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Words sell.
Even in today's age of high definition, instant delivery, and
high-speed access, sales are still made, or lost, using words.
Whether your words are written or spoken, the words you choose will
determine your success.
Here are some terrible marketing words and phrases that you probably
have used or are using now.
Care, Heart,
Caring -- or any derivative thereof. Caring isn't
bad, but let's face it, everyone does it. Every healthcare
company, and all of your competitors, talk about how much they
care. They talk about how they have heart. Unfortunately,
referral sources and customers are trying to figure out how you are
different, not how you are the same. "Caring" is a
softball word in a hardball game.
Solutions,
Results, Answers -- In many industries people pay for a
solution, but in home care your customers are more focused on security,
comfort, companionship, safety, and dignity. These are problems
that can be "solved". These are issues that will come
and go, and your job is to help your clients during these transitions.
Quality
-- People can't evaluate quality, at least not easily. Think of
the "quality" automobiles on the market today. They
boast quality, but the focus is on a quantifiable measurement.
How many safety stars? How many awards? How much resale
value? Even in a physical product that everyone understands, such
as your car, must use quantifiable measurement to demonstrate quality.
If you're going to use the term "quality" in your marketing,
make sure you can back it up. "Top quality caregivers"
doesn't mean anything unless your customers have the ability to judge
the quality.
Amazing
-- or ultimate, fantastic, superb, etc. -- These are some of the worst
words; luckily, most of you haven't been using them. These words
have very little meaning. Furthermore, they are so overused that
people don't believe them even when it's legitimate.
Needs
-- Many home care companies offer to meet your customers' needs (...
with solutions, results, and answers). Ironically, you're very capable
of meeting needs. But your customers don't want to hear
that. When most of your potential customers call they are having
some type of crisis. Failing health, fear, insecurity, discomfort
or guilt are driving them to pick up the phone. They are
experiencing something that they've never felt before. They don't
want to know that you handle these crises every day. They are
hoping that their crisis is unique and unusual, but you are able to
help them through it.
#1
-- There's only one #1, yet every company claims to be #1. Again,
this isn't a bad technique, but you must be able to prove it.
"We served the most families in XYZ County." "We
have the largest staff of certified nurses' aides." "We
are the only agency that offers..." Be prepared to justify
your #1 status in a way that no other company can.
Unfortunately, while I can tell you the terrible marketing words, I
can't give you the words that sell. When I'm writing copy for
clients I go through a process to identify great words. These
handfuls of keywords form a word skeleton that we use in all their
marketing copy.
Why can't I just
give you a list of great words? First, there aren't any
magic beans here. Every agency is different, and being different
is part of what sells you. The words you use must be different
than your competitors. If I gave everyone a list in this
newsletter, 6500 agencies would be rewriting their ad copy and it would
all come out very similar. Furthermore, clients pay us to help
them create unique copy and marketing strategies. I can't give
away the whole store now, can I?
I can tell you, however, a general process that I use with my clients.
A series of questions point me in the right direction.
- What makes your agency
unique, truly unique?
- How can you prove you
are different?
- What do your customers
say about you? What words do they use when describing your company
in a positive light?
- What are the specific
services that you provide?
- What internal motivating
factors drive your customer to call you?
Find
a handful of five to seven key words and phrases that are unique to
your agency. Use them throughout your copywriting. Then,
give as much detail as possible. Get highly specific, even if
it's providing elementary information. Think about the phone
calls you have with customers and referral sources and think about
their questions. Your answers to their questions are gold when it
comes to marketing keywords.
Scatter these throughout your brochures, websites, space ads and other
marketing collateral.
If your agency needs help identifying these keywords, give me a
call. I'm going to give the first 15 people a free 30-minute
telephone consultation, and a five-minute sales pitch. You can
reach me at my toll-free number, 1-888-668-9333.
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