In a small retail store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the business owners face a problem most business owners face today…
Competition due to commoditization.
This particular store sells mattresses. In their market there are 136 other stores that also sell mattresses.
What about your product or service? How many others sell what you sell in your market space?
Here’s the thing. Even if you only have one other competitor in your market, you must find a way to be in a category of one. In other words, to be different and offer something that no one else offers.
How do you do that?
Today I’ll show you how to create a bait piece that will not only effectively generate leads but will pre-sell your prospects making them predisposed to buy from you instead of your competitors.
One of the reasons the method I’m about to share with you works so well is that most business owners will not take the time to implement this.
Having said that, it’s the kind of thing that over and over customers say is the deciding factor for customers. Here’s what one customer of that small mattress store said, “It is what helped “sell me” on choosing your company…it also showed me your commitment to being the best place I should consider for my purchase.”
So what is this bait piece?
A Buying Guide.
Continue reading and you’ll get the entire step-by-step process for quickly and easily creating your own buying guide to generate leads for your business.
Before you get started, keep in mind that the purpose of your Buying Guide is to educate your customer about the issues and decision points you want your customers to be aware of. In other words, you want to produce your Buying Guide with the end purpose in mind which is to create an educated customer that after reading your Buying Guide will believe you are the only possible source that can supply the solution they need.
With this in mind your Buying Guide should be a short guide that teaches your customer, client or patient HOW to consume your product or service. This can be delivered in the form of a printed book or booklet or a downloadable guide. (I recommend one or both of these formats so that you can get prospects on your list and follow up with them.)
Your Buying Guide should produce a customer or client that understands your views as follows:
• How your prospect currently perceives your industry.
• How you perceive the industry.
• How you are different (i.e. your Unique Selling Proposition or USP).
• How the person reading your Buying Guide can benefit by engaging with you.
• What they will learn and why it is important to them.
• What mistakes they will avoid with this information.
After your prospective customer has read your Buying Guide, he or she should:
• Understand your language.
• Have a comprehensive idea of what to expect from you and how you will treat them.
• Be able to clearly identify how you are unique and different.
• Feel as if you’ve added massive value to their purchase.
• Move from a “need to do this mindset” to a “I want to do this and am excited” to purchase your product or service.
• Have all fear and apprehension lowered or gone.
To set up your Buying Guide, I suggest incorporating the following six items:
1. A forward explaining your view of the industry you are in and how you understand that this can be confusing or scary.
2. An “About Us” and an introduction page.
3. A table of contents so those who skim can go right to the information they want right away.
If you have something very unique be sure to showcase this across from the table of contents so that people will see it front and center. For example, at PPC for Small Biz you receive Free consulting in important areas of your Internet Marketing such as email marketing, landing pages, and conversion rate optimization directly from the founder of the company who has over 25 years of direct marketing experience(learn more at www.PPCforSmallBiz.com)
4. Your Buying Guide should have at least eight chapters, remember more is not always better. However, keep in mind that a chapter might only be one or two pages long.
Each chapter should be about helping your customer better understand what they are buying and how to buy it more effectively and without remorse, remember you want to create a hyper buyer ready to do business with you and you only.
5. Insert testimonials throughout your Buying Guide and have a section dedicated to just testimonials.
6. Since you are educating your customers, if you are planning on printing your Buying Guide, you may also want to include a place for your customers to write notes.
Now let’s look at example from my Buying Guide, “A Guide to Overcoming 8 Common PPC Buying Mistakes”
Mistake #1: Not Confirming Who Will Be Handling Your Account
Really, this statement seems ridiculous. You would assume that the person who sells you your service would be the person servicing your account or at least that the person that is showcased in your presentation would be. But you would be surprised by the number of people who purchase PPC services from a company in the U.S. only to find out later that they must speak to someone overseas who speaks English as a second language.
Other situations include:
• Only being able to communicate via email and unsure who is reading and responding to your email.
• Being assigned to a rookie fresh out of school who only has little experience in one area—which may or may not be right for you.
• Being put into a recorded call center where you have to answer a series of questions such as what your name, phone # and account number is and an upsell conversation before you ever get to speak to someone.
The time you spend trying to explain your question or answer unimportant questions to someone who doesn’t even know anything about your account directly impacts not only your satisfaction with your PPC service but how successful your campaigns will be.
Helpful Tips
Be sure to ask direct, specific questions about who will be handling your account, how you will communicate with them and what the process is. Be sure you are completely satisfied with how you will communicate before you purchase from them.
Ask the following questions:
Is the person handling my account a PPC expert with 10 or more years’ experience?
Will I have a number I call directly to reach the person handling my account?
Will I be able to contact you by phone?
Does the person handling my account speak English as their first language?
If the answers to the questions above are not positive, you should really think about whether the company you are considering is right. Do they care about you getting the best results and experience or are they just there to sell PPC?
PPC for Small Business never passes your online advertising programs off to junior level admins, foreign subsidies, or rookies just out of school. We are the only Search Engine Marketing Specialists that offer all of the following:
Adwords Certified Professionals
Over 25 years of database marketing and SEM knowledge
Winner of the Google Partners All-Star Competition for 3 years in a row.
Guarantee that you will only work with seasoned advertising professionals who understand small businesses as well as the franchisee/franchisor and manufacturer/distributor/dealer relationships.
Completely U.S. based company
Custom & proprietary database of internet marketing knowledge that brings qualified leads to your small business, franchise or dealer network quickly and cost effectively.
Free consultation with a senior internet marketing executive
All of this is done at no extra cost to our clients. We offer this and go the extra mile so that you receive the best possible results and can experience a competitive advantage for your business.
Create your own Buying Guide as a way to show your prospective clients just how important a decision it is to buy your product or service from you and you alone.