When We Hear Marketing Bullshit (Customer View)

Why do we call it "marketing bullshit"? The same goes for "sales speak". Why do we use these terms?

Oh, we just need a bit of marketing bullshit to make it look good. Here we go with the sales speak again! We just need some marketing bullshit to add some pizzazz...

We're quick to make these statements. Often, we do it without thinking. A normal part of our vocabulary that doesn't get a second thought.

A good part of the reason is that we been battered by real bullshit and double talk, more than once. We hear organizations say things about what they are offering that leave us baffled, more confused about what they are about than when we first met them.

(One of my pet peeves is going to a company's website, especially in the B2B services space, and trying to decipher what it is that they do. There is so much talk of "synergy" and "services" and "structured solutions" and more, that I leave the site still not knowing exactly what it is that they do!)

This is their fault, of course. A marketer or salesperson has an obligation to be forthright, clear and honest in what they are selling. (Not everyone of them believe that to, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.)

If I sell you a pen, I'm not going to suggest that that pen will solve all of your communications problems. It will solve some of them, and it will solve them very well. But it isn't the single overarching solution.

And if I learn that what you really need is a pencil, I shouldn't pretend that my pen will do exactly the same thing. Similar but not the same. That doesn't make my pen better or worse than the pencil. It's different. And my communications should reflect that.

Many marketers and sales people lose that perspective.

It isn't about selling at all costs. It's about solving the problems that we, as a company, are geared to, prepared to, able to solve. And doing that well. And with integrity.

And then, not worrying about those people who don't need the solution we offer. Who don't have those problems. Who, as Seth Godin puts it, aren't part of our tribe.

Yes, this requires some guts. It requires the ability to walk away from "the sale" (if it was ever there in the first place).

But it also builds the relationship. It shows you are genuine. That you believe in what you are doing. And that, while you care for your bottom line, you also care for your customer.

Ultimately, if you have a product or service that changes the customer in some way for the better, your best strategy is to communicate clearly, directly and honestly.

Your tribe will hear you. They will understand you. And they will want to come with you.