In fairness there's probably plenty a man doesn't tell his wife; what crap he eats when she's not around, his full internet history, the fact that he flirts with other women and his honest alcohol intake to name a few.
But this was never going to be an article about what deep, dark secrets your other half is hiding from you. Nope, dear reader this is all about getting attention.
More specifically, getting the attention of your prospect.
If I had simply used the title 'How to get the attention of your prospect' there's a high chance you'd have passed it by. 'Yet another business coach' or simply flipping boring. Nothing to grab your attention.
And yet, a juicy bit of gossip (we all love a bit of juice now and again) has grabbed your attention enough so you're still reading now.
Now, I sincerely apologise to you if you feel misled. It wasn't my intention, at least not fully. My intention was simply to stand out.
To be different. (although in truth the headline is paraphrasing the great Dan Kennedy)
Every business in the country is ‘The best' at what they do. The best hair dresser, the best chefs working at the best restaurant, the best garage. And some will even go on to prove it with awards, reviews and accolades given to them over the years.
Thing is, no one cares. Our prospects have heard 'the best' message so often that we've tuned out of it. It's like the humming of my PC as I write this, it's meaningless to me.
When I type in 'takeaway near me' into Google I get 660,000,000 results. I'm quite sure there's not that many pizza places and curry houses in Melbourne Derbyshire, but more than that they all sink into nothingness.
They all have 4 or 5 stars, they all have customer reviews singing their praises and they're all the best takeaway in the area. How can that possibly be? Are lot's of people lying to me? Surely not!?
Better does not sell, different sells.
Read that line again. And again, I'll wait for you.
There's a US company called The Geek Squad. As an IT company who started in the 90's they were amongst a very competitive bunch of people. Everything they did was to stand out, dressing as FBI agents and proudly showing off their geekiness to all.
The result was people talked about them, they got advertising for free as word of mouth travelled. And while other IT companies (who may well be 'better' than The Geek Squad) continued to do the same thing as each other, advertised in the same mags, did the same door-to-door knocking for ANY sale The Geek Squad went light years ahead.*
*(For the full story it's worth purchasing Mike Michalowicz book Get Different)
Better does not sell, different sells.
To be clear you don't have to be a maverick, the slightest little change can make a big difference. To get the attention of your customers and if you truly are the best, then you have a responsibility to your customers to make sure they buy your product.
If they don't, it's down to you.
So get different.
Better does not sell, different sells.
Brendan O'Neill is a well loved Business Coach and Mentor, Award Winning Arts in Education Entrepreneur and Music teacher.