Here’s the final in my three-part series on how to market to the human psyche, or to put it another way, how to diffuse the rabid dog response that kicks in when our livelihood is threatened.
I know we’re just talking about software, but consider for a moment what your product represents to new prospects. Sure, it holds the promise of efficiency or cost savings, but it also has the potential to disrupt, and to personally jeopardize their future and social standing at the company if, per chance, they were the one that recommended buying a software that ultimately failed to deliver.
Having survived the axe for one–plus years, people undoubtedly are stressed out and less willing to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, when we go knocking on a prospect’s door, we’ll stand a better chance of them opening it if our marketing collateral and messaging reflects their current frame of mind.
Scientific studies have proven that autonomy (that is, a sense of control) is an effective stress reducer. Nursing home residents are happier (and healthier) when they’re given more control over decision making. Franchise owners believe they have a better work-life balance, even though they earn less and work longer hours than they did as a corporate employee.
And in a more recent example that played out at town hall meetings throughout the country this past summer, U.S. citizens are extremely passionate when they fear they’re losing their choice in healthcare.
In the Chicago area where I live, AT&T is using the “freedom of choice” technique in their own advertising war against Comcast. While both companies offer triple-play packages, AT&T’s TV ad spots make it clear that with Comcast, there is no choice. All you get is cable, home phone, and Internet. AT&T, the ad continues, lets subscribers choose between home phone, Internet, TV, and wireless. While I’m not privy to the results of each campaign, my guess is that choice leads to more customers.
Likewise, as high tech marketers we can foster autonomy by emphasizing the options that already exist when doing business with our company. Here are four possible ways we can convey the sense of control when communicating with prospects and customers:
Choice #1: Options that cater to different types of users.
A choice in packaging to suit casual and power users, different licensing options (SaaS versus perpetual), and flexible payment options alleviate cash-strapped customers and prospects that may want to “get their feet wet” before fully committing to your product.
Choice #2: Collateral that encourages and promotes participation.
ROI calculators the prospects can fill in with details specific to their own companies, and case studies that demonstrate how different customers achieved similar goals by taking different paths to success, are two ways to encourage active participation (and control) on the prospect’s part.
Choice #3: Direct control over the communication process.
Newsletter subscription forms that let people choose how often they want to hear from you as well as the topics they’re interested in, and auto-responders that adjust to our readers’ behavior, can keep lukewarm prospects in the fold.
Even something as simple as giving website visitors a choice in how they contact us can foster a sense of control; with my personal favorite being the “live chat” option.
Choice #4: The freedom to proceed at their own pace.
A common complaint I hear is that eager ISVs push too hard to get prospects to “buy now.” During stressful times, we’d do better if we created multiple paths that allow potential customers to proceed through our sales funnel when they’re ready, which means we’ll have to be patient while we nurture prospects through an ongoing campaign.
Once you’ve identified the many ways that you give prospects and customers the freedom to choose, it becomes a matter of clearly articulating these choices in your marketing collateral and website copy.
In the end, it’s only human nature: We don’t like monopolies, and we don’t like being told what to do. “Choice” can be the start of a sales conversation.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sue Anderson-Lenz
Wed, Nov 18, 2009
Strategy
Written by: marketinglure