Chaz Butler is the Senior Customer Development Specialist for Kovar Systems. With over 35 years of Business Development, Operational Management, Business Ownership, Sales and Digital Marketing experience, his special brand of marketing advice speaks more from the heart of a business owner than a marketing sales executive. For the last 12 years, Chaz has worked with both small and medium sized businesses to generate leads and effectively market to new prospects and grow their businesses.
Not too long ago, I had the great fortune of working with a very talented marketing genius. He worked very hard to sell me on advertising (an almost impossible task) and to support me in my business during the economic downturn (Probably not a great time to open a home remodeling business).
This genius literally changed my belief around on what was important to include in my marketing messages. He forced me to focus on the benefits of my services, and not just the services, features or attributes of what it was that I did.
He showed me not to just emphasize on how my clients would have a beautiful bathroom, but instead to focus on the real benefits. I needed to include knowledge that they would receive the benefit of a lifetime guarantee and that they could have peace of mind that their remodel would be completed in 1 day. They would not have different contractors climbing through their home for a week and there would be very little disruption or debris in their life and home.
This marketing specialist went on to teach me an important exercise on how to test whether I was really recommending benefits to my leads and not just the features. He made me aware that by focusing on benefits, I was demonstrating my ‘Unique Sales Proposition,’ or why people should choose me over other competitors.
He would say that if the phrase, "I would hope so” is a reasonable response to your statement or assertion, then it’s worthless to use in your ad.
It does nothing to promote your Unique Sales Proposition. He would then go through the list of everything that my ad promised and showed me how “I would hope so” was taking away opportunities to put myself above the competition.
As I went through the ad, I realized I was repeating what was expected and not the benefits the client gained by choosing me.
Let’s look at this from the martial arts business perspective. When you promote your school, are you repeating the laundry list of “I would hope so”s? Are you just sharing the features with no benefits?
Does your ad say…?
“Safe training environment” - I would hope so.
“Highest quality instruction” - I would hope so.
“Most effective training style” - I would hope so.
“Most effective self-defense techniques” - I would hope so.
Are you addressing their pain points or just saying what you do? Be sure to actually read the copy on your website and in your advertising. Can you honestly say that the content you’re using to promote your business separates you from your competition?
Maybe instead of saying “My school has the most-effective self-defense techniques” say, “My school helps children develop confidence that will benefit them during difficult life situations.” Which sentence will speak to them more?
For more marketing and business consulting, set aside time today to book an appointment with our specialists. The Kovar Systems team has the knowledge and experience to bring your martial arts school to the next level. Just ask how.
