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For most businesses, marketing is an important function that is necessary in order for the business to grow and compete. In the past, word of mouth was enough for any company to succeed. However, as the volume of noise consumers were faced with grew, so did the need for companies to do more, say more, and reach out further to each client and potential client.
Companies now know that business promotion is as essential as their business structure and their employees. As businesses are faced with competition both online and off, they are forced to reach consumers by using offline tactics to complement and support their online marketing goals. For years marketers have successfully used brochures to work in both their online and offline sales and marketing efforts. In short:
Brochures inform: Marketing brochures are an excellent way to communicate everything from ‘what is your business?' and ‘what does it do?' to ‘why you do things the way you do' as well as the rather commonly found ‘contact information' like email addresses and website location. Brochures are the foundation of any well-planned marketing campaign and provide your customers with a tangible document that communicates your most pertinent information in a colorful, glossy, well-designed, and informative piece of collateral.
Brochures are cost-effective and results-oriented: For a small business which lacks the resources to deploy mainstream media campaigns, brochures can be an incredibly cost-effective and results-oriented method of marketing one's business. While the unit cost of producing a brochure decreases as the number being printed increases, the costs are still a very low compared to even a one day's worth of ad placements in a newspaper or on television.
Brochures are too well-designed to be discarded: Ever wondered why so much emphasis is placed on designing a brochure? One of the reasons is certainly to make it look good (which goes without saying), but also to ensure that they aren't hastily thrown into the trash can or recycling bin. The higher the quality that is perceived in brochure printing, the more likely it is that a consumer will read it before discarding. When was the last time you ripped a high-quality brochure apart and threw it into the waste paper basket without at least glancing at its contents?
Brochures are durable and long lasting: You probably read the daily newspaper just once and then you might never read it again. On rare occasions, you might take another peek at it, if you had a compelling reason for doing so. Television ads run for mere seconds and often miss the bulk of their intended target audience. In comparison, a brochure's lifespan is much longer, increasing the chance that it will be read again and again.
Brochures help build and sustain a brand: There are many important attributes of an effective brochure, including paper type (coated or uncoated?), content, format size, design, color selection, and overall print quality. Combined, all of these attributes help define your product or service in the eyes of prospective customers, as well as build brand awareness for your offering. Conversely, a poorly designed and executed brochure will reflect negatively on your business, and may in fact have the opposite effect of a well-designed, high-quality brochure. By careful planning and execution, you can produce an effective brochure that will help ensure the success of your product or service.
Despite the popularity of other more expensive forms of advertising and marketing, brochures are still on of the most important and cost-effective ways to promote your products and services.
We'd meet a couple times a month to talk about different things. I enjoyed our meetings because he did a good job of sharing with me some of the business and life lessons he had learned over the years.
One day we met for lunch at the Lincoln Del. This was a popular place for business lunches. They had great food and servers with plenty of personality. While we were waiting for our food my mentor said “pull out a pen and some paper right now!” He was like that, very direct and all about action. “Write these three things down,” he said.
The three things he had me write down were his “success rules”.
They were:
Always have a goal.
Never be afraid to fail.
Show up every day.
Now, 20 years later I still remember these “success rules”. Even more important, I understand them better and I use them better than I did when I first wrote them down. Over the years, I've seen them in action so I know from experience that they work. Any success I have I can attribute partly to my friend and mentor sharing these ideas with me.
I just told you a story.
Instead of telling you a story, I could have just said, “these are three success rules that work…”
But I don't think that would have been as effective in communicating the message. By telling you a story about something from my life, I got your attention and (hopefully) held it to the end of the story. Because I made it personal and real, it has more impact.
If you are involved in selling then keep reading because I am going to give you a secret weapon to help you connect with more people and make more sales.
I've had the opportunity to listen to some very talented professional speakers. And, I've had the experience of watching some not-so-skilled speakers.
The best speakers start with a story and they end with a story. They use personal experiences to connect with their audience and to deliver their message. They tell stories throughout their presentation. They do it well and it works.
The other speakers give us facts, figures, charts, slide shows, etc. They often put us to sleep because they never connect with us. They never really reach us.
What is true for speakers is also true for salespeople (or anyone who needs to communicate with others).
If you want to deliver a message or develop a relationship with someone, you need to connect with them. An easy way to connect with them is to tell stories.
Too many salespeople spend too much time talking about their company, their product or service and all the wonderful features they offer. They go on and on about why we should buy from them. They bombard us with facts, figures and opinions that mean a lot to them but are mostly unimportant to us.
When you do this, your prospect tunes out. The last thing they want to hear is you talk about your company or product or service. They know you'll tell them how great it is so what you have to say is really not very interesting to them. And, the more facts and figures you throw at them, the less relevant those facts will be because they're not interested in all that information.
On the other hand, if you tell your prospect a story, they will listen. They will listen because your story will be:
Entertaining
Relevant
Personal
True
As listeners, we expect stories to be entertainin. As business people, we need them to be relevant. As human beings, we want them to be personal.
Told right, a story is not a sales pitch.
A story is an entertaining way to deliver an important message. It's an effective way to help you connect with someone.
Seth Godin wrote a book about using the power of stories to promote your business. (All Marketers Are Liars : The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World ) It's currently a best seller at Amazon.com.
So, if you want to start selling more, find ways to tell people stories. Make them relevant. Make them personal. Make them entertaining. Most importantly, make them a regular part of your communication with prospects.