The power of understanding
Know not just who wants what you’re selling , but how badly they want it.
It’s something you cannot underestimate.
We keep lists of people to contact with product & marketing updates, emails, offers and meeting requests — but do we really keep a list that clearly and solidly indicates how much those people and organisations care?
I would hazard a guess that most people don’t really include a solidly constructed, explained and recorded level of ‘interest’ in against many of their prospect people and organisations.
Why is this important?
(Aside from the fact that you could be seriously wasting your sales time?)
Because, a message should definitely be tailored to the level of interest of the receiving party.
If you know the person receiving is not greatly interested, and may only look at the information in passing, you should consider only sending them something short sharp and with a key piece of information.
If you know that the recipient really does care about you, your product or what’s happening with your business — even if they haven’t bought yet — then you’d do well to contact them with information that has greater depth and insight.
Growthhackers.com does this pretty darn cleverly in their emails to subscribers with:
- a TLDR at the start for those looking for the momentary piece of advice;
- a short summary kicking off what the article is about for those more curious and with a little time on their hands; and
- the link to the full post for those who want the entire information meal
I personally find this useful even though I love Growthhackers because they’re catering for what kind of mood I’m in or capacity I have at the time, even though I’m a subscriber hook, line and sinker.
This is just one example that works. There are lots of other ways to distinguish how you should target leads based on their level of interest:
- Letters vs. email
- Phone vs. meetings
- Brochures vs. demos
The point is that part of knowing your audience is knowing their level of interest, and then targeting accordingly.
It’s as much for their benefit as it is yours.
