Friday, March 19, 2010

Worry Makes People Buy...

Sometimes I lay in bed at night worrying about what people are laying in bed and worrying about!

If you want to sell a service or product to anyone then one of the best things to be is a solution provider – and to do that you have to know what their problem is.

Public relations may be all about education but most people do not want to be educated or sold to…but they do want solutions to their problems so they can sleep easily in their bed.

So, before deciding on what stories to get out to the media it is a good idea to picture the typical client and speculate on just what might be their biggest fear or their nightmare scenario. If you can then show that you have the solution for them they are likely to want to listen to you…and maybe even buy something!

For some of Empica’s clients this is an obvious tactic. Acorn health and Safety, for instance, provide training courses that help people prevent accidents and injuries in the workplace.

But for others it is less obvious that the “fear factor” is there. PKF accountants may appear to be a service provider – but really they are problem solvers and help people when they are worried about getting that return in on time, concerned that the business deal they are thinking about doesn’t add up or worrying about future growth.

A good tip then for any business person is to address the concerns and problems of their potential customers.