Are You Capturing Your Customers' Exclamations?

"My girlfriend says I never listen to her. I think that's what she said." - comedian Drake Sather

Are you looking for the perfect title for your presentation or marketing?tagline for your new product or service?

It can help to listen to your customers and see it through their eyes (and words).

Here’s what I mean.

Did you see the movie When Harry Met Sally? Remember the classic scene when Meg Ryan’s character Sally and Billy Crystal’s character Harry are having lunch, and she confesses many women fake their pleasure?

At first, Harry doesn’t believe her and claims no one has ever done so with him because he "would know."

Smiling, Sally challenges him and says he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

He still doesn't believe her, so she launches into a demonstration right there in the deli, complete with moans and little yelps of ecstasy.

The scene is funny, but what caps it off is when a woman at another table (actually Director Rob Reiner‘s mother) watches the scene unfold. Her waiter asks for her order and she points at Sally and says, "I’ll have what she’s having."

?That is what I call a "Customer Catchphrase."

It is what your customers say - with an exclamation mark - when they're thinking about your topic or using your product/service.

If you are searching for the perfect title or tagline, ask yourself, "What do people say when they're:

* dealing with the problem my product solves?

* frustrated or worried about something my program addresses?

* excited or happy about the result they're receiving from what I've created?

Write down those Eureka Exclamations. They're a shortcut to connection because they elicit a "That's exactly how I feel!" from customers.

Here’s another example.

A participant in one of my Got Your Attention? presentations wanted to write, speak and consult about communication in marriage, but was worried because that topic has already been covered by a lot of other authors and experts.

I told her she needed to come up with a Client Catchphrase if she waned to stand out in that crowded niche.

We did a POP! Seat (my version of a hot seat) and enrolled the audience to brainstorm this on the spot.

I asked the attendees to pretend they were trying to communicate with their partner and getting frustrated. I told them, "Imagine you’re trying to get your point across, and you’re aggravated because your partner doesn't seem to be listening and/or they don’t understand what you’re thinking and feeling."

The room was instantly abuzz with conversational catchphrases that articulated their impatience and irritation, which is an ideal source of heartfelt taglines that surface the sub text of what your customers are?worried about and wishing for.

Finally a guy in the back of the room, a huge football fan, shouted out the winning title, "Can’t You See I’m Watching the Game?!"

Why was that a winning title?

Because millions of people have "been there, thought that."

That's when you know you have a resonant title - when people relate to because they've thought it, said it, wished it, or wanted it.

Next time you’re stumped when trying to find a perfect title, subtitle or tagline, put yourself in the mental shoes of your customers.

Ask yourself, "What do they think or feel - with an exclamation mark - when they're dealing with the situation I'm addressing?"

Write down any and all phrases that come to mind and come to heart.

They'll be alive with human emotion (vs. lifeless, intellectual, neck-up) because they express and embody how people actually FEEL about what you're saying or selling. They are more likely to resonate because they're relevant and REAL.

Copyright, Sam Horn. 2023. All rights reserved.

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Want more ways to craft titles, taglines, marketing copy? Check out POP!