Using The Moment of Truth to Get Prospects Attention

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Copyright © 2009-2010 Judy Murdoch


Not too long ago, I received an email from a business owner who was very unhappy about expensive marketing that wasn't producing results.

Her email went something like this:

"I'm a distributor for an exclusive skincare line and sell my products directly to customers. I recently paid several hundred dollars to place a small ad in an alternative weekly paper.

I'm so frustrated because the advertisement didn't result in a single call! Not one. I don't have much of a marketing budget so when I spend money it needs to work.

Am I doing something wrong? What do you suggest?"

When I asked the skincare distributor what she put in her ad, she said it was a short message about a recently introduced electronic device that helps aging skin look younger.

She was excited because her company said the product produces results faster than creams. And she assumed people reading the ad would be excited too.

So what went wrong?

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It's All About Context
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The best message in the world will fail if prospects read it out of context.

If prospects see your message at a time when they aren't concerned with the problem your product solves, they will ignore it. Your message might as well be invisible.

Context is about making sure prospects see your message at the "moment of truth": the time when they are most aware of their problem and looking for solutions.

Chances are the advertisement the skincare specialist didn't get seen by prospective customers at a time when they were worried and preoccupied by wrinkles and crows feet.

This means for your marketing to succeed, you need to know what your prospects are doing when the moment of truth occurs. Then you can make sure it's when they see your marketing.

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Figuring Out "The Moment of Truth" for Your Customers
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If your customers have a well-articulated process when it comes to making purchase decisions, the moment of truth for your customers is when they're accepting proposals or when they're creating a prospective vendor list.

This is typical for medium and large-sized companies.

If this is the case for you, it comes down to finding out when your prospects are going to be looking for vendors and making sure your marketing gets in front of them at that time.

Not so typical if you're selling to small business owners or consumers.

Let's take the example of the skincare distributor. Do people go through a step-by-step process when looking for help with their skin? Not usually.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to take an educated guess on when those "moments of truth" may be occurring: Life transitions.

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Using Life Transitions to Identify Likely Moments of Truth
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Life transitions such as marriage, babies, buying a new home, divorce, and death are times when people go through huge changes physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When these changes occur, wants and needs change too.

For example, the skincare consultant's ideal customers are professional women 40+. What types of life transitions would create a "moment of truth" when these women would be especially sensitive to signs of aging?

Weddings: being the mother of the bride or groom or just a key member in the wedding party

High school or college reunions

Divorce and having to think about dating again

Special presentation in which they're giving a keynote speech or accepting an honor

I bet you can think of others.

You can also include significant business and career transitions when looking for moments of truth. For example:

Promotions

Starting a new business

Changing careers

New job

Media attention

etc.

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Making Sure Customers See Your Message at the "Moment"
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Once you've identified likely life and work transitions that cause relevant moments of truth for your customers, the next step is to think about likely activities where they might be exposed to your marketing.

For example, let's say the skin care consultant decides that she wants to work women who are going to be part of the wedding party (mother of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, maybe even the bride.

How would she go about getting the word out?

I'd suggest she begin by brainstorming all the activities:

Picking out dresses, shoes, and accessories

Hiring a planner

Buying books and magazines on planning a wedding

Shopping for and buying invitations

Attending wedding shows and expos

Hiring a hair dresser and make up artist

Working out in aerobics classes, possibly with a personal trainer

Looking at this list of activities suggest a number of ways our skin care consultant might market to her ideal customers:

Giving her business card to businesses that work with wedding parties: retailers who specialize in special bridal and special occasion dresses, wedding planners, stationary stores, salons, spas, and fitness centers.

Attending perhaps even buying a booth at a wedding show (or sharing a booth with someone offering complementary services like a photographer)

Asking complementary businesses such image consultants, make up artists, hair dresses, etc to trade referrals and website links

Doing facials and presentations at specialty retailers, fitness centers, even bookstores.

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Bottom Line
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Even the most persuasive marketing message is useless if your ideal customers don't see it at the point when they are actively looking for solutions.

To make sure your prospects pay attention to your marketing:

Know how and when large/medium-size organizations identify vendors for upcoming projects

Know which life transition points are likely to make your small business/consumer prospects aware of problems and to seek solutions for those problems

Brainstorm specific activities ideal customers engage in to solve their problem

Use marketing that naturally fits into those activities

About the Author:
Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost, effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals, guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances. To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt? Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or judy@judymurdoch.com


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