One of the most important jobs of your marketing is to… “read the minds” of your prospects.

Or as Robert Collier put it in his great reference work on direct response copy writing, you must “Enter the conversation already…occurring in your prospects mind.”

Is this “mind reading” difficult?

No. It’s not hard but it does take a little forethought…a little focus.  I love the saying, “If you sell what John Smith buys you have to see through John Smith’s eyes.”

So, let’s start by asking your self the question…

What is everyone’s favorite brand?

That’s an easy one…”Me, me, and me!”

Your next question should be… (And I don’t remember where I got this one from originally, it was either Dan Kennedy or Gary Halbert, I think.)

What keeps your prospect up at 3:00 in the morning, literally ridden with anxiety? Is there anything?

Of course there is.

As a professional cleaner you have to think about these questions every time you communicate with your prospects and clients.

What is your prospect’s motivation, desire, or pain?

You can sell with features, you can sell with benefits, you can sell with rewards and you can sell with pain.  (“Pain” is one of the best ways to actually approach a situation, if you have the ability to remove it, because when people hurt, they don’t want to be in pain.  They want you to fix it.)

Do you think it is easy for your prospects to choose a professional cleaner or restorer?

No way.  There are tons of people in your prospect’s area offering “professional cleaning” or that are “professional restorers”.  How do they decide?  Who do they call?

What is your client worried about?

Over-wet carpets?  Stains reappearing?  Getting ripped off? Rapid re-soiling?  Getting someone is their home who tromps around in dirty shoes?  Filthy hoses scraping their furniture or walls?  Crunchy carpets?  How do they choose?  Who can they trust?

What does your client want?

An ethical company?  Excellent service? A great value?  Someone who treats their home with respect? Someone who is honest?  Someone who is thorough?  Reassurance that they get their money back if they don’t get what they want?  Soft, sparkling clean carpet?  Spot-free carpet?  Fast drying carpets?  No crunchy carpet?  No rapid re-soil?  A chemical free cleaning? To be treated with 5 start service?

Now it’s your job to “enter that conversation” and through good, direct response, education based marketing, answer all of your prospect’s fears, wants and desires.

If people aren’t responding to your marketing then guess what?

Chances are you’re having a conversation that is not relevant to them. (Sometimes it can be the wrong target market or bad timing too.  Remember, Right Message + Right Market + Right Time = Success)

And always keep this in mind (especially when you start to get busy this can be an issue you “pay” for later in the form of dead weeks in your schedule)  – marketing is not an event, it’s a process.

That means you don’t just send out one promotion and expect your business to skyrocket from one delivery.  Yes, you can make an amazing ROI (return on your investment) from a single promotion.  But, successful marketing is so much more.  Follow all my systems; implement multiple strategies.  Develop “marketing stamina”.  (Learn more about “marketing stamina” on an earlier post.)

Becoming an expert “mind reader” is crucial to your success. You need to engage with your prospects and clients, which means you need to enter a conversation that is existing in their minds, and continually share powerful, compelling education based, direct response marketing with them.

And it’s worth the effort of “reading minds” and the “stamina” to get this right.  Because every day that goes by that you’re not putting out marketing that works, you are literally keeping yourself from putting out value into the market and from making money.

Best,

JOE

P.S. Some cleaner’s slack off marketing efforts during the busy season and get caught up riding the sudden wave of work, not considering the consequences.  First, you could be bringing in much higher profits through “marketing stamina” and consistent use of my strategies during the busy season. This can result in the much needed “cash cushion” for time off and lulls in the schedule.  Second, continually marketing the “right way” is critical to avoid “flat lining” when the wave of the busy season passes…and it always happens sooner than you think.

PPS.  For a more in-depth discussion on this subject please go to www.ilovemarketing.com and listen to Episode 68 “The One About Reading Minds” and discover…

• Going in depth on “entering the conversation” that’s happening in people’s mind
• An amazing example of short, but effective direct response advertising
• Great examples of profit activator #2
• How to figure out what’s going on in people’s head
• The importance of making your message about your consumer

PPPS.  Please share this blog on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and wherever else you feel you could help other business owners to learn, grow and elevate their incomes and their industries.  And I love it when you leave comments…what do you think of this post?