Are You Drawing a Pretty Picture in Your Prospect’s Mind?
This article continues from yesterday's lesson where I'm sharing the five lessons I learned while visiting in Mexico on a recent trip I took. Click here to get to Part 1.
Lesson #2 - You Need to Draw a Pretty Picture
The images I selected for this article draw a picture. People are visual. It’s how we are wired and it’s the strongest of our physical senses. Painting a good visual picture is a great way for people to remember your message. People have to be able to see your solution and if you can tie emotion to the picture, that’s even better.
While in Mexico City, we visited the Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun and Moon. We visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe and then took a boat ride in a Xochimilco. (More on this later.)
Climbing piramids built before 750 AD was a real trip. You almost couldn’t believe where you were. The Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe as awe inspiring. I’m Catholic and it was a much more emotional and spiritual visit that I expected. The new basilica as they call it, is architecturally magnificent. They display the now famous picture of the Virgin given to peasant Juan Diego when she appeared to him and cured his uncle. Whether you believe or not, it’s a very touching experience.
Let me try and explain Xochimilco. I had never heard of the place, yet several people told us not to miss out on the place. Think:
- tailgate party,
- meets party boats on a canal
- add plenty of street (or canal) vendors and
- include Mariachi's for hire.
I cannot do justice to this experience with my description. But take a look at my video and get a feel for Xochimilco and why I would recommend going there to everyone that visits Ciudad de Mexico.
My descriptions leaves a lot to be desired. You don't get a feel for it. It doesn't bring the experience to life.
Once you view the video, you that you aren’t just floating down a canal drinking and eating. That by itself would make it worthwhile. You are sharing the ride with other people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. You have family weekend gatherings. You have teenagers dancing, drinking and making out. (That’s a common past time from what we could tell. Plenty of PDA.) We even ran into a kid’s baseball team celebrating the end of the season.
What does this have to do with marketing your business? You must show people visually what it is you do and how that helps them. You have to enable them to see it. If you can get people to paint a good picture of what it would be like to work with you, you are at a big advantage.
When starting something with you, and this is especially true when you sell consulting service like we do, buyers need to have a clear understanding of what they are getting and how you will deliver one what you have to offer.
Without a doubt, images and video in particular, are the best ways to do that. When promoting membership programs or online courses, our bread and butter, I resort to video screen shares. I provide lessons with me explaining how it is we do what we do. I have several videos giving prospects a tour of membership sites we've built for other customers so they can see it.
It could be that we aren't a match for what it is a prospect wants, but I do my best to describe what it is we do so the prospect can "see" what it is we do and use that to understand if it's a fit for them.
So “yes,” it’s a cliché. "A picture is worth a thousand words." Still, it’s very true when marketing yourself.
