Work With Me
Do Customers Find Your Messaging a Barrier to Doing Business With You?
It’s a question that keeps many C-level executives awake at night because:
They can’t clearly explain what they do or how their products benefit customers.
Their sales presentations and marketing messages talk about how great they are (chest pounding) rather than focus on the problems they solve for customers.
Their website isn’t clear about their value proposition, how their products improve customers' lives, or lacks a clear Call to Action.
They’ve received phone calls from customers or friends concerned about what an account executive, phone representative, or computer-generated letter has said to them.
Their press releases and organizational newsletters fall on deaf ears, if they’re even producing them, and there’s no documented messaging strategy they can point to.
They’ve Google searched the company’s name — or even their name — and the results are meh (no thought leadership).
Try This
Ask your employees two questions:
What problem do we solve for customers?
What makes us unique?
If you get lots of different answers, I understand why you’re not sleeping. If your own team can’t explain what you do, how can your customers?
That’s the time to call me for help in making your customer communications frictionless. I crystallize your brand stories, create helpful, engaging “content” for targeted audiences, and even help you build and retain customer relationships. I developed the Friction Free Communications model to get everyone on the same page in consistently communicating your key messages.
“The Opposite of Love is Not Hate. It’s Indifference.”
Author Elie Wiesel was right. The enemy of your product is not your competitors. It’s indifference. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is if people don’t understand what makes you better than your competition, no matter how they found you (through referral or Google search).
Muddy, inconsistent brand messaging sends your prospects and customers to the competition, especially if those guys can quickly and clearly explain their products’ value proposition.
There are reasons your messaging may be muddy:
You’re focusing on delivering a great product or service rather than demonstrating you understand what customers or prospects really need.
Your sales team doesn’t share your product benefits in a way that leads prospective customers to buy.
You don’t have the time to write an op-ed that demonstrates you have superior expertise that solves persistent customer problems or develop a media pitch/press release that tells your story in a way that excites a reporter.
You need someone who can translate technical subjects into language that mainstream audiences can understand.
You’re not a copywriter and don’t want to be.
Everyone works in a silo, focusing on their own goals and challenges.
Perhaps you feel your marketing messaging is “good enough.” But thanks to the Internet, a “good review” is terrible news. You want your business to take off rather than just survive.
How to Speak Your Customer’s Language…Fluently
I’ve been at this for 40+ years, with experience in business journalism, corporate communications, and consulting. But I have also worked in Sales, Marketing, Business Development Education, and Compliance, fixing messaging breakdowns, clarifying value propositions, and talking to customers about their needs.
One of the things I’ve found working with clients is that their sales and service teams rarely do a good job of capturing the exact words that customers and prospects use when they ask questions or express concerns. When that process takes place, you can create articles for different parts of the funnel that answer those questions for others…in their words.
Translate Your Value Into Profit
I went out on my own to help companies sell more effectively with tools and long-form content that speaks to customer pain points, answers their questions, and builds or reinforces awareness and trust. I also help them streamline their brand messages and do the behind-the-scenes work that ensures their team speaks with a consistent voice.
I speak the languages of different business areas. As a former journalist, I know what editors and reporters want. I’ve helped differentiate companies across various industries and through different business cycles.
I Can Do for You What I’ve Done for Others
I once worked for MBNA America Bank, a successful affinity credit-card company that sold its business to Bank of America. MBNA had hundreds of account executives, salespeople, and marketers handling 5,000 programs, with the result often feeling like the Wild West of communications. But there was a solution:
“Peter championed the execution of a negotiations strategy across the entire Business Development division, creating a foundation for every account executive in their dealings with business partners. An additional milestone in his career was successfully leading the re-engineering of critical Marketing and Business Development processes that secured two key objectives: consistency and compliance within the division”
David Resurreccion, Former MBNA Senior Executive Vice President
I built a customized sales package for use by 200+ account executives that led to 40+ successful RFP responses and renewal of 100+ top relationships ($100M in loan balances); a reduction in compensation exposure by 25%; and an increase in group-satisfaction scores by 20%. As a former business journalist and MBNA’s head of Media Relations, I could apply the answers to “what problem do we solve for customers” and “what makes us unique” to sales presentations, strategic messaging, and other customer-facing communications.
When was the last time you looked at letters you send to customers? I fixed all 1,400 of MBNA’s computer-generated letters to make them friendlier and ensured they answered people’s questions. When was the last time you looked at whether the scripts you use to talk to customers are current?
So What Comes Next?
We’ll start with a simple conversation about your needs and how we can beef up the quality, consistency, and resonance of your communications across your company. Before that first call, I will review your website, your LinkedIn pages (personal and Company), and maybe a sales deck or investor presentation (yes, I will sign an NDA for those last two). I will provide you with specific feedback that comes with no obligation during that call. I will also ask you questions before our call to get you thinking about your brand messaging. Again, no obligation but many of my clients have found that it raises their confidence in working with me to create clear, consistent brand messaging.
For startups and smaller companies, I can help you craft:
A simple company narrative that can be used by everyone on the team.
Website content and op-eds that will resonate with your existing and prospective customers and raise your visibility.
Case studies, newsletters, sales decks, FAQs, and RFP or grant responses.
For larger companies, I will help you refine your brand messages and align how business areas are talking about your products and services, whether it’s your sales team, your executives who speak at conferences, or your phone or online representatives who handle sensitive topics or frequently asked questions.
Yes, I know others have called to offer similar services. You may even have opened the vault to pay them without seeing measurable results. Please check out my LinkedIn profile and look at my website. On LinkedIn, you’ll see a detailed description of my experience and more than 30 endorsements from people I’ve worked with over the years.
You May Be Asking Yourself, Why Not Handle This Ourselves?
It’s true. Maybe you can, but you wouldn’t have read this far if you had the time or skill to do this independently. Businesses of all sizes have a lot on their plates and often must prioritize revenue generation and expense control initiatives. You may even think that you’re getting enough business, so it’s not something you need to focus on.
You probably don’t have someone like me on the team who’s been certified by Syracuse University in the PESO model. That content strategy takes the four media types – Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned – and integrates them to help you establish authority, increase engagement, and grow partnerships.
As a former journalist, I’m great at asking questions and continuing to push until I get great answers. My approach is iterative. You’ll be involved at every step of the process, and YOUR voice will be clearly present in the final messaging strategy.
Don’t Trip Over Dollars by Picking Up Dimes
Most companies hire entry-level people (3-5 years of experience) or use interns to focus on social media and websites. But they don’t think across platforms or business areas, and frankly, your executives will not pay much attention to them if they show up to talk about brand messaging.
If you don’t clarify your brand message, you will lose business and referrals. Customers will open the door to your competitors. But good news: I have a track record of quickly delivering compelling communications materials.
I Will Pay for Our First Conversation
Drop me a note at peter@frictionfreecommunications.com, and we’ll set up a free consultation to discuss eliminating the friction from your communications.
We’ll talk for 30 minutes and discuss the answers you received to the two questions (unless you want me to survey them and get into a bit more detail). We’ll talk about your website and the collateral you shared. You’ll see what it’s like working with me without cost. You can take all that value and walk away, and we’ll still be friends. But I’m betting you won’t do that.
Peter Osborne
P.S. If you’re reading this and thinking, “I wonder if he can help me with my individual brand,” the answer is absolutely. Check my LinkedIn recommendations (my favorite is the one where I’m called a “Bio Ninja”). Just drop me a note, and we can discuss creating clear, consistent messaging for you.