One of the quickest ways to make your prospective customers throw up and leave you is to say you are: “Australia’s leading expert in...”
Whether you’re in real estate, marketing, training, social media or whatever it doesn’t matter:
Make the above statement and you instantly lose all credibility with your potential buyer.
As any good salesperson or marketer will tell you, establishing credibility is the key to making a deal. Lose it and you have to work incredibly hard to get it back.
The trouble with saying you’re the country’s leading whatever in your marketing material is that when a potential customer reads it they go: ‘Yeah, you and every other a...hole.”
That’s because almost everybody else is telling them the same thing a thousand times a day.
“If two men think they are Jesus, one of them must be wrong.” - Dire Straits
In other words there’s nothing to distinguish you from anybody else, and when that happens the prospect dismisses you as just another desperate hustler.
You’ve lost any credibility and so your marketing has failed before it even began.
There are a number of reasons why this approach fails so dismally.
It’s Not for You to Say
Firstly, it’s not your call to make, and nobody likes people who big note themselves. Even if you are the best or an expert in your field, it is for other people to make that call.
This is where the use of testimonials and authoritative third party accreditations and awards come in. If somebody else says it, it has credibility. If a recognised organisation says it, it has more credibility.
You Look Desperate and Dateless
Related to the above, when you say it, it makes you look needy. Are you trying to convince the prospect or bolster your own self esteem? It’s just a bad look.
You Ignored the Most Important Person
Marketing 101 tells us to always focus on the customer. Put ourselves in their shoes and address their needs. Talking about how great you are obviously trashes this idea. It’s like when you meet someone new at a party or an event and all they ever talk about is how great they are. BORING!
It’s much more exciting when they take an interest in you.
You’re Not Memorable or Unique
As mentioned in the intro, if you’re saying the same thing as everybody else, there’s nothing for the customer to remember you by. There’s nothing to set you apart from your competition. Again, addressing this is basic marketing.
You Have No Value
Following on from points 3 and 4, your marketing must create value for the customer. Saying you’re the best has no value to them. You have to say something that is of interest to them, something that they would want and value.
The more desire and value you can create in your marketing copywriting, the more successful it will be.
What's Important
Your marketing words should be about what’s important to your customers and helping them solve their problems.
Gary Vaynerchuk, a social media mastermind, puts it this way:
"One of the absolute worst things a human being can do is brag about himself all the time."
Over to You...
