When selling logistics services, do you ever wonder if the words you use in your sales and marketing materials really matter?
Check out the video below, courtesy of our friends at Purple Feather in the UK.
Click here to view the Purple Feather video on YouTube.
If you think the blind man’s situation can’t be applied to selling logistics, think again.
Like you, the logistics marketer, he wants to be noticed. In fact, to survive, he NEEDS to be noticed.
He works in a crowded square where the targets for his message are busy people who are bombarded with thousands of competing messages daily. Are your prospects any different?
He vies for donations with many others whose messages are essentially the same – “Homeless,” “Please help,” “Can’t find work.” That sameness is seen across the logistics marketing landscape, with companies promising to “optimize,” “scale,” and “streamline” your supply chain with “real time,” “end-to-end” visibility.
The key for the blind man was reaching passers-by on an emotional level. With the help of a clever copywriter, he confronted them with his daily reality and forced them to empathize. He found the emotion.
When selling logistics, we have to remember that, ultimately, it’s PEOPLE, not COMPANIES that buy our products and services. And people are emotional beings. Sure we consult our spreadsheets and checklists to satisfy our left brain need for objectivity and logic. But at the end of the day, we do business with people we know, like and trust.
Years ago, one of the first pieces of logistics-related content I developed with an agency was a brochure for my 3PL employer (yes, brochures were actually relevant back then). The headline and payoff read:
"You're customers won't even know we're there."
"But you will"
"You're customers won't even know we're there."
"But you will"
No mention of warehouse square footage, or freight capacity, or supply chain integration, or any feature of the company’s offering. Just how working with us would make the prospect FEEL.
Remember, when selling logistics, words matter. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes, determine what need you can satisfy better than anyone else, then find the emotion.
