By Jeffrey Hedquist
Recently I needed a door put into a frame that was slightly out of alignment. I’ve done this before, but it takes me a long time. I just don’t do it often enough to be good at it. I don’t know the techniques, or have all the right tools, shims etc.
I did the smart thing – hired a skilled carpenter. He had it in 1/3 the time it would have taken me, plus he came up with a creative solution for fitting the door in that never would have occurred to me. He was the expert.
So are most of your clients. Each of them does something better than the people who buy from them.
So, use radio to make a case for people not doing it themselves.
You don’t have to over exaggerate or make the challenge of doing it themselves cartoon-like. The truth will be powerful enough – and more believable.
Probably the most important question to infer to your audience is, “Would you rather do something else with your time?”
In most cases, hearing what they might have to go though justifies their coming to your client have it done for them.
Show them they can save time and money (we buy material in bulk); get it done right the first time (we have the special tools and expertise), take advantage of experience (we do 867 repairs a year).
Invite listeners to bake the best bread in the world. Take your audience through the complex time-consuming procedure of grinding the flour, mixing the ingredients, letting the dough rise, kneading it (repeating the sequence), preparing the pan, heating the oven, timing, cooling the bread on a rack, etc.
Then suggest that they stop by Freda’s Bread Oven on their way home from work to get what some people call the best bread in all of Jefferson County. Freda does all the work. You get fresh, made-from-scratch bread and save yourself hours.
Tell them Ron Delmar has spent 22 years practicing for your haircut. Thousands of heads, thousands of hours spent making people look great. It’s amazing he charges so little for so much experience.
Wrap up your commercial with free advice, offer a consultation, and describe a service, seminar or product with possibly a limited time offer.
This technique will work for just about any advertiser.
Most listeners don’t want to do it themselves. They want it done for them – by experts, saving them time, effort and money.
Get the ball rolling by asking your client: “What would it take for one of your customers to learn what you do? To create what you create?” Turn their answer into a powerful story.
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