Demonstrating Expertise in Marketing
Many companies use their marketing efforts to demonstrate their expertise in a market. But demonstrating is one thing...how do we create opportunities for our ideal clients to RECEIVE our demonstrations?
Whether you're demonstrating your expertise in a sales call, a technology demo, or a case study, it's important to understand the INPUTS that allow for whoever you're demonstrating to, to receive that information AS EXPERTISE. So today, that's what we'll be exploring 😊
Who do YOU deem an expert?
I love starting from our own brand experiences. So, who do you deem an expert?
Next...WHY do you deem them an expert?
Personally, my experience of expertise is tied into things making SENSE. Which is based on MY current level of understanding about a topic.
So, whether or not YOU are an expert is determined by ME.
Of course, there are other things - from a societal perspective - that might deem you an expert. A doctorate, years of experience with a specific technology, or a specific certification. Now, I don't know about you, but I've experienced one too many "certified" people who have no idea what they're talking about to "trust" a specific certification.
But that doesn't mean I RECEIVE you as an expert. Unless you're telling me things that make sense to me. Not that I have to understand them deeply, but they need to make enough sense for them to pass through my filter.
So, if we know that WE are the ones determining someone else's expertise, we realize that it's actually OTHER PEOPLE who are deciding whether or not we are experts. And no, not the people giving out the degrees. But the people buying our products and services.
Who are you an expert to?
The next step is for you to decide FOR WHOW you want to be an expert.
Take that Ideal Client Profile you have buried somewhere in your marketing documentation, and look at it from a "being the expert" angle.
>>>What kind of expert do your people need?
>>>And who else do they already deem an expert in this field?
I had a recent connection ask me the question: who do you go to for money advice?
My answer: I don't. I try to figure things out on my own.
Which is a terrible plan (for me) because anything money and finance related has stressed me out since University (besides keeping a basic budget).
So, great point new connection, it would be awesome to have someone that I could depend on like that.
That person's people are looking for a Money Advice Person.
And you can figure it out with a single question.
Now, maybe I end up using him, and maybe I ignite another option in that area, but now I know what kind of expert I'm looking for. And that person helped me understand that with one simple question.
So, I'll ask again...what kind of expert do YOUR people need?
And can you be that?
The Mindset of an Expert
A lot of times, both in business and personally, people think they need MORE expertise to be the expert their people need. But that's not necessarily true.
Sure, if you're going to be a brain surgeon, there's DEFINITELY a certain amount of knowledge and practice you need to do that job. But I don't really care whether or not the world's best brain surgeon knows how to drive a car, or cook meatloaf, or even match their socks.
The kind of expert YOUR people need is YOU. With your certain amount of knowledge, and your certain amount of practice.
Will you always get more? Absolutely (if you're growth minded, that is).
But that doesn't mean you can't help people with what you have today?
Nope.
But before you can worry at all about whether or not people will RECEIVE you as an expert, you have to receive YOURSELF as an expert.
And that's a YOU job. Or an US job, if you're part of a larger team.
And until YOU believe it, it doesn't matter how many certifications you have. It won't be true to YOU, which means it won't ring true to others either.
A Bad Demonstration
Ok, so let's say you now have great clarity on the expertise you have that your people need, and your confident enough in your abilities to offer it to the market. What types of demonstrations ACTUALLY leave people with the EXPERIENCE of expertise?
I want to start off with a bad example.
I connected with someone on LinkedIn a while back. We chatted in the DM's and ended up booking a coffee chat. When I arrived at the coffee chat, it WASN'T the person I had been talking to AND they were there to give me a demo.
HINT: any bait and switch tactics will DECREASE your perceived expertise.
The guy actually gave me a pretty good demo. The problem was, he gave me a demo I didn't ask for, for a solution I have no need for.
Wrong alignment on FOR WHOW you're an expert 💡
Which means, I did NOT experience either of the people in the interaction as experts. And I haven't interacted with that brand again, and will in no way recommend it to other people.
So, did that company demonstrate something to me? Yes.
Was it received as expertise? No.
This is the problem I see with any "Let Me Show You" experience in marketing and sales. You might as well be demonstrating to me how to fix an airplane. I have no interest in it, so I turn my brain off.
And you know it's true, because you do it too 😉
So, what can we try instead?
A Good Demonstration
This might just be me, but I see three parts of a formula in a good, or useful, demonstration:
Listening - people who create space for me to share my story, and create enough comfort so I am willing to reveal things I might not otherwise reveal...like whether or not I have a go-to "Money Person". I could have easily lied, but I didn't. Why? Because I felt safe, seen, and supported, even in a first conversation.
Curiosity - people who ask questions, not just to get to a specific outcome (yeah, people can feel that with your leading sales questions), but because they are innately curious in you and the conversation.
Alignment - people who share stories about their experiences that are in alignment with yours. This might be business related, but it's almost always personal, like a shared love of cats, a shared digital allergic reaction to cats (that's my group 🤣), reading the same book, attending the same college.
When you can Listen, Ask Questions, and then identify Alignment, THAT'S what opens the door to me experiencing you as an expert.
Not your stats. Not the letters behind your name. Not the number of years you've practiced. But a joint belief that we can travel forward together.
Expertise = Opportunity
Once you've demonstrated this kind of expertise, you get the opportunity to solve someone's problem.
And sometimes, if you've invested enough in the relationship stage, you get to explore solutions being the ONLY provider (or preferred provider, in the case of Procurement purchasing rules).
And isn't that what we're all hoping for?
But What If I Have A Product?
OK, great. You have a product.
Any product demo that's happening WITHOUT the above experience happening FIRST, may allow you to report a positive KPI, but the likelihood of it leading to a sale is slim to none. And then, all the time taken to do the demo was actually a huge waste. No Sale. No Expertise Demonstrated. No Connection.
But if I've had a truly meaningful conversation with someone. I've demonstrated my Listening, my Curiosity and Alignment between us, we explore how we could solve their problems and they want to SEE what they experience is like?
Well then...a demo makes lots of sense.
But too often tech companies think people are buying the features of a solution. They're NOT. They're buying the solution to a problem.
So sure, it's helpful for a buyer to understand what it will FEEL like to use the technology day to day. But it's only helpful AFTER they believe you're an expert.
A tech demo does NOT, I repeat, does NOT demonstrate expertise.
And if you don't earn that first, your demo is going to be a waste of time.
A Personal Note
There are those of you reading this right now who are thinking this makes lots of sense, and there are those thinking it sounds out to lunch. That will ALWAYS be the case.
To some people, I'm an expert in branding and streamlined marketing strategies. But not to everyone. This will ALWAYS be true.
Your opportunities come from YOUR people. Not all people. And trying to demonstrate your expertise to people who AREN'T your people, will NEVER result in them experiencing you as an expert. It will result in them experiencing you as someone who's trying to convince them to do something they would never do...NOT the fastest path to a sale.
Back to Marketing
If you take all these learnings back to your marketing efforts, what do you see?
Personal alignment on what makes an expert?
Understanding of who you are an expert for?
Your mindset as an expert?
Forgetting to listen in your marketing efforts?
Forgetting to ask questions in your marketing efforts?
Forgetting to create alignment in your marketing efforts?
Putting tech demonstrations BEFORE expertise demonstrations?
Skipping expertise demonstrations for tech demonstrations?
Dropping the ball altogether on creating an opportunity?
These are all common inputs that get forgotten in marketing.
But they are CRITICAL in ensuring you're seen as an expert.
So, if you're in an industry where part of your competitive advantage is that you're the expert in what you do, make sure you answer these questions for yourself ASAP.
And if you're looking for some help with facilitating that, let's chat ✨
