Do your propsects immediately understand and remember your marketing messages? If not, you probably need to be more concrete.
Watch this short video to find out how to do this based on a sticky principle from Dan & Chip Heath’s book, Made to Stick.
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“If you can examine something with your senses, it’s concrete.” Chip & Dan Heath Click to Tweet
In what areas of your business could you be more concrete with your communication? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below. I respond to every single comment.
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for posting yet a great video. Here’s a question…
I’m in the IT consulting business. A problem with the IT business is that practically everything we work with is abstract. On a side note: that’s mostly how the IT business managed to use abstract buzzword-BS for long enough to create the dot.com bubble (it was truly a ridiculous time).
Luckily, those times are over and business clients demand actual value from investments in software and that’s how it should be, but the problem is: how does one cater for potential clients senses when all we really produce are 1’s and 0’s running business rules inside a machine?
Thank you for your feedback Henrik, I really appreciate it. Great question and love the sidenote.
Identify the top 3-5 benefits that your clients receive from your software. Take those benefits and describe them using concrete terms and use those words for your marketing.
If you get stuck, you’re welcome to share the benefits here and I’ll help you brainstorm some options.
Stephanie thanks for sharing this! It makes sense. I realize that I use a lot of abstract words in virtually everything I do, except my power points. With those I use visuals to illustrate what I’m sharing. So it’s back to looking at my 1 minute pitch, my website and what I’m sharing about workshops. Let’s see how I can apply this…
Thank you for your feedback Mary Jane! If you’re willing, I’d love it if you come back and share any changes you make along with the original words.
I think the best way to do it is talk about the value your business provides to your customers. It’s all about the value you provide that people are interested in, not the details about your business.
I appreciate your comment Harry. Making the value you provide as concrete as possible is always helpful. Wishing you all the best.
Hi Stephanie~
I tend to use more abstract vocabulary, assuming everyone is familiar with digital AV technology, AV integration, and so on. Not until (which happens quickly) I notice a bewildered or jumbled look on someone’s face do I begin to speak more concretely. To me, it sounds like baby talk, but I try VERY hard to remember the goal is to communicate what I do while NOT creating distance between me and my listener. Many thanks for sharing!
I appreciate your comment Angie. It can be challenging to find the balance between too technical and too simple.
Thanks for this insight, Stephanie. Personally I think that instead of using nouns it is even more effectful to use verbs and adjectives when presenting your business. Some very technical nouns may not be easy to understand either unless you’re in the same business. I’d really like to know your thought on this (I didn’t read the book you mention, maybe they say something about this too?).
Appreciate your comments, Ute. I don’t think it’s a matter of nouns versus verbs & adjectives, you need to use all of them when you talk about your business. This post focused on how to make your noun descriptors more concrete. And I agree with you, it’s not effective to use technical terms when you describe what you do. It should be clear, concrete, and easy to understand.