Like most marketing folks you probably know, I’m reading a book about regenerative farming.
It’s not because I’m looking to make a career change. I just find the world outside of marketing fuels creativity more than even the most thunderous brainstorms.
That’s why we have weekends. And if I’m being honest, the entire back half of Fridays.
So this farmer, Will Harris …
He decided to return to the roots of animal husbandry. To shift from the industrial to the pastoral.
It means ditching all pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormone implants, and subtherapeutic antibiotics.
It means caring for the entire life cycle of the animal rather than fattening them up and shipping them out.
It means producing food that’s “kinder to the animals and fairer to the land.”
Here’s the part that sparked the idea for this email …
Will said that when it comes to animal welfare, the first thing we should ask is: “Are the animals free to express their instinctive behavior?”
I’d never heard that before. It runs deeper than the humane treatment standards we usually hear about, like healthy diets and proper housing.
Way deeper.
This is about creating an environment that emulates nature as closely as possible—to let the animals be themselves, almost as if the farmer doesn’t exist.
And there it is … the dawning glimmer of a marketing analogy. 😎
Because your customer relationships should feel natural and all about them—not forced and all about you.
So, as tempting as it may be to lead with your product or service, you have to win your audience over with empathy first. Show them you understand their current pain before you offer them a path toward relief.
Otherwise, their “natural instinct” will be to run the other way.
Remember, you’re arriving in people’s lives uninvited. And nobody wants to feel like they’re being sold. Buyers are more comfortable knowing they came to their own conclusion, even if you influenced their decision.
That’s why you need to thoughtfully build toward your big reveal rather than Van Damme the door down.
When looking at your sales pitch, ask yourself these five questions …
👉 Have I grabbed my reader’s attention by appealing to their self-interest?
👉 Have I made my opening relevant enough to keep them reading or watching?
👉 Have I built desire by eliminating pains and emphasizing gains?
👉 Have I exposed the weaknesses of other solutions to position mine as the ideal choice?
👉 Have I used specific language to paint a vivid picture of an infinitely better way forward?
If you think that sounds like too much trouble, let’s see if Ca$hvertisingauthor Drew Eric Whitman agrees. He says:
“Every time your prospect thinks about buying, her head becomes a battleground for two opposing forces: skepticism and the desire to believe. It’s up to you to throw more weight onto the desire to believe side in order to offset the amount of skepticism she now experiences.”
This means if you don’t take the time to build a persuasive argument around why someone should buy, the balance between doubt and believability will never be in your favor.
Still, I understand people’s enthusiasm to jump right into the features and bennies. It can be hard to view the product you’ve known and loved for so long through innocent eyes.
But if you’re able to convey your value by focusing on the welfare of whom you serve, your customers will know they’re in the right hands.
If not, you’ll be just another predator going to bed hungry again.
Here’s a song to play you out >>>
See you next time. — Matt
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