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Why you can’t sell to someone who doesn’t trust you. Part 2

In part two, I’m going to reveal how to present your unique solution that will solve your audience’s problem. (See part 1 here)

The second step is to show them how it’s possible to solve their problem.

You can do this by giving your audience a series of steps they need to take to solve it. Or, you could give them a case study of somebody else who has solved it already.

Now the person isn’t just problem-aware, they are solution-aware

So we’re moving up the ladder in awareness, simply by providing them with great educational material. You become their go-to person for this problem, and now they are even considering doing something about it!

Don’t stop there though. You continue to not only tell them the why and the what but now the how too. You provide them with hope. They don’t have to live with this problem forever.

As we discussed in the previous article, first describe why this problem is an issue for them and how it’s making them feel.

It’s very likely they can’t even identify it themselves yet. Use powerful words and powerful language that speak for them: “This is a real problem, I must do something about it”.

I emphasize this again: educate your audience about their problem. When you educate them, you become their go-to person

Because you become the authority regarding this problem in their life, you become “top of mind” for them.

The material you provide for them can be in print, digital, social media or videos. Almost anything! This is content marketing and you need to keep doing it to stay top of mind for your audience.

So they’re now both problem-aware and solution-aware. The final step is where we hit the jackpot…

That is when your prospect becomes aware of your product or service.

Now, a word of advice.

Do remember that they have multiple ways of getting a solution. You’re not the only person or company out there who is trying to help people with this issue.

You need to be fully aware of what your competition is doing. Identify for yourself how you are different from your competition, and what is unique about what you’re offering.

This will establish you as a brand they want to keep coming back to over and over again.

What does it mean to have a “unique solution” to their problem?

It could be a number of things…

  • You have a unique system that solves the problem.
  • You have unique resources to solve their problem.
  • You have a special guarantee that nobody else offers.

Think about Domino’s Pizza…

“Hot Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free”

Their pizza wasn’t anything special but their guarantee was out of this world.

A lot of people loved that they were going to get their pizza in 30 minutes and it was going to be hot… even if it wasn’t the best pizza.

Have some way of differentiating your service or product above everyone else’s. Otherwise, you won’t stand out in the market. If your product or service is not unique, you’re going to lose your prospects.

And if you aren’t unique, and you aren’t educating them, you will lose your prospects’ trust

If they don’t trust you enough, they’re not going to pull out their wallets and give you their money. It’s that simple.

Let’s summarize:

Step One

You start out with the prospect who is not fully aware of what their problem is. You put out content to make them problem-aware. You help them articulate their problem. You tell them WHAT the problem is and WHY they have it.

Step Two

You let them know that there is hope for solving this problem. There are other people who have solved it. You tell them what the SYSTEM is for solving the problem.

Step Three

The final step is product or service-aware. This is when you have to stand out from the competition. You show them that you are able to solve their problems in a way that no one else can.

Until they’ve gone through this prospect-awareness journey, they are not ready to buy.

So don’t try and sell them when they first meet you. They need to develop a relationship with you. You need to develop a relationship with them. Only then do they want to pull out their wallets and give you their money in a mutually-beneficial relationship.

Where have you jumped in too soon to make an offer? What was the result? What do you think would be a better result if you had waited to develop that relationship?

I’d love to hear a little more about it, so please comment below!

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Why you can’t sell to someone who doesn’t trust you. Part 1

People only buy from you when they know you well.

They have to really know you, like you and trust you.

And there’s a process for getting them from not knowing you even exist to knowing you well enough and trusting you enough to pull out their wallets.

Today I’m going to show you three steps to gaining the trust of your audience using great content marketing.

You see, no one wants to buy content marketing. Instead, what all business owners want – and NEED – is a great relationship with your audience.

And who is your audience? Those are people who are already in your world. People who mention to you they’re reading your material,  and who are engaging with you, or at least discovering you in one way or another.

That audience may come to you through ads, or referrals. And to build up that relationship, you offer them valuable information, or what is also known as content.

Content should be valuable, inspiring and educational

You’re the expert. You’re the authority.  Educate your audience to help them solve their problem in ways they haven’t thought of yet.

Instead of content marketing, many people also call it education-based marketing.

Use content marketing to build trust

So how do you develop this trust relationship? You have to go through a three step process:

You start with people who don’t even know you exist, and who barely even know they have a problem. What are they doing about it? They’re probably ignoring it and denying it.

Think about it….

How many times have you heard of somebody who’s had an illness, pain, or ache and a family member or good friend has said to them over and over again “you really need to go and see the doctor about that problem.”

Their problem is obvious to everyone else but that one person, and they’re in denial about it.

They first need to become aware of the fact they have this problem.

Your job as the entrepreneur is to identify their feelings, their pains and their problems. You need to do that in visceral terms. So they realize they have a problem and that they need to do something about it.

If they don’t do something about it, it’s just going to continue. Some people are happy to keep going that way, but most people want to solve their problems and there’s only one way they can do that.

The first step is to become educated that the problem even exists.

So step one is what I call ‘Problem Aware’. In very strong language, it’s your job to let them know they have that problem.

So now you’ve got them to the point where they say “okay I have a problem and it hurts! What do I do about it? “

You move them to step two which is to become solution-aware.

They need to recognize there are ways to solve their problem and there are many people who have already solved this same problem.

This is where you give them information that explains to them this is what the problem is.

So in the first step, you are talking about the problem: “This is why you have it and this is why it feels this way”.

Next you help them become aware that a solution exists.

In part two I’m going to share how you can present your solution to their problem so they see you as the person that can finally help them and lead them to become a customer.

So check back in and see what the next step is, in creating a trust-based relationship with your audience.

When have you – or someone you know – not paid attention to a problem that was really obvious to everyone else? What did it take to become “problem aware”? Please let me know in the comments!

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