Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words…
Well, words can actually cut to the core and be quite persuasive, IF you’re using the right ones.
I wanted to tell you about 3 verbiage tweaks I’m using to speak more persuasively in my marketing and sales on the refractive marketing side.
1. “Risky Contacts.”
Remember Trump’s nicknames for his opponents during the election? Lyin’ Ted, Crooked Hillary, Little Marco, Goofy Elizabeth Warren, etc.
There’s a reason he uses that format over and over and over and over, for everyone. It’s sticky.
“Hillary is crooked” holds no candle to “Crooked Hillary” when it comes to sticking that image in your mind.
“Risky contacts” is 10x stickier than “contact lens risks” or “risks of contacts” or whatever else.
Now, if you don’t want to go there because you don’t want to offend ODs who may refer you patients, I understand. You may not want to publicly market with that term.
And if that’s the case, you can still start to use ‘risky contacts’ as a talking point internally – in consults, on the phone, etc.
2. “Have you been told you can’t have LASIK?”
It’s common in the industry to talk about ‘not being a candidate’ for a procedure.
For example – “Have you been told you aren’t a candidate for LASIK?”
But “candidacy” isn’t a common thing we experience in our daily lives. When was the last time your Average Joe was a candidate for something? Homecoming court? Public office?
Opportunities for “candidacy” are few and far between in regular life.
But we’ve spent our whole lives resistant to people telling us we can’t do things.
From the time we are kids – “you can’t have that popsicle until after dinner….”
To adulthood – “you can’t go home for the weekend until you finish those TPS reports….”
People have been telling us we can’t do things, and we don’t like it. Not one bit.
So when you talk to prospects about how someone might have told them they “Can’t Have LASIK,” then you are plucking an emotional string.
And it’s an appeal with a payoff. “Since our practice offers Modern LASIK and other variations of vision correction, whoever told you that you can’t have better vision… well those folks were wrong. Come see us!”
3. “BETTER than 20/20 vision….”
When you start talking about patients who have reached 20/15 vision after surgery, you run the risk of people not knowing how amazing that actually is.
I know how great that is, you know how great that is. But there are a plenty folks who don’t.
But generally, people know 20/20 to be the standard vision measurement.
So if you can talk about BETTER than 20/20, you’re subtly (yet clearly) saying “This person now has BETTER than regular ol’ good vision.”
That’s what people want. Better than normal. We all want to be special.
BONUS: Investment Language vs. Cost Language
Financial language carries a lot of weight, depending on the words you use.
So when I’m talking about things like glasses and contacts, I’m casting a negative picture. Using language like “cost” and “dumping money into glasses/contacts month after month.”
When I talk about vision correction, it’s always a positive tone – with terms like “value” and “investment.”
For example, LASIK doesn’t cost anything. It’s an investment in yourself.
And you aren’t investing in contact lenses. You are dumping money into them month after month.
Feel the difference?
Hope this helps as you continue to refine your marketing messages.
Any specific persuasive terms you like to use in your marketing/sales? Do me a favor and email me with a line or two. I would love to hear them!