A while back one of my favorite clients called to begin discussions for a corporate brochure. There was a trade show coming up and the brochure needed to be ready for that event. We had time so we were okay on that score.The challenge was going to be the concept: what exactly were we going to say? As usual there would be lots of choices: Long time in business, great quality, responsive team, etc. Yawn.
I came in for a meeting with the president of the company and a group of their top sales people who normally are scattered around the country like seedlings. We had a couple of great meetings. What was amazing was the degree of disagreement about what the company’s superpower really was.
There really WAS a lot to crow about. They really do make great stuff, they really do respond to their customers, they really do solve very difficult problems, ya da, ya da, ya da. But to talk about all this just sounds like everyone else. And each of these sales people had a different idea about what was most important.
One guy said, “No one cares how long we’ve been in business.” (I’m with you, Bud.)
Another said, “I’ve been in South America and I’ve had people tell me that in the back of the shop, they’ve had one of our machines for 40 years and they don’t use it anymore but he’s convinced if he turned it on, it would still work. I guarantee you, for that guy, our 50 years in business means a lot.” (Understood, but I’m so-so on this.)
And on it went.
So what ultimately came out was this: They are geniuses at customization. They will design their machines to do EXACTLY what you need it to do. Each machine is built from scratch, to your specs. If they don’t know how to get this thing to do what you want, they’ll figure it out. THAT’S THEIR SUPERPOWER.
So I conceived of a corporate brochure with only one word on the cover. What was the word?
“YES.”
The marketing team and the company president loved it. They knew what I was up to, which was to simply convey in one word the entire attitude of the company. Only problems was, the sales people killed it.
Why? Because they were in front of their customers – the people who actually used these machines – every single day. They would never feel comfortable handing over a brochure with the word “Yes” on the cover. The customers were tough, driven, analytical, engineering types and they wanted hard facts, not “copy” no matter how clever or whip smart. “Yes” would be seen as too clever by half and would be a distinct turn off.
Good lesson here. I think it’s vitally important to listen to those people who have direct contact with the customers. They know them better than anyone. Ask their opinion, then listen.
“Yes” did survive but on the inside of the brochure. The company? http://filamatic.com. Great people.
No comments yet.