How To Market Your Expertise
Along With Your Products
By Tom Egelhoff
 When I leave a place of business with a
product, what have I actually purchased? I have the product of
course that I can see, smell and touch but haven't I also purchased
the product idea and the expertise to make the product? If I
had help from a salesperson I also purchased their knowledge
to help me make my decision. The point I want to make in this
article is that sometimes you tend to gloss over your expertise
and not use it to add value in your marketing or advertising.
Let me give you an example of what I mean.
In a 2003 auto theft survey conducted by The National Insurance
Crime Bureau, the Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona area led the nation in
vehicle thefts with just over 40,000. You can find the study
at:
http://www.nicb.org/uploaded_documents/pressreleases/NICBmsastudy03.pdf
You can check the study for your particular area.
If I'm in this area I'm going to include information about
this study in my ads and in-store promotions. I am also going
to try to get an article in my local newspaper about it by sending
this study to the editor along with MY "Ten Ways to Stop
Vehicle Theft." One of the best ways to bring in business
is to be perceived as an expert in your field. If you are quoted
in the newspaper you must be the expert otherwise why would the
newspaper have sought you out? Never mind that you sought the
newspaper out. I'm also going to include a study of the "Top
Ten Most Stolen Cars." You'll find that study at: http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/previous/ictl_0901.pdf.
Owners of these cars can be a very lucrative market for your
business. Are the owners of the top ten stolen cars going to
see you as the expert on preventing vehicle theft? Hopefully
they will. Plus does your customer know they're driving the #7th
most stolen car? Probably not. So by bringing this to his or
her attention you create a customer where there might not have
been one before. Fear of losing your new car can be a very powerful
motivator. In addition, if you want to carry this to its furthest
extreme, you are alerting car thieves of the kinds of cars they
should be stealing which will also build your market.
Part two of this equation is the knowledge of your staff.
One of the most overlooked areas of creating sales is the person
who answers your phone. Every phone call should be logged and
how it was handled. Want an education about your business? Answer
your own phone for a week. You'll see how much business you are
losing by not treating each and every call as potential sale.
Even if they are calling asking for your hours you have an opportunity
to tell them about the weekend sale, or a new product or promotion.
Something to peak their interest and keep you in mind. They are
calling you for a reason. They are potential buyers.
Customers are shoppers too. As much as I would like to close
every sale some customers walk. But I would never let them walk
without some kind of helpful educational information about the
products they looked at. It doesn't take much to create a handout
to educate them and make you look like the expert. For example,
as I mentioned above, "Ten Ways to Stop Vehicle Theft"
peppered with benefits of doing business with you. If they looked
at speakers it should be something like "Thirteen Things
That Make A Speaker Good," or something similar.
Be creative but let the customer know that you are good at
what you do. You are the Tiger Woods or Michael Jordon of your
industry. Don't we want to deal with people who know what they
are doing? You are the expert and your knowledge has value. Demonstrate
that value in every marketing message and watch your sales improve.
Based in Bozeman, MT, Tom Egelhoff is the author of How To Market, Advertise & Promote Your
Business Or Service In A Small Town, and The
Small Town Advertising Handbook: How To Say More And Spend Less.
He is also a seminar and workshop presenter and trainer.
Would
you like Tom Egelhoff to speak on marketing your expertise
at your business function or convention?
Click here for
information, topics and pricing.
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