Finding Out About Your Prospects

Its time to get down to where the real money is. And that’s inside the hearts and minds of your prospects.

So it makes sense to get inside their hearts and minds and find out what’s going on.

Because unless you really understand what’s going on there then you’re headed for a trainwreck.

I mean its all well and good for you to think you know what’s going on inside their minds but unless you can genuinely tap into their raw emotions and hit them right between the eyes with your promotion then you’ll be leaving most of the money on the table.

So let me ask you…How much research have you done? Can you honestly answer questions like these?

What’s really going on in their life?

What are their fears, worries, hopes and dreams?

What problems are they facing in every day life?

What frustrations do they face?

What’s their dream? How will they feel when they get it?

When I write sales copy the questionnaire I send out pushes this point heavily. And you need this info for two very important reasons.

First, you need to develop a relationship with your prospect, otherwise they wont trust you enough to buy, and

Second you need to target your sales copy on the problems, hopes, dreams, frustrations they’re actually having. As opposed to, of course, the ones you might think theyr’e having.

So where is all this information? Well, here are the 3 best ways to get it (plus I’ll give you a fourth way that’s a bit unconventional).

1. Talk to them. When they’re on the phone just get them talking and listen to what they have to say. Ask them leading question and then ’shut up!’ Let them do the talking. Trust me, they’ll keep talking as long as you say NOTHING.

2. Go to the newsagent and look for magazines in their niche. If its a broad cross section of people (like people with bad backs) then you wont find anything but often there are magazines on specific topics. Even grab magazines on your market if you’re a mortgage broker or financial adviser because they may have survey results, or trends that specialists have noticed coming through.

3. The good old internet. The best place to start is with forums (just stick the word ‘forum’ in your search term’) and WHAMMO! Instant market research from REAL prospects who are posting on the things that are important to them! Seriously forums are PURE GOLD! You can even register and ask a few leading questions to see what response you get. Just be careful because if people think you’re not a genuine poster your post might get deleted. Then there’s just general sites on your market, plus check out any sites that look like they’re selling stuff to your market because there’s a good chance they’ve done a whole lot of research already. But of course don’t place all your faith in the research of other people but its always a good resource to check out.

And now for the extra source of info. Its a funny one but boy it works like crazy.

Its infomercials! Here in Australia we get heaps of them after midnight but in other countries they’re on 24/7. Just remember to look for the ones selling the feelings your prospects are after, even if its not the same product. For example I watched one on a ‘dance your way to fitness’ product when I was writing an anti-ageing promotion recently. After all, the target market is very similar. So are the outcomes prospects are seeking. You’ve got to keep in mind that the best infomercials have been researched and developed by THE smartest marketers going around. They’ve gone to incredible lengths to get these just right and they way they tap into their target markets is incredible. So watch them and watch for the emotion-grabbing words they use, the feelings and outcomes of the people giving testimonials and the benefits the presenters keep referring to. The market research they’ve done is incredible and you should be tapping into it.

Now once you’ve done all this research your promotions should virtually write themselves! After all, now you know what’s going on inside your prospects’ heads you can tap into it to develop your relationship with them and show how your product helps them with what’s important to THEM!

Next week I’m going to give you some great ways to charge a HEAP more money just by altering your position in the market. Look out for it.

All the best

HTsignature1