Short video by Jeff Harrison (Jeff For Local Marketing) advising creatives and small-business owners to document their process—especially via video—to add perceived value, build customer ownership, and reduce the need for overt sales tactics. Uses artist/gallery example (large-format art) and generalizes to trades (pool cleaning, paving, fencing).
Hey, welcome back. I'm Jeff Harrison. Hey. I was asked a question and I think it's, it's pretty valid, especially if some of you out there are people who are very creative. I go to the gym almost every morning and there's a gentleman in there who is an artist and he's very creative. And we were having a discussion this morning and he said, hey, aren't you into marketing? I said, yes, I am. And he said, boy, he said, I wish I could. I wish I knew how to sell my stuff better. He said, you know, I'm that creative type and I just hate that salesy stuff. And it reminded me of when I was teaching a class to people who wanted to use video more in their business. And what we did is we had one person in there who was a large format artist. I mean, they sold stuff that were, you know, 10ft tall and 20ft long and that type of stuff. And the big thing was most people had no idea of the work that went into that. More importantly, they had no idea how long it took to produce a piece of art that they saw on the wall. Sometimes we see something, we're thinking, hey, how hard could it be? So I, in this process, I suggested, I said, why don't we document the process that her husband, who is the artist, she runs the art gallery. I said, why don't you document what they do? And I said, what will happen is two things. One is we as a potential buyer or potential customer will start to see the process behind it and we'll see that it is quite a bit of work and it will start to add value to it. But I said, here's the other piece. And this is kind of that, that intrinsic piece that kind of. It's really hard to explain, but we all like this. When we get something, and you'll get this immediately is now if someone sees that video. And it was, I think it took about four weeks to create the video because that's how long it took to create this one piece of art because of the drying processes and whatnot. But I said, now if somebody sees this video, I said, they kind of know, it's almost like, it's almost like their parents of the unborn child and they had to go through that incubation period and they got to see the, or feel the kicks and that type of stuff. And I said, so now they have a different level of ownership in this, this, this piece of art. They also, every time somebody walks in their home, what are they going to say? Oh, that's a beautiful piece of art. Oh, let me tell you this story. Let me tell you about this and what this. His name is Nico. What he does to make this happen and what that does. When I talked to the gentleman this morning, I said, most people probably don't know what you do. They just know the end product. I said, what if we documented what you did from, you know, sourcing the product that he used? I think he works with wood. And I said, what if we source that product? You know, what the process is behind that, then the process of going through what you do to make the art come to life. And I said, then you're not really selling. I said, you're just showing and telling people what you do. So then by the time they pick up the phone and call you or they come into your gallery, the value is already built. They already know what has gone into that. They pretty much already picked out what they want, or if they haven't picked out what they want, when they walk in, they know the work behind it, and the selling is basically already done, gang. This is called a customer journey, and it's a way to use content. This specific case in using video, which I'd highly recommend. And start. And start telling your story, no matter what it is. Whether it's cleaning a pool or it's putting down pavers for someone's driveway or whatever it might be. It's building a fence, whatever it might be. When you start laying out the process and then people can see this. What this does is it starts doing a couple things. It starts allowing those people who are interested in your services or your product to get to know. You get to know what goes on behind the scenes. It's almost like, you know, you get. You get backspace. You get to give them backstage passes, and they get to see what's going on in your. In your life. So when they walk in, there is more value. There's less of this negotiation. There's less of this feeling like you have to sell something. The sale is already made because you've given them a great story. So consider that next time. And when you think, boy, I hate this salesy stuff. Now, even if you enjoy the salesy stuff, this is a great tool because it will make sales for you a lot easier. Hey, my name is Jeff Harrison. If you like what you heard, please do me a favor and click on the link, wherever that is on this page and like it and share it. And if you know somebody who could be. Could benefit from this, please share that with them.
