Do You Ask This Critical Question When You Write Your Sales Messages?

I listened to a speech last night.

It was for a competition conducted by Toastmasters, the international organisation set-up to promote public speaking in the community .

It was a good speech.

The speaker was clearly passionate about the topic (he’d just written a thesis about it)…

He was extremely knowledgeable about the topic…

And he was highly animated (his voice modulation was excellent and his hand gestures, though perhaps a little over the top at times, were generally appropriate).

But here’s the thing…

That guy didn’t win the competition.

Care to guess why?

Sense of audience.

You see, even though that speaker knew the topic like the back of his hand…

And even though he conveyed that knowledge with undeniable conviction and emotion…

The fact of the matter is…

There wasn’t a lot for the audience in his speech.

In fact, when we asked ourselves the question that all audiences ask when they listen to a message (ie What’s in it for me?)…

We came up blank.

Dark screen.

No signal.

Which ultimately cost him the prize.

You see, this guy had made the same mistake that many people do when they put their marketing messages out to the world…

Typically, they’ll tell their target market how good they are…

And why THEY love THEIR product…

But never once do they ask themselves the critical question that their potential customer will be asking himself when he hears or sees that message…

Namely…

“What’s in it for me?”

What about your marketing messages?

Are they constructed with the point-of-view of the prospective customer in mind?

If yes…

Well done.

If not…

Better get to work. Chances are, you’re leaving money on the table.