What Are You Really Marketing? It's Not What You Think  

By Charlie Cook www.marketingforsuccess.com  

You market your own business or you direct marketing for 

your company. You know what you are marketing - it's 

obvious. Or is it? 

If you're a financial advisor, you probably think you're 

marketing financial advice. If you're a s.ales consultant, 

you may think you are marketing s.ales training. If you are 

a realtor, you may assume you market homes or commercial 

properties. If you market big screen TVs you may think 

you're selling the latest technology. 

In each case, you'd be right in terms of your deliverables, 

but you'd be wrong about what your prospects are buying. 

Over the years, I've worked with service providers ranging 

from plumbers to financial advisors, to data management 

firms as well as numerous marketing consultants. Despite 

the diversity of services they provide, they all face the 

same hurdle to increasing their s.ales. Each and every one 

has the product or service they deliver confused with what 

they are marketing. 

What you're marketing and what you actually deliver are two 

different things. The key to increasing your s.ales is to 

realize that what you are really marketing is hope - your 

clients' hope of achieving their goals. 

You're marketing to your prospects' hopes that they'll be 

happier, more successful, more attractive, smarter, richer, 

more comfortable, more secure, etc. Target your marketing 

to the real reasons people buy, and you'll be much more 

successful in motivating them to make a purchase from you. 

Focus your marketing by identifying what your prospects 

want. Make a list that describes their hopes. Following are 

some samples to give you the idea: 

- What Your Prospects Really Want - 

Residential Realtors' Prospects 

- I hope I can find a home I can afford 

- I hope I can find a home to accommodate our growing 

family 

- I hope I get the best possible price for our current 

home 

S.ales Trainers' Prospects 

- I hope I can generate more leads 

- I hope more people understand how I can help them 

- I hope I can sell more of my products and services 

Plumbers' Prospects 

- I hope I can get the leak stopped as soon as possible 

- I hope I can get a plumber to show up 

- I hope it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg 

Financial Advisors' Prospects 

- I hope I have enough m0ney to pay my childrens' college 

tuition 

- I hope I have enough to afford to retire comfortably 

- I hope my m0ney is secure no matter what the st0ck market 

does 

Online Data Management Firms' Prospects 

- I hope more people find my site 

- I hope more prospects understand how they can benefit 

from using our services 

- I hope more prospects contact us and buy from use 

What are your prospects hoping for when they buy your 

products or services? 

Why Marketing to Hope Works 

Much as you'd like to think your prospects make logical, 

well reasoned purchasing decisions, in most cases logic 

plays a secondary role to emotions. If you've made the 

rounds with a son or daughter looking at colleges, you've 

experienced this first hand. You talk the whole thing over 

thoroughly with your child and make a decision to visit a 

college that appears to be a great fit. 

You drive up to the campus and they won't even get out of 

the car. What's going on? They're making a decision based 

on some unspoken set of criteria that defies parental 

logic. Find out what those criteria are, and you can move 

forward. The same goes for your prospects. 

Your prospects may bring logic to bear when researching 

service providers but their ultimate selection will be 

based on emotions. Market directly to what they hope and 

want and tap into these emotions to help them pick your 

product or service. 

No matter what business you're in, your objective is to 

help your clients be more successful and to achieve their 

hopes and dreams, both small and large. Appeal to their 

motives and you'll increase your s.ales. 

Remember HOPE stands for: 

Help 

Our 

Prospects 

Excel 

Use hope to market your products and services and you'll 

capture your prospects' attention, their hearts and more of 

their business. 

- 

2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. 

- 

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, 

small business owners and marketing professionals attract 

more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the 

F.ree Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more 

clients and grow your business' at 

http://www.marketingforsuccess.com