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| Subject: If You Don't Understand This, You'll Have Fewer Customers To Buy What You Offer | |
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Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
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Date Posted: 15:40:04 05/31/05 Tue Please be careful about which words you use & who uses them. The latest example – besides those on my free information web site – is “Grungy chicken.” I’m sure the announcer in the commercial said, “Crunchy chicken.” But through radio speakers, it sounds like “Grungy chicken.” I know some don’t pay as much attention to commercial messages as I do. But that could make it worse! If a subconscious mind hears “Grungy chicken” & a restaurant name together, the owner of that subconscious mind might not feel like going to an untidy place to eat dirty chicken. In the United States of America, as I’m sure there are examples in other countries (Right, Brits?), if we hear somebody say, “Tahr,” we may not know if s/he is talking about a tire or tar. We wouldn’t know without understanding the context. But we know what little others pay attention to what we say to them, right? Of course, WE always pay attention to EVERYBODY else. We need to be sure everybody else (on whom we depend for income) understands us. In a job I had with a major retailer, I told the head of the maintenance department about a loose wire. Each time he asked about it, I didn’t know what he was asking. He asked, “Wahr?” This could’ve meant he wanted to know WHERE the loose wire is. It could’ve meant he was asking for confirmation on what was loose - - “Wire?” It was frustrating for John & I, it was comical to the guys who heard us talking. Things like this can happen in face-to-face (F2F), but it’s most likely to happen when a spoken message is converted to electricity, then back into sound. In a F2F situation, you may notice the listener’s nonverbal signs & realize something wasn’t interpreted correctly. But when you don’t see listener’s reactions, you don’t have a chance to quickly repeat something clearly. It’s important to use words prospects will immediately understand. Everybody doesn’t have a graduate school level vocabulary, but there are typical words they use to describe things to each other & within themselves – in their thoughts. But don’t write old, passé phrases & sentences. “Secrets” has been a power word for advertising & so it has been overused. If it’s not a “has been” yet, it will be soon unless people stop hyping it. Another example is – “No job is too big or too small.” This stuff was meaningful before, but now its power is gone. It’s time to express these concepts in ways prospects will notice & appreciate. Here’s another angle to consider this concept from – If “everybody” is using worn-out expressions & methods, including you, how will you seem different or better? My main mentor, Jay Abraham is right (he’s right about a lot of things or he wouldn’t be my mentor), the world, business system, psychology or whatever you want to call it is “trying to relegate you to being a commodity.” People generalize to cope with excessive stimuli. Some of these excessive stimuli are marketing efforts. Depending on who is estimating, United States citizens are exposed to hundreds of advertising messages per day. These range from logos on clothing to infomercials. People cope with the overwhelming load by deciding many things, that on the surface seem to be similar, are the same. This way, they feel, they don’t need to think of things as separate but as a group. This reduces the amount of mental energy we need to process what we perceive in the world around us. What are convenience stores? It‘d be easy to think all convenience stores charge unrealistic prices & try to sell a little of everything, but a lot of nothing. But then when we need something from a convenience store, how will we know which one to go to? Some of them, near where I live, have milk, fruit, pizzas, fuel, batteries & automobile supplies. But each of them doesn’t have every item. If I have a vitamin deficiency & want something juicy & sweet, I’d end up going to the convenience store that sells fruit. If I generalize, then I wouldn’t be interested in knowing the difference between these stores. So, if I’d learn one of them has fruit, I’d probably forget it quickly. That can be bad for me when I need fruit & grocery stores are closed. It’s worse for the convenience store owner. Sure some grocery stores are open 24/7 these days. But if I generalize I won’t know that. Though generalizing helps us cope, it’s better for business owners to differentiate their businesses so consumers can get what they want & need. Be Sure Your Message Are Understood While I was a teenager, I heard my favorite singer, Barry Manilow, listened to his creative work he did in a recording studio through cheap speakers. Then he, his co-producer & the sound engineer could hear the results in a rough situation. Then they were more sure people would like what they heard. When you do this, especially with a variety of customers to listen to it before broadcasting it, you can be sure your message will be understood because the words will be clear. When you listen or watch commercials produced by others, especially the station employees, don’t listen to the commercial on high tech equipment until after you’ve heard it on something cheap. When you listen to something on great equipment, you’ll probably understand it, then when you hear it on cheap stuff, your mind will still retain what you understood before, so you’re less likely to misunderstand something later. That’s also true of reading scripts. Don’t read the final version of scripts until you’ve listened &/or watched the commercials. Reading rough drafts & looking at story boards, then days or weeks later you hear &/or see the final product, your mind will be somewhat cleared of the residue of the rough drafts. But, please remember, you & the copywriter probably understand your business better than your prospects do. So you’ll understand the terminology & be able to mentally fill in gaps. Prospects won’t be able to do that without extra effort. They’re already too stressed & overwhelmed, don’t make the mistake of thinking each of them will invest the mental effort. If they have any mental energy left, they’ll probably use it to figure out their finances. I think I’ve made a strong case for clear pronunciation. Yes, not all of you like Barry Manilow’s work, but look at the Top 40 charts from the 70’s & 80’s. “Read ‘Em & Weep.” “Could It Be Magic?” Yes. “It’s A Miracle.” “Somewhere Down The Road” maybe you’ll learn to appreciate “Beautiful Music.” Then truly “It’s A Miracle.” Lo, did I really use the word “truly”? Verily, I did. Thank you for using this forum for your business needs. Dennis S. Vogel thrivingbusiness@email.com Marketing strategies and tactics are long-term issues, but you shouldn't have to wait long for sales. http://web1.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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