How to stop your competitors getting the sales leads you deserve

Do you ever feel frustrated, when you see low quality competitors making all kinds of inaccurate claims about their services? If you do and you would like to ensure your genuinely awesome service attracts the high quality clients it deserves, you will love today’s post!

First, a question!

Let us assume I am a prospective client of yours. I have a question in my mind, which you need to answer if you want me to invest in your services:

Why should I use your services, rather than one of your competitors?

Here’s the thing: Your competitors, even those who offer low quality services, make some big claims in their marketing. They claim they will offer me great customer service. They say they will go the extra mile for me. They say they would love to hear from me and that they will not pressure me into buying anything if I call them.

This begs another question:

If you are making those claims and guarantees in your marketing (and you really mean it), how is a prospective client supposed to know you really are better than your competitors?

I suggest a very good place to start, is by connecting with prospective clients via a blog and social networking sites. When a service provider regularly shows up to take part in the conversations within his or her business community, so long as the provider is helpful and useful rather than pushy, they can cut through the noise and show how valuable and approachable they are.

Showing works better than telling

Anyone can claim anything in their marketing, which is why poor quality providers are quick to make promises and guarantees, which they know are bullshit. The marketplace, your prospective clients, are influenced far more by what they experience, than a claim made by a stranger’s marketing. As a result, it’s massively more powerful for you to demonstrate how professional and approachable you are via social media, than for you to make that statement in your marketing and not back it up with action.

The massive majority of business owners use social networking sites almost exclusively to push marketing messages at people and as a result, get very little back and attract similar-minded people, so they build low-value networks too. In my experience, you attract far better results when you stop using social media to push generic marketing promises and start using it to be useful to your target market. This gives you an opportunity to build trust and credibility, which is enormously valuable to you and your business.

Useful beats noisy every time

In an age where low quality providers use social media to claim they are wonderful, you can use those same tools to demonstrate how valuable you are and achieve the results your superior service deserves.