money and continue their search.
4. You’ll get calls, emails, or contacts from your website, with prospects asking to talk with you.
You’ll know that your marketing is successful when you are contacted by prospects wanting to speak to you about your services. They have read your marketing writing or website writing, and they are seriously interested. If you get these sorts of contacts, typically, it means that they have informed themselves about what your business does and are considering you as a provider. You are a contender for their business. If you are not having this happen, it means that your website writing and marketing writing have not given enough details about how your business works and how your services work. Prospects read what you have written and either don’t know enough to develop sincere interest, or aren’t excited about how you have described your business.
5. Your target market understands your business and knows how your services work.
When your marketing is successful, your target market feels that they understand your business and how it works. They feel well informed. They believe that they know enough to seriously consider working with you. They aren’t full of questions and concerns because your website writing and marketing writing have answered all that – as the prospect needs to know. They have a clear mental picture of what you do and don’t experience any major obstacles to working with you. If you are not having this result from your marketing activities, you must be sure that your description of your services is comprehensive and that your background information is compelling. Done correctly, your website writing and marketing writing demonstrates your competence, experience and training in such a way that prospects feel absolutely certain that you can deliver on the results they want.
If you don’t know how to recognize when your marketing activities are successful, you will be disappointed in your marketing results. You’ll have unrealistic expectations, and won’t recognize your real results. If you’re not experiencing these sorts of successes with your marketing activities, try incorporating these suggestions into your website writing and marketing writing.
Suzi Elton provides business writing that attracts targeted prospects to your service business and converts them into clients for you. She is a Robert Middleton Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach, as well as a professional writer. Her website offers a free series of 8 assessments you can use to analyze your own site.
