Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Made in the UK for HR consultants worldwide. You're listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hello James here and welcome to this week's podcast episode. In this week's main event, I'm going to talk you through the main takeaways of my most favorite marketing book ever. And that's they Ask you Answer by Marcus Sheridan. And in today's Thought of the week, I'm going to let you in on a conversation I had with a friend about what the perfect business looks like to me.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: So let's jump straight in this week's main event.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: In today's main event, I'm going to talk to you about one of my most favorite marketing books ever. And that's they Ask youk Answer by Marcus Sheridan. Now, if you've not heard of the book before and don't know Marcus Sheridan, let me tell you his story. He didn't start his career as a marketing expert or best selling author. In fact, he started out as a pool guy. And back in 2008, during the financial crash, his swimming pool company, River Pools and Spas was on the verge of collapse. Leads had dried up, sales had plummeted, and it looked like they were about to go bankrupt. Sheridan was desperate to find a way to survive. And when thinking about how he could make more sales for his pool company fast, he thought about his own buying behavior and how he made big purchasing decisions. He realized that like most of us before he made any sort of big purchasing decision, he would always do extensive research first. He would search for the answers he needed to reassure him him that he was making the best decision, whether that was buying a car, a TV or any other expensive product like a big old swimming pool in his garden. And this was his light bulb moment. People don't want to be sold to. They need answers. So when he was speaking to people about swimming pools, he was keeping a list of every single question they asked. He was then checking out his competitors to see what they were doing. And that's when he realized that no one was answering the big questions that buyers had. No one was talking about price.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: No.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: No one was explaining the downsides of fiberglass versus concrete pools. And no one was openly comparing different options from different providers. And these are all things we do before committing to making a purchasing decision. And Marcus saw this as a huge opportunity. He decided that his company should be the one that answered every single question his customers had. And he was going to do it openly, honestly and and better than anyone else. So he started writing blog posts and creating content that addressed the real concerns people had when buying a pool. He answered questions like, how much does a fiberglass pool cost? What are the pros and cons of fiberglass versus concrete? What are the biggest mistakes people make when buying a pool? Who are the best pool companies, even if it's not us? And because he answered these questions, his website traffic exploded. Instead of chasing leads, leads started coming to him, and he transformed his failing business into one of the most successful pool companies in the U.S. he then shared this simple yet powerful approach with everyone else in the world via his book. They ask, you answer. So when I finished reading this book, and this was a good few years ago, now, I remember feeling very dumb. For me, everything that Marcus said in the book was just common sense. We all do extensive research before making a buying decision. And the reason why his marketing was such a success was because he had recognized this and simply answered the questions that his prospects had. And for me, this is what marketing is all about. Okay, so now I've explained Marcus's story and his marketing approach. Let's dive into the three biggest takeaways from the book and how they can transform the way that you market your consultancy. So for me, Takeaway 1 is 70% of the buying decision is made before a prospect contacts you. So by the time that someone actually contacts you, they've already done the research and made their decision. They've googled, they've compared their options, they've checked your website, and they've probably made up their mind about whether they trust you or not. So here's the big question. Does your website actually help them to make that decision, or are they clicking away because they can't find the information they need? The second takeaway of the book for me is that the key to great marketing is answering customers questions. Marcus whole marketing approach is built on one simple principle. Answer your prospects questions and that's it. Forget the complicated marketing strategies. Just answer the questions your clients are already asking. And do it better than any of your competitors. Because when you become the business that just gives people the information that they're searching for clearly, openly, and honestly, you'll instantly stand out. And then the third final and probably biggest takeaway of the book for me are the topics you should be covering in your questions and answers. He calls these the big five, and they are the top five most popular question subjects that you should answer in your own marketing. So the first subject is price and cost. So if you think about it, this is the number one thing prospects want to know, and it's Crazy how many businesses avoid it and are worried about being transparent with their pricing. So even if you can't give an exact price, you should explain what affects the costs so people understand what they're paying for on your approach to pricing. And if you're not talking about pricing, people just assume that you're hiding something, which is the quickest way for you to lose their trust. The second subject is problems and negatives. Now, this one surprises a lot of people because most businesses think that talking about the downsides of what they offer will put customers off. But in reality, it does the opposite. Being upfront about the challenges, limitations, or who your service isn't right for makes you way more credible. It shows that you're honest and that you actually care about helping them make the right decision, even if that means they don't work with you. The third subject is comparisons. So if someone is about to spend money, they're always going to compare options. So why wouldn't you be the one to help them do that? Think about it. If your prospect is googling HR software A versus HR software B, or outsourcing HR versus doing in house, and your website doesn't answer that, then someone else is will. Or they'll go off to try and find that information. You've lost them. So instead of letting someone else control the conversation, you should be the one to own it. The fourth subject is reviews. So we all check reviews before buying anything, right? So why not provide the information yourself? Share client testimonials, write about the pros and cons of different HR tools and services, and give real insights on what works and what doesn't and what people should know before making a decision. And finally, the fifth subject is best in class. Now, this one sometimes feels counterintuitive, but it works. Marcus says that you should actually help people find the best options in your industry, even if that's not you. So let's say you wrote a blog called the Top five HR Consultants for Startups. And yes, that means mentioning your competitors, but here's what happens when you're the one providing this level of transparency. People trust you more, and in the end, they'll probably be more likely to choose you anyway. Okay, so now I've talked you through my three biggest takeaways of the book. I want to leave you with a little action plan so you can start using the they ask you answer approach for yourself. So step one is write down the top 20 questions your clients ask. So think about every question you get on sales calls, emails, LinkedIn, if you've answered it more than once, write it down and chances are these will fit into one of the big five categories. Step two is to create content that answers those questions. So write blog posts, film short videos, add a simple epic AQ page to your website. And the key here is to be clear, honest and thorough. And step three is be transparent. So talk about your pricing, even if it's just explaining what affects the cost. Address the downsides of your service or HR in general, and compare different options, even if you're not always going to be the best choice. And that brings us to the end of this week's main event. Like I said at the start, I absolutely love this book and think I've given you a really good summary of what it's about. I know creating content takes a lot of time and that's why we use the they ask you answer approach when creating content for the HR Marketing Box. So the HR Marketing Box is an online portal full of ready to use content and ideas to help you increase your brand awareness and get new clients. And when we create the content, we think about the questions that business owners will ask and the top five subjects to ensure the content we create is as good as it possibly can be. If you'd like to learn more about content marketing or the HR Marketing box, then please feel welcome to reach out and let's book in a chat.
[00:08:34] Speaker A: James Thought of the week I was.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: Speaking to a friend the other day and we were discussing what the perfect business looked like and I said that the perfect business is one that has lots of subscription based recurring revenue. Isn't relying on selling your time to either service or product base actually helps people and people value what you do and provides you with great work. Life balance and for me, these ingredients make a successful, stress free, scalable and sellable business model. And I'm sure that these are ingredients that you would like for yourself in your own consultancy. And that's why last year in the HR world I started a new transformational movement called the Recurring Revenue Revolution. So to join the Recurring Revenue Revolution, you just simply needed to make a commitment to yourself to focus on generating subscription based recurring revenue as your first priority. But the big issue is how do you actually turn HR into subscription based revenue? Well, within my flagship video program, how to Package up and Sell HR to Make More Money, I talk you through a brand new framework called the HR Service Pyramid which helps you break HR down into the different levels of service and package them up using the right pricing model. I also provide templated subscription based packages for you to copy and a templated promotional deck to help you educate business owners, answer the questions that they have like they ask you answer and help you sell. So if you would like to stop trading your time, make more recurring revenue and free yourself from clients delivery, then this video program is definitely worth you checking out. To learn more, Visit my website thehrmarketingguy.com and if you'd like to jump on a call to chat more, please feel welcome to get in touch.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: You've been listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast, helping you to get new clients and create a life you love.
