Beyond the "Know Like Trust" Factor... Understand - Ready - Trust
Channel: George Kao
Date: 2017-02-01

A popular idea in marketing & sales is that you need to build the KLT Factor or "know like trust" between you and your audience:

Know -- they first become aware of you, through word of mouth or your content distribution, so work on building more awareness of your message and business among the right circles.

Like -- before they buy, they need to "like" you first, through your content, or through personal engagement with you.

Trust -- to buy and spread the word, they need to "trust" you / your service, so do a good job for them.

I've always found this framework of KLT Factor to be duplicative... the 3 factors are too similar.

Here's my update: the UNDERSTAND - READY - TRUST Factor.

(I use the word "Know" in this video but I think "Understand" is more descriptive.)

UNDERSTAND: Being aware of your business & message is one thing, but having an audience that *understands* the thing you sell, and the value of it, is far more important for actually making the sale.

For example, my mom doesn't know what Life Coaching is. She doesn't understand why people would pay for it, and she doesn't have friends who have paid for such a service.  Marketing your Life Coaching to her would be a real uphill battle. 

It would be much wiser to use your efforts to market Life Coaching to people who *already* understand life coaching, or have bought it in the past, or have friends who have bought it.

Another example: try marketing Yoga classes to people in the rural Southern United States. Most of them don't understand it, nor believe its value, nor know anyone who has taken a yoga class. In contrast, try marketing Yoga classes in places like San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, New York... a much easier time because you don't have to spend months (or years) educating them on the value of it.

This is a problem I see with many service providers -- spending too much time trying to educate the public to understand what it is that they do, rather than figuring out which audiences already understand it, and marketing one's service to them.

Clients -- your current & past clients / customers, if you served them well and keep in touch, are your best "brand ambassadors"... their friends literally know someone who has bought your type of thing before! Therefore, those friends are much more likely to understand what it is, how well it works, and therefore, be interested in buying it too.

Groups -- find groups, online & offline, that already understand the value of your type of service.

Partners -- find influencers who have audiences that already value your type of thing and build a win-win-win partnership with them.

Another way to apply the "Understand" factor is how you package your services. Do you call it "therapy" (which is widely understood) or do you call it a "healing session" (which is not?) Or perhaps among your ideal audience, they value "healing session" more than "therapy" -- so you see it's not the word or phrase itself, but it's all about framing your service in the way your audience will quickly value. Of course, as long as you feel that word/phrase is accurate, too.

**

READY: Are you talking to an audience that not only understands the value of your thing, but they are actually ready to buy?

Timing of the year affects readiness to buy:
* New Years Resolutions motivate people to take classes, workshops, even get some coaching.
* Valentines Day is when people are especially ready to get help with their relationships
* Spring is when people feel more ready to get help with organization
* Summer is when people feel more ready to purchase vacations, retreats, travel
* Fall back-to-school (and work) is when people are ready to engage again in building their careers.

You could also specifically address the timing of your ideal audience's life:
* After a health diagnosis, they are especially ready to get help with getting into a healthier lifestyle
* After turning 40, 50, or 60 they're especially ready to make a change/reinvention in their career
* After leaving a job, they may also be ready to make serious changes in their personal growth
* New marriage, or a divorce, cause people to also consider getting help for their careers.
* After a parent has passed, they are more ready to make changes to their career or personal growth.

Therefore in your marketing content, speak to the readiness factor of your ideal audience, so they see that you understand what they're going through.

In other words -- look for people who are already searching for your type of service.

One way to do this is through SEO (search engine optimization). 
Actually there's a lot of unnecessary (even anti-productive) stuff being taught here... I'll do a video about SEO soon.

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