Don't Advertise What you Do, but What your Client Receives

by Coach Cary Bayer

Earlier this year, I was teaching a series of classes in our nation's capital and, wanting to get some fresh fruit for a post-seminar snack, I went into a Giant grocery store in Silver Spring, Maryland. Unlike just about every other supermarket and retail outlet that I've ever walked through throughout this vast nation of ours, it, surprisingly, did not have a customer relations department. But don't be shocked. That's because this Giant had already awakened its own inner giant: it has a Solutions Center. The difference is quite palpable. Customer relations is what stores offer; solutions are what customers desire. Going into a store that sports its own department for solving your problems is a fresh breeze that would make anyone a loyal and devoted customer.

Healing arts therapists can benefit immeasurably from this significant distinction when it comes to preparing advertising for their services, developing the proverbial 30-second elevator speech, and learning how to effectively talk about what they do. When I teach throughout the country, I come across dozens of different wellness magazines. As I peruse these (usually) monthly publications, I see ads from many therapists and spas, and virtually every single one of these--with rare exceptions--are usually just business cards plunked down in the publication. Each of these "so-called" ads makes the same basic mistake--and makes it in a big way. I say "so-called" ad because it's not an ad at all, but a business card. What these messages do is communicate to a reader what the therapist will do for him, rather than what the prospective client will receive from the therapist. Advertising in this way is a huge missed opportunity for therapists and a big waste of the money that they work so hard to earn.

What most psychologists need to understand is that most of the people who could possibly find their way to their tables wouldn't recognize their own psychological transference if it hit them in the head. Subluxation sounds too technical for someone who just wants some relief from the pain in his back. Deep tissue, while it means a lot to the colleagues of massage therapists, sounds to many prospective clients like some new kind of packaging for Kleenex products.

Therapists would benefit enormously by realizing that they'll be far more successful if they engage in technical shop talk only with other therapists, but use plain and simple English to clients and prospective clients. This holds true whether the healing is communicating through an ad, newsletter, brochure, or website, or in an elevator, at a party, or in line at Starbucks, or on a website. It's one thing to talk anatomy and modality to other therapists at a convention; it's quite another thing to talk that way to a layman in pain who's simply looking for much-needed relief. To paraphrase the old acronym: KIST--Keep it Simple, Therapist.

I'm not saying that there's no value in discussing what you do and the technical aspect of the modalities that you practice. They serve the valuable function of providing rationale for the rational side of your prospective client's nature. It intelligently explains the value of your work when telling potential clients the benefits that they can receive. It speaks to the left side of their brains.

Commercials for wise marketers do this on television, on radio and in movie theaters. Print ads for savvy businesses do this in magazines and newspapers. A car spot, for example, might describe rack and pinion steering, anti-lock brakes, and deployment of airbags. This explains how and why if you buy that vehicle, you can rest assured that your kids will be safe. The best of these commercials, while analyzing the features of the car, also demonstrate safe braking on icy roads, keeping your little ones safe. This speaks to the right side of your brain and your feelings.

If you meet me at a party, a CE training, or your state convention, and you ask me what I happen to do, I won't tell you that I'm a life coach. This is despite the fact that this is clearly what my business card says that I do professionally. Instead, I'll tell you that I regularly help people create breakthroughs in their finances, in their businesses, in their relationships, and in their spiritual lives. I'll tell you that I have privately helped some 200 different therapists create breakthroughs in their business and their personal lives. In other words, what you'll hear me do is describe the results that someone can expect by working regularly with me. If you don't think that this gets people's attention far more quickly and persuasively than falling into the trap of saying the type of service you provide, then you haven't been paying close attention to how people listen. Very few people care what you do while you're going into your description. They're far too busy listening for what benefits they can receive from you.

So, if I happen to meet you at that party or convention, and I ask you what you do, you don't have to say that you're a therapist. You could tell me that you give people the beautiful feeling of well being. Or you could tell me that you relieve pain from people's bodies and suffering from their hearts and souls. And if my feet are killing me from teaching all day or I'm feeling some other pains in my body, you can bet your sweet myofacial that, if you're a massage therapist, you'll have gotten my attention in a proverbial New York minute.

Cary Bayer (www.carybayer.com) was keynote speaker at the 2006 American Massage Therapy Association national convention. Widely known as The Business Coach for Massage Therapists, Cary is a Life Coach; CE provider licensed by NCBTMB and Florida Dept. of Health's Board of Massage Therapy; and faculty member of Massage Business University, he writes for Massage Today, massage publications in 14 states, and a syndicated column, "Life 101," that runs in wellness publications. His 27 publications include 11 specifically for massage therapists. He's coached some 150 LMTs and dozens of alternative healers. His CE seminars, "Build a $100,000 a Year Massage Business" and "Healer, Heal Thyself," are very popular among alternative facilitators.