One of the most frequently asked questions we get at OBO is this: “How can we get more leads?”
On the surface, the answer is simple: cater to your buyer. But if you don’t understand your buyer’s motivations and thought processes, getting more leads is anything but simple.
Journey Inside the Buyer’s Brain
It is hard to hear your buyer’s voice in most of the digital content and positioning statements published these days. In fact, much of what we read is seller-centric, so it speaks from the seller’s position. This copy often opens with how great the seller is, including their stellar quality and exceptional customer service. But there is one big problem with this kind of writing; the buyer has never purchased from the seller. How can the buyer tell if the seller’s claims are true?
Today’s buyer is smart, skeptical, and not at all impressed with self-adulation. Imagine going to an event where you’re cornered by a person who only wants to talk about how great they are for hours on end. Wouldn’t you want to escape that conversation (if you can call it a conversation)?
With that in mind, go read your positioning statements and website copy. If your buyer is looking for an exit from the “conversation,” you’ll need to rewrite them. But before you tell your team to rewrite everything, stop and consider your buyer’s state of mind.
The B2B Buyer’s Mindset
In B2B situations, the buyer is looking to solve a problem 80% of the time. (The rest of the time they are looking for Inclusion, but we’ll address this in a future post.)
To understand your buyer, you need to imagine their “future state,” where the problem over which they were concerned is resolved. But how do you write about the future state without sounding trite?
The Formula: Don’t Make Me Think
To write for your buyer’s future, follow these three easy rules:
- Time is not your friend. Buyers are busy and under immense pressure to find the best and most effective solution quickly. If you don’t solve their problems, they will move to your competitor with little effort.
- Make your copy count by presenting the payoff first. If you do this well, the first line will also be a call to action (CTA)–and the buyer will take that action. The rest of the copy is there for search engines or the 10% of buyers who read everything.
- Don’t restate their problem in the first line or paragraph; your buyer is living it day in and day out. Restating that you understand your buyer’s problem does not show that you understand it.
To address your buyer, view the situation from their perspective and apply this formula: “Would you like to (future state)? Now you can. Here is how (CTA).”
The future state is what your buyer’s life looks like with their problem solved. “Now you can” is the glue in our formula that ties the future state to the CTA. For example: “Would you like to get more B2B Market Qualified Leads? Now you can. Click here!”
Bonus: Writing for “Yes”
Research has proven that if we prime the buyer with a question to which the answer is “yes,” it leads to them to being more receptive to taking the next step.
Always craft messages so that your ideal buyer will say “yes.” If they say “no,” they are not a good fit and you don’t want them as a client.
Want to Learn More?
Of course you do!
But first, let me give you a framework using a sales funnel for context. Years ago, when a buyer wanted to solve a problem, they picked up the phone and talked to a salesperson. The best salesperson stayed in touch with the buyer, took notes, and answered lots of questions.
Now, marketing and martech have taken over many of those top-of-funnel responsibilities, even though those steps remain in the realm of selling, not marketing. So where do we go from here?
For more in depth information about this process, grab a copy of this older, but still relevant, book, Selling to the VP of No.
And for more customized solutions to your sales and marketing problems, contact us today.
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