Craftsmen have known as long as anyone can remember. Arrowhead penetrates better than blunt. Or is someone really trying to push the head of the nail into the wood? But most entrepreneurs get surprised when they hear that instead of blunt, arrowhead marketing does improve results significantly. If you want your website to generate more leads and you need to finish discussion about prices in your sales negotiations, then this article is certainly worth reading.

Would you let your broken knee rather being treated by the family doctor or do you prefer a specialized orthopedic surgeon is taking care of your knee? I think we would probably prefer the specialized orthopedic surgeon. Not that the family doctor is unnecessary, but with more complex injuries we prefer the expert. If you can again walk without pain for the rest of your life, then it’s certainly worth the expert’s fees which probably are not covered by your health insurance plan and you get charged a hefty co-payment. If there is a burning problem, then the customer will gladly pay for excellent treatment. Experts set their prices and who is not an expert, runs the risk to get rubbed off in a ruinous price war.

One question: What is your best solution for your customer’s problem? For what problem you are the Red Adair for your customers? (Red Adair was the “simple fireman” who specialized in oil fires and with its deletion he earned millions. And actually he was called Paul Near Adair. Red Adair comes from his red work overalls, his “brand”.) If your customers have a problem you can solve better than your competitors, then you are in business. And you are safe in business. Do you communicate your expert status effectively in your marketing concept? Forget all phrases like “Excellent quality”, “Free Consultation” or “100 years in business”. The customer wants to know what problem you will solve for him. To make a long sentence short: “What’s in for me?”

And make sure your problem solution always satisfies a basic human need. Do not advertise: “Buy our Super High Tech fire protection system for sensational low price!” How much better is this statement “Safety for you and your loved ones? Isn’t that worth one cappuccino daily?” See how the focus moves from the product to the basic human need of safety? By the high-tech focus probably just tech-savvy men get addressed but if it comes the issue of safety for your family is goes beneath men’s and women’s skin. Who specializes in the basic human needs of the customer, represents the interests of the customer and appears objectively and competently. Those who rely on a product or service, is living dangerously.

Of course, you need to communicate. But do not batter to death your customer with your competence. Investing in a good copywriter pays off. Good copywriters understand how to communicate your problem solution to get into the customers brain. And that means to convey emotions. Incidentally this is true also for men. And it’s specifically important with men. We could go by a Tata Nano for 2,500 € from A to B. But some examples of our gender pay 250,000 € for a Ferrari or Porsche to go simply from A to B. What’s rational here please? That is emotion in its purest form. Daniel Goleman is right: The rational decisive Homo Economics is a perfect illusion. People decide emotionally and men rationalize after they have taken an emotional decision. Men then talk about safety or preservation of value of the car. In reality it is the driving pleasure (on a German motorway without speed limit) that causes the purchasing decision. What emotion gets conveyed by your advertising? That is not possible in your industry? You provide best in class high technology? This is only about facts and figures? Characteristic curve set controlled ignition or turbocharged common rail injection? Now, BMW, for example, calls this “The Ultimate Driving Machine”. What feels your customer when he looks at your advertisement?

Do you business with the customers who really want to have? Or do you dream about the “better” clientele who especially appreciates your problem solving? The customers who do not nag at your price and do not constantly find faults to delay payment? Now maybe you have, with some feelings of false safety, an offer like “Something in for everyone”. Only a well-communicated expert status makes you credible. With an unmistakable specialization you penetrate faster and deeper into the market and accurately attract, sooner or later, the customers who appreciate your problem solving and reward the same. So never shape your business around your existing clients. Communicate your expert status and attract precisely the customer you want to have.

Be different, not only better, be very special, not only excellent, be the first in a small niche, (Better the first in the village than the second in the city, Julius Caesar), be radically innovative (Destroy your own business model before your competitors do): These for me are the essential issues of the 2016 marketing agenda.

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