Learning the Language of "You"

A wise man once observed that there are two kinds of people in the world -- those who walk into a room and say "Here I am," and those who walk into a room and say "There you are."

If you want to convert the maximum number of potential customers into paying customers, having the "there you are" mindset is exactly the right focus for marketing your business. Not sure if your focus is where it should be? Take a look at your website or a recent ad or brochure that you've done.

Are you using words that talk about all the great features of your products or services or the impressive accomplishments of your company? Or are you talking about all the liberating ways your prospects can benefit from your products or services? To put it simply, are you speaking the enagaging language of "you," or are you stuck, tongue-first in the alienating language of "we"?

In every communication, every marketing opportunity, the words you use and how you use them tell your potential customers where your focus is loud and clear. If you're like the guy at the party who rattles on and on about himself without once asking you about your life, you're inviting people to tune you out, cut things short, and avoid any future interaction.

Want to get potential customers to hear you out and see the value of acting on the messages and insights you offer them? Then fuel their curiousity by talking about them, their hopes, their goals, their wants, their needs. Most importantly, talk about how they can get those hopes, goals, wants and needs fulfilled with a little help from you.

To see how well you speak the language of "you," check out www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm. The site provides a handy tool/calculator that scans your website or other text for self-focused words such as "I," "we," "our" and your company name, as well as for customer-focused words such as "you" and "your." It then calculates a customer focus ratio and other ratios that indicate whether your audience is likely to perceive you as genuinely focused on them or caught up in your own self-absorbed world.

Give it a try and test your text. You may already be doing well in speaking the language of "you." Then again, it may change the way you speak to your customers, the way they react to you, and the success that flows from tapping into the basic human need to be listened to and valued.  Think of it as walking into a room, and instead of announcing "Here I am," shouting out "There you are." 

For more ideas to drive sales, check out archives or visit Ambit Advertising and Public Relations.

Comments

[Lance]

All marketing communications should seek to answer the "what's in it for me?" question, "me," in this case, being the audience(s) you are trying to reach. Your post does a great job of illustrating that strategy.