It’s Monday — that means it’s time to open up the mailbox and answer YOUR questions!
Want a deeper connection with your prospects and market? Keep it real…
This is a change happening on a cultural level. It’s way bigger than any marketing technique or even strategy. We’re moving toward a more open and transparent society.
All your good and bad are out there in the open, for everybody to see. The skeletons in your closet are a Google search away.
This is bad news for anyone who puts on an act. This is bad news for anyone who is trying to maintain a false image “for the market.” This is bad news for anyone who trying to be someone they’re not.
But, it can also be good news for you.
IF you play it right. And that’s the subject of today’s Mailbox Monday issue.
I got called out on calling for vulnerability, with an example of someone going “too vulnerable.”
I got asked to set the record straight: where is the line?
My response is below. Before we dive in, two bits of business.
- Late last week, I put the finishing touches on The Value-First Funnel Strategy: Maximize sales with systematic education-based marketing. This is an explicit blueprint for becoming THE preeminent expert in the minds of your market, and generating more sales by being a servant-leader instead of a used car salesperson. This is how to generate maximum profits by being of maximum help to your prospects as they make their buying decision. More about it in future issues, but it’s there and available when you join BTMSinsiders for your first month at zero risk or obligation. Click here — join now — get immediate access.
- To have YOUR question answered in an upcoming Mailbox Monday, send it to me at [email protected]. I’ll add you to the queue and give you an answer here!
Now on to today’s question:
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Hey Roy,
I found a note on my desktop from one of your emails a while back. You made a cool point on vulnerability and I wanted to see if you’d expand on it:
“In fact, based on connecting a whole bunch of dots, I believe we will continue to move into an age or era of increasingly-necessary transparency and vulnerability.
In other words, prospects won’t just appreciate when you “keep it real,” they’ll demand it.
And the way they will demand is is they will respond less and less to pure “you”-focused benefit pitches… (Just like they respond less today to “we” and “I” copy that doesn’t speak them at all.)”
This is a cool viewpoint, and before I ask you a question about how to apply it to b2b, I wanted to remark on a related story.
Not too long ago, Kevin Rogers recapped a Facebook post from a guru marketer who “laid it all out there” about a depressing week he had. Binge eating pizza… crying in the shower…and telling the story just days after it went down. I can’t remember exactly, but he might’ve sent it to his email list too.
Kevin pointed out something like “vulnerability is great…but all I can imagine is you crying in the shower covered in pizza sauce.”
I agree with Kevin. It seems like the guru could’ve spared some of the details, WAITED a few months, and delivered a much more impactful lesson with enough distance to not freak people (and prospects) out.
Maybe by going into such detail, the message was too much about himself, and not enough about the other person, what do you think?
Second question: I write copy for a company that offers outsource printing and mail delivery to big financial companies. They compete for business from giants like Capital One, and I’ve written some direct response email sequences for them.
There’s no personality or “name” behind the business. They sell paper, ink, and technology capabilities that keep big credit unions and mortgage companies compliant in a shifting legal landscape.
I’m curious, in a b2b setting like this, does vulnerability still matter? Maybe I’m thinking about it too personally, and their vulnerability would stem from a more transparent communication of their culture/processes/positioning.
In other words, do big boring firms need to let their hair down and keep it real too?
Keep up the sharp thinking, I love reading your emails.
-Austin
—
Okay, two questions here…
And I’ll cover them each separately…
— Gurus covered in pizza sauce…
— Putting a face on a faceless company…
So whaddya say? Let’s dive in…
Gurus covered in pizza sauce…
I think your — and Kevin’s — observation is fundamentally right.
While it can be attractive to have gone through hell and come back from it, you’re playing with fire if this is something you want to disclose “live” unless that’s the kind of market you’re in.
Oprah? When she’s dealing with issues, she can — with poise and grace — let you in a little bit, and you feel more connected. Because she’s in the relationship market. Because she’s in the being human market. Because she’s in the “go through shit and come out better on the other side” market. For her, it’s a demonstration of her expertise to be able to handle issues and even stumble without falling down completely.
But there is a line. And in other markets, that line might look a lot different.
My biggest question: if you’re going through something right now and you’re considering disclosing it for the world to see, will it cause your market to question your ability to continue providing the value (products, services, etc.) they expect from you?
With the Oprah example above, you can see that she can be in the middle of tough times, and she can open up a TON without it impacting the value she provides. In fact, it may magnify it.
Or take Eminem. If you’ve followed Eminem’s career and story beyond the headlines, you’ll realize he’s been through some horrible, horrendous things. Experiences that quite literally created the “Slim Shady” character that catapulted him to international rap stardom (and caused a ton of controversy).
And part of the role that he has taken on in later work is actually to use his pain as a teaching tool, to help others get through it.
Recent albums have featured his issues with addiction, all the way to the point of titles like Relapse and Recovery.
In his epic, “Rap God,” he reflects on this very push-pull of vulnerability and marketing/entertainment:
—
It’s me, my honesty’s brutal
But it’s honestly futile if I don’t utilize what I do though
For good at least once in a while
So I wanna make sure somewhere in this chicken scratch I scribble and doodle
Enough rhymes to maybe to try and help get some people through tough times
But I gotta keep a few punchlines just in case cause even you unsigned
Rappers are hungry looking at me like it’s lunchtime
—
Eminem knows that it’s his vulnerability that helps “get some people through tough times” that creates a deep and powerful connection with his core audience. They see him as a hero not just because he voices anger and frustration and sarcasm and so many other shadow elements they’re afraid to speak… But because he also puts himself out there and is transparent about both his struggles and and victories.
But that’s show biz, right?
Well, yes. And, no.
If you’re thinking “no” because “my biz is different” — think again… We are ALL in show business.
While people buy your products and services for the result they expect to get… You form customer relationships for the long run based on WHO YOU ARE.
If you get the WHO right, you can sell them one WHAT after another.
And so I say we’re all in show business because we will all be most successful by making ourselves into a WHO that people want to follow (in fact, that’s one of the three pillars on which the Story Selling Master Class is based).
That’s the “no” part of the answer.
The “yes” part of the answer is that yes, Em and O are in show business. They do get a little extra leniency (especially Em) because of the nature of their public personas. Rappers without dark sides generally sell less records.
But here’s the really interesting “show business” reflection that brings it all back around to the original point.
Eminem especially knows how to “package” his vulnerability at the level of genius.
His vulnerability is part of the show. In fact, it has a name: Slim Shady.
Careful analysis of his lyrics and presentation reveals that Slim Shady is a characterization of his shadow side. It’s a character he created — and that he plays in his music — that gives a voice to his anger and frustration and hurt and suffering.
When he slips into Slim Shady, that’s what he lets out. When he switches back to Marshall Mathers — very intentional moves — he becomes more reflective and mature.
While the casual observer (and especially the moralistic critic) may not see this, this is a very calculated choice in when and where and how to be vulnerable.
There are depths to Marshall Mathers that are not revealed anywhere, I’m certain. There are still skeletons in his closet, even after he’s opened up like he has through his songs and especially his Slim Shady lyrics.
Which brings us back to the guru covered in pizza sauce.
I didn’t see the original example. I’m not certain what it looked like. But it certainly sounds like it went over the line.
It was too fresh. It was too new. There was no separation.
(Sidebar: that’s one of the beauties of Eminem’s use of the Slim Shady character. It gives him instant separation between himself — Marshall Mathers — and the negatives he presents. By being able to step back and say, “Those negative experiences are something I’m experiencing, but they are not me,” he gets perspective in presenting them that makes it never feel like he’s too deep in them. He steps in and out of them freely, and thus never gets lost in them.)
Again, it comes back to control. If you’re presenting an image of someone who is not just vulnerable, but out of control, that’s trouble. If you’re not in control of yourself, you’re likely not in control of your value delivery either, and your market won’t necessarily respond.
With regards to a completely unrelated matter, my coach Joseph Rodrigues told me recently that there’s a rule he follows in situations like this: “When in doubt, do nothing.” That’s probably a good rule here.
One more idea I want to squeeze in here: there ARE people, including in the business world, who I’ve seen ride this line very effectively. AND they have huge followings of passionate and devoted followers because of it.
Without naming names, there’s a guy who I really respect who went from nothing to huge over the last couple years. I watched it happen. And he’s also dealt with some alcohol issues during that time.
His moment of maximum vulnerability in this regard came when he specifically and very publicly (on Facebook) said that it had gotten to be too much, and he was stopping.
Why did this work?
It demonstrated control.
I don’t think he stopped for good. But he needed to reset, and he recognized it. And when he did that, he stated it as what he was doing, and asked for protection and support from his fans and audience. “Live” on Facebook, to thousands, including his customers.
He wasn’t wallowing in self-pity. He was taking responsibility for his situation, and for making it better. That’s attractive vulnerability. And it worked for him, 100%.
Do you need to confess your alcoholism? I’m not saying that.
But being real about how you’re taking on your struggles is, I think, a good model for the kind of vulnerability that resonates most strongly.
The next question…
Putting a face on a faceless company…
I don’t envy you. That’s a tough, tough situation to come into as a copywriter. Especially because there are probably decades of “that’s how we’ve always done it” and “best practices” that would need to be overcome to change their behavior.
It’s far easier to find a culture where being human is part of what they do than it is to change an ingrained bureaucracy of impersonal garbage.
But let me point to an example in that exact same industry: MackayMitchell Envelope Company. It’s Harvey Mackay’s company.
And while Harvey Mackay doesn’t quite show the kind of personality of some of my previous examples, he’s a great example of someone who has had great success injecting a persona into an otherwise impersonal business.
He’s done it by becoming a sales guru, best-selling author, leadership trainer, and motivational speaker.
He created a brand for HIMSELF while also selling envelopes.
And here’s the thing. There’s not necessarily a HUGE overlap between people who are interested in Harvey Mackay, the motivational speaker, and MackayMitchell Envelopes. But imagine what happens when you speak to hundreds of thousands of people in business, about topics including sales and marketing.
Let’s say that gets you just one new client per month. One person out of the throngs who really sends a lot of business mail. Large-scale mailers. Anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000 pieces per month. Well, suddenly having a personality out there being the person while also occasionally (but strategically) referring back to the envelope company makes a lot of sense.
Plus, there’s the opportunity to put personality into the template communications sent out by the sales team.
There’s the opportunity to make the CEO the star.
In another industry, think Lee Iacocca. Most cars are not sold on personality. They’re sold for the car itself.
Then Lee Iacocca showed up at Chrysler, and stepped out of the boardroom, and into the commercials. He became the brand and pitchman.
I don’t care whose name is on the checking account when someone’s buying your product or service. I don’t care if it’s a business or a consumer.
Ultimately, it’s still a person who has to sign the check. It’s still a person making a decision.
And people respond to people far more than they respond to faceless pitches.
It’s been found over and over and over again that a signed letter outperforms an unsigned advertisement. People want to hear from people.
If you’re committed to staying with this client and not going somewhere where you can write person-to-person communications (even if you’re selling b2b), consider proposing a test.
You’d like to write a letter from the CEO or other spokesperson, in a personal voice, to a segment of the prospect or customer file. Give them a reason for reaching out, and make an offer. Ask for action, preferably a call to a real-live person (or scheduling an appointment).
See for yourself how it works. Rinse and repeat as results warrant.
One more pro tip, as we’re already way over: consider putting company-specific human interest stories in your newsletter or other customer communications.
Newsletter marketers have found that human interest stories (about our staff, latest office happenings, personal anecdotes, etc.) that occupy up to 30% of the communication (especially up front) lead to more engagement, more retention, and more response to offers. Even if most of your other information/content is about the business you do, and told in an impersonal voice, peppering in this personality can humanize all of it, and help business.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
