Excuse me for starting off with a little bit of a ramble today. I was talking to a client this week and we got onto the subject of selling and how customers understand different products and services. It got me thinking about our own industry and the difficulties businesses face when what you’re selling isn’t always straightforward or immediately understood.
For example – ‘Would you like to buy a packet of ginger nuts?’
It’s not difficult to know what’s being sold here. Most people understand the product immediately, so the decision to buy is fairly straightforward.
However, selling a front door or new windows becomes a little more difficult because of the level of investment, the materials, the quality, and all the available options. But even then, the customer understands the basics. They know what windows and doors do and can weigh up whether replacing them is worthwhile. It’s the same for cars, houses, dogs, step ladders… people have an immediate understanding of them all.
But what happens when you’re selling something that could genuinely transform a business, yet is so far off the customer’s radar they don’t understand anything about your services or have the faintest understanding of how you will deliver them.
Unfortunately, in our world, that’s what we face day in and day out selling Digital Marketing Services.
We try to educate businesses on how our services can increase their visibility, generate more enquiries, improve communication with clients, and help create steady growth. But when they ask the inevitable question of how we actually do this, it can be difficult to explain in plain English.
The tasks and tools we use, programming, SEO tools, analytics, LLMs, AI platforms, databases, and digital optimisation, can quickly become overwhelming and you can almost hear the “whoosh” fly by as glazed eyes drift off into some kind of meditative state.
It can be frustrating selling a service that people can’t physically see, smell, touch or even understand. They have to rely on our experience, enthusiasm, and belief that investing their hard earned cash into digital marketing will place their business in a far stronger position within their marketplace.
The interesting thing is that once businesses start working with us and begin to understand what we’re doing, they become more invested. Because what we really do is help them grow, they start to understand, their own business instincts kick in and they begin driving the process with us as we give them greater insights into their market.
Once they see the increase in calls, emails, enquiries, traffic, and engagement, things suddenly make a lot more sense and the best part is.. they see us as essential and continue to work with us long term .
Going back to the basic problem of selling a service that is difficult to understand. We’re looking for forward-thinking businesses, ones who want more from their online activity, because that’s what we do. It’s just harder for us to package it up like a packet of ginger nuts.
But here goes, without all the technobabble nonsense talked in our industry…
Would you like a service that makes your business more visible, keeps your clients regularly informed and updated about your products and services, and brings you more enquiries?
Phew. That wasn’t so hard after all.
Not a whoosh in sight. ;0)
Call me.
Grahame
