Your ideal clients are currently operating in overload. They are overworked and underappreciated. I was talking to an entrepreneur earlier this week about how marketing is changing in this pandemic. He was genuinely concerned about his future and that of his organization.
I started my sales career door to door, selling Kirby Vacuum cleaners for $1,000 each in 1984. I couldn’t find a better job interviewing on campus.
I took a straight commission sales job so I could spend more time with my college girlfriend. It was a tough sales job. At 20, sales wasn’t my biggest concern. She was.
My boss would leave me in the field with 10-12 other salespeople. As sales manager, my whole job was to help them get them sales demos in the neighborhood where we were left.
Tough jobs never last, tough people do
It was a tough job. It was tough because we were all on straight commission. We didn’t get paid if we didn’t sell. Many of my team members had families.
How do you find ideal clients for the world’s most expensive vacuum systems? I learned a critical skill that I still use today when writing content or building sales presentations for my clients. I learned how to use emotions to get appointments and get people to make decisions.
Want to know more about the role of emotions in leadership situations? You might enjoy Can Emotions Help Move Your Team to Action?
Use emotions to move ideal clients into action
Can you use emotions to help set up meetings today? You can’t sell without meetings of some kind.
Today most people are out of balance. Few of us are certain what the future holds for us and our communities. We are emotionally drained and raw. Can you use emotions to build a stronger marketing message?
Do you understand the similarities of your ideal clients?
In my career in many different neighborhoods, I learned like-minded people live in communities together. In the corporate jungle, it’s no different. You have much more in common with the people you live around than almost any other factor you can imagine.
Your ideal clients see things in similar ways. It could be high school sports, politics, or religion. Your emotional state is controlled by the people you have around you. These people shape how you see your world.
You’re asking yourself “What does this have to do with connecting with my ideal clients?” Let me share what I learned and never forgot. Your emotions shape more buying decisions than any other factor. How would you like to know how to read emotions?
What emotions drive your ideal clients?
I work with senior level executives and their teams. What emotions drive their buying decisions? My ideal clients are highly competitive, high performing leaders with insatiable curiosities. They are almost always the smartest person on their teams. What emotions would you want to use when approaching them for first time?
You might want to make them curious. You might want to share a secret. Remembering these leaders are highly competitive, you might compare them to others in their roles. You might even tap into their bigger desires.
The one thing you wouldn’t want to do is use contentment to get their attention. My ideal clients are always looking for shortcuts. Many times, they fear what they don’t know. They worry about their futures. Many feel guilty about how well they are doing. They are grateful for their lives and their communities.
It’s critical today to increase your emotional intelligence. Here’s a helpful a article to get you started Can Emotional Intelligence Help Leaders Deal with COVID-19?
Next week I share how to use various emotions to help you develop a more powerful marketing message. I’ll share examples and you’ll wonder why I ever stopped selling Kirby Vacuums. It worked out well for me and my career. Warren Buffett bought the company and 1986 and I cleaned up, so to speak!
Not sure how to add emotion to your marketing? Give me a call at 440-293-8811 or drop me a line at tbraden@marketleadership.net and we’ll set up a call.
See you next week.
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