You know the old saying, “there’s no such
thing as a stupid question.” If your customers, clients or patients have
questions, then they want to know more. That’s a good thing. As a
marketer, take this as the first sign of success. You have captured their
attention, piqued their curiosity or motivated them to ask for more
information. Always leave them wanting more.
Questions are powerful. Everybody has questions. A lot
of times though, an “asker” might be afraid to pose his or her
question in fear of appearing foolish. You want them to ask, but they do not
want to look idiotic. How do you handle this conundrum?
Effective and successful
You know I am always looking for
marketing inspiration and I like turning to the travel
industry. People have a lot of choices relating to travel, even if it is
business related, so travel marketing needs to be effective to be successful.
Unlike pharmaceutical companies or other areas of health care, your doctor does
not write you a prescription for American Airlines and Hyatt hotels. You need
to stand out to be noticed. This is why “why” is so important.
Be proactive
If you can figure out what people want to know about
your business and services and answer their questions then they will not feel
stupid for asking/thinking because you will have already addressed these
concerns.
An example from the travel industry: Frommers.com. They
have a great email newsletter, which includes deals to destinations all over
the world. The difference between them and some of the other discount-focused
travel email newsletters is that they tell me why, right there in the
description of the deal. Within the list of specifics including destination,
provider, duration and base price, they include “why this is a deal.”
So simple. Not only do they save me from posing the
question but often these deals explain a significant savings.
If you want another great example, consider Chick-fil-A.
They are all closed on Sunday and on their website they answer the question of
“why” right away, knowing that hungry customers probably ask
themselves this question.
Make it work
How can you make this work in your own practice? Take a
look at your website, pamphlets and other office materials. Read through them
as a new visitor and see what questions come to mind. You can also ask someone
from outside of your company – someone who will be honest – to take a
look.
What kinds of general questions do they have? Could you incorporate this
information into these materials to help clear up some confusion, offer
incentive, bring more interest to your services? Make all of your materials
work for you, not against you and don’t be afraid to ask yourself some
questions.
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