Reasons to Believe

Let's say you have a product or service you want to sell. And you have figured out the main reason why a potential customer would want to buy it. In other words, you understand its essential benefit. Now you want to get the message out!

The challenge we face at this point is overcoming the Credibility Gap. People are naturally skeptical and won't necessarily believe when someone says, "My product is great and offers this wonderful benefit!" They have to be convinced, because people want to feel they are spending their money well and making a good decision.

The way to overcome this natural resistance is to provide reasons to believe. I'll give an example:

Let’s say someone walked up to you and said, "I have a new restaurant that offers the best Italian food in Boise." Would you believe him?

What if he added, “The chef previously worked for a 4-star restaurant in San Francisco.”

And furthermore, “All of our pastas and sauces are hand-made on site.”

And what if you mentioned this new restaurant to a friend and she said, “Oh, I’ve been there. It is the best!”

At what point would you believe?

The claim was to have the best Italian food, and what followed were reasons to believe. The last one is an example of a testimonial. Testimonials can come from people you know (these are especially effective) as well as from satisfied customers, the media or recognized experts.

In fact, there are five different ways to provide reasons to believe and all of them work. If you are interested in learning more about them and would like a chance to write a couple "reasons to believe" of your own, then join me at the Apropos Marketing Foundation Workshop. It will be held on two dates this fall, Oct 29 and Nov 5. Be sure to register online.

Happy messaging!