After buying from us, you’ll have more energy.
Not only because you’ll have lost weight, but also because you’ll be sleeping better and enjoying your workout more.
You’ll lift more weights without feeling the usual fatigue.
You’ll run faster and for longer periods of time.
You’ll be able to wake up in the morning and feel pumped about your day.
No more sad Monday mornings.
Also, you’ll look better.
Way better.
You’ll finally be able to post that Instagram pic showing your progress you’ve always dreamed about.’
Now, let me ask you:
What product or service is this ad promoting?
If you noticed, the ad doesn’t mention any product or service.
It could be a gym membership, a workout routine, a supplement pack.
It could even be a Fitness App, a Personal Trainer pitch, or an energy drink.
Truth is, it doesn’t matter.
That’s because when it comes to promotion, products and services are almost irrelevant.
What matters is what the products or services do for the customers.
They’re not buying the product or service.
They’re buying the transformation.
They’re buying a better future.
They’re buying a better version of themselves.
In the book “Sell Futures, Not Features”, the author Michael Killen explains this point clearly:
“…The customer starts to buy the better future, rather than your product.
It just so happens that your product is one of the best or fastest or easiest methods to get to that future.”
In today’s world, marketing & sales are about empathy.
If we deeply understand what problems people have, we can access their narratives and provide valuable solutions.
We can tell them stories so they can clearly see their future.
And in their future, we help them achieve or become something.
We don’t have to promote products or services.
We have to help them become a better version of themselves.
If we can do that, selling becomes easier, fun, and enjoyable.
Because it becomes a way to help people improve themselves.
It becomes a way to lead them to a better future.
It becomes something we look forward to doing, rather than something to avoid or be ashamed of.
Products or services are irrelevant.
The future of people matters.
And that’s where you should put your focus on, no matter what you sell.
How To Implement This Tactic To Sell More
The way to do that for your business is pretty simple.
Stop focusing on what your product or service is, and concentrate on what your products or services do for your customers.
Then, whenever producing some marketing collateral, sales letter, or social media post, rule out the product or service name.
Follow the example at the beginning of this post, and tell a story describing the future.
Describe what happens after people buy your stuff.
How do they feel?
What kind of changes do they experience?
What are they able to do as a result of their purchase?
Make a list of all these things, and start putting together your marketing message in a story that’s compelling.
You can use the “ad” presented at the beginning of this post as a template.
Then, go out there and test it.
After doing so, it will either work out or not.
If it doesn’t, it might be for one of these two reasons: You either displayed a wrong future, or addressed the wrong audience.
No matter what the cause is, talking about people’s future is the only way to find out.
