• 27Creating commitments to your customers
• 28Developing an elevator speech
• 29Creating a guarantee

85
inspiring ways
to market
your small business

27 Creating commitments to your customers

What is a commitment statement?

A commitment statement is a simple expression of the promises you make to your customers about what you are going to do for them if they use your service. A commitment statement will normally be no more than one page of clearly articulated points about your business and the value you offer. It could be expressed in any number of different ways. Here are some example headline introductions.

• The secrets of x Business’s great service.
• The top ten reasons to use x.
• The seven reasons our customers love us.
• Our special commitments to you are…

Why is it important?

It is important to capture the essence of what you offer your customers. Business owners often walk on water for their customers but never tell a soul about it. Your commitment statement is a way of communicating all that is really special about your service. Your statement will highlight what matters to your customers and is most likely to motivate them to buy from you. Once you have articulated and communicated your promises, consistent delivery is vital.

Your challenge

Your challenge will be to dig deep and find out what your commitments actually are in the real world. Your satisfied customers know what they are, but do you? You can be so close to your own business that you can end up taking the things you do for your customers for granted.

Your challenge will be to extract from the people that use your service what it is that they really value. You will need to recall conversations with customers when they appeared particularly pleased with something you did for them. Find testimonials and thank you letters and read them. Notice what stands out. Remind yourself of some of the problems your customers have had and how specifically your service has provided the solution.

What makes a commitment statement successful?

Your commitment statement must be genuine and expressed in a way that ensures your customers believe in you. Each statement needs to be honest, real, deliverable and meaningful to your customers. You must convey value quickly and simply. Your commitments should solve problems for your customers and provide answers to the questions they have inside their heads before they buy from you.

Your customers need to be able to look over your list of commitments and think ‘yes’ I want to do business with these people. If they do that, then you have been successful.

CREATING A COMMITMENT STATEMENT – SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

• Make a list of all the special things you do for your customers that you don’t tell anyone about.
• Ask your staff to do the same.
• Choose some of your best regular customers and conduct a short telephone survey. Choose a person to conduct the survey who is able to extract from your customers the essence of what motivates them to use your business. Here are some sample questions:
  • 1.What do you expect when you use a service like ours?
  • 2.What would make it exceptional in your opinion?
  • 3.What are some of the reasons you use our service?
  • 4.What motivated you to use our service in the first place?
  • 5.What problems have we solved for you?
  • 6.What do you think we do really well?
  • 7.In terms of continuing to use a service like ours, what is most important to you?
• Use this information to create a list of up to ten major benefits.
• Be succinct and honest.

How to use this information

Once created you can integrate your customer commitment statement into your

• website
• sales brochure
• sales letter
• post sales package
• banners or posters at exhibitions
• sales conversations with customers.

28 Developing an elevator speech

What is an elevator speech?

An elevator speech is you talking about your business in public in an inspirational way. To elevate means to raise or lift higher and this is what this speech is all about. You may be talking for one minute or longer at a networking event, introducing yourself to business colleagues, or giving your opening speech at the start of a presentation. An elevator speech should build you and your business up and motivate your audience to want find out more.

Why is having one important?

There are many opportunities to talk about your business with others. If you want to inspire sales then you need to get used to talking yourself and your business up. Once you are confident with the content of your elevator speech it can be a relief. You will know what to say in any situation when you are asked to describe what you do.

Your challenge

Do you find describing what you do difficult? Is building your business up in a positive way even harder? What is it that you find challenging? It can be hard to be succinct and powerful at the same time, especially when you know your own business well. It can be overwhelming when there is so much that you do. How do you choose what to say? Selecting exactly the right words and delivering them with passion and enthusiasm is the challenge. Knowing your business is very different from selling your business.

What makes an elevator speech successful?

How your elevator speech impacts on those listening is the most important thing. Your aim is to capture attention and build in your audience a desire to make contact with you. Your speech needs to communicate very quickly the essence of what you do and the value you offer. It must be relevant to and motivational for your audience. You must be fluent and believe fully in what you are saying.

ELEVATOR CREATOR – SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

To create your elevator speech, get a pen and paper and write down your answers to the following set of questions.

• Who are you talking to?
• What are their interests/problems/needs?
• What aspect of what you do could be of most interest to them?
• What can you do to solve these problems?
• What is the best thing about your service?
• What is your USP?
• What have those that use your service said about it?
• What is your guarantee?
• What action would you like people to take as a result of listening to your elevator speech?

How to use this information

Take this information and use it to write your speech. Here is a simple structure to follow:

Your speech can now be used at any event where you get the opportunity to blow your own trumpet. Deliver it with honesty and sincerity and you cannot fail to inspire your audience.

29 Creating a guarantee

What is a guarantee?

A guarantee is an offer you make to your customers that reduces or takes away the perceived risk of making a purchase. When anyone decides not to buy your product or service their perceived risk may be

• making the wrong decision
• losing money
• not receiving what they have paid for
• not being satisfied and then not being able to get their money back.

Why is a guarantee important?

Whilst these perceived fears may be overcome during your sales presentation or consultation process, the offer of a rock solid guarantee can give your customer the security they need to go ahead sooner rather than later. A guarantee can make it less threatening to consider your offer. The right guarantee can motivate a potential customer to take the risk as opposed to consider it. This can dramatically increase the speed of your sales cycle. Typically an unsatisfied customer tells nine people about their experience but with a guarantee that gives an unsatisfied customer an immediate get-out, this can be dramatically reduced.

Your challenge

Your challenge is to embrace a strong guarantee. Do not be afraid to offer the best promise that you can live up to. The chances are that hardly any customers will take you up on it. Think about how often any of your existing customers have asked for their money back or complained.

What makes a guarantee successful?

A strong guarantee can draw attention to your confidence in your product or service. If it is really powerful it can inspire action. It needs to be a guarantee that you are completely comfortable delivering. It needs to completely take away any perceived risks of purchase. It needs to demonstrate full confidence in your service. It should be specific and include full claim details. It needs to be both meaningful and measurable.

Your guarantee could be your unique selling proposition and attract a lot of attention to your business.

GUARANTEE CREATOR – SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

• Look at your competitors’guarantees and note down any really good ones.
• Guarantee strengths. What do you do particularly well that you know your customers value. Would you be able to guarantee any of it 100%.
• Guarantee results. Look at all the problems your customers want solutions to. What are the results that are most important to them? Could you guarantee any of these results?
• Choose a financial payback that has high perceived customer value. Could you exceed even the 100% money back guarantee and offer to compensate them for their time and effort in going through the buying process with you.
• Consider how you could make your guarantee memorable.

How to use this information

Your guarantee can be one of your most powerful marketing tools. Once you have created one you think has impact you need to test it. Measure its impact on your conversion rate. Integrate your guarantee into every piece of sales and marketing literature you have.

How you word your guarantee will make all the difference. Here are some strong words and phrases that will add some power to the communication of it.

• Unconditional money back guarantee.
• We stand behind our promise of…
• My 110% ‘call me crazy’ guarantee.
• Absolutely no risk to you.
• 100% no hassle, no-questions-asked refund.
• I personally guarantee.
• 100% on the spot refund.
• Better than risk free.