What's In It For Me?

I'm often heard saying, "Stop promoting features. Start sharing benefits!"

This is because people want to know what's in it for them before they buy. It's the answer to 'Why should I bother?' question.

Whilst simply stating all the features of your products or services tells people what you do, is like asking someone to buy a machine based on the list of parts it is made from.

However, sharing how you can help make life easier or solve a problem currently faced or fulfil a need give people the opportunity to identify with 'yes I have that issue so let's consider this solution to it'.

Sookias Media helps businesses gain the most from their marketing through consultancy, training and marketing mentoring. We'll help you market your products and services effectively by helping you to identify the benefits they give clients and answer the 'why should I consider this' question. 

To arrange an informal, no-obligation chat with Hannah on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com. 

Lessons from India

On a recent trip to India, I realised that both street vendors and multinationals over there can give us some valuable marketing lessons. 

With fierce competition, everyone selling something had to work hard to get themselves seen and noticed. 

We went to three very different places - Kolkata, Goa and Mumbai yet in each they followed these five important principles:


1. Pro-actively promote what you do
2. Become familiar names
3. Explain the benefits of what you offer over the competition
4. Display your wares
5. Don't give up, even after a lost sale

So how did they do this?

Pro-actively promote what you do
Sellers in India don't wait for customers to come to them. They call out to potential customers, make their offers known and try to attract their attention. They mostly do it in person - but we can use networking, phone calls, email, social media, advertising, direct mail and more!

Become familiar names
In India, families have their favourite stalls and shops. Regular customers are known, greeted warmly and given preferential prices. Those who can afford advertising make sure that their brand is displayed as prominently as possible in places where their potential customers will see them. We need to find ways to build our brands so our potential customers get to know who we are, what we do and trust that we will deliver. We need to look after our customers so they come back to us time and again because not only do they get what they need but feel valued. 

Explain the benefits of what you offer over the competition
From fresher, bigger fruit to the craftsmanship of gifts and clothing, wherever we went, vendors were always eager to share with you what they were selling and how their offering was better than the competition. We need to stop selling and start sharing the benefits of what we do, and share what makes us different by answering the 'why should I buy from you?' question. 

Display your wares
Even in the poorest market stalls care was taken to display their wares as attractively as possible. In shops stock was displayed so you could quickly and easily see your options and the wide variety of things on offer. We too need to make it easy for our customers to know about everything we do and the options available to them. Avoid them saying, "I didn't know you did that!"

Don't give up, even after a lost sale
I admired the perseverance in India. Even if a vendor sees you buying from elsewhere and know you won't be visiting them today, they'll still take the opportunity to remind you of what you've missed out on with a reminder to 'visit us next time'. We should view lost sales as a future opportunity. Keep in touch with them so when they are ready to buy again they know you are an alternative option. 

Hannah Sookias is a marketing consultant, trainer and speaker who works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. If you'd like more information on these lessons from India or would like some advice on your company's marketing, get in touch with Hannah on +44 (0)1283 808460.

What arrived in YOUR post this morning?

Remember the days when the postman came laden with piles of junk mail each morning? Chances are you only spend a few minutes sorting your letters but considerably more time wading through the spam in your inbox.

Now don't get me wrong, I really like email marketing and used correctly it's a really effective marketing tool. 

However, with more businesses cutting costs, direct mail is once again a way to surprise, delight and attract customers. 

As ever, you need to use it wisely and think about what you are going to say and why. 

When we decided to launch our marketing club earlier this year, we decided to make our initial contact with people through the post. We selected bright orange envelopes and square cards to make our mailing stand out. We used premium quality cards and took the time to handwrite personal notes to the people we invited to our launch event. 

We decided on this approach to show our guest list that valued them and taken the time to invite them personally to our event. When asked for their feedback, they confirmed that the envelopes intrigued them and by personally writing to them they felt both appreciated and committed to the event. 

Of course, you don't need to use the same approach but the best things I receive are (a) a little different and catch my eye (b) acknowledge I am a valued (potential) customer and (b) have a clear message that encourages me to take action. 

What caught your eye in the post today?

Hannah Sookias founded Sookias Media in 2005. As a marketing consultant, trainer and speaker, she works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. Hannah is also the co-founder of the Effective Marketing Club  which gives business owners the opportunity to learn new ways to market their business and the time to put into practice what they've just learnt with experts on hand. 

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Marketing - It's like a string can telephone!

I recently read a blog post about avoiding 'Death by Powerpoint' which got me thinking about how it's all too easy to blast out sales information to potential customers without really thinking about how it will be received.

Getting our companies 'heard' in an age where information is all around us, we need to start talking to the customers we really want, in a way that they hear us loud and clear.

As kids in an era before mobile phones, we used to see how far we could talk to each other using tin can telephones... 

There were three essential things we needed to remember - to know they were picking up the other can, to keep the string line as straight and tight as possible when we spoke and to speak slowly and clearly.

It's the same with our marketing as we need to know:

• Who we want to talk to
• Which is the best way of attracting their attention - ie what types of marketing do they respond to
• What they need to hear

and then, just as in my string-can telephone days, we need to:

• Focus our communications to them
• Keep tight  the method and media you use so you know they are hearing you
• Speak clearly and use both messages and language they understand

To discuss how you can develop your customer communications, try our marketing audit service. Simply call us on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com.

Hannah Sookias runs marketing consultancy and training company, Sookias Media and is also the co-founder of The Effective Marketing Club. She works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. 

Delighting your customers

My sister gave me these flowers the other day just because, "I thought you might like them".

It was a lovely surprise, even more special as she didn't need to but knew I would appreciate them.

They reminded me that often we just communicate with our customers when we want something (in other words we want them to buy from us) rather than giving them something just because we know they'll appreciate it.

One of our clients runs hockey coach education courses. They have a database of loyal customers and with their next round of courses starting until after the summer break, they wanted to do something to keep in touch. They wanted to engage rather than sell, so they emailed a detailed skills training paper knowing that many of them would be starting to prepare for the new season ahead. By giving rather than selling, many replied back to say thank you, ask questions and have in-depth conversations about how they can help them as well as receiving bookings on their forthcoming courses.

That's because marketing isn't just about selling. It's about understanding what your customers need and engaging them into a two-way relationship. Delighting them with something that's unexpected but truly appreciated will help to deepen their brand loyalty and ultimately build sales.

If you'd like our thoughts on delighting your customers, call us on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email tweet us @HannahSookias or @SookiasMedia.