Have you seen the commercial with the offer that is good only for the first 100 callers in the area? Yes, that one! The one that has been playing for months on end and displays a counter of the calls coming in.

This is what is called product-focused one-way spin. It is intended to interrupt what you are doing with a loud advertisement and spin a one-way message about a product. The idea is simple: to get you to pay attention.

This is one example of advertising that doesn’t work. It has lost its credibility. We don’t believe it; therefore, we ignore it.

Today the playing field is level for those who want to compete. It is done with “new marketing” or better, “permission marketing.” Permission marketing easily wins because it is focused on interaction, information, education, and choice. No longer is it a one-way interruption. Permission marketing is about delivering your message to the right person, at the right time, and with the right message. You get that right, and you win.

Here’s how to sell without results.  Start selling like the mass majority of sales, marketing and business people out there.  They all want to sell you what they have.  Is that truly what you as the customer are thinking – “I want to be sold?”

Unfortunately, there are many from the school of hard knocks who think getting their way rather than helping you with yours is the mark of getting business done.  Take a look at the mass majority of websites.  Most are boring.  They copy each other and have not enticed me to engage.  Instead, they talk about how great they are hoping to impress me with their stated laurels that I would have to succumb and call them or beg them to sell me their products and services.

Here’s the blind spot the mass majority of businesses and business people have – they can only think about themselves.  It’s a rare company that can think, much less talk, in terms of you.  Those that do actually connect.  They connect with buying.

How does your customer buy?  Why do they buy?  Is it really because they want all the features you worked so hard to bulletize on your brochure, or is that mere geek talk?

I am a customer.  I care little about the tolerances of the cam shafts in my 5 series.  I want the ultimate driving machine and the ultimate driving experience.  This is what connects with me.  Engineering specs are nice to know, but I am converting it to what I want, not what you did.

Stop selling hardware, software, services, advertising, and the array of stuff we have too much of.  Start helping me buy and I may pay attention.  Helping me buy requires you to think about me and not you.  You matter little.  I matter a lot.  You look like a commodity.  I have choices.

Think carefully about your customer and profile what they truly care about.  They are not thinking about you. They are thinking about themselves.  Here are things they are thinking about:

• How do I make more money?
• How do I have more fun?
• How do I find love?
• How do I feel good about myself?
• How do we get customers?
• How do I put my kids through college?
• How do I look my best?

This is the pursuit of happiness we hear about.  We are all pursuing some end as individuals.  Connect with this.  When you sell audio equipment, don’t talk about the bass enhancements.  Talk about how it gives the ultimate fun experience.  If you sell software, don’t bore me with version 15’s new button clicks.  Tell me how this will double my revenue or save me half the time.  Show me concretely, and speak about my problems like you understand them because you are solving the same problem.

It all sounds simple, yet it is quite often missed.  It is missed in what we say, websites we read and the mass amounts of connection points competing for the customer’s attention.  Too bad.  But then again, it may be the opportunity which helps you stand out and start connecting with your customer instead of just bull-dogging them with your selling.  Talk about my problems and not your features and watch a world of opportunity open like you have never seen before.

Are you paying attention? You are at the moment, but only for a moment. You are not alone, we are all part of the “attention economy”. Wikipedia calls it “attention economics” and defines it as, “An approach to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity.” This scarce commodity, our attention, is affecting our lives and our income.

Due to short attention spans, a new way of connecting with people is required. Remember when it was acceptable to answer the knock of a door-to-door salesman? Today that salesman is ignored. Remember when you could hand out a business card and expect a call back? Not anymore. We are so bombarded with messages from everywhere that we sometimes ignore even messages we want to hear.

Because our attention span is short, we must be ready to deliver our message when our customer is most receptive and willing to consider our message. No longer can you send an email when you are ready. It may not get read! It has to be when the customer wants to receive your email. When we understand and answer the question of “when,” I believe you will enjoy a significant advantage of your message being heard.

So when is your customer most receptive to hearing your message?

Every business has the same challenge today. They are competing for attention. The number of choices available for any service or product are vast.

It used to be different. There were less choices. Thus, companies needed merely to advertise, and they would get calls.

Today, the game has shifted. In your business, you have lots of competition. Yet, if you are using old methods to try and reach your customer, you are invisible to your customer. Read more

Every day my team fights for one precious commodity. We give money, time, energy and creativity for it. We spend thousands of dollars to get as much as we can. It is becoming more expensive and more scarce. It is your attention.

Remarkably, we have your attention right now. Later today, you will be taking in a relentless amount of text, images and sound. Your brain will be processing and shifting continually. The ability to distinguish between relevance and noise will become tiring and laborious.

Your customer will be doing the same thing. The reality is that your customer behaves differently than they did 20 years ago. They behave differently than they did even two years ago. Everything is becoming relentlessly fast. People’s email inboxes are overflowing and unorganized. Phone etiquette has stretched to the point that people do not even extend professional courtesy by returning calls. Flashy advertisements are ignored and bore onlookers. Everyone has too many choices. Everyone feels rushed. They are not paying attention to you. You look irrelevant and invisible. Read more