332: Marketing Messages That Attract and Repel
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Summary
What does your marketing say about you? Not only does our messaging need to attract clients, it also needs to repel some as well. By being up-front and honest about who you are and what you do, you’ll have potential clients realize you’re not a good fit before they even contact you. The power of your messaging means you have to be very intentional about what you’re putting out.
Main topics:
Not being for everyone
Having a strong brand
Backfire from bad messaging
Repel marketing
Main takeaway: Repel marketing isn’t something most of us think about, or implement. It’s about being honest. “Here is what I can do for you and these are the things I cannot do.”
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
clients, repel, messaging, people, business, attract, pet, associates, language, company, marketing, fit, communicating, pet sitter, prices, message, putting, pet sitters, pricing, confessional
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin
Meghan 00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin, and this is Pet Sitter confessional an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hi there, welcome to episode 332. Hello, thank you to pet sitters associates and our Patreon supporters who support us every month financially with a few dollars. Today, we're gonna be talking about marketing messages that attract and repel. So think about what kind of company you run, it's a very basic question. But it's a starting point to really understand what your messaging is going to be. So if you are solo, you put out marketing messages talking about the benefits of hiring a solo pet sitter or solo dog walker, or if you have a team, you use language that talks about the benefits of a team, you know, you are then going to attract clients that want that, and neither one is good or bad. They are just different.
Collin Funkhouser 01:07
Whether your messaging is through social media, emails, blogs, or maybe boots on the ground flyers and pamphlets, that messaging will attract clients that are best for your business. And really importantly, here, conversely, that same messaging will also repel clients that are not right for your business. And this happens both when your messaging is on point. And even when it's not, there is always communication and messaging happening. When we are putting things out there in the world. Sometimes it will connect with people, sometimes it won't.
Meghan 01:41
Yeah, so for example, something that is on point, if your messaging is on point, it's you know, if you have high prices that will attract those clients that can pay back and example of something that would not be on point necessarily is if you say on social media, we are here for everyone, we will walk any dog, we will sit any fish, whatever it is. So obviously that's going to attract clients that are not not a good fit for your business, maybe aggressive ones or reactive ones. And it's going to repel clients that think that they have a really special unique case, their their dog is a senior who may not get along with other dogs or maybe super reactive and really needs one on one care that maybe you are not able to provide,
Collin Funkhouser 02:29
or they don't think you can provide because your messaging is too broad. And so you actually end up repelling that client because they don't think you're a good fit. Even if you are it's just your messaging isn't communicating to your strengths.
Meghan 02:41
And so when we talk about marketing messaging, we want to focus on the positives of who it is for. So who is our ideal client, we've talked a lot about this on the podcast thinking about exactly who you're trying to talk to who you're targeting. This is one specific person that you're really trying to go after maybe it's doodle owners, maybe it's senior citizens who are in retirement communities, whatever it is, it will help us to focus on the words and the tone and the type of language that we use. And so we also need to recognize on the flip side of that, that when we are using language that is exactly for our person that we want to bring into our business, you're going to use that language and that messaging that you use will turn off people to our service. And that's okay, that's not something that we often think about, or really talk about, it's always the positive aspect of this of, we are trying to get this person we're trying to reel them in. And we're trying to use words and language and tone and the social media apps that they are on and they are using at the times of day and all of that type of stuff. It's always a positive. But we also need to think about the negative. And not that we need to dwell on the negative aspects of this. But we just need to be aware that it's out there that we are attracting certain people or trying to get them to use our services. But also we are saying no to some people over here, you are not a right fit for my business. I do not want you as a client, and your dog or your cat or whatever is not the best fit for my business for whatever reason. That is,
Collin 04:22
yeah, we don't want to be for everyone. Even if you're brand new in a business and you have that urge to say yes to everyone, your pricing software, you're meeting greet process, that won't appeal to everyone because clients come in with certain expectations and ideas of who's going to be a best fit for them. And we need to be messaging in such a way that clearly defines who we are both for and who we are not for that it is really scary to think this way because of this limited mindset or we have a scarcity mindset about the potential for clients out there. But it's really a A desire to be hyper focused here and helps for when clients aren't deciding to use us. Or they don't want to move forward after contacting us, we can sit there and question and go, Why didn't they do that? It can certainly hurt. We have second guessed ourselves, and we make questions and we go, why did this happen? Or even start to wonder why you're not getting the number of inquiries that you had hoped for, we have to go back to that messaging back to that marketing that we're putting out there. All of that all of what you're putting out there, or what you're communicating to potential clients communicates who you're for, and who you are not for?
Meghan 05:37
Well, and it can also be a little nerve wracking to think about this in the negative aspect as well, because we do want to help a lot of people like the we are a service based industry, we are there to help people we are there to provide care when they have long days at work, or vacations or having a baby or whatever the circumstance is. And so we want to help people, we want to care for all the puppies in the kiddies out there. But we also have to realize that we are not for everyone. And so when you have high prices, you are then saying no to the clients that cannot afford you whether it's physically saying no on the phone to them. Or if they go to your website. And it's that internal messaging that you have of these are my prices, and they go okay, well, that doesn't align with my budget, so I cannot use them, you are weeding people out. And that's why it's so good to have a big presence, whether that's in your community or online,
Collin Funkhouser 06:30
we want our brand to be so strong that people immediately know whether it's for them or not. Effectively, this is all about repelled marketing. It's the art of repelling people who do not fit the description of your ideal client. And it totally changes our mindset, especially since many of us are in this feast or famine mentality, like we mentioned earlier, the scarcity mindset where we want to be for everyone to have this desire to meet everyone's needs. But deep in our heart, I think we're honest with ourselves, we know that that language is not true, we say we want to be for everybody. But we know that there are clients that we actually don't want. We know we have limits, we know we have boundaries. We know we've made mistakes in the past where we took on people when we should not have done that. And that you don't want to go into those situations again.
Meghan 07:18
So viewing it from both sides of the coin here, you know, how do I use my messaging and to both attract the clients that I do want while also repelling the clients that I don't want, it is important to think about both sides. Because if we are not thinking about repelling certain clients, you know, if we're only focusing on the positive of attracting, attracting, attracting, but we're not thinking about repelling, it can really backfire in three ways. And the first one is it dilutes your messaging. So if you're trying to target everyone, you know, a lot of us at the beginning we wanted every single person no matter what type of dog or situation or 24/7 care or whatever it is. But when when we try to target everyone, your marketing message is going to be very general and very blog and kind of just blend in to everybody else's. You know, nobody wants to read blog content, that doesn't really resonate with them. Personally, you know, a lot of marketing gurus talk about having your ideal client be the hero of the story and using language that they would relate to, and that they can really see how you as a company would be able to solve their problem. And so if you don't use that type of language, it doesn't speak to them personally. And as if you know, you were best buddies and trying to really help them on this journey of being a pet parent. It can also dilute your message because if you're casting your net too far and too wide, you may be afraid of putting some people off, so you'll switch your personality off as well. So we always say, you know, your business is unique because of you. No one will write a social media post like you do, nobody will write an email, like you do. No one will go into a vet's office and deliver doughnuts like you will you make your business awesome. And you have your own creative ideas. And so if you just try to get everybody out there, you may not bring in your type of personality into it as much because you don't want to repel those people. But it is okay to repel those people that's you ultimately as a business is, especially as a service based business, you have to do that because you are not for everybody.
Collin 09:23
This will result in attracting the wrong clients and actually repel the ones that you want to serve in the first place. The ones who would be your raving fans, if you let them in and you were talking to them. Your personality and communication style is putting some people off. Great. You don't want to work with them. Anyway, there's actually this really good quote from Steve Jobs where he said if you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader. sell ice cream, basically saying that leaders in business are going to not work with certain people when you are passionate and opinionated about your business and you Don't let people know that that's going to turn people off, they're not going to want to work with you. And that needs to be okay. We need to gratefully and eagerly seek out that kind of messaging so that we know when people are reaching out to us, they are those raving fans, they are those people who immediately see us and understand I get you. And we stop having to fend off the people or wade through the people who aren't like that.
Meghan 10:27
If you don't think about your marketing message repelling people, it also may waste your time and your money. So when your messaging doesn't connect with people, people don't bite to they don't say they don't reach out and say, Hey, I would like to use your dog walking services, you know, they don't move forward with the process, because they feel like it's not for them.
Collin Funkhouser 10:47
Because they don't feel like it's for them, you aren't effectively reaching them. So you either increase your advertising spend because you're not getting the clients that you want, or you stop advertising completely, because you don't feel like it's worth it. And a lot of times we did up doing some or both of those across different spectrums of advertising revenues. So when our messaging is too general, we waste money. And then the third thing that happens when our messaging is too general, and we're not repelling clients, as clients end up running our business, once you have the wrong clients on your roster, it can feel impossible to get rid of them. So don't try and accommodate every single one of their whims. Or you find yourself in a position where the client is calling the shots and telling you what to do as if you were their employee. View your clients the way you would view hiring staff, they need to comply with your standards and have the right qualities they need to fit your company culture. And you need to actually enjoy working with them and see eye to eye on where you're going. You can't always do this. And a lot of times it takes a lot of education through this process of letting them know how you work, how you operate and bringing them along that journey with the messaging that you do. And then once you bring them on board, you can let them know more about how you operate. Treat every single call every single message as a job interview, figure out why you should not bring them on in highlight that have that list of requirements for your perfect client candidate ready so that as you're communicating with somebody, whether that's on the phone, Facebook message texting through your software, however, that is, as you're communicating with them, you're able to determine if they meet those qualifications, if they check all those boxes, and if they don't, they're not someone you want to move forward and continue working with.
Meghan 12:38
Something that you definitely want to attract is pet sitters associates. As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members, pet sitters Associates is here to help for over 20 years they have provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. Because you work in the pet care industry, you can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections and complete freedom and running your business. Learn why pet sitters Associates is the perfect fit for you and get a free quote today. At pets@llc.com. You can get a discount when joining by clicking membership Pet Sitter confessional and using the discount code confessional you can get $10 off at checkout, check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again at pets llc.com.
Collin Funkhouser 13:21
So what does it actually mean for us to start implementing some of this repel marketing techniques? How do we start messaging appropriately, to let our clients know who we want to work with and who are not going to be good fits to us, there are three really
Meghan 13:35
important things you can do. And the first one is to play to your strengths. So again, show off your true colors, you are unique. Show your personality in your messaging on your social media posts in person when you go meet with other pet sitters or other pet businesses or other businesses in general. See, allow people to see the person behind the brand. That's especially true on social media, people want to see your face, they want to see you doing what you do day in and day out. And that's going to attract the clients with whom you will really see eye to eye on and thus it's going to be much easier to work with them. And both of you are going to enjoy it a whole lot more because you guys you get each other. So having the same communication style is critical in any setup. So don't ignore it. Don't hide your true colors for fear of repelling people who may not appreciate it. You know, like we said at the beginning if you're solo market that use that to your advantage. If you've got a team, make sure your messaging plays to those strengths as well.
Collin Funkhouser 14:35
I think it's also important to start with the no have your clients convince you why they should be your client at all. I actually had this this gym teacher back in middle school who started everyone off with 100% in the class or actions and progress and what we did in the class would could would really convince him to either let us keep an A or move us down the scale. So we we have to work to stay at 100%, and convince him otherwise, to Cuba through moving down, put the onus on your client to prove themselves to be your client, they have to convince you as to why you need to add a new service meet their demands, any other asks or things they asked you to go above and beyond what you currently offer. Because when we always rush to that, yes, that will do nothing but result in burnout, poor quality service and a non scalable business. Don't stretch to fit your client, make them fit your company.
Meghan 15:35
It can be hard, though, when you're in the growth phase, or you are really trying to get as many clients as you can, right now, you know, before 2023 hits and a potential recession you you want to grow your list, it can be hard to really start with a no, but it is important because firing clients is a whole lot more painful than bringing on new clients.
Collin Funkhouser 15:58
And Megan, you've mentioned this third one a couple times. But when we think about very practically what what can I put in my messaging, an easy way to repel clients is to showcase your pricing to not hide it or keep it secret or delay it to future steps. A lot of people hide their pricing or feel like it's uncouth to bring up the topic of money because they want to talk about other aspects of their business. They want to sell other aspects of their services, this can really be a big detriment, because I know for us, we have gotten to an advanced stage in the process. And then the client asks about price. And we realized they either didn't see it on our website, they didn't see it on the flyer, we forgot to mention it earlier. And then we've gone invested all this time, all this energy and resources into bringing on this client, they found out our prices, and they back out immediately. Nevermind, that can't take that. So one of the easiest ways to repel clients is to have your pricing upfront and accessible at all times. And to not be bashful, not be ashamed. And never shy away from talking about the price that it's going to cost them. You won't waste your time trying to convince someone who will never end up paying your prices in the end. And if they mentioned cheaper, cheaper alternatives, which I know happens an awful lot, simply wish them luck with the other company and move on and know that you most likely dodged a bullet with that one.
Meghan 17:21
Repel marketing isn't something that most of us think about or implement, really, you know, we always again, think about the positives of tracting. But we don't think about the other side of it. But it is good to think on because we again, we are not for everybody we are trying to attract some people, we are trying to repel others, whether that's because our pricing is too high. Our company just doesn't fit our morals, our values, our desires, you know, you want to put out the messaging, whether it's on social media, blogs, flyers, your business cards, put out your messaging that reflects your company, the clients, you want to attract the values that you have the desires and the goals for your business. You know, it's not about being vulgar, or gross, or over the top or anything like that. It's about being true to who you are and what your company can do what you can provide to people, it's just being honest, you know, this is what we do, this is who we do it for, and this is about us, you know, it's here, here's what I can do for you. These are the things that we as a company can solve for you, we can solve your problems, you are able to go away and enjoy and have peace of mind. Because, you know, through our professionalism through our continued education of us and our staff, or whatever it is that and the updates that we send, after every visit, you are able to have peace of mind, because of that it's allowing the potential client to know these are the things I can do for you. And these are the things that I cannot do for you.
Collin 18:51
And it's certainly not easy to do. Again, we come into this wanting to help everybody or so we think and whether that comes from that scarcity mindset, or other things that are motivating us, really making sure that we use that language that's appropriate for how our business is set up. That takes being honest with ourselves, so that we can be honest with other people and not being afraid of that or ashamed that we are going to say no or ashamed of things that we won't do. We might not want to bring that up in topics of conversation if you have a potential client, but just being upfront with them. And that takes again, recognizing writing out putting it in black and white on post it notes all around or whatever that is, my company does XYZ for these people, or these are my clients and I serve them in these ways. Knowing that having those checkmarks those checkboxes for clients when they come in contact you what they're asking for. It says simple things as it's too far out of my service area. It's a type of aggression that I don't deal with or whatever that is. When you implement this in your messaging, you'll do less of the weeding out because they've already done it for you and so it actually ends up saving you A lot of time so being intentional about that honest with yourself so that you can actually run that business and not have that big headache over your head is really what we're going after here.
Meghan 20:09
If you have tried this tactic of repel marketing or attractive marketing for your clients, let us know you can email us at feedback at Pet Sitter confessional.com. We want to thank pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode and most of all, thank you very much for listening. We are 332 episodes into this and if you have a particular one or two that are your favorites, feel free to share it with a friend. And we will talk to you next time.
20:37
Bye
