Focus on the WIIFM!
WIIFM? What are you talking about, Abbie?!
In the early days of my business I’d heard this acronym bandied about, but it wasn’t until I joined the public speaking club Toastmasters, and started working on my speechwriting skills, that I really learnt what WIIFM really meant.
So, What’s WIIFM?
What’s In It For Me?
This is the question your audience is asking when they are listening to you deliver a speech. And it is the same question all your prospective clients are asking when they are on your website, sitting with you in a meeting, or watching you on Facebook live. Everyone wants to know what they’re getting out of this interaction, or what they’re going to get by using your services. What’s in it for them? What benefit are they getting by engaging you and your business? Are they truly going to find relief or is it just going to be one more thing they have to manage and deal with?
You may have ten years experience as an executive assistant, or have travelled extensively, or helped your friends for years with their tasks an errand running. Great. But what does this mean? “What’s in it for me?” your prospects are asking.
Clients want to know what you will DO for them.
Clients want to know how you will make them FEEL.
Clients want to know how you will make a DIFFERENCE to their lives.
When you get in depth in a business, you can mistakenly assume that it is obvious why people should use a personal concierge service. Of course they know that you’ll create more time for them. Of course they know that you’ll give them access to great suppliers. Of course they know that you are amazing and will do an amazing job for them. Or do they?
No doubt you have realised that very few people know that personal concierge services exist, let alone what we actually do! It is your job to communicate this to them in a clear way, that matches the needs and expectations of your ideal client.
Review Your Homepage
One of the first things you should do is to review your website home page. Is everything on your site ‘about you’? Do you have a lot of information about you and what you do? Or are you sharing how you can help them and why it will make a difference in their lives?
On our homepage, for example, the first thing people see is a quick description of what we do and why this benefits them. We also use a quote to reinforce this message.
Next we include testimonials from our clients, with their photos, highlighting why they choose to use us and the difference we make in their lives.
Plus, we highlight some extra benefits they get from using us.
I even focus on the WIIFM in my own personal profile.
Social Media
Social media is a great way to demonstrate how and why your clients use you – so you can demonstrate to prospective clients their WIIFM.
Here is our Facebook cover page where we succinctly summarise what we believe our ideal client’s WIIFM is – “the secret to doing it all”.
In this post, we are sharing a cute cat photo (because who doesn’t like cats on social media!) whilst also explaining what we are doing for our client. Plus, the bonus was that the client we were working for, who was away travelling, actually commented on the post! Her friends would have seen this, and know that she is using our personal concierge service.
Below is another fun post, which not only engages our followers, but also shares exactly what we are doing for clients, as well as implying that if this family needs a triple bunk bed then they must have a few kids! It also got some comments from a variety of people (including Ruth from Concierge Montreal!).
And finally, a post where we spell out exactly what we have done for our clients, with the aim of implying how great it would feel for any prospective clients if we ticked off all of these things from their to do list!
I aim to include an aspect of the WIIFM in all areas of my marketing and communications. From social media to flyers, media releases to videos. If you strive to clearly communicate the ‘What’s In It For Me’ message at all stages of your communication cycle, you will make the process of going from a prospective to a current client all that much easier!
So, what is the WIIFM for your ideal client?
Do you need help getting clarify around your ideal client? Want assistance to define your ideal client’s WIIFM? Then head into The Concierge Secret Society and get personalised help from Abbie.
Abbie Allen is the founder of The Concierge Society, as well as Lifestyle Elements and le Porter. She started Lifestyle Elements in 2004 at the age of 23 and now operates internationally from her head office in Adelaide, South Australia. She was the 2014 Institute of Concierge and Lifestyle Managers Association Golden Key Award winner, as well as a finalist in the South Australia Telstra Business Women’s Awards in 2012. She works with her husband Tim, and they have three daughters. If you handed Abbie a brand new book, a glass of red wine and some chocolate, plus the time to enjoy it, you would have made her day! Have you joined our free private community? Click here now!