Gentle Evangelism, ex-Addicts and True Believers
Calling All Energy Coaches and Therapists! This is how to really get the clients you need in the door or sell the CD, book or other product you really need to get out into the world. After being relentlessly "hard marketed" to over the last few weeks by a colleague who is becoming increasingly desperate in his attempts to sell, the professional practice marketer in me just has to speak up. This isn’t the way to do it people! Here’s a take on what is:
Ever heard of "product evangelism"? That’s where a person sells the merits of his or her company’s product at trade shows and conferences, extolling its benefits in a booth, on a stage and one-on-one. A Product Evangelist must have two things in place to do a good job so the company makes a great deal of sales at the event:
1) They must totally and utterly believe that the product they are advertising will work for the population they are marketing to.
2) They must be willing to be flexible enough to demonstrate how the product can benefit a wide variety of different people and situations to "grab" their listeners and prompt a buy in the moment.
For Energy Coaches and Therapists, there are great lessons in marketing to be learned from those prototypical Product Evangelists: Ex-Addicts and True Believers. Both have a lot in common, and traits both good and bad when it comes to how their message is received by the public.
A person who smokes know there’s nothing quite so smug or desirous
of being helpful, as an ex-smoker who badgers and self-righteously points to the gains they’ve made since quitting. And spiritual seekers often begin looking for places to hide when a True
Believer neighbor begins pontificating (again and again) on the Top Ten Reasons s/he
should join their particular religion.
The fanatic evangelism of these ex-addicts and True Believers brings a message in a way destined to have the least
possible effect - a way that repulses, rather than attracts their subject. So
too do some that are trying to market a thing they know will be of
great use to others. If you own a human service oriented business and
haven’t heard yet, the days of the pushy salseperson are over!
To have the maximum impact and effect on your business prospects, emulate the Fanatic’s kinder, more effective cousin in: Eight Key Standards Of The Gently Effective Evangelist
1) Know WHAT you have that can be of benefit to others, HOW it can be of benefit, and have an absolute, unshakable faith in it. This is an essential component. (Without it, don’t even bother)
2) Truly love your potential customer/client enough to give them your full attention and benefits. Know exactly WHO desperately needs what you have, and focus your message only on them. (The ex-smoker after all, doesn’t bother pontificating to non-smokers)
3) Deliver your message in a gentle and helpful way by doing so only at the right time. Keep adding value and being of help to those who need to hear what you have to say. When by their words and actions you determine your target audience have been properly prepared and are open to hearing your core message, deliver it then. Not before.
4) Deliver once with enthusiasm, twice with determination…and if at first and second time you don’t succeed, allow the recipient to back out of a subsequent evangelizing with honor. Always give them an escape clause and don’t pester. (escape clause = an "opt out" link in your emails to them, or querying whether they are still interested, if in person)
5) Keep lukewarm prospects on your three and six month re-contact lists, but re-contact with enough distance so they feel comfortable with your doing so - through email rather than in person, for instance.
6) Respect all requests to be "unsubscribed" to your particular form of evangelism, whether through mail or in-person contact. Yes! Unsub them! (quite apart from being the law, it’s the considerate and professional thing to do) Even if you know your product, service or widget-organizer is SO RIGHT for them and they will be a miserable failure without it. EVEN IF it is your annointed-from-on-High J-O-B to make sure everyone in the known universe has one of your products. Especially then. (Learn to let go for the good of all…)
7) Go for the Easy Connect. Remember, you only want to deliver your message to those who are eager to hear and apply the benefits you extoll, so narrow-focus your evangelism only on those who have previously shown interest, seem to be hanging around you or around your "area" of expertise. Why waste energy climbing the tree when luscious, low-hanging fruits are right before your eyes?
When you do make that Connection and sell the service or product, don’t just disappear, CONTINUE being helpful. Help them to digest your product or service by providing helpful hints about how to use it, what to do next and connect them with others. Being a Connector will greatly benefit your bottom line as will the preceding seven Key Standards of the Gently Effective Evangelist.
Keep Love, Respect and a True Desire to Help Others in the equation and you’ll never fail. These eight simple Keys are the way to truly market in a Gently Effective way in the modern world. Enjoy!
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