B. Andrew, Author at Harcourt Lane

What do you really know about your customer?

What assumptions are you making about your potential customers? How sure are you that those assumptions are correct?

The success of your business lies in knowing your customer very well. You must know and understand his motivations, as well as the context in which he makes ‘relevant decisions’.

‘Relevant decisions’ include the following:

His decision whether or not to act on a perceived need for the type of product or service you supply;
His decision whether or not to buy that product or service;
His decision from whom to buy that product or service (i.e. whether to buy from you or from your competition); and
His decision to continue buying that product or service (whether from you or from your competition).

Do you know what assumptions lie behind all of these (and other) relevant decisions? If not, you should.

So how do you get to discover these assumptions?

The ready answer might appear to be: ‘customer research’.

Up to a point, yes. But customer research depends on your customer giving accurate responses to the questions you ask. This shouldn’t be a problem if your customer knows why he makes those buying decisions.

But what about those decisions that your customer makes unconsciously?

He will not be able to give you accurate answers for those.

And this is important. Because, as human beings, a lot of the decisions we make are, in fact, made unconsciously.

Studies have shown that we often make decisions at an unconscious, deeper, level, and then subsequently rationalize those decisions through our conscious process. Thing is, in such a situation, we are not able to access the unconscious process through which we made the decision.

We cannot access it because we are not even aware that it’s happening. And if we are not aware of it, we cannot report it, for example, if asked in a customer survey.

Which leads us to this key question:

If we (as customers) make buying decisions and we don’t even know how we made them, how much reliance should be placed on a customer survey that asks us about our buying decisions?

That’s the quandary most marketers face.

This is not to say that customer research isn’t important. It is, but it’s only one part of the story. A good marketer must be able to access the unconscious biases that customers hold; those hidden motivations, fears, desires. Without these insights, the marketing campaign will fail.

So how effective is your marketing campaign?

What assumptions are you making about your customers?

How confident are you that these are the right assumptions?

And your customers’ unconscious biases and motivations – how well do you know them? Have you put them successfully to work in your marketing campaigns?

Knowing your customer is a difficult business. You have to listen to him, not only to what he says, but, perhaps, more important, to what he might not actually say.

By B. Andrew

Quick tips for writing a product description

Here’s one thing to remember when writing product descriptions.

And it’s the same rule for pretty much any form of writing:

Keep your reader in mind.

Key question: for whom are you describing the product?

Normally, your reader will be a potential buyer.

Your main aim should be to give him all the information he needs – at that moment – to make up his mind.

Those words ‘at that moment’ – they’re very important. It means that some particular information might be important, but, if it is not necessary for the reader to have at that moment, then leave it out.

Also, note your reader’s background.

Use language your reader can understand – even if the product you’re describing is highly technical. Of course, there will be some technical information you’re required to include (for example, because the law demands it), but, even so, explain this in a way that connects with your reader.

Product description text can also serve a marketing purpose. But be restrained. Your primary aim is to educate and inform the reader, and not mainly to persuade him to buy the product. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bear this secondary objective in mind. You should. But strike a proper balance.

So, what’s the best product description you’ve ever seen? Share with us in the comments.

By B. Andrew

Five tips for writing effective emails

In this blog post, I’ll share with you five tips for writing effective emails.

But first, one question: what is an effective email?

Put quite simply, an effective email is one that achieves the following things:

it gets noticed immediately by the intended recipient;
it delivers its message clearly; and
it achieves its desired result. For example, this could be that you get a response to your email, or that the recipient does what you are asking him to do.

We live in very busy times. Our inboxes are exploding with all sorts of emails from all sorts of people – colleagues, salesmen, suppliers, cold callers. Everyone has something to say, and everyone is competing for our attention.

And we are competing for attention as well. Every day, we write emails to our colleagues, managers, clients, and prospects. So how can we make sure that, from the sea of emails in their overcrowded mailboxes, they choose ours to open and read?

Here are five tips to help you achieve that.

1. Use a clear and informative title

Write a title that tells your reader exactly what the email is about. Your reader is a busy person, and he needs to know upfront what you’re contacting him about, and how urgent it is. Telling him that upfront (via the title) is a time-saving act and a great courtesy as well.

And it can only work in your favour. If the matter is important, your reader will know to open and read your email right away. And, if the matter is not important, although he may not read it right away, he is more likely to approach your email with a bit more thought than he would an email with no title, or with a misleading title.

2. Use a clear opening sentence

OK so you have a good title to your email. That’s great.

Next thing: open your email with a clear sentence, explaining what the email is all about.

Here is a good example:

‘I’m writing to tell you about some recent changes in the Finance department, and how this will impact our invoicing process.’

You can see how this sentence sets the context for the entire email. The reader can now expect to read about the changes, and also about the revised invoicing process. However, if the writer had just gone straight into explaining the changes in the Finance department, the reader would be left wondering what the point was. With a clear opening statement, he now knows what the email is about, and what to look out for.

So, don’t dive straight into a long story, leaving your reader wondering what your email is about. Tell him immediately what he can expect from your email.

3. Target your email properly

We’ve all seen this before: an email addressed to several people, and copied to many more. And it is not clear to whom the email is really addressed.

And within the body of the email, there are questions directed at different people, or at no-one in particular.

As a result, nobody replies. Everyone thinks someone else will reply, and, ultimately, no-one does.

Don’t write such emails. Target your recipient carefully. Ask yourself: what exactly am I trying to achieve with this email, and who exactly do I need to send it to, in order to achieve that? If you have multiple goals, consider whether it’s better to send more than one email, i.e. different emails to different people. Try not to lump many recipients into one email.

4. Make it readable

This means, at least, the following:

Use correct grammar and spelling;
Make sure your language flows well;
Keep it short and simple;
Break up long chunks of text, for example, with sub-headings; and
Avoid unfamiliar words and phrases.

5. Tell your reader clearly what you want from him

It’s best to do this right at the beginning of the email. So, using our example from above, you could write something like this.

‘I’m writing to tell you about some recent changes in the Finance department, and how this will impact our invoicing process. Please could you read through and let me know your thoughts?’

So, not only have you told the reader what the email is all about, you have also told him what you expect from him. And all this right at the outset!

This is very helpful as it creates a clear context for your email. Your reader is reading it while knowing its entire context. While reading, he is also keeping in mind what it is you want from him. This creates a better engagement between the reader and the email. This makes it more likely that he will read it till the end, and that he will do what you have asked him to do.

Conclusion

In these busy times, almost everyone in the business world is swamped with emails. But you can make yours stand out by writing in a way that delivers your message with clarity. These five tips will get you there.

What are your tips for getting your emails noticed and read? Let us know in the comments.

By B. Andrew

Three things you should never do when you write

The main reason we write is to convey a message. And we want that message to achieve something – to inform, persuade, entertain, etc.

So there is a purpose behind everything we write. Or there should be.

But sometimes our message gets clouded by other things, and then the connection with our reader is broken.

In this post, I will share with you some things you should avoid in your writing, because they will break the connection between you and your reader. I’ll share three of those things now, and will return to this topic in future blog posts.

So then – three things you must never do when you write.

1. Strike the wrong note

Your text should be written in a way that appeals to your target reader.

For example, do not use technical jargon in your communication to your reader if he is not from the technical world in which you operate. You will have to write your text in such a way that he can identify with it, and follow what you are saying to him.

Also, your tone should match that of your readership. For example, you would not write to a local church group in the same tone as you might to a group of rowdy rugby players.

2. Intrude

Let your language flow. This means, for example, that you should not throw in a word that does not fit into the sentence; something that will break your reader’s easy passage through the text.

Also, avoid using unfamiliar words, as this will break the flow of your text. This could break the reader’s concentration. And such a break could be costly. Imagine if this happened with a sales brochure where you were (before the intrusion) making a very compelling case for the reader to buy your product. If you break his concentration at a crucial point, it may even cost you the sale. By the time he resumes reading the text, he may have lost all the motivation which you had carefully built up beforehand.

3. Not answer ‘why’

People want to know why they are reading whatever has been put in front of them. So, every sentence, very paragraph, must answer this silent question from the reader: ‘why am I reading this?’

Don’t take the reader on a long journey through all sorts of facts and details, and then finally make your point in the last paragraph. If the reader must have certain facts and details in order to understand something, tell him that at the outset. Tell him why you are about to plunge him into a deep sea of detail, so that he can make a judgement by himself whether to follow you into that sea, or to wait patiently for you at the end of the paragraph. Whenever the reader asks himself the silent question: ‘why am I reading this?’, make sure that he has the answer for himself.

Here is a practical example. If you want to tell your reader about your products and services, don’t just dive straight into the technical features of the product. Your reader will be wondering what all of that has to do with him. If you need to describe these features, tell the reader first that your product or service will solve his particular problem. So, show him what his life would look like when he uses your product or service. So first tell him what your product will do for him

After doing that, you are then free to explain to him how your product or service will make that happen. This is the stage at which you can explain the technical features of your product or service. At this stage, your reader will know why you are giving the technical details. He can answer the why question for himself.

Conclusion

Every piece of writing should have a purpose. We write to sell, to persuade, to inform, to entertain, and for various other reasons. For your text to achieve its purpose, it must maintain the connection with the reader throughout. Be sure not to break this connection.

In the post above, I’ve given you three things that could break the connection between you and your reader. I will share some more in upcoming posts.

For now, though, one question: what sort of things distract you while reading? Let us know in the comments.

By B. Andrew

Three lessons to learn from the United Airlines episode

Sometime ago, United Airlines found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Of all the inconveniences an airline passenger can expect to suffer, being badly roughed up (on behalf of your airline of choice) should not at all feature on that list.

But unfortunately, that’s what happened to a United Airlines passenger.

In this blog post, I’ll share three lessons from that sorry episode.

Here is a quick recap of the relevant facts.

On 9 April 2017, United Airlines flight 3411 was heading from Chicago to Louisville.

There was a bit of a problem: the flight was full, and the airline needed to free up four seats to give to four members of its crew who were travelling to take up an assignment. The airline staff informed the passengers, all of whom were already on board, and asked if any passengers would be kind enough to give up their seats, for which they would be compensated.

No-one volunteered, so staff decided to select four passengers and ask them to leave the aircraft. Three of them did so. The fourth refused, whereupon staff called in airport security officials who forcibly dragged the passenger off the plane, badly injuring him in the process. All of this was watched (and also filmed) by the horrified passengers on board.

In today’s blog post, I will highlight three lessons from this unedifying saga.

Lesson 1 – Always respect your customer.

The United Airlines staff had quite clearly forgotten this key lesson.

The plane was full to capacity, hence allowing no room for the four crew members. However, this problem was not created by the passengers. It was caused by United Airlines’ own internal policies. But when problems arose as a result of these policies, they allowed an innocent customer to bear the brunt.

Of course, this is an extreme case of abuse of a customer, but the principle applies across the board. How do you treat your customer when you get it wrong?

Even more than that, what is your general attitude towards your customer? United Airlines treated its customer with contempt. Does that say something about the underlying culture towards customers in that company? People will make their own judgement on that.

Lesson 2 – Be quick to apologize when you get it wrong.

In the case mentioned above, United Airlines did not immediately apologize to the passenger for what he had suffered.

In its first statements, the airline appeared instead to pin the blame on the passenger. The CEO put out a statement in which he apologized to the other passengers on board for having to ‘re-accommodate’ them. In a leaked letter to the airline’s employees, he stated that the airline was trying to find out ‘why this customer defied Chicago Aviation Security the way he did’. There was no sense that the airline even appreciated the gravity of the situation. They seemed more preoccupied in trying to avoid any responsibility.

This approach was met with widespread condemnation, and rightly so. United Airlines had got it badly wrong, and it paid the price in a very heavy way: its share price took an immediate pummeling.

The very next day, United Airlines issued a proper apology. It now took full responsibility for the way the passenger was treated. Its CEO issued a further statement, in which he made a full and frank apology for the whole sorry episode.

Further apologies were issued over the next two days. The airline also stated that they had contacted the passenger privately to apologize for what had happened.

For some, however, the apologies came a little too late. Some have also wondered whether the apologies only came when the airline realised the damage it had done to its share price and reputation.

Lesson 3 – When you get it wrong, take steps quickly to make it right.

After the belated flurry of apologies from United Airlines, the company has now set about ensuring that such a situation will never happen again.

In one of the CEO’s fulsome apologies, he stated that he felt ‘shame’ over the incident, and vowed that a passenger will never again be treated in that way on a United Airlines flight.

The CEO also laid out some measures that the airline will now take, to ensure that there will be no repeat of the situation. This is very important, because its aim is to reassure the public that there is action behind the apology. Also, by setting out very clearly what will be done from now on, the CEO has invited the public to hold him and the airline accountable for his promise.

This is a mature way to turn around what was, quite frankly, an unedifying episode in United Airlines’ history. The public will be watching to see if United Airlines makes good on its promises.

Conclusion

We all make mistakes in life, but it is very important how we correct them. The United Airlines episode shows us that it is important to address our mistakes early, to own up to them, and to do all we can to put them right.

How do you address mistakes in your business? What tips can you give to our readers? Please let us know in the comments.

By B. Andrew

Three tips for advertising on Facebook

In a previous post, I explained the benefits of using Facebook to advertise your products and services.

Facebook can do wonders for advertising your business. However, it is not for everyone.

For the right business, it is an amazing advertising tool. Even so, many business owners and marketers dive into Facebook advertising, only to emerge empty-handed.

Before committing yourself to Facebook advertising, you have to be sure that it is suitable for the line of business you’re in. If not, you could spend a lot of valuable time and resources advertising on a platform that isn’t meant for you. That would mean poor results and a dismal advertising campaign.

So I’ll give you three pointers here to help you decide whether Facebook is right for you.

1) Who is your target customer?

If you’ve taken the time to create a proper customer avatar, you’ll be able to answer this question right away.

If you don’t yet have a customer avatar, this post will help you set about creating one.

It’s important for you to know your target customer, because if he/she hangs out on Facebook, you can use Facebook’s advanced targeting options to get your advert in front of him/her.

2) Does your target customer hang out on Facebook?

It is often said that Facebook advertising works best for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) advertising. So, if you’re selling your products or services directly to a consumer, Facebook is a great medium to use.

For example, if you’re selling weight loss supplements directly to people who want to lose weight, it is easy to target such individuals using Facebook’s targeting options. Perhaps these are individuals who have ‘liked’ particular pages about losing weight, which pages you could specify in your targeting options. In addition, you could target individuals who follow a particular famous weight loss guru on Facebook.

However, if you’re selling your weight loss products to a wholesaler (instead of direct to the customer), it will be quite difficult to find and target such wholesalers on Facebook. And even if you did, it is unlikely that they would be quite as responsive to your advert. So Facebook might not be the right medium for such an advert. I would suggest LinkedIn, actually. But more on that in another post.

3) Narrow your targeting.

The idea is that Facebook will take your advert and place it in front of the people most likely to want to see it, and most likely to respond to it. Facebook does this easily because it has access to all the information given to it by its millions of members.

And that’s the beauty of Facebook.

But it can also be counter-productive.

If you target your advert too widely, it will reach a disproportionately large group of people, many of whom will have no interest in what you’re offering. As a result, your advert will be ineffective.

The key here is to make your targeting as narrow as you can get. Try to be as specific as possible.

What do I mean by targeting? I’m referring here to the set of options Facebook allows you to specify. For example, that your advert should be shown to people who live in a particular location, who have ‘liked’ a particular page, who have certain interests, who have identified themselves as falling within a certain age range. That sort of thing.

Normally, when marketing to cold traffic (broadly, people who have never encountered you online before), you might be tempted to cast the net as wide as possible, by making your targeting very wide. However, this is a mistake. A good rule of thumb is that, when marketing to cold traffic on Facebook, your advert should be targeted to reach between 500,000 to 1 million people. Any more than that, and it’s likely too wide. (In an upcoming post, I will give you some tips on how to do your targeting on Facebook.)

In general terms, the narrower the targeting, the better the results you can expect. An advert that says something to everyone actually says nothing to anyone. Keep your specific target customer in mind, and make sure your advert, and your targeting options, actually call to him.

Conclusion.

Facebook is an amazing advertising platform, no doubt about it. But it’s not for everyone. Before diving into Facebook advertising, ascertain first if it is the right choice for your kind of business.

If Facebook is the right platform to advertise your business, proceed, by all means, but don’t get carried away by the huge amount of data available to Facebook. Instead, be as precise as you can with your targeting. That brings better results than an advert targeted at a very wide group of people.

Have you used Facebook advertising in your business? Were you satisfied with the results? What was your general experience? Feel free to share with us in the comments.