“I know it doesn’t matter, but I liked their design better.”
These are the words a buyer used to explain why our company lost his landscape project. What was the difference? The other company’s presentation package had a little bit more flair than ours. They put on a show.
It doesn’t seem fair. It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did. He went so far as to acknowledge that our construction work is probably better than the company he chose. I appreciated his honesty, but that didn’t make the loss any easier. I was confused about how he justified a decision that didn’t make sense.
According to Robert Cialdini, author of “Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade,” countless seemingly insignificant factors can influence a person’s choice to buy, remain loyal or upgrade to another level of service.
It’s important to know your customers to be sure. What are they seeing, thinking, feeling and doing before, during and after a purchase? This informs your business about how to showcase its customer experience.
Your company may not speak of the customer experience, but it’s real, and it matters. It can be a show that elevates that experience or it can simply communicate.
Nobody anywhere has ever said, “I like that guy. He communicates well.” People want rock star communicators that push the experience to the edge. They want marketing and experiences that dare to be more than they expected.
There’s a reason the packaging of an iPhone is as beautiful as the product within it. The unboxing experience was designed to elevate the magic of the product inside. This makes that package marketing.
One way to package your company’s products and services like a rock star is using language people typically associate with the best version of them. According to Cialdini, this not only gets their attention; it raises their perception of your marketing and the products it represents.
Yeah, that got my attention too. Here’s an example. What comes to mind when you hear the word “lush?” Exactly, a freshly cut, lush, green lawn is what most homeowners want, and those words suggest that is exactly what they will get.
It doesn’t seem fair, does it? There are opportunities to put on a little show at every turn. Showing up early instead of on time is one. Calling to check in for no particular reason is another. People want just a little bit more than what you sell. It’s not a lot to ask for a little show, is it?
