Copywriting To Sell Entrepreneurs

WORDS THAT WORK Entrepreneur Package Entrepreneur (General)................................Page 2 Entrepreneur (Financial Background)........Page 22 Entrepreneur (Engineering Background)...Page 41 Entrepreneur (Operations Background)....Page 60 Franchisee.....................................................Page 77

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

WORDS THAT WORK with the

Entrepreneur (General) Use these words to improve your skills in selling, sales presentations, bonding with clients, copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior level decision makers, direct response, negotiating, mediating, prospecting, cold calling, website copy, business writing, public relations, business presentations, marketing strategy, brochure design, advertising design, positioning, persuasion, staffing selection, coaching and mentoring, psychological profiling, personal development, consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring, email marketing, NLP, body language, personalization, defusing tense situations, dealing with objections, closing sales and maximizing conversion ratios.

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

Why

1-800-633-7762

Words That Work Truly Work

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for use exclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with political candidates, Tom Travisano went on to observe over 12,000 salespeople over a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application as related to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequent research Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You’re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale, which was published through Business One Irwin in 1995. After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision makers respond to most favorably as they relate to the overall sales relationship, perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial leader. Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words accordingly.

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The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for: Entrepreneur (General) Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Franchisee CEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Corporate Executive Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Researcher Human Resources (Training Executives) Purchasing Agent/Manager Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal) Attorney (Litigating) Attorney (Non-litigating) Accountant (Principal) Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Primary Care Physician Medical/Dental Office Manager Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Oncologist Pathologist Radiologist Hematologist Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Equipment Engineer Process Engineer Design Engineer

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Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

T

o form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ... Being in charge Call your own shots Personal independence Be your own person Make the business run your way Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it Have complete control over your business

Why They Work

M

ost Entrepreneurs aren’t trying to build financial empires for themselves. Most of them they went into business to achieve a far more limited goal — a steady, respectable paycheck without having to put up with a boss. These decision makers could never accept a position in a large organization, no matter how prestigious or well paying it might be. If there’s a fact about these decision makers that rings most true, it’s that they’re almost unemployable.

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Entrepreneurs are resentful toward any form of authority that’s exerted over them. In fact, they lack the single characteristic every employee must have ... being willing to obey the orders of a superior, even when you think the superior is wrong. On top of that, Entrepreneurs would never sit still for doing the things which employees are expected to do: 1.

Reporting their results.

2.

Explaining their actions.

3.

Justifying their decisions.

4.

Appearing at times and places “on demand.”

5.

Cooperating with a superior whose capabilities they believe aren’t any greater than, and probably inferior to, their own.

6.

Accepting other people’s decision-making authority

Being cooperative employees runs against the fiber of their being. As a result, the desire for personal independence — more than any other impulse — drove Entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. The impulse wasn’t profit or riches. It was freedom. That’s an important distinction because it actually tells you the best way to approach this decision maker ... and the approach you should avoid.

Y

ou can summarize almost all the approaches salespeople use with Entrepreneurs in two words: profitability and growth. In other words, they promise either a better bottom line or a bigger business. A few promise both. “Profitability” is only an intellectual abstraction for most Entrepreneurs. They can’t “feel it.” It has no emotional urgency or meaning for them. Of course, they always nod in agreement and make the right comments when the subject of profitability comes up. But the fact is, it doesn’t motivate them. They relate more readily and eagerly to the amount of money they have in the checking account or the cash register at the end of every day, or week, or month.

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Cash has always mattered more to Entrepreneurs than profits ever could. It represents a reality they understand and respect. When compared with the real-world significance of cash, profits seem empty and theoretical … merely an entry on a financial statement. “Growth” raises the fear that they’ll lose control over their businesses, a fear which comes from a perception that’s fundamental to how Entrepreneurs approach business. They fear that a major increase in the size of the business will outstrip their ability to manage it. You need to understand that Entrepreneurs rarely use any kind of coherent management techniques. They’re more likely to manage in a very hands-on way. That’s why they have difficulty handling managerial challenges that they can’t deal with directly and personally. If a decision has to be made regarding inventory control, for example, they have to “go and see for themselves” before deciding. You’re having trouble collecting a Receivable? “Gimme the phone, I’ll talk to ‘em.” You don’t like the way the product is being packaged? Just run down to the loading dock and show the kid down there how to do it right … the way you did it when you were doing the shipping yourself. Managing a business is more an act of physical labor than intellectual insight for them. So, they manage by direct, personal intervention rather than with memos, policies and standards. That, by the way, is one reason they’re so unwilling to delegate and why they do it so badly when they finally take the plunge. Nothing of real importance is ever written down and passed on to employees so they can learn how to do their jobs satisfactorily. The result is a group of employees who are underinformed, under-trained and under motivated. Nobody in his or her right mind would delegate to people like that! Of course, the fact that the owner made people that way always seems to escape his or her attention.

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How to Make Your Product or Service The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed and accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Designed specifically for your unique situation (e.g., “for small businesses”) Practical Street smart Nothing theoretical or abstract about it Won’t put any demands on your time Won’t strain your resources

Why They Work

E

ntrepreneurs are attracted to products and services which they perceive have been designed specifically for their unique situations. If they had their “druthers,” Entrepreneurs wouldn’t buy a single product or service that wasn’t designed and developed precisely — 100% — for their kind of business, industry, application or competitive environment. We were told by an Entrepreneur in the St. Louis area, for example: “I only buy from companies that do business on the Missouri side.” He was referring to the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. According to him, companies “over on the Illinois side,” as he put it, do business in a totally different way. Therefore, he couldn’t possibly buy from a vendor who was unable to accommodate the difference between the two sides.

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B

y the way, when we asked him for a specific definition of the difference between the two sides, he couldn’t tell us. But he was still convinced that there was a difference! Entrepreneurs have that obsession because they don’t like to make what’s called a conceptual leap. In other words, they don’t eagerly make the move from the general to the specific, or from one application to another, or from one industry to another. And they usually resist adapting a broad concept to their own situations. They’re always suspicious that salespeople are trying to make them force a square peg into a round hole. As a result, salespeople often hear Entrepreneurs condemn their product or service by saying, “That doesn’t apply to me,” or “My business is different, it’s unique.” Of course, they’re actually saying, “I’m unique, but you don’t make me feel that way.” Never forget ... the owner and the business are practically one-in-the-same.

T

he words “specific to his or her unique situation” will have different meanings for different Entrepreneurs. Those words are really a matter of perception. They might simply mean that your product or service was designed for an entrepreneurial type of business, or an owner-operated business, or a small business. If you pay close enough attention, the decision maker will tell you which one he or she wants to hear.

W

hen a product or service is perceived as practical, street smart and not theoretical, most Entrepreneurs believe that: A.

It will eliminate complexity from their lives,

B.

It won’t strain the company’s resources, and

C.

It won’t put additional demands on the owner’s personal time.

Entrepreneurs have no patience for complexity because it interferes with the hands-on, quick-action performance they consider so vital to their personal independence.

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When things are too complex and ambiguous, the path is open for the abstract. And Entrepreneurs don’t trust anything abstract because — in contrast to anything that’s thought of as concrete — it’s theoretical. Anything that’s theoretical is automatically “ivory tower,” or academic, or intellectual. Because it lacks the basic strength that comes from being “street smart,” it doesn’t have any no-nonsense, hard-nosed practicality. The Entrepreneur draws a clear distinction between “the street” and the rest of the world. Only the street has the desirable virtue of being uncomplicated, down-to-earth and easy to understand. That’s why Entrepreneurs can be so frustratingly resistant to learning anything but hard information that deals with “how to.” Anything that relates to “why” is of very little interest to them. Their bias can be summarized in the statement: “Don’t tell me why, just tell me how.” Or: “Don’t tell me about the theory behind it, just tell me how to use it.” As far as Entrepreneurs are concerned, stopping and thinking — which is what theory and ambiguity make you do — is a colossal waste of time. It gets in the way of doing. And nothing must be allowed to stop that. Nothing must get in the way of action.

E

ntrepreneurs always seem to be running … form on fire to another, from one crisis to another, from one challenge to another. There’s always a tension right below the surface when you talk to them. What are they tense about? Burning through their recourses.

It doesn’t matter how resource-rich the business might be. They can’t help buy having either one of two perceptions about their resources — they’re either completely insufficient or just barely adequate to do the job. Earlier, we talked about the almost mystical relationship between Entrepreneurs and their businesses. Here, we said that owners and their businesses are practically one-in-the-same. Therefore, the Entrepreneur’s idea of “resources” is very personal.

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If you listen carefully enough, you’ll often hear them say things like, “I pay my bills.” Although they mean that the business pays its bills, they can’t stop themselves from speaking in the first person — “They owe me money” is an acceptable substitute for “They owe my company money.” And since resources take on personal significance, they mean — over an above anything else — the owner’s personal time.

I

ronically, the decision maker might not even get personally involved in the use of your product or service, but it still must be perceived as not placing additional demands on his or her personal time. Nothing that passes in and out of the doors of that business is thought of in anything but the most personal terms.

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How to Make Your Organization The Ideal Provider

Provider Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal provider, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Flexible Responsive Accommodating/Willing to make accommodations Never try to put a square peg in a round hole Recognize your uniqueness Thorough Follow through on everything Cover all the bases for you Willing to do whatever it takes Make sure every detail is covered

Why They Work

T

he Entrepreneur’s desire for flexibility from you is a reflection of two other needs — personal independence and products/services that are designed specifically for their unique situations. Ironically, small and medium-size businesses outnumber giant companies by as much as 45-to-l.

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Yet, Entrepreneurs perceive that almost every element of society favors the large companies and institutions … university courses, professional and consulting services, trade shows, published articles, seminars, books, research data, legislation, periodicals and just about everything else that teaches, explains or reveals anything that has any value. And when they look at the structure of that world, they perceive a rigid, unyielding indifference. It’s too big and powerful for them to bend to their will, too impersonal to care about them and too consumed by what’s of no interest or value to them. It won’t yield to their needs or, for that matter, even pay attention to them. Therefore, they only want to do business with a provider who considers them important enough to warrant flexibility or, if you will, very special treatment. The ideal provider must be willing to make accommodations to what Entrepreneurs consider their unique requirements. Of course, that provider won’t have to actually be flexible or make the exceptions. You simply have to be perceived as being willing to do so. Remember, the need for personal independence is a statement to the effect that “I’m different from all the others, so I should get unique treatment.” They’re not claiming to be better than everyone else, only different from them.

T

hat sense of uniqueness — in other words, having special needs — is the main source of these decision makers’ highly suspicious attitude toward most salespeople. You might have noticed that they often begin the sales cycle with the assumption that the salesperson doesn’t understand them and is just, “trying to sell me something.” And, as we said before, that’s usually a square peg for a round hole. If Entrepreneurs are going to perceive that your product or service was designed specifically for them (see earlier), they also must perceive that you took all the necessary steps to make it the right way. That’s why they always demand that you be more thorough and disciplined than they are. This is what we might call a “would have” or “should have” situation.

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If they blame their chaos on the lack of resources—which is a common complaint— they want to be assured that you did everything they would have done if they had sufficient resources to make sure that your product or service is right for them. In other words, they would have done their own due diligence, allegedly, if they had the time and money to do it. That’s the “would have” side. On the “should have” side, a few Entrepreneurs are honest enough to admit that their lack of discipline has nothing to do with resources. In those rare cases, they want to know that you did what they should have done. Being thorough, therefore, means you’ll protect them from either uncontrollable conditions (“what they would have done”) or from themselves (“what they should have done”). In fact, the typical situation reflects some of both. Although they are often short on resources, they’re also notorious for not being thorough and they rarely follow through ... even when ample resources are available. That well deserved reputation is a major contributor to their need for independence. As we said before, they show a range of behavioral traits that make them unemployable.

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Move Your Benefits To A Higher Level

Benefit Want

To gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like ... Order (in the business) Control Be in control automatically Order that reflects your personal wishes No more chaos Never tolerate disorder again

Why They Work

I

f there’s a word that reminds most Entrepreneurs of their businesses, that word is “chaos.”

Every senior executive in every large company must learn to deal with a certain amount of disorganization, and tolerate it. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can’t deal with it and can’t tolerate it either.

W

hen they try to deal with chaos, they become victims of their own management style. If you recall from what we said before, running a business is an act of physical labor rather than intellectual insight they manage by direct, personal intervention.

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Consequently, they experience an exhausting drain on their energies whenever they wear the manager’s hat. Being in charge wears them down, and overcoming the disorder in the business is a challenge they’d do anything to avoid. If they accept the challenge, they know they’re going to be totally exhausted. But if they don’t accept it, they have to tolerate it. And tolerating chaos is just as terrible an experience as trying to eliminate it.

N

on-entrepreneurial executives view the companies where they work as their place of business. Entrepreneurs, however, consider it practically their home … the place where their entire existence is “on the line” every day. It’s where the drama of their lives is acted out from minute to minute. Their fate rests on everything that happens within those walls, where their identity, value and purpose are being tested constantly. As we mentioned before, they consider themselves and the business to be almost the same entity.

T

he need Entrepreneurs have for order is the need for proof that their lives aren’t being squandered. But because they deeply dread the challenges associated with their personal-intervention management style, they’d rather get control of the business in a different way … automatically. They perceive that business problems are attributable to people — to themselves and their employees — which is why they tend to explain problems and failures in human terms. Since being in business is an intensely personal experience for them, it’s not surprising that successes and reverses are almost always seen as the result of human performance. Blind, impersonal forces like marketplace dynamics might interest academics and other ivory tower types, but they’re just idle speculation to the Entrepreneur. If a problem persists, people have to change the way they work in order to solve it. Period. However, in starting their own businesses, they made the statement that they have no interest in changing themselves. They are what they are, and are stubbornly proud of it, even when they criticize themselves.

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At the same time, they’ve grudgingly reached the conclusion that: (A) their employees won’t change either, or: (B) they don’t know how to change their employees, or (C) they can’t summon up the energy to make the effort. One solution is to give the assignment to another person. But, in the rare cases where that occurs, Entrepreneurs put themselves back in power as soon as someone makes a decision they don’t like. Because they could never surrender genuine control of the business to anyone else, except when they’re ready to pass it to their hand-picked successors, order must come in some kind of automatic way ... so that order comes to the business without the owner having to intervene or change people’s behavior. In effect, it just happens, automatically. And it happens the way the Entrepreneur wants it to.

I

t doesn’t take a great leap of logic to reach the point toward which the evidence points – Entrepreneurs want their businesses to be reflections of their personal identities. These decision makers thaw such personal value and identity from the business that it becomes an extension of themselves. It’s as much a part of them as their children. And like all other parents, they want their offspring to show something of themselves. In no way is this an ego trip or anything as shallow as that. It’s a matter of personal survival.

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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before you start to quote it.

Use Words Like ... It costs the same as (see below) It doesn’t cost any more than (see below)

Why They Work

M

any types of decision makers are likely to talk endlessly about things like cost-effectiveness, but the Entrepreneur is one of the few who’s really serious about it. The reason is simple — no matter how large the business becomes, Entrepreneurs always perceive that buying anything means taking the money out of their own pockets. Earlier, we said that running a company is an intensely personal experience for Entrepreneurs. Consequently, they consider the company’s cash their personal money ... just as they consider the furniture their furniture, the equipment their equipment and so on.

T

he ideal product is perceived as being worth the money, producing a tangible benefit on a virtual one-to-one basis for each dollar spent. And the best way to describe that is through what we call “graphic” terms. In other words, choose a symbol that’s familiar to your decision maker and use it as a model against which he or she can compare the price of your product or service (e.g., “It cost the same as a set of tires”)

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Using Some of the Words That Work for this Decision Maker

In a letter ... Dear (Form a Special Instant Bond): There’s nothing like being your own person ... doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. (How to Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): To help you get |there, a product or service has to be specific to your unique situation. It also should be practical and very street smart. (Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it comes from people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure every detail is covered. (Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): Then, you’ll have control over a business that reflects your personal wishes. (Make Your Price a True Bargain): And whatever you buy should never cost more than ____________(see “Positioning Your Price,” above). I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself. (STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)

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In the form of advertising copy … Being Your Own Person There’s nothing like being your own person ... doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. To help you get there, a product or service has to be specific to your unique situation. It also should be practical and very street smart. But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it comes from people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure every detail is covered. Then, you’ll have control over a business that reflects your personal wishes. And whatever you buy should never cost more than _________(see “Positioning Your Price,” above). We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself. (COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.)

Important: Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing “universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company and your price.

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Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or your product/service. Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your competitors with Words That Don’t Work.

Organization Sophisticated Employee Theoretical Standardized Uniform The same for everyone Structured Procedures Growth Profitability

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WORDS THAT WORK with the

Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Use these words to improve your skills in selling, sales presentations, bonding with clients, copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior level decision makers, direct response, negotiating, mediating, prospecting, cold calling, website copy, business writing, public relations, business presentations, marketing strategy, brochure design, advertising design, positioning, persuasion, staffing selection, coaching and mentoring, psychological profiling, personal development, consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring, email marketing, NLP, body language, personalization, defusing tense situations, dealing with objections, closing sales and maximizing conversion ratios.

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

Why

1-800-633-7762

Words That Work Truly Work

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for use exclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with political candidates, Tom Travisano went on to observe over 12,000 salespeople over a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application as related to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequent research Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You’re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale, which was published through Business One Irwin in 1995. After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision makers respond to most favorably as they relate to the overall sales relationship, perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial leader. Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words accordingly.

2

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for: Entrepreneur (General) Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Franchisee CEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Corporate Executive Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Researcher Human Resources (Training Executives) Purchasing Agent/Manager Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal) Attorney (Litigating) Attorney (Non-litigating) Accountant (Principal) Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Primary Care Physician Medical/Dental Office Manager Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Oncologist Pathologist Radiologist Hematologist Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Equipment Engineer Process Engineer Design Engineer

3

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

To form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ... Being in charge Call your own shots Personal independence Being your own person Make the business run your way Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it Have complete control over your business Make the business run by the numbers Have a financially stable business Financially solid A guaranteed future

Why They Work

Like most other types of Entrepreneurs, this one wants to be personally inde4

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pendent. He or she wants to be free from the control, domination or influence of any kind of boss. However, there’s also a large desire here for a level of financial stability, which the other Entrepreneur types don’t feel nearly as urgently.

Most Entrepreneurs, including this type, aren’t trying to build financial empires for themselves. For the most part, they went into business because they wanted to achieve a far more limited goal — a respectable income without having to put up with a boss. And in the case of this type of Entrepreneur, that income must be guaranteed by a financially stable business. It’s certainly true that every Entrepreneur would like his or her business to be financially stable. But, there are substantial differences between other types of Entrepreneur and this one. While the others would “like” to have financial stability, it’s not a daily obsession with them. What’s more, many of them have an almost cavalier attitude toward it ... believing that they can continue to “get by” without it. Having enough cash to pay themselves, their employees and their creditors is the foremost priority. The concept of financial stability, however, is an abstraction (see later) which only the Entrepreneur with a financial background can truly grasp and “feel.”

Given his or her financial background, this decision maker might have held a position in a large organization prior to becoming an Entrepreneur. But, no matter how prestigious or well-paying the position might have been, it wasn’t sufficiently satisfying for him or her. If there’s a fact about most types of Entrepreneurs that rings most true, it’s that they’re almost unemployable. They’re resentful toward any form of authority that’s being exerted over them.

Like most other types of decision makers, of course, Entrepreneurs come in a variety of subsets.

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For example, Entrepreneurs with financial, engineering and operations backgrounds were usually more obedient when they were working for someone else than the ones with sales and marketing backgrounds were. Yet, all of them were driven into business for themselves by the desire for personal independence because being life-long employees runs against the fiber of their being. As a result, the desire for personal freedom — more than any other impulse — made them Entrepreneurs. The impulse wasn’t profit or riches. It was freedom…even for Entrepreneurs with financial backgrounds.

You can summarize almost all the approaches salespeople use with Entrepreneurs in two words: profitability and growth. In other words, they promise either a better bottom line or a bigger business. A few promise both. The concept of “profitability” is merely an intellectual abstraction for almost all Entrepreneurs. Since they can’t “feel it,” it has no emotional urgency or meaning for them. They relate more readily and eagerly to the amount of money they have in the checking account or the cash register at the end of every day, or week, or month. Cash matters more to most Entrepreneurs than profits ever could. It represents a reality they understand and respect. When compared with the real-world significance of cash, profits seem empty and theoretical … merely an entry on a financial statement. This is an area, however, where Entrepreneurs with financial backgrounds differ from their counterparts. They do grasp the significance of an abstraction such as profitability and, therefore, it does have emotional appeal for them. But never make the mistake of assuming that it matters more than personal freedom. The fact is, profitability is only a means to an end. It’s the means by which independence is gained. Unlike the CFOs who remain life-long employees of their companies, financial stability isn’t an end-in-itself for these decision makers.

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In that regard, they “fall in between” conventional chief financial officers and the other types of Entrepreneurs. “Growth” raises the fear that they’ll lose control over their businesses, a fear which comes from a perception that’s fundamental to how Entrepreneurs approach business.

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How to Make Your Product or Service The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

To gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed and accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Balanced Taking the key priorities into account Risk-free Scientifically designed and developed Designed with finances and operations in mind Based on what a business is all about Doesn’t make you dependent on guesswork You can know, rather than guess

Why They Work

The ideal product or service will be perceived as having been designed and developed on the basis of a balance between financial and operational priorities In addition, it must be thought of as not being likely to interrupt the company’s operating routines and procedures.

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When they were employees, Entrepreneurs with financial backgrounds had a peculiar view of the other senior managers in their companies. The other divisional and departmental managers — Marketing, Engineering, Sales, Production and so on — had a greater tolerance for risk than these Entrepreneurs did. That tolerance was considered a weakness by these decision makers because it could, in their opinion, put the company in a dangerous position. Plus, the other senior managers were perceived as having another weakness. They either: A.

Didn’t truly understand business, or

B.

Lacked a scientific basis for making decisions.

Engineering people (including the head of Engineering) fell into that first group. As far as this decision maker is concerned, they didn’t “understand business.” Their decisions were based on the science of engineering but that science only related to product development, process control, equipment maintenance and so on. In no way did their science relate to dollars and cents the way this decision maker understands dollars and cents. In other words, the engineering people in his or her former company didn’t have a good grasp of business priorities.

In contrast to Engineering, the other senior managers and their people — Sales, Marketing and so on — might have had a better understanding of business, but they weren’t close to being “scientists” This decision maker believed that they lacked a “scientific” basis for their decisions. Instead, they made decisions on “soft” grounds … intuition, guesswork and so forth. That’s because they were managing “intuitive” tasks. Therefore, it was impossible to trust their judgment because they were too removed from the one, true reality … financial reality. After all, “the numbers” don’t lie and the numbers are the science on which these Entrepreneurs learned to base their judgments.

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They know and trust the science of accounting/finance.

So, those former co-workers were either “scientists” who weren’t business people or business people who didn’t make “scientific” decisions. In either case, they didn’t have that firm grasp on reality, which can only come from knowing the numbers. As a result, their judgments weren’t balanced, and the whole idea of balance is vitally important to this decision maker. In this Entrepreneur’s world, everything must come out even, precisely the way a balance sheet does. And, as we’ll find out when we talk about how to position your price, all the proportions and ratios have to be in place. As a result, your product or service must reflect a balance based on the twin supports of business acumen and scientific knowledge. With those two pillars in place, your product or service will be perfectly balanced between the two priorities of finance and operations. And both of them are vital. Finance is crucial for the obvious reason … this decision maker’s early career was devoted to finances. Operations are important because, as we’re going to find out later, this decision maker has a deep desire for an orderly business in which everyday routines are kept intact.

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How to Make Your Organization The Ideal Provider

Provider Want

To gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal provider, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Sensible No-nonsense No extravagant claims Financially stable Has a financial impact that’s proportionate to the price Gives you a reasonable return on investment

Why They Work

Entrepreneurs with financial backgrounds want to do business with financially stable organizations which guided by sensible, no-nonsense thinking that’s not “sales-minded.” As far as these decision makers are concerned, a company’s most impressive achievement isn’t an outstanding product or service, large market share, cutting-edge R&D or responsive customer service. The most auspicious achievement a company can have is to be financially stable. It “counts for more” in their minds than product excellence, vision, talent or any

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other virtue most people associate with a successful company. The reason is, of course, that financial stability is the key to personal independence (see earlier). And even though these decision makers don’t have much of an interest in your independence, they can’t help searching your company for the same qualities they want to find in their own companies.

Most of these Entrepreneurs have a strange option of what financial stability really signifies it “proves” that a product or service has a market, satisfies its customers has sufficient quality. Most people consider financial stability the result of those factors. These decision makers consider it the cause! Financial stability comes before market success, and it’s produced by a sensible mentality. Everything is reasoned and well thought out. Everything is the living embodiment of balance and proportion.

Entrepreneurs with a financial background also want to find in you an attitude which we describe as “no-nonsense.” In short, they must perceive that you approach tasks in the same frame of mind as they do. Then, your product or service will not only work, but will vindicate everything they believe in and hold sacred. And one of the things they believe is that salespeople are fundamentally not to be trusted. Their perception is that most salespeople don’t have much to say that’s legitimate because they don’t understand anything about finance, except for the ability to quote “numbers” the way some technical salespeople use buzzwords. So, salespeople are supposedly manipulative because that’s all they have to rely on. (We’re speaking, of course, of the decision maker’s perceptions.) On top of that, they have a “sales-minded” tendency to make extravagant claims. For example, these Entrepreneurs can’t let themselves trust salespeople who claim their products or services will have a financial impact that’s disproportionate to the cost. In other words, don’t try to convince this decision maker that a tiny investment will yield huge returns.

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As we said before, this decision maker’s world is one of balance, proportion and ratios. Results must be perceived, therefore, as being in proportion to the price. And the return on investment ought to be moderate and sensible. This isn’t the kind of Entrepreneur who seems to be forever looking for the opportunity to make “a killing.”

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Move Your Benefits To A Higher Level

Benefit Want

To gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like ... Order (in the business) Control Be in control automatically Order that reflects your personal wishes No more chaos Never tolerate disorder again Have the business run by the numbers Run quantifiably Keep your internal systems and procedures running smoothly

Why They Work

These decision makers want order in the business in the form of automatic control the reflects their personal identity. At the same time, that order must also protect the company’s operating routines and procedures. That need is a hold-over for this type of Entrepreneur from

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the days when he or she was in Finance. Few things can be more comforting for Entrepreneurs with a financial background than operating routines and procedures, which go on uninterrupted. They provide a sense of comfort — something to “hold onto” — which these decision makers desperately want.

If there’s a word that reminds most Entrepreneurs of their businesses, that word is “chaos.”

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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

To gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before you start to quote it.

Use Words Like ... A textbook price Priced according to a textbook formula

Why They Work

The ideal price is one that’s developed according to “textbook” ratios. These decision makers don’t want to cheat and don’t want to be cheated. They’re really not seeking to “take” you or in any other way strike a deal that injures you. They’re not, therefore, the ruthless negotiator who wears his green eye shadow while he or she picks your pocket. Just as they believe in balance and proportion in the other areas (see earlier), they also believe in it here. They want only to perceive that your profit margins are what can be called balanced or sensible. Pricing is, to them, a matter of ratios.

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Using Some of the Words That Work for this Decision Maker

In a letter … Dear (Form a Special Instant Bond): There’s nothing like being your own person … doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a financially solid business. (How to Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): To help you get there, a product or service has to be risk-free and be designed with finances and operations in mind. (How to Make Your Organization the Ideal Provider): But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it comes from a financially stable company that’s governed by sensible, no-nonsense thinking. (Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): Then, you have a business that runs by the numbers — with your systems and procedures running smoothly. (Make Your Price a True Bargain): And whatever you buy should be priced according to a textbook formula. I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself (STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)

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In the form of advertising copy … Being Your Own Person ... in a Financially Stable Business There’s nothing like being your own person … doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a financially solid business. To help you get there, a product or service has to be risk-free and be designed with finances and operations in mind. But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it comes from a financially stable company that’s governed by sensible, no-nonsense thinking. Then, you have a business that runs by the numbers — with your systems and procedures running smoothly. And whatever you buy should be priced according to a textbook formula. We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself (COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.)

Important: Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing “universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company and your price.

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Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or your product/service. Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your competitors with Words That Don’t Work

A huge return on investment Intuition Feelings Perception Employee Flexible pricing Innovative Experimental Bold Daring Take everyone’s wishes into account

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WORDS THAT WORK with the

Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Use these words to improve your skills in selling, sales presentations, bonding with clients, copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior level decision makers, direct response, negotiating, mediating, prospecting, cold calling, website copy, business writing, public relations, business presentations, marketing strategy, brochure design, advertising design, positioning, persuasion, staffing selection, coaching and mentoring, psychological profiling, personal development, consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring, email marketing, NLP, body language, personalization, defusing tense situations, dealing with objections, closing sales and maximizing conversion ratios.

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

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Words That Work Truly Work

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for use exclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with political candidates, Tom Travisano went on to observe over 12,000 salespeople over a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application as related to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequent research Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You’re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale, which was published through Business One Irwin in 1995. After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision makers respond to most favorably as they relate to the overall sales relationship, perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial leader. Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words accordingly.

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The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for: Entrepreneur (General) Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Franchisee CEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Corporate Executive Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Researcher Human Resources (Training Executives) Purchasing Agent/Manager Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal) Attorney (Litigating) Attorney (Non-litigating) Accountant (Principal) Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Primary Care Physician Medical/Dental Office Manager Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Oncologist Pathologist Radiologist Hematologist Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Equipment Engineer Process Engineer Design Engineer

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Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

To form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ... Being in charge Call your own shots Personal independence Being your own person Make the business run your way Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it Have complete control over your business Make the business run predictably Establish fall-safe predictability Be able to quantify everything Make sure that important decisions are quantified Quantification Self-evident/Obvious Beyond question

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Why They Work

Like most other types of Entrepreneurs, this one wants to be personally independent. He or she wants to be free from the control, domination or influence of any kind of boss. However, where the Entrepreneur with a financial background has a desire for a financially stable business, this type is more concerned with “quantification.” When starting out on a career (as an engineer), he or she wanted to be in a profession where the crucial decisions don’t require speculation, intuition or anything less than self-evident quantification. When something is self-evident, it literally has its own supporting “evidence within itself.” In other words, the fact that it’s true and correct is clear because the facts are there for everyone to see. No one has to resort to any other source for verification. And the idea of quantification implies that decisions don’t have to be entrusted to “human” judgment. Whatever factors go into that decision can be measured —“quantified” — with an impersonal and objective set of numbers, or formulae or logarithms. Thus, the ideal business will be one in which the crucial decisions are reduced to mathematical calculations whose validity is beyond question. This is the world in which the engineer wanted to work when he or she set out on a career.

Most Entrepreneurs, including this type, aren’t trying to build financial empires for themselves. For the most part, they went into business because they wanted to achieve a far more limited goal — a respectable income without having to put with a boss.

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How to Make Your Product or Service The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

To gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed and accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Minimizes/Eliminates the “human factor” Protects you from the “human factor” Reliable Industry-standard Proven Tested Proven reliability Tested reliability

Why They Work

Entrepreneurs with engineering backgrounds are usually very suspicious of products and services that depend on the human factor ... what they perceive as the uncontrollable element in all business-related activities. They’re happiest and feel most secure when the major part of their professional lives is made up of elements, which are completely “depersonalized” (components, circuits, software and so on).

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Meanwhile, these decision makers are practically driven to distraction when they have to rely on people (programmers, “techs,” providers, et al). They know that technology can and will fail, but they’re convinced that it fails predictably. However, the “human factor” represents a gamble for them because they never know when people are going to “crash.” The difference in their perceptions of people and technology is, therefore, quite obvious —they can rely a lot more on the latter than on the former. Think about the profession they chose.

When they considered starting technical careers, they fully expected to be working with objects. It might be software, or equipment, or circuits, or drawings, or schematics or any of the other items that are common to their environment. They didn’t choose marketing, or sales, or human resources or any other application where the work is interpersonal. They’re not good at those activities and feel vulnerable when they’re in the presence of anyone who is. In fact, Entrepreneurs with engineering backgrounds often mistrust such a person because they tend to perceive him or her as manipulative. As a result, they feel considerably more comfortable when they’re interacting with technology (or other engineers). It’s no accident, for example, that most of these decision makers are enthusiastic “gadgeteers.” As someone said about them, “They own everything that beeps.”

Don’t be misled by the fascination these decision makers show toward “state of the art” products and services. They go to trade shows and immediately head for the booth where the latest, state of the art product or services is being displayed. They gobble up articles in their favorite technical journal about the cutting-edge breakthroughs, and carry on endless dialogues about them. However, they rarely buy anything that’s state of the art! In fact, few decision maker types reveal such a dramatic contradiction between what they say and what they do.

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The ideal product or service for these Entrepreneurs is one which has been “proven.” “Proven reliability” is best demonstrated through a very extensive install base ... where the product or service has a solid track record of performance. That situation, as far as these Entrepreneurs are concerned, comprises the ultimate proof of reliability. At worst, they’re willing to accepted “tested reliability.” In other words, an “unproven” product or service is tested by the most thorough and demanding product or service development system imaginable. Case Study # KMBD-166 A manufacturer (“Company A”) introduced a true state of the art product into a high-technology application. It failed. Users couldn’t get it to work properly, while 36% of them never got it to work at all. After withdrawing the product, the manufacturer developed a secondgeneration version of it. Without an install base (not even an alpha site) the new product was highly suspect. Yet, their goal was to obtain an OEM contract with one of the world’s most noted companies (“Company B”). After making a presentation to a committee of Company B design engineers — in which almost the entire focus was on Company A’s product development system (rather than the product itself) — Company A won the largest OEM contract Company B ever awarded for a new product.

These decision makers lean toward the “best scenario – proven, rather than merely tested – since it doesn’t make them vulnerable. They have no desire to be your alpha site, beta site or anything else even remotely close to that. Their fear of being on the cutting edge is consistent with their desire for total predictability and the absence of risk. Most of these Entrepreneurs aren’t “early adopters.” Even if your product or service is of the cutting edge variety, therefore, you must take pains to position it differently.

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Although it might seem like a small point, these decision makers perceive an enormous difference between “reliable” and “dependable.” When something is “reliable,” it’s predictably consistent in its performance. Anything that’s “dependable,” on the other hand, is being dangerously dependent on the human factor.

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How to Make Your Organization The Ideal Provider

Provider Want

To gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal provider, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like … Proven designs are collected Proven designs are used Quantified designs Designs from real-world applications Large install base Applications like/similar to/identical to yours Not dependent on the “human factor”

Why They Work

Your company uses designs, which are proven in real-world applications. In other words, you’re not dependent on the creativity of your design and development staff ...which would be just another example of the human factor. Those designs are then used as the basis for your product or service, which has been used successfully by large numbers of customers. You don’t “design.” You “collect designs” and incorporate them into your product or service.

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The difference might seem subtle to you, but it’s profound to these decision makers. For them, the ideal product or service has been developed by collecting designs, which are already proven in real-world applications, and incorporating those designs into the product or service. While most of these Entrepreneurs want the application from which the product or service design was developed to be identical to theirs, they’re usually willing to “settle for” a highly similar one. But whether identical or similar, the bigger priority is that the applications basis for the product or service be totally proven beyond any doubt or speculation. In other words, it’s quantified.

There’s another issue at work here — the human factor. That tells you a great deal about the kind of provider most of these Entrepreneurs prefer. Specifically, they want you to be as free of “peopledependence” as they want to be. As we said before, they know full well that technology will break down. It isn’t infallible. Yet, it has a predictable performance, which people simply don’t have. When it comes to making big decisions, engineering-oriented Entrepreneurs want to “leave it to the data.” So, they want a product or service that’s doesn’t have to rely on people for its performance. It makes perfect sense, therefore, that he’d be drawn to a provider who has the same point of view. A provider like that will have gotten human imperfection out of the product or service through rigorous “proving” or, at least, “testing.” (Remember, “proven” is always better than “tested” for these decision makers.)

Notice how some of the Words That Work are rendered: “Proven designs are collected” “Proven designs are used”

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When communicating with these decision makers, whether in writing or verbally, make sure you follow these guidelines: 1. Speak in the third person These Entrepreneurs will form more positive perceptions of providers who communicate in the third person than the ones who communicate in the first person. For example, use this type of language when referring to the development of your product or service: “It was developed ...” (third person) Rather than... “We developed it ...” (first person) The third person has a much stronger association with all the “depersonalized” attributes these decision makers prize so highly. 2. Use the past tense By using the past tense — “It was developed” — you convey a comforting sense of solidity and reliability.

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Move Your Benefits To A Higher Level

Benefit Want

To gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like ... Order (in the business) Control Be in control automatically Order that reflects your personal wishes No more chaos Never tolerate disorder again

Why They Work

If there’s a word that reminds most Entrepreneurs of their businesses, that word is “chaos.” Every senior executive in every large company must learn to deal with a certain amount of disorganization, and tolerate it. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can’t deal with it and can’t tolerate it either.

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When they try to deal with chaos, they become victims of their own management style. If you recall from what we said before, running a business is an act of physical labor rather than intellectual insight they manage by direct, personal intervention. Consequently, they experience an exhausting drain on their energies whenever they wear the manager’s hat. Being in charge wears them down, and overcoming the disorder in the business is a challenge they’d do anything to avoid. If they accept the challenge, they know they’re going to be totally exhausted. But if they don’t accept it, they have to tolerate it. And tolerating chaos is just as terrible an experience as trying to eliminate it.

Non-entrepreneurial executives view the companies where they work as their place of business. Entrepreneurs, however, consider it practically their home … the place where their entire existence is “on the line” every day. It’s where the drama of their lives is acted out from minute to minute. Their fate rests on everything that happens within those walls, where their identity, value and purpose are being tested constantly. As we mentioned before, they consider themselves and the business to be almost the same entity.

The need Entrepreneurs have for order is the need for proof that their lives aren’t being squandered. But because they deeply dread the challenges associated with their personal-intervention management style, they’d rather get control of the business in a different way … automatically. They perceive that business problems are attributable to people — to themselves and their employees — which is why they tend to explain problems and failures in human terms. Since being in business is an intensely personal experience for them, it’s not surprising that successes and reverses are almost always seen as the result of human performance. Blind, impersonal forces like marketplace dynamics might interest academics and other ivory tower types, but they’re just idle speculation to the Entrepreneur. If a problem persists, people have to change the way they work in order to solve it. Period.

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However, in starting their own businesses, they made the statement that they have no interest in changing themselves. They are what they are, and are stubbornly proud of it, even when they criticize themselves. At the same time, they’ve grudgingly reached the conclusion that: (A) their employees won’t change either, or: (B) they don’t know how to change their employees, or (C) they can’t summon up the energy to make the effort. One solution is to give the assignment to another person. But, in the rare cases where that occurs, Entrepreneurs put themselves back in power as soon as someone makes a decision they don’t like. Because they could never surrender genuine control of the business to anyone else, except when they’re ready to pass it to their hand-picked successors, order must come in some kind of automatic way ... so that order comes to the business without the owner having to intervene or change people’s behavior. In effect, it just happens, automatically. And it happens the way the Entrepreneur wants it to.

It doesn’t take a great leap of logic to reach the point toward which the evidence points – Entrepreneurs want their businesses to be reflections of their personal identities. These decision makers thaw such personal value and identity from the business that it becomes an extension of themselves. It’s as much a part of them as their children. And like all other parents, they want their offspring to show something of themselves. In no way is this an ego trip or anything as shallow as that. It’s a matter of personal survival.

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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

To gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before you start to quote it.

Use Words Like ... Stable Not subject to wide swings No radical shifts

Why They Work

A stable price is one that has neither been, nor will be, subject to radical change. If a product or service is genuinely reliable — and if it has an impressive install base — it’s obviously a long-term “player” in the market. That being true, radical price shifts either upward or downward are unsettling for these Entrepreneurs. Nothing associated with you should be perceived as radical, sudden or unexpected. The “fabric” of the decision maker’s experience with you has to be smooth and seamless. It isn’t true, therefore, that your price must be the lowest or even close to the lowest.

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Using Some of the Words That Work for this Decision Maker

In a letter … Dear (Form a Special Instant Bond): There’s nothing like being your own person...doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a business that gives you fall-safe predictability. (How to Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): You can get there with an industry-standard product or service that’s both reliable and proven. (How to Make Your Organization the Ideal Provider): But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it has a proven design that’s been quantified in a real-world application. (Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): Then, you’ll have order that reflects your personal wishes. (Make Your Price a True Bargain): And whatever you buy should have a stable price that isn’t subject to wide swings. I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself (STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)

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In the form of advertising copy … Being Your Own Person ... in a Fail-Safe Business There’s nothing like being your own person ... doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a business that gives you fail-safe predictability. You can get there with an industry-standard product or service that’s both reliable and proven. But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it has a proven design that’s been quantified in a real-world application. Then, you’ll have order that reflects your personal wishes. And whatever you buy should have a stable price that isn’t subject to wide swings. We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself. (COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.)

Important: Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing “universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company and your price.

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Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or your product/service. Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your competitors with Words That Don’t Work.

State of the art Intuition Feelings Perception Cutting edge Pushing the edge of the envelope Innovative Experimental Bold Daring People Human ingenuity

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WORDS THAT WORK with the

Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Use these words to improve your skills in selling, sales presentations, bonding with clients, copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior level decision makers, direct response, negotiating, mediating, prospecting, cold calling, website copy, business writing, public relations, business presentations, marketing strategy, brochure design, advertising design, positioning, persuasion, staffing selection, coaching and mentoring, psychological profiling, personal development, consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring, email marketing, NLP, body language, personalization, defusing tense situations, dealing with objections, closing sales and maximizing conversion ratios.

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

Why

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Words That Work Truly Work

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for use exclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with political candidates, Tom Travisano went on to observe over 12,000 salespeople over a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application as related to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequent research Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You’re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale, which was published through Business One Irwin in 1995. After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision makers respond to most favorably as they relate to the overall sales relationship, perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial leader. Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words accordingly.

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The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for: Entrepreneur (General) Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Franchisee CEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Corporate Executive Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Researcher Human Resources (Training Executives) Purchasing Agent/Manager Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal) Attorney (Litigating) Attorney (Non-litigating) Accountant (Principal) Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Primary Care Physician Medical/Dental Office Manager Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Oncologist Pathologist Radiologist Hematologist Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Equipment Engineer Process Engineer Design Engineer

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Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

To form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ... Being in charge Call your own shots Personal independence Being your own person Make the business run your way Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it Have complete control over your business Concrete A clear-cut environment Keep the business humming along Tangible Real/Real-world Have everything in its place Get things organized Order/Orderly Keep everything buttoned down

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Why They Work

Like most other types of Entrepreneurs, this one wants to be personally independent. He or she wants to be free from the control, domination or influence of any kind of boss. Most Entrepreneurs, including this type, aren’t trying to build financial empires for themselves. For the most part, they went into business because they wanted to achieve a far more limited goal — a respectable income without having to put with a boss.

As enthusiastic as some decision maker types are about abstract theories and models, Entrepreneurs with operations backgrounds are just as wed to “concrete” reality. They deeply mistrust anything that seems complicated or abstract, being more comfortable with what’s perceived as “real” and “real-world.” They’re “hands-on” people with no intellectual pretensions. In fact, most of them believe they have to “produce” in much the same way an auto mechanic believes he or she will never survive many bad repair jobs. Meanwhile, that mechanic is thoroughly convinced that the service manager can get by on the strength of his or her interpersonal skills, supercharged brain power or whatever other intangible virtue the service manager supposedly has (and the mechanic doesn’t).

Just like the relationship between the mechanic and the service manager, this type of Entrepreneur believes that his or her personal fortunes — unlike the fate of many others in the corporate community — rest squarely on performance. It’s not just performance in some abstract or intellectual sense, but a very physical sort of performance. These decision makers can only relate comfortably to what they perceive as being concrete, tangible. It’s almost as if they believe “if you can’t touch it, it doesn’t exist.”

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These Entrepreneurs have a virtual passion for keeping everything humming along Orderliness and routine are of paramount importance to these Entrepreneurs because nothing will “hum” in the presence of disorganization. Everything must “be in its place” in their world, just as things were when they worked for someone else instead of for themselves. Entrepreneurs of this type are usually known for having meticulously neat offices or work stations. They’re also famous for their charts and other documents which spell out exactly what everyone is supposed to do, how it’s supposed to be done and when it’s supposed to be done. In addition, they’re usually masters at scheduling, planning and handling physical resources. Anything of a tangible or clear-cut nature, in fact, coincides with their skill sets and their overall attitude toward business. These Entrepreneurs aren’t at all what most salespeople think of when they think of business owners. There’s very little of the usual sloppiness and chaos, which are so common in entrepreneurial companies. Organization is a mania.

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How to Make Your Product or Service The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

To gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed and accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Designed specifically for your unique situation (e.g., “for small businesses”) Practical Street smart Nothing theoretical or abstract about it Won’t put any demands on your time Won’t strain your resources

Why They Work

The Entrepreneur’s desire for flexibility from you is a reflection of two other needs — personal independence and products/services that are designed specifically for their unique situations. Ironically, small and medium-size businesses outnumber giant companies by as much as 45-to-l. Yet, Entrepreneurs perceive that almost every element of society favors the large companies and institutions … university courses, professional and consulting services, trade shows, published articles, seminars, books, research data, legislation, periodicals and just about everything else that teaches, explains or

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reveals anything that has any value. And when they look at the structure of that world, they perceive a rigid, unyielding indifference. It’s too big and powerful for them to bend to their will, too impersonal to care about them and too consumed by what’s of no interest or value to them. It won’t yield to their needs or, for that matter, even pay attention to them. Therefore, they only want to do business with a provider who considers them important enough to warrant flexibility or, if you will, very special treatment. The ideal provider must be willing to make accommodations to what Entrepreneurs consider their unique requirements. Of course, that provider won’t have to actually be flexible or make the exceptions. You simply have to be perceived as being willing to do so. Remember, the need for personal independence is a statement to the effect that “I’m different from all the others, so I should get unique treatment.” They’re not claiming to be better than everyone else, only different from them.

That sense of uniqueness — in other words, having special needs — is the main source of these decision makers’ highly suspicious attitude toward most salespeople. You might have noticed that they often begin the sales cycle with the assumption that the salesperson doesn’t understand them and is just, “trying to sell me something.” And, as we said before, that’s usually a square peg for a round hole. If Entrepreneurs are going to perceive that your product or service was designed specifically for them (see earlier), they also must perceive that you took all the necessary steps to make it the right way. That’s why they always demand that you be more thorough and disciplined than they are. This is what we might call a “would have” or “should have” situation. If they blame their chaos on the lack of resources—which is a common complaint— they want to be assured that you did everything they would have done if they had sufficient resources to make sure that your product or service is right for them. In other words, they would have done their own due diligence, allegedly, if they had the time and money to do it. That’s the “would have” side. On the “should have” side, a few Entrepreneurs are honest enough to admit that their lack of discipline has nothing to do with resources. In those rare cases, they want to know that you did what they should have done.

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Being thorough, therefore, means you’ll protect them from either uncontrollable conditions (“what they would have done”) or from themselves (“what they should have done”). In fact, the typical situation reflects some of both. Although they are often short on resources, they’re also notorious for not being thorough and they rarely follow through ... even when ample resources are available. That well deserved reputation is a major contributor to their need for independence. As we said before, they show a range of behavioral traits that make them unemployable.

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How to Make Your Organization The Ideal Provider

Provider Want

To gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal provider, position it before yon start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Regular people Down-to-earth Just like you Think the way you do Your ideas and opinions matter Straight-forward Nothing slick

Why They Work

Most of these Entrepreneurs are well known for having a very friendly, but “no-nonsense,” style. You might think that they’re “bottom line” people who like to cut right to the heart of the matter without a lot of talking and speculating. That’s true to a degree. But their attitude in this regard is more indicative of what they consider their weakness in handling certain kinds of interactions skillfully. And the one they believe they handle the least adroitly is the one with “slick” salespeople.

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Making decisions gives these Entrepreneurs a fair amount of anxiety … even non-purchasing decisions. One of the reasons they surround themselves with such a high degree of orderliness, in fact, is that they use it as a buffer – a concrete entity – against the ambiguities, which are associated with decision making. Although they’re anything but simple-minded, they do have a lot of discomfort with abstractions. The more parts of the business they can put in tangible terms, therefore, the easier it is for them to cope with having to make decisions. As a matter of fact, concrete reality is a way of avoiding decision-making. For example, a tightly planned work schedule will hopefully eliminate the need to make decisions “on the spot” about a particular job or project.

If they have that much anxiety with decisions that don’t involve a purchase, you can imagine what these Entrepreneurs feel when they’re confronted with an aggressive salesperson! If you go back to the example of the mechanic and service manager, you’ll recall that these decision makers don’t think of themselves as persuasive people with highly refined political or interactive skills. As a result, their discomfort runs very deep when a decision is being influenced by someone with good persuasive skills … like a salesperson. It’s not surprising, therefore, that these Entrepreneurs feel extremely vulnerable, most uncertain and most exposed to the perceived dangers of “being sold” when they’re in close contact with people who aren’t forthright and direct — in other words, people who are persuasive “sales types.” The prejudice is, of course, that such people are anything but direct. They’re allegedly evasive and slick, rather than being “just like you” (the decision maker).

There’s hardly a decision maker alive who would turn away from a relationship with a provider who’s “just like them.” It’s practically a universal human impulse.

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Many decision maker types perceive, however, that they have the personal capability to deal with providers who aren’t “like” themselves. While they might not be totally at ease in that situation, they at least feel adequately equipped to handle it. That’s not the case with these Entrepreneurs. Their tolerance level for dealing with people who are unlike themselves is unusually low. By the way, that happens to be a common condition among decision maker types who have the hands-on, uncomplicated, performance-oriented inclinations we’ve already identified. To these Entrepreneurs, being “just like them” translates into “regular,” down-toearth people who are very direct, forthright and without guile. Please understand, we’re not describing a witless slug. Anyone can be intelligent and well educated while still being “regular” and guileless.

When they were working in their operations applications — before becoming business owners — these Entrepreneurs often perceived that they were denied a certain degree of respect by other professionals. In other words, their opinions don’t “count for as much” as did the ideas and suggestions of many other people ... both inside and outside the company. And it almost goes without saying that many providers didn’t extend much more respect to them, either. Even though they’re rarely overt about it, they “signal” their sensitivity on this subject in several ways. So, they approach most interactions with an oftentimes ill-concealed agitation — or at least, a tentative posturing. It would be pleasantly disarming, on the other hand, for you to provide evidence that you respect their opinions. For these decision makers, that would be a welcome change from what they’re accustomed to in their world.

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Move Your Benefits To A Higher Level

Benefit Want

To gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like ... Keep it running Maintain the performance you want Keep getting the results you want Get your hands around what you want and hold onto it Consistent results Consistency

Why They Work

This type of Entrepreneur is usually not looking to expand his or her business dramatically, or achieve any kind of astonishing results. For most of these decision makers, accomplishing today what you accomplished yesterday — and achieving tomorrow what you achieved today — is good enough. In other words, the value of consistency is almost unmatched by anything else.

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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

To gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before you start to quote it.

Use Words Like ... Stable Not subject to wide swings No radical shifts

Why They Work

A stable price is one that has neither been, nor will be, subject to radical change. If a product or service is genuinely reliable — and if it has an impressive install base — it’s obviously a long-term “player” in the market. That being true, radical price shifts either upward or downward are unsettling for these Entrepreneurs. Nothing associated with you should be perceived as radical, sudden or unexpected. The “fabric” of the decision maker’s experience with you has to be smooth and seamless. It isn’t true, therefore, that your price must be the lowest or even close to the lowest.

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Using Some of the Words That Work for this Decision Maker

In a letter ... Dear (Form a Special Instant Bond): There’s nothing like being your own person…doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a business that hums along with every-thing in place. (How to Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): To help you get there, a product or service has to be specific to your unique situation. It also should be practical and very street smart. (How to Make Your Organization the Ideal Provider): But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it comes from downto-earth, straight-forward people who think the way you do. (Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): Then, you’ll be able to get your hands around what you want, and hold onto it. (Make Your Price a True Bargain): And whatever you buy should have a stable price that isn’t subject to wide swings. I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself. (STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)

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In the form of advertising copy … Being Your Own Person ... in a Business That Hums Along There’s nothing like being your own person … doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it in a business that hums along with everything in place. To help you get there, a product or service has to be specific to your unique situation. It also should be practical and very street smart. But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it has a proven design that’s been quantified in a real-world application. Then, you’ll be able to get your hands around what you want, and hold onto it. And whatever you buy should have a stable price that isn’t subject to wide swings. We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself. (COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.) Important: Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing “universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company and your price.

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Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or your product/service. Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your competitors with Words That Don’t Work.

Sophisticated Theoretical Abstract Standardized Uniform The same for everyone Structured Growth Profitability Keep things flexible Experimental Elite Complex Experimental Clever Stop and reorganize

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WORDS THAT WORK with the

Franchisee Use these words to improve your skills in selling, sales presentations, bonding with clients, copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior level decision makers, direct response, negotiating, mediating, prospecting, cold calling, website copy, business writing, public relations, business presentations, marketing strategy, brochure design, advertising design, positioning, persuasion, staffing selection, coaching and mentoring, psychological profiling, personal development, consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring, email marketing, NLP, body language, personalization, defusing tense situations, dealing with objections, closing sales and maximizing conversion ratios.

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

Why

1-800-633-7762

Words That Work Truly Work

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for use exclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with political candidates, Tom Travisano went on to observe over 12,000 salespeople over a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application as related to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequent research Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You’re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale, which was published through Business One Irwin in 1995. After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision makers respond to most favorably as they relate to the overall sales relationship, perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial leader. Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words accordingly.

2

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for: Entrepreneur (General) Entrepreneur (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background) Franchisee CEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Corporate Executive Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Researcher Human Resources (Training Executives) Purchasing Agent/Manager Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal) Attorney (Litigating) Attorney (Non-litigating) Accountant (Principal) Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Primary Care Physician Medical/Dental Office Manager Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Oncologist Pathologist Radiologist Hematologist Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Equipment Engineer Process Engineer Design Engineer

3

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

T

o form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ... Turnkey Own your own turnkey business Being in charge Personal independence Be your own person

Why They Work

T

he typical Franchisee wants to earn a respectable income — without having a boss along with it — by taking advantage of “someone else’s turnkey idea.” And that must take place in a no-risk environment.

S

ince most Franchisees are really “buying a job” rather than going into business for themselves in the traditional sense, they don’t represent the popular model of the entrepreneur. Most entrepreneurs go into business for themselves along a specific path: 1. They develop a new idea/product/service/concept, or a novel variation of an old one.

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2. The next step for them is to raise the necessary finds (often in the form venture capital) in order to start a business. 3. In the running of that business, they’re usually resistant to accepting advice or guidance “from the outside.” Their ideas and opinions are given the greatest credence, and their way of doing business is virtually sacred. At the foundation of that experience is an insatiable hunger for personal independence. The need to be a free agent is so great, in fact, that those individuals don’t merely stumble into business for themselves or wind up owning their own businesses through a series of accidental events. Being entrepreneurs is practically their entire reason for being.

T

he Franchisee, on the other hand, is an entirely different person.

Unlike the “true” entrepreneur, most Franchisees would make good employees. And most of them were before they decided to seek self-employment. You should, therefore, consider the Franchisee to be some-where in the middle range between the true entrepreneur at one end and the lifetime employee at the other. It’s true that Franchisees would rather work without having a boss in their lives. But the word is “rather,” not “need to” or “absolutely have to.” Consequently, they don’t have anywhere near the resentment toward power or resistance to authority that we find in entrepreneurs. The fact is, the average Franchisee is not only willing to take advice and heed external guidance, but usually seeks it out actively. He or she wants to avoid making far-reaching decisions in relation to such things as product development, marketing channels and the like ... all of which the true entrepreneur considers a normal part of doing business. So, the Franchisee is willing to take the plunge into self-employment, but not with his or her own “idea” for a product or service. The “idea” has to come from someone else (the franchiser) because most Franchisees aren’t very creative.

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In fact, they look to the franchiser for all the creativity and innovation that’s needed to make the business a success.

T

he closer the business opportunity comes to being a turnkey operation, the more I appealing it is to the Franchisee. All the major decisions should have already been made and tested by the franchiser … long before the franchise was offered for sale. It’s often said that Franchisees don’t really buy a business opportunity, or a franchise or anything else so grandiose. They buy, instead, an “operations manual” — specifically, proof that the risk has been eliminated from the business. In exchange for that security, the Franchisee is willing to settle for — in fact, happy to settle for — an income level most entrepreneurs would consider inadequate because their dreams are usually bigger than the Franchisee’s. For the Franchisee, the income need only be respectable enough to pay bills, put some savings away and live like a decent human being.

I

t’s important for you to remember that, although you might not be selling franchises, you still must confront the same emotional issues which franchisers have to face.

In other words, Franchisees don’t consult one set of values and priorities when they buy their franchises … and then activate a different set when the buy from you. As is the case with all decision maker types, the Words That Work for the Franchisee apply to every purchase.

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How to Make Your Product or Service The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like … Proven Debugged Accepted/Popular Respected Runs/Operates the same way every day Safe Dependable

Why They Work

W

hen a product or a service has been proven, it has a long track record of successful performance. All the “bugs” have been worked out and the product or service’s acceptance in the marketplace is a matter of obvious fact. Until and unless that plateau is achieved, the concept is “unproven” as far as the Franchisee is concerned.

N

ever lose sight of the fact that one of biggest decisions in the Franchisee’s life — the purchase of the franchise itself — was inspired by his or her perception that the business opportunity was completely proven.

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Evidenced by a battery of operations manuals, that proof is the typical Franchisee’s major source of comfort. It stands between him or her and the threat of financial risk and a variety of other uncertainties. Only a true entrepreneur, not a Franchisee, is willing to embrace risk as an integral part of the business landscape. In fact, most entrepreneurs are actually attracted to high-risk situations because the presence of risk reinforces how they like to perceive themselves ... bold, courageous, heroic captains of industry.

B

efore buying his or her franchise, the typical Franchisee had a respectable career — middle manager, airline pilot, and so on. Probably more than anything else, professions like that offer respectability. In exchange for the opportunity to earn considerable wealth, which the employee gives up, he or she gets a supposedly secure and respectable environment. Walking away from that environment for a totally new career represents a considerable change for the Franchisee. Even though the new business opportunity might be thoroughly proven, it also has to be respectable in every possible way. Otherwise, the financial rewards will never be worthwhile for the Franchisee. The average Franchisee really doesn’t want to confront huge business challenges, which is a major reason why he or she bought a franchise in the first place. Along with those “operations manuals” we referred to before comes a kind of daily work that’s known as “routinized.” In other words, the franchised operation runs the same way, day in and day out — using the same procedures, following the same policies, implementing the same systems — and that’s a source of tremendous comfort for the Franchisee. Figuring out new ways to do things, devising new systems and developing new policies on a regular basis is something the Franchisee rarely experienced as an employee and he or she doesn’t want to experience any of it now, as a selfemployed business person.

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C

ontinuously repeated routine is the essence of a franchised business operation and the Franchisee’s “emotional anchor.” That anchor, by the way, has to be relatively easy to use, or it will quickly lose its appeal. Consistent with the Franchisee’s need for a totally proven, turnkey product or service is the need to not be stretched beyond his or her personal capabilities.

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How to Make Your Organization The Ideal Provider

Provider Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal provider, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ... Steady Reliable Excellent marketing capability Always available to you

Why They Work

I

t really doesn’t matter if your product or service isn’t a “business opportunity” (a franchise), because it will still be evaluated from that perspective by the Franchisee. And the same is true for your company. Whether or not you’re offering a franchise for sale isn’t the issue. This decision maker type holds all product/service providers —franchisers and nonfranchisers — to the same standards. That being the case, the Franchisee is deeply interested in how reliable your company is ... just as if he or she were actually buying a franchise from you.

T

rue entrepreneurs often believe that they can’t, and don’t even have to, depend on anyone but themselves. If anything, they’ve come to expect unreliability from almost everyone around them.

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Franchisees, on the other hand, could never perform well in such an environment. They need to perceive that any company they do business with will be as steady and reliable as the ideal franchiser is, or as their former employers were. Therefore, you have to always be available to help in every reasonable way. The Franchisee isn’t the typical entrepreneur, who wants to be left alone.

A

close “cousin” of the typical Franchisee is the individual who’s attracted to multilevel business opportunities. That decision maker, by contrast, usually has a strong sales or marketing background, while most Franchisees are extremely inexperienced in that area. The fact is, decision makers of almost every type want to find in a product/ service provider whatever attributes and assets they lack themselves. For the Franchisee, that means marketing expertise. Unlike the multi-level candidate, most Franchisees consider marketing a mysterious discipline whose complexities are nearly impossible to figure out. Their perception is that it requires unique instincts and judgments that they lack, no matter how much training they might be given. Moreover, the act of “getting customers” (marketing) doesn’t appeal to the typical Franchisee’s emotional agenda, since it lacks the necessary amount of respectability. For example, of all the methods and procedures that the franchiser gives to the Franchisee, the ones he or she will usually follow most faithfully are related to marketing. Whether or not your company can have a marketing impact on his or her business is completely irrelevant. You must be perceived as having considerable marketing expertise anyway.

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Move Your Benefits To A Higher Level

Benefit Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and accepted, position them before you start to describe the.

Use Words Like ... Decisions that are obvious Take the risk out of decision-making

Why They Work

A

s we said before, this decision maker wants to have all the important business decisions made by someone else. The concept of quantification implies that decisions don’t have to be entrusted to intuition or any other kind of human judgment because everything is already proven. The Franchisee lives with the belief— in fact, the hope — that “the system will decide.”

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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

T

o gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like … Prudent Sensible

Why They Work

A

prudent or sensible price is “proof’ that the Franchisee’s need for respectability is satisfied (see earlier) ... the kind of respectability he or she left in order to pursue self-employment.

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Using Some of the Words That Work for this Decision Maker

In a letter ... Dear (Form A Special Instant Bond): Personal independence comes from owning a turnkey business that lets you be in charge and be your own person. (Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): A business like that uses proven, debugged products and services which are respected because they run the same way every day. They’re safe and dependable. (Make Your Organization the Ideal Provider): You can get dependable products and services from steady companies with excellent marketing capability … the companies that are always available to you. (Move Your Benefits to A Higher Level): There’s no better way to take the risk out of decision-making. (Make Your Price a True Bargain): And there’s no better price than the one that’s prudent and sensible. I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself (STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)

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The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

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In the form of advertising copy ... Be In Charge Personal independence comes from owning a turnkey business that lets you be in charge and be your own person. A business like that uses proven, debugged products and services that are respected because they run the same way every day. They’re safe and dependable. You can get dependable products and services from steady companies with excellent marketing capability … the companies that are always available to you. There’s no better way to take the risk out of decision-making. And there’s no better price than the one that’s prudent and sensible. I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself (COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.)

Important: Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing “universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company and your price.

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The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or your product/service. Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your competitors with Words That Don’t Work.

Experimental Currently being tested Make far-reaching decisions Flexible values and priorities Implement your own ideas Challenge Substantially debugged Changing routines and procedures Stretch your capabilities Risk-taker Use your marketing capability Don’t depend on anyone but yourself Reward that are worth the risk

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POPULAR WORDS

THAT WORK PACKAGES

Chief Executive Package CEO (General) CEO (Financial Background) CEO (Engineering Background) CEO (Operations Background) Entrepreneur (General) Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer

Corporate Employee Package Corporate Executive Human Resources (Training Executives) Chief Information Officer Researcher Purchasing Agent/Manager Facilities Manager

Macro Medical Package Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon Radiologist Hematologist Oncologist Pathologist Primary Care Physician Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Medical/Dental Office Manager

Engineering Package Equipment Engineer Design Engineer Process Engineer Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Facilities Manager Researcher Chief Information Officer

Entrepreneur Package Entrepreneur Entrepreneur Entrepreneur Entrepreneur Franchisee

(General) (Financial Background) (Engineering Background) (Operations Background)

Independent Professionals Package Architect (Principal) Architect (Non-Principal) Litigating Attorney Non-litigating Attorney Accountant (Principal) Primary Care Physician Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Franchisee

Independent Medical Package Primary Care Physician Surgeon Chiropractor Medical/Dental Office Manager Dentist/Orthodontist

Properties Package Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Facilities Manager Purchasing Agent/Manager Architect (Principal) Architect (non-Principal)

The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com

1-800-633-7762

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YES – I want more Words That Work profiles to help me become a better sales professional, writer, presenter and communicator. Please send me the following reports: Combination Packages o The Entire Words That Work Set of Library Profiles $877 o Macro Medical Package $267 o Chief Executive Package $177 o Entrepreneur Package $127 o Independent Professionals Package $217 o Corporate Employee Package $147 o Hospital Package $195 o Independent Medical Office Package $127 o Engineering Package $177 o Properties Package $147 Individual Profiles - $ 28 per profile o Entrepreneur (General) o Entrepreneur (Financial) o Entrepreneur (Engineering) o Entrepreneur (Operations) o Franchisee o CEO (General Background) o CEO (Financial Background) o CEO (Engineering Background) o CEO (Operations Background) o Corporate Executive (Non-CEO) o Chief Financial Officer o Chief Information Officer o Human Resources (Training)

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Researcher Purchasing Agent/Manager Facilities Manager Accountant - Principal Architect – Principal Architect - Non-Principal Attorney – Litigating Attorney - Non-Litigating Primary Care Physician Surgeon Pathologist Oncologist Chiropractor Dentist/Orthodontist Radiologist Hematologist Hospital Administrator Hospital Materials Manager Office Manager in a Medical or Dental Practice Real Estate Manager Insurance Claims Adjuster Design Engineer Semiconductor “Fab” Manager Process Engineer Equipment Manager

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