In this video, you’ll learn how to improve the copy on your consulting website by focusing on the business outcomes you provide.
The consulting website used in this demonstration is 760 Blue.
[Slides]Transcript
Welcome to episode 4 of Consulting Website Design: Pictures On The Wall
Today, we’re looking at the website and copy of 760 Blue, a small consulting firm out of Baltimore, Maryland.
As far as the website’s design, it’s a bit empty, but it feels quite professional. The imagery, typography, and colors work pretty well together. It’s a good starting point.
I’ve called this episode Pictures On The Wall because we’re going to be talking about how consultants must market based on the outcomes they can provide, and not the tasks that they do.
The classic example of this is that your customer is not buying a nail, they’re buying a hole in the wall.
You can take this a step further as well — they’re not buying a hole in the wall, they’re buying the ability to put a picture of their family up on the wall — which provides them with a feeling of familiarity and comfort.
What do you think is more enticing in your marketing message as a consultant — the feature/task (the nail), or the outcome (the feeling of familiarity and comfort from putting up the picture?)
Good marketing makes you feel something because when it taps into your emotions and desires, and resonates with you, you’re more compelled to act.
On this website, we have the header “Core Capabilities:” — and all of these bullet points are focused on the task.
When you write out your tasks like this without going into the outcome, it’s kind of like listing tools:
- Hammer
- Nail
- Screwdriver
- Wrench
- Tape Measure
That’s not anything that’s going to get your prospect excited about the possibility of working with you — it’s not a selling point.
Let’s tweak some of this copy to not only be more compelling but to help draw the prospect deeper into the website and the firm’s expertise.
But first — let’s get rid of this slider. 99% of the time, sliders are just a waste of space, and they don’t really help the reader gain a greater understanding of what you do.
I’m going to tweak these first three bullet points to show you how this might look if you were to talk about the outcomes that these tasks can provide.
So, for Strategy Consulting, we could say something like:
- Strategy Consulting: High-level decision making for your business growth [Learn More]
For Data-Analytics and Visualization:
- Uncover the unexpected in your data to improve predictions [Learn How]
For Procurement:
- Reduce your purchasing costs by 8-12% [Learn How]
So we’re still listing the tool, which is entirely viable for consultants, but we’re listing the outcome, as well as a link to a case study or a service page where you expand on either how you do it or you expand on what you offer with that service.
This quote, from Alan Weiss’s Value-Based Fees, drives this point home:
Every intervention and activity you propose to the client must be cast as an outcome, a result. The intrinsic value of actions is minor. Tasks are basically commodities that can be compared and contrasted. The intrinsic value of outcomes is enormous because they meet client emotional and visceral needs and can’t be compared to anything else. Thus the sole difference in the client’s perception of task (commodity) versus result (outcome) is within your power to influence. Yet most of us have abdicated that responsibility.
And I’m arguing that this type of thinking with a focus on outcomes, not tasks, is how you should write your website as well.
…and I think my subscriber and consultant Terry Hopper did this really well on the design and copy of his booth:
He’s taking the result of his services to the HIGHEST level — more time with family.
Now he could have put “Business consulting” or “strategy consulting” — but instead, the copy on his stand speaks to a very personal and strong desire that’s hard-wired into us.
We all would love to spend more time with family — or one would hope.
Put yourself in the shoes of his potential client — a small business owner who would love to have a more streamlined business — an owner who would love to spend more time with his or her family.
The words “More time with family” have the ability to literally stop the potential client in his tracks, and approach Terry to learn more, and then he can get into how he can help his potential client accomplish this.
Action Step
Today’s action step: scroll through your LinkedIn profile, and wherever you’re describing the tasks that you perform for your client, ask yourself “Why should they care?”, to which you answer “they benefit because…” and describe the outcome this task can help your potential client acheive.
This exercise will force you to write outcomes that your clients care about — not the task that you perform for them.