'How YOU can lead a horse to water and make it drink.'

I like to share with you some proven and time-tested and powerful ideas for you on improving the sheer impact of your message.

Now – what do I mean by message – in this context?

Well – any and every message you deliver to someone else – however it may be delivered.

So that will be:

Your marketing and sales message – in emails, brochures, adverts, direct mail, and by face-to-face spoken conversations.

The benefits of increasing the impact are enormous.

People end up reading impactful messages – people are more likely to take action when the message – ‘moves’ them emotionally. We get more results, more sales, more profits, more agreements.

It’s been said that every communication is an attempt to persuade someone else to take action, or avoid taking an action – either now or in the future.

I’ve had many conversations about this expression with many, many people. Some agree with it.

Some disagree, however for the sake of our discussion today, let’s just agree that the MAJORITY of communication is intended to be persuasive.

On that basis – it a good idea to know just exactly how we can massive increase the impact of those messages.

One of the major needs of all people is to satisfy their curiosity. And knowing this can be a major advantage in our arsenal of communication skills.

Steven K Scott put it brilliantly in his audio programme – Mentored by a Millionaire when he stated:

Most people say you can lead a horse to water – but you can’t make it drink.

I can; said Scott – if I put enough SALT in the oats.

Clever – clever – and what is that salt? It’s curiosity.

So how can we leverage this idea?

Let me start with a fun idea...

One that should only be used with people with whom you have great rapport.

It’s this: When you call them and have to leave a message on their voice mail – then leave an incomplete message;

Such as:

Hi David - it’s Peter – I’ve spoken to Jason and he says that he’s happy to go ahead if the price is…

And you hang up! Now as I said – this is only for friends and people who’ll appreciate the humour.

But – I use it and it works every time!

Usually when the friend or business colleague calls me back – they start by laughing and saying such things as; Oh Peter you got me – how much will Jason pay?

This is pure curiosity in motion – again on the amusing side of the coin – I’ve seen printed cards inside birthday cards that have the legend: How do you keep a fool in suspense – printed on one side – and then when you turn over – it either says the exact same words – or the line: I’ll tell you tomorrow!

Again – curiosity in motion.

When sending a brochure to a client or customer – our purpose is to have them open it – and read through the glossy pages looking for items or services they might buy? True!

But how do we get someone to open a brochure or catalogue?

There’s a very simple way:

Just put a Post it! Note on the outside of the catalogue which the words “The item we discussed is on page 17” - written on the note. Or some similar words! Another example would be: “Your Special Discount rate is shown on page 12” And of course sign the note with your first name.

You have the idea – who - having received a brochure with such a note could NOT turn to the indicated page – I know I couldn’t. Now that’s increasing the impact of your message.

How else can you use curiosity at the start of a message?

Well perhaps a question. This question could be in so many different places. On the envelope containing a piece of direct mail. That’s called teaser copy. Copy that ‘teases’ the recipient to open the envelope.

Perhaps a question on the reverse of a business card – a question that’s relevant to the business you’re in or the benefit the customer might get – or the problem the customer will be able to solve by – buying your products or services.

A question in the subject line of an email again if the recipient doesn’t know the answer to the question and – of course that the question has some relevance for them – they will be prompted to open the email or respond in some way in order to satisfy their curiosity by finding out the answer.

So many TV shows uses curiosity as the hook to keep their audiences and they indulge in what’s called concatenation to get their audiences to come back again and again.

Concatenation means a series of things linked together and comes from the Latin word meaning chain. You might know the technique as – a cliff hanger. At the end of the programme something dramatic happens and the plot is left in the air – until the next episode.

Quiz shows are so popular because people like quizzes the y are curious to know the answers. And here’s a useful piece of further information. When someone wants an answer – they want it now!

Not in a few moments or a few hours – they want it now.

That’s why using curiosity can massively increase the impact of your messages.

Think back to when you were at school and had just taken an exam. The discussion in the schoolyard following the exam was: What did you have for question 12? What’s answer to question 4? That’s the time that we wanted to know the answers.

Ok, moving on – how else can we increase the impact of our messages?

Here’s how:

Personalise the message! Yes – there are two distinct ways to do this:

First - using someone’s name. This can be done with most CRM systems. And perhaps these days with so much junk email – adding the person’s name at the start of the subject line - of all your emails. They are far more likely to get read.

The second way is to personalise the message with the problem you know, or believe the other person is experiencing.  For example: In a direct mail piece or advert for a memory course the headline might read: Still feeling embarrassed when you can’t remember names?

Those who identify with this problem – will read on.

As Benjamin Disraeli said:

Talk to a man about himself and he’ll listen for hours.

So there we have it – a few well proven ways to increase the impact of every message you put out. Just think if more of your ‘messages’ were read – and then acted upon – what a difference that would make to your business and your life.

Every Success

Peter