Marketing Lessons from a Main Street Diner Menu
Oh, the Anytown USA Main Street diner!
We all know what it’s like, right? The menu is interchangeable from one diner to the next. No matter where you are, you know exactly what to expect when you open up that big folder.
Have you noticed that many companies’ services and products descriptions look a lot like diner menus?
When a client called me in a panic a few weeks ago, needing a new brochure for a trade show and with a print deadline just days away, I had an opportunity to see a diner-menu-style brochure up close and personal. Fortunately, we had time to change it from an anytown, anywhere, any company description into a presentation of personalized services.
Many clients come to me with services lists that read like Anytown USA diner menus. I understand the temptation. It can seem as if you’ve got to list everything you do so you won’t miss out on a potential client looking for something specific.
But those lists of services are generic and overwhelming, with nothing to distinguish your work from anyone else’s. Even more importantly, there’s no emotional content, although countless studies have shown that we all make purchasing decisions based on emotion – how we feel now, and how we want to feel after buying.
The key to avoiding diner-menu services descriptions is to know what you really offer.
My client thought his clients pay him for IT services – remote server management, backup and recovery, database maintenance, hardware and software purchase and installation, and so on.
His clients are actually buying peace of mind about the computer infrastructure they need to run their companies. They trust him to take care of all that confusing tech stuff so they have the freedom to focus on their own clients.
Feel the difference in those two descriptions?
What are you really selling?
Everyone is selling something above and beyond their primary service or product.
A massage therapist might be selling a good night’s sleep, luxurious self-pampering, or an easier childbirth experience.
A financial advisor might be selling jet-setting retirement, the excitement of launching a business, or stress-free college education for the kids.
A furniture store might be selling “keeping up with the Kardashians” luxury, discrete ways to cope with physical disabilities, or unique accent pieces for do-it-yourself decorators.
When you understand what you’re really selling, you’ll have a far more compelling message than a diner-menu services list.
Ask your best clients
Your clients receive the value you provide, and they’ll talk about it in ways that will resonate with other people you want to work with.
When I read the testimonials my IT services client received from his clients, I knew what he was really selling: peace of mind about critical (but confusing) technology.
Ask your best clients what they get from you. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Acknowledge the fear
People resist this approach because they’re afraid that being more focused means limiting who will hear their message.
After all, if the massage therapist sells an easier childbirth experience, won’t she turn away everyone who’s not pregnant?
If the furniture store focuses on people with disabilities, what happens to customers who are physically sound?
If the financial advisor markets to parents wanting to pay for their kids’ education, what about those empty-nesters and childless folks?
Of course there’s a kernel of truth in this fear. Yet paradoxically, that kernel of truth allows your business to grow and thrive. Because when you present a focused message about what you really do, your best audience hears you – and responds because you’re speaking their language.
Take the risk. Show up for your best clients with what you really do. Be the specialty cafe or gourmet restaurant instead of the Main Street Anytown USA diner!
Grace Judson helps business owners discover, clarify, and describe their unique message. Read more of her tips and ideas on her website at http://www.svahaconcepts.com