Specifically Specific
"The most challenging part of printing programs for your event...
...is finding a big enough recycling bin to put them in."
That's a joke you may or may not get. But event planners will, because it paints a picture of a specific outcome of sticking with an inefficient quo.
Welcome to Part 3 in a series on how to get started with crafting your own hyper-relevant humor for your go-to-market efforts.? It’s like my diss track to AI.?
In parts 1 & 2, we’ve covered
Stand-up comedians are known for their observational abilities around the most mundane things that most people often don’t even consider - but are intuitively familiar with.
And great humor is often predicated upon the ability to highlight SPECIFICS - those granular details that shine a light on awful stuff they haven’t considered.
I often ask sales reps:
“ How will your prospect be affected if they choose to not address the problem your company can solve?”
They reply:
"They'll waste time AND money!".
Look, if you work somewhere that can't help their clients save time & money (or can’t help them generate more revenue) - you may have a job in the public sector.
Every company makes this claim.
Those who can share?the "What, Who, Why, Where, When, and How" about the problems they solve are the ones who will earn way more credibility with prospects.
In stand-up, comedians love to make fun of fast food chains by reminding you of certain nasty ingredients in the food, the long-term health implications of eating it and/or frequent trips to the bathroom after eating it (the best comics will highlight why going to the bathroom in a public restroom can be a traumatizing experience).
As a salesperson, it’s pretty easy to default to “You’ll end up spending more in the long run if you don’t buy our stuff”.?
But describing to prospects what will constitute that extra spend - and how the problem you solve impacts not just your buyer, but also your buyer’s objectives, the stakeholders in their ecosystem and their stakeholders’ objectives…will give you the credibility and trust you’ll need.
Get really specific. Get granular.? Paint pictures.? Use descriptive words and visuals to tell stories.
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Last year, I worked with the team at Uponor Canada, who sells easy-to-assemble piping kits (an alternative to copper piping) to mechanical contractors.
How to start? Map out the following:
1) Many _____ struggle with ______.
"Many mechanical contractors struggle with improper piping connections."
Improper piping connection is usually a result of low-quality pipes.??
Using this as an example, because we all can envision what can go wrong. Behold:
No biggie, right?? Well, zoom out to see the bigger picture:
Flooding is an outcome?associated with poor piping. But going deeper, victims will experience costs:
That sad, lonely flip-flip floating without its partner in the photo tells a story!?
Each of these are SPECIFICS
This is getting long, so gonna break this up into a second part.? Tune back in next week, and we’ll discuss how this can apply to some fancy tech you sell.
Or, if you think you get where I'm going with all of this, start mapping out 1) what problem you solve for who, and 2) the specific outcomes of not solving it.
There's a few ways your company can acquire icebreaking, hyper-relevant humor to better stand-out and be credible with prospects and scale it across 15-20 customer channels and touchpoints. I can train your team to pool your knowledge and build it yourselves, or I can do it for you.
If you or your sales or marketing leadership want to speak about ways I help, snag a spot on my calendar.
Change Management
5 个月Jon, I absolutely love your articles!!!