I laugh every time I see the now famous ad for Rosetta Stone. A young Dutch man repeatedly intones and interrupts an interviewer with, "Good morning, my name is Brad." Brad, clueless about what was being asked, nevertheless manages to belt out precisely what he knows, what he feels comfortable talking about: Himself.
Unfortunately, the world of marketing and sales is full of Brads. Individuals who, with earnest desire to communicate with a prospect or customer, manage to belt out something totally irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Incongruent, mis-aligned, and off-key, the conversations occur on different planes in different languages, a purposeless journey that often leads no where.
In business, the seller (Brad) normally rattles off product and solution features while the buyer sits silent, confused, as if the seller is speaking a foreign language. They're speaking two different languages, not the same one. As a result, the seller speaks past the buyer, totally missing what's in the buyer's lexicon: Value, business justification, expected ROI.
It's been a couple of months since I've posted here, but I feel myself re-taking the value selling and marketing soapbox so you can expect to read more about these topics.
For marketers and sellers out there - are you speaking the same language as your buyers?
If not, we can help.
And remember as always, market well.