5 reasons your customers say NO, and how to get them to YES

The answer to confusion is always no. So how do you get a yes?

You’re confusing your customers and you don’t even realise it. It’s easily done, we’ve all done it. The problem is this confusion is working against you, because when a customer is confused they always say no. From our years of working with small businesses, we see 5 things that they usually get wrong that are super easy to fix and turn that no into a yes.

1. CUSTOMERS CAN’T WORK OUT WHAT YOU DO

Everyone’s busy and everyone’s in a hurry so when they come to your website they need to know they’re in the right place, and they need to know that quickly. Most people will only spend 3 seconds on a website before they make a decision to stay and have a look round or to leave and go somewhere else. To keep them on your website you need to say very clearly what you do and reassure them they’re in the right place. Using a clear headline at the top of the page you can grab their attention in under a second, and then in the other second give them a reason to stay. Don’t try and use something clever or fluffy, no one has time to decode your messaging. For example:

We create experiential consumer influence opportunities

vs.

We design brochures and posters

Don’t try and be clever just get to the point.

2. YOU’RE MIXING YOUR MESSAGES

If you’re using different messages across different social channels it can be confusing for a customer to work out whether they’re interacting with the right business. If on your website you say you make handmade pottery but on your Twitter, you say you do pottery workshops, then which is it? Many businesses do lots of different things, but you have to pick one to lead with and make sure you talk about that consistently on every touchpoint. You can go on to explain that you do many things on your website or within the content on your social channels but you need to make sure that the signpost at the top of every touchpoint is the same.

3. THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT

It’s likely that what you do is also done by a number of other people, it may be that they make the same things, it may be that they provide the same service, however, you will be doing something within your business that is unique to your business. It’s important that you make this clear because when a customer is trying to make a choice between you and another company they need a really clear reason to choose you.

If you don’t have this reason then you’re competing on price, and this means that someone is going to try and haggle you down or simply go to someone who is cheaper.

Be clear about what you do that is different, and most importantly why this matters to the customer. Tell them what is it is that you’re doing that makes their lives better.

4. THEY DON’T KNOW WHY THEY SHOULD CHOOSE YOU

If you’re using different messages across different social channels it can be confusing for a customer to work out whether they’re interacting with the right business. If on your website you say you make handmade pottery but on your Twitter, you say you do pottery workshops, then which is it? Many businesses do lots of different things, but you have to pick one to lead with and make sure you talk about that consistently on every touchpoint. You can go on to explain that you do many things on your website or within the content on your social channels but you need to make sure that the signpost at the top of every touchpoint is the same.

5. YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT YOU, NOT THEM

The rather hard to hear truth is that no one really cares about you or what you do, all they want to know is “what’s in it for me?” So you need to make sure you’re making it very clear what they get out of it, what’s the end result for them, how do you solve the problem they have.

Before you talk about how many years you’ve been in business, where your offices are, how many people are in your team, what great clients you work with etc, you need to reassure the client that you can solve the problem they have. If you don’t lead with this, they will get bored of reading your waffle and go somewhere else. So first think, what does the customer want to get out of this and go from there.

TAKE A STEP BACK

So take a step back and look at your business from your customer’s point of view. What does it look like to them, with no assumed knowledge or experience ask yourself, what do they see?

Check your touchpoints on your website, emails, social channels downloads etc and ask:

1. Can they tell what you do in under 3 seconds?
2. Are you consistent with your messaging?
3. Have you signposted clearly what you want them to do next?
4. Is it clear why you’re different?
5. Are you talking about you, or them?
6. What’s in it for them?

If you spot something in your messaging comment below and let me know if you’ve had any light bulb moments.

“The answer to confusion is always no” is one of my favourite quotes from Donald Miller. He wrote an excellent book ‘ Marketing Made Simple ‘ and I would highly recommend it.

Originally published at https://marketingsuccess.club on October 20, 2020.