Feb.

2007
Issue 004
Quicksand Words & Phrases

You're in the desert. Sun's beating down. Wind blowing like a blast furnace. Nothing
but sand all around. You take one step after another to get out of there. Each one
just like the last.

Except this one. You step. You sink.

You're down to your waist instantly. Uh
oh! Quicksand.

Like sand in the desert, we expect words

and phrases to be the same each time.
We expect them to work on customers
like they did in the past.

However, some words and phrases, like quicksand, can sink us. Customers have
heard them too many times, and are tired of un-kept promises.

When we sell services using quicksand words and phrases - we're sunk. Customers
see or hear them and stop listening. We've lost their attention. They sink out of
sight.

How do we avoid quicksand and keep customers' interest? That's our Revenue-IQ
article this month.

Regards,
Chris Arlen, President, Service Performance

Quicksand Inside & Out

Washed-out words and tired-phrases can still have meaning. They can still work. It's
where they're used that matters. Like day and night.

Inside, communicating to employees, these words and phrases can describe valuable
business strategies. They work here.

But outside, with customers, washed-out words and tired-phrases are death by
quicksand.

2 Reasons Quicksand Exists

#1 Unaware of Competitive Marketplace

Most contractors using quicksand don't know it. When putting marketing
materials together we become inwardly focused.
1
www.serviceperformance.com 206-780-2963 © 2007 Service Performance. All rights reserved.
 Feb. 2007
Issue 004
(Continued) Quicksand Words & Phrases

We ignore the marketplace. Forget other contractors are selling and

marketing too. Using the same words.

If we don't look at competitors, we end up in a "me-too" fest

#2 Unaware of the Cost of Customer Perceptions

If we think making meaningless statements to customers is OK - we'll do it.

It's when we realize we've spent money to turn customers away - paid to
send them to competitors. That's when we wake up.

Unfortunately, that can be years later. And once awake, we see the money
we've wasted, the customers we've soured, and the effort it'll take to regain
both. It's "pay now, or pay later".

Recognizing Quicksand

Here's the easy part. If it looks too familiar, or sounds phony - it's quicksand. Avoid
it like the plague (with customers).

Examples of Quicksand

Below is a short list of quicksand words and phrases. For everything else, trust your
instinct. You'll know what's quicksand or not.

"EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS"

Defining expectations is tough enough - let alone meeting

them. Remember they're services; intangible, changeable,
invisible.

So customers are to believe contractors define expectations

explicitly? Then go beyond meeting them, but exceed them?

I seriously doubt it. So do most customers. They see this

claim, and you're lined up and shot. Alongside everyone else
selling kitchen knives that never need sharpening.

"OUR SERVICE IS SECOND TO NONE"

What can I say? Sounds right out of the 1950s doesn't it? No matter how you
dress it up, it's still a plaid-jacketed used car salesman. Deadly at all costs.

2
www.serviceperformance.com 206-780-2963 © 2007 Service Performance. All rights reserved.
 Feb. 2007
Issue 004
(Continued) Quicksand Words & Phrases

"CUSTOMER-FOCUSED"

"No, we're not customer-focused! We work hard to upset anyone gullible

enough to be our customer."

Sarcastic obviously, but "customer-focused" is quicksand. Avoid it. Even

though it may be true. Customers step into it and vanish from sight.

"HIGH QUALITY"

Who doesn't say this? How many contractors say they provide mediocre or
low quality? High quality is a great internal business strategy. But quicksand
as a marketing term. Step around it.

"PEOPLE ARE OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET"

Over use washes out meaning, along with past experiences that don't live up
to promises. Together, they make "people = important asset" quicksand.

And that's unfortunate for contractors who live this credo with employees.
Because it's admirable. And it's an excellent business strategy. Don't say it -
just do it. Customers will know.

"SOLUTIONS PROVIDER"

I'm guilty - I use this one. Too bad too. Real solutions are what customers
buy. Again, over usage and failure to deliver has made "solutions provider" a
message sink hole. "Mam, please step away from the solutions provider".

It's Not Just Us

Quicksand doesn't just happen to contractors. MBA freaks and technology geeks are
infected too. Check out Dilbert's Mission Statement Generator at:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/bin/ms.cgi

Or, go to Buzzword Bingo at:

http://isd.usc.edu/~karl/Bingo/bbbingo.html

Summary

• Customers tune out & go sour on us when they step in our quicksand
• Quicksand wastes money spent on marketing materials

3
www.serviceperformance.com 206-780-2963 © 2007 Service Performance. All rights reserved.
 Feb. 2007
Issue 004
(Continued) Quicksand Words & Phrases

• Some words & phrases are great internal business strategies, but they're
quicksand with customers
• Know what's said in your marketplace
• Create & use quicksand-safe messages - we can help

About Service Performance

We help raise clients’ revenue through industry-specific sales training, collateral

materials, proposal and presentation upgrades. Our clients secure contracts more
frequently and retain more of the accounts they already have.

• More info on Quicksand-Safe Messages call 206-780-2963, or email

info@serviceperformance.com
• More sales insights from our Revenue-IQ blog, visit:
http://www.serviceperformance.com/blog
• More sales & marketing services, visit:
http://www.serviceperformance.com/services.php
• Permission to reprint or distribute, email: info@serviceperformance.com.
© 2007 Service Performance.

4
www.serviceperformance.com 206-780-2963 © 2007 Service Performance. All rights reserved.