Tryvertising and Customer-made

The best way to gain consumer trust is to shift the seller power to the buyer. How?

The most extreme (and most effective) way is for consumers to make their own products and services. Think Subway (make your own sub), Dell (build your own computer) and write-your-own will kits. In these examples, the seller is inviting the consumer into the 'production process' and as a result reducing dependence.

Tryvertising is an intriguing term used to describe sampling as the call to action in advertising. Examples include 'visit your nearest dealer to test drive today' and 'receive your free perfume sample inside this magazine'.

By the way, I came across the terms 'customer-made' and 'tryvertising' in The Truth about Trust in Business which I have recently finished reading. The book supports the position that traditional advertising is losing its effectiveness as consumers are becoming increasingly sceptical.

"In a study conducted by Edelman in 2005, 45% of people surveyed said their most trusted information source was personal contacts, with only 4% trusting advertisements". In summary, consumers are more likely to trust other consumers than organisations.

Small Business Champion Awards

At Destiny Financial Solutions, I am able to put performance predictors into action. This is a video of me accepting the NSW & ACT Small Business Champion Award (Professional Services) for Destiny. And yes, I do need to work more on my celebration dance :-)

How a negative performance predictor almost turned off a prospective staff member

Performance predictors have a positive impact throughout an organisation, not only in marketing circles. Conversely, negative performance predictors can result in negative impacts to an organisation outside of marketing.

Yesterday, we almost lost a prospective staff member due to the sub-standard fit-out and poor external appearance of one of our offices. The prospective staff member was interested in applying for a vacant position within Destiny Financial Solutions, however was intending to withdraw his interest after driving past our office.

It took some convincing to assure him that this office was closing during the week and a new office with an updated fit-out and professional appearance re-opening.

The point is, performance predictors such as office appearance, have a far greater impact than just marketing. Furthermore, what impact are negative performance predictors having on your organisation? Perhaps you don't even know the extent of this problem...

Sampling is universal

Sampling is a very powerful type of performance predictor. There is no better way to 'fast forward a prospective customer into the future' than to actually allow them to experience the product or service first hand.

Last night I was part of an informative teleconference call hosted by Results Coaching Systems. The teleconference itself was a performance predictor for the organisation - professionally conducted, innovative and contained experiential content. However, the closing offer proved to me that sampling is universally possible, even in the case of a highly intangible service like business coaching.

All participants on the call where offered a sample 1.5 hour coaching session with a Results Coach. No cost, no obligation. The message was simple - try out one of our coaches for yourself so you can experience how good we really are.

All that glitters is not gold

As consumers, we are attracted to products and businesses because of the glitter, sizzle and bling. We are driven by emotion first, and logic later.

Whilst presenting a professional image is a performance predictor in its own right, it should not be the only performance predictor your business offers. You might be successful in the short-term, but glitter with no gold is not sustainable.

I agree with Lynn Upshaw, in his book Truth: The New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World when he cites "offering only products and services that perform so superbly that they generate their own marketing momentum, above and beyond formal marketing efforts" as an astute tactic.

Increasingly, consumers are scratching the surface to see what is hidden under the glitter. After all, nobody wants to be caught with fools gold.

Replacing the megaphone with a magnet

Is it possible to remove 'promotion' from an organisation's marketing strategy and still operate a profitable enterprise? Effectively stopping all advertising, sales promotions, online marketing, PR and direct marketing. This would be a very bold move to say the least.

It could work.

To pull off this marketing miracle, you would have to develop and continually innovate a great product. You would have to build performance predictors and lead generation into the product, price and distribution channels.

Has it been done before? World-class surgeons have been doing this for years. Their reputations (created by delivering a great product) acts to draw in new clients. They don't advertise or sell or send press releases or direct mail. And theirs' is amongst the most profitable of business models in the world.

Why performance predictors matter

During the process of writing this book, I consulted various colleagues, associates, friends and family. Many provided valuable input which shaped my thinking on the topic. Often the most difficult feedback to receive, but more useful than a vague 'slap on the back', is critical analysis of the concept and its relevance.

After I had explained the concept of performance predictors to an associate he simply asked, "Why do performance predictors matter?" At the time I was taken back, however this powerful question forced me to drive deeper into the concept.

Performance predictors matter because it is unfair for marketers to ask consumers to trust their claims, when they have a vested interest in the consumer buying. In an increasingly distrusting society, performance predictors matter more than ever.

Why marketing rules business

Peter Drucker said, "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two - and only two - basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business." He was right.

When you consider that marketing controls the marketing mix, comprised of product, price, promotion and place (distribution), it certainly helps to assert Drucker's viewpoint. Traditionally, the marketing department had spent almost all of its time, effort and resources on promotion. However, the modern marketer has realised the power of product, price and place on creating customers.

Marketing not only rules business, it is the reason for the existence of business. Without marketing, business fails.

The power of performance predictors

The power of performance predictors is derived from the following immutable facts:

• Consumers are sceptical
• Consumers dislike risk
• Consumers want evidence to support claims
• Consumers are jaded from marketing-hype
• Consumers like to buy, not to be 'sold at'
• Promotion should permeate out of the product
• Brands need substance to survive
• Trust is marketing's only objective

Performance predictors mitigate the challenges presented by these facts, and captialise on the opportunities.

Why performance predictors will help you become a better marketer

Performance predictors reduce consumer scepticism.

They achieve this by providing evidence to support claims, reducing pre-purchase risk, getting to the point fast, drawing consumers in rather than pushing products onto them and building trust.

Why is reducing consumer scepticism critical to marketing success, now more than ever?

The answer lies in the early meaning associated with the word scepticism. In Greek philosophy, scepticism was associated with a "suspecion of judgement". Sceptics take the view that the only course of action is to suspend judgment and adopt a position of indifference toward the product.

If all consumers suspend judgement, there will be no products sold. To be successful as a marketer, you must reduce scepticism to allow purchase decisions to occur.

Buying the Intangible

Everyday around the world, people and organisations ask consumers to buy "outcomes" which do not exist. Think about it for a moment - when you go to the hairdresser you are trusting him or her to achieve your desired outcome. But you can't be certain this outcome will be delivered. You are taking a leap of faith.

When offering "intangibles" like haircuts, performance predictors are mission critical to your marketing. Without performance predictors, prospective customers are likely to weigh-up the risks and benefits and not move forward. Honestly, do you blame them?

Aligning performance predictors with market position

Well considered and communicated performance predictors should assist in effectively positioning your product or service.

Occupying the ‘best quality’ position requires the business to produce best quality service, advertise in the best quality publications, associate with best quality strategic alliances and employ best quality staff.

The risk of not aligning performance predictors with your market position is that consumers are less likely to receive your message, because the mismatch will lead to confusion.

Consumer decision making and performance predictors

As a marketer you may be considering spending a part of your budget on ‘testing’ the theory of performance predictors on a sample of your customer base at a focus group. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to provide any meaningful validation of the concept.

Quite frankly, the ego of the focus group participants will get in the way of the truth. They will make comments like, “I select lawyers based on non-subjective factors such as service provision and price, not the number of diplomas on their walls!” But don’t be fooled, this is pride talking.

In reality, it is very rare that a prospective customer acts in a totally rationale manner when making a purchase decision. Emotions cloud our judgement when we are attempting to make a rationale purchase decision.

You are, however, able to test the effectiveness of individual performance predictors in your marketing communications. For example, you may promote one form of guarantee for a specified time, and when the time lapses, change the guarantee. You can then assess the impact of the two guarantees and select the most effective to move forward with on a permanent basis.

Your own performance predictors business

Whilst organisations can improve their marketing results by using performance predictors, there is also an opportunity to start your own performance predictors business.

You may have noticed the following performance predictors:









As consumers become increasingly sceptical, the opportunity to start-up performance predictor businesses increases too. Consumers want evidence of performance.

Consumers are sceptical

Jarrod and Katherine are a married couple in their mid-30s, and planning to build their ‘dream home’ before the arrival of their first child in 8 months. Given the importance of their decision, they have conducted extensive research into the 3 building companies they have short-listed as possible candidates for the project.

The problem for Jarrod and Katherine is that none of the builders provide much more than a glossy brochure and a fast-talking sales representative’s pitch upon which they can base their final decision. In Katherine word’s, “We’re pretty sceptical and don’t like taking risks. I wish we had a crystal ball to see into the future so we could know, without any doubt, which builder to trust.”

Jarrod and Katherine are typical consumers (in fact, their feedback is representative of the collective voice of global consumers) – they are risk adverse and don’t trust any form of so-called marketing. Performance predictors would convince Jarrod and Katherine.

Do you have 'Jarrods and Katherines' approaching your business? What can you do to convince them of your performance?

Servicescapes and Performance Predictors

Servicescapes, as defined by Booms and Bitner, are the environment in which the service is assembled and in which the seller and customer interact, combined with tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of the service*.

The servicescape is concerned with a customer's perceived surrounds and includes tangible and intangible aspects. Tangible aspects include decor, layout and architecture. Intangible aspects include smells, time, sound, temperature, lighting and colours. All these aspects will have an impact on the customer's mood and feelings, which ultimately alters their behaviours (hopefully, for the marketer, in a positive manner).

The servicescape influences customer’s thoughts and behaviours. As everyone is different, based on their unique experiences in life, the interpretation of the servicescape will be slightly different for every customer.

This interpretation is largely influenced by the tangible aspects of the physcial environment which forms part of the servicescape. For example, a clean and tidy retail store is typically interpreted as being inhabited by an efficient business. In this example, the store environment acts as an important performance predictor.

*Source: Wikipedia [Accessed 25/03/08].

How will you be judged?

When deciding on what performance predictors to develop and promote, ask yourself "How will customers judge the product?" The answer will lead you to the development of performance predictors which are relevant, and therefore, powerful.

For example, will customers judge the product on performance and/or durability and/or speed and/or reliability and/or results and/or cost and/or image and/or responsiveness and/or credibility and/or accessibility and/or security. If you don't know, ask them.

One versus many

A single performance predictor provides prospective customers with a glimpse into the future by reinforcing product benefits. For example, backing a product claim with a guarantee of performance.

Exposing prospective customers to a host of performance predictors essentially allows them to recreate the likely future in the present. A skilled marketer who uses performance predictors effectively will shift the prospective customer into the future with a range of performance predictors creatively communicated and engaging the five senses.

Price as a Performance Predictor

Price is an under-rated element of the marketing mix. Pricing strategies can be employed to achieve a host of outcomes, relative to the objectives set.

As far as performance predictors are concerned, price indicates quality. Let's look at cars as an example.

If BMW and Hyundai were to reverse their car prices, how would your perception of the quality of their vehicles change? BMW has been positioned as a luxury car provider and its prices MUST reflect this position or sales will NOT be maximised.

When there is a mismatch between quality and price, prospective customers will hesitate as a result of the confusion created (at the subconscious level). This hesitation is likely to either stop the sale in its tracks or cause the prospective customer to begin the decision making process again (with the aim of looking for more or less value).

Vicarious Learning and Performance Predictors

Vicarious learning is a term used to describe learning by observing another. Vicarious is defined as received in place of another and learning as the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill. Mentoring is an example of vicarious learning. Most people will tend to mirror the behaviour of another when they see it resulting in positive consequences.

What does vicarious learning have to do with performance predictors?

Testimonials, case studies, success statistics, before & after demonstrations, celebrity endorsements and prominent client lists are powerful performance predictors and they all have an element of vicarious learning. For example, testimonials outlining the positive results achieved by the customer are typically viewed by prospective customers with aspirations for similar success. What's more, they learn what the customer did to achieve the results (for example, engage the service provider that helped to achieve the described outcome) and follow suit.

The skill required by a marketer is to move this vicarious learning into action. Without action, the prospective customer will 'live through the other person' forever and not take any action for themself.

As humans we often think, "If they did it, may be I can to". That's why little boys have been wearing capes and jumping off fences for decades!

Salient Beliefs and Performance Predictors

Salient beliefs, in a marketing context, are those beliefs consumer's hold that are highly visible or prominent. Through the experience of life, consumers take on-board various beliefs about organisations, people, objects, brands and products in their environment. Each of these beliefs are retained in memory, and comprise a complex interconnected system of linked meanings.

Skilled marketers can influence which salient beliefs will be activated by consumers in particular situations. This is achieved by locating stimuli in the servicescape (including performance predictors), positively influencing the mood of consumers with humour (for example), projecting back consumers' values and initiating a discussion on consumers' goal aspirations.

A common example of using salient beliefs in marketing is the bright lighting and upbeat music playing in most retail stores. This environment contains stimuli to 'bring out' salient beliefs in shoppers, with the aim of them making a positive link back to a past experience.

Consumer attitudes and performance predictors

Consumers typically have attitudes toward most tangible objects and intangible aspects including products, brands, opinions, experiences, events, locations, ideas and people. Every individual is likely to have a differing attitude toward each of these objects and aspects.

Furthermore, consumers have attitudes toward their own actions and thoughts in the past and present.

What this means to marketers using performance predictors is that placing your efforts on one performance predictor (aka the silver bullet approach) will be unsuccessful, because everybody has differing attitudes toward everything.

There is no such thing as a performance predictor with universal appeal. As a marketer, you must research your target market and promote performance predictors which are likely to appeal to the largest possible percentage of your chosen sub-market.

Brands and Risk

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are unlikely to possess a brand which is a household name. A brand helps to establish trust and reduce risk through familiarity.

As such, if trust isn’t delivered and risk reduced through a well known brand, then you need to develop other ways to minimise the risk of doing business with you.

Performance predictors help to reduce this perceived pre-purchase risk by providing evidence of the likely performance of the product or service.

When (or if) you have a well known brand, you can use performance predictors to reinforce the brand's attributes and your market position.

The objective when implementing performance predictors may be different between those organisations with well known brands and those without, but the result will be the same: more sales.

Personal branding by association

If you were to meet a person for the first time at a friend's BBQ and they arrived in a new BMW, wore Jag jeans and a Gucci watch, what would your impression be?

The brands we display as a person, provide signals to others as to who we are. They act as performance predictors, providing an insight into who we truly are on the inside.

Do performance predictors eliminate the need for emotion-generating marketing messages?

Does the introduction of performance predictors to marketing content imply the elimination of an emotion-generating message to consumers by marketers?

The short answer is, no it does not. Performance predictors provide consumers with the evidence they crave, but it does not suggest that marketers should present the evidence in a purely rational context.

As neurologist Donald Calne states:

"The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions"*. For this reason alone, it is important to place your performance predictors into an emotional message to elicit action (i.e. a purchase) rather than draw a conclusion, for example, "Oh, so BMW really is the best made car in the world. That's nice to know".

Just because consumers are becoming increasingly sceptical and fact-seeking, doesn't mean that bland marketing messages containing only proof of performance will get results. Creative messages aimed at generating an emotional response including performance predictors is likely to achieve maximum impact today.

* Cited in Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (K. Roberts), Millers Point: Murdoch Books, pp42.

Everybody is different

Prospective customers will place varying degrees of importance upon individual performance predictors. Whilst we may think one particular performance predictor holds the greatest importance for every prospective customer, we are likely wrong. Because everybody is different.

Yesterday a prospective customer phoned to ask about the qualifications of two franchisees within the same city. She was making her choice based on the performance predictor of qualifications; placing more importance on this aspect than experience, size of office, location, etc.

Never assume anything when it comes to the appeal of individual performance predictors to prospective customers, because everybody is different and people change.

Performance Predictors in B2B Marketing

Yesterday, I was discussing a major project we are undertaking at Destiny Financial Solutions and it requires the design of a graphical interface. A colleague is travelling interstate to discuss the design elements of this project with a graphic designer and he asked me what he should be considering when assessing the capability of this designer.

My answer was simple: "Ask to look at his portfolio of previous work and find out his hourly rate?" His portfolio and price are both performance predictors.

Performance predictors are equally relevant to B2B marketing as they are to consumer marketing.

Cornetto has "no boring bits"

A great example of aligning performance predictors to a point of difference is the current Streets Cornetto campaign. The point of difference being communicated is the fact that Cornettos have chocolate and nuts all the way to the bottom of the cone. But rather than just assert this point of difference, Streets prove it with a very clever performance predictor. See http://www.cornetto.com.au/. Can you spot the performance predictor?

Aligning perceptions to performance predictors

The majority of marketers are concerned with changing consumers perceptions of a product to ultimately resuult in a purchase. This outcome is achieved through advertising, packaging, point of sale material, positioning, branding, etc.

In many cases, performance predictors work in the opposite direction. Consumers who have an existing perception of a product, brand, organisation, person, community or idea may change their perception to align it to a performance predictor(s).

Let's look at a common example (I'm sure you will associate with this one). You meet someone new, let's call her Sue. It is an informal meeting at a breakfast seminar, over a cup of coffee. Your first impressions of Sue isn't great. You find her to be untidy, poorly spoken and vague.

A week later, you are talking to a colleague who also attended the breakfast seminar (and as it turns out they know Sue, but you are unaware of the connection). You are chatting about the seminar and mention that you met a lady by the name of Sue, and express your negative impression of her. Your colleague replied, "Oh really! Sue must have been having a bad day, because Sue can speak 5 languages, raised 7 children whilst completing a PhD, she used to be a violinist with the Australian Symphony Orchestra and authored 2 best-selling books".

What happen's next?

Typically, you would add some excuses for your negative perception of Sue, for example, "Oh, Sue must have been having a bad day, you're right. Some of us are just not morning people are we?" Your brain would then realign your previous perception of Sue with the performance predictors about Sue that your colleague has just told you to create a new perception.

Performance predictors have a very profound impact on perceptions. Use this fact to your advantage.

The truth about performance predictors being ethical

The truth is not all performance predictors are ethical, because not all marketers are ethical.

Like any form of marketing, performance predictors can be manipulated and falsely claimed for the self-serving benefit of the organisation. Whilst I believe performance predictors are one of, if not the most, ethical forms of marketing currently employed, it is sure to be exploited by the dishonest minority.

For performance predictors to be ethical the 'envisioned future' created and subsequently presented to the prospective customer must be representative of common reality; as opposed to an abstract reality based on a perfect one-in-a-million outcome.

For example, a product demonstration proving the effectiveness of a carpet cleaning foam (typically shown on day time infomercials) are ethical where the carpet is standard household carpet and the red wine is, well, red wine. However, if the marketer 'enhanced' the demonstration with synthetic carpet and coloured water, obviously the ethics involved are questionable.

Developing performance predictors by minimising risks

Grab a blank piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and head the two columns – Potential Benefits and Perceived Risks. Put yourself into your customer’s shoes and fill out the columns.

Next, focus on the perceived risks column, and brainstorm performance predictors that would reduce each of the perceived pre-purchase risks.

To gain maximum effectiveness, aim to generate at least 10 potential performance predictors for each one of the risks. You may be surprised how often it is the last 2 or 3 ideas which are the best.

Fear of the Unknown

As humans, we allow many fears to drive negative behaviours in ourselves, such as inaction, anger, avoidance and anxiety.

For marketers, removing fear of the unknown for prospective customers is critical to ensuring conversion or commitment results.

Performance predictors allow prospective customers to fast-forward themselves into the future to 'experience' the product or service and use the wisdom gained to make an astute purchase decision in the present ... and hence, reduce (or in many cases eliminated) fear of the unknown for prospective customers.

Are performance predictors, points of differentiation?

Consumers do not typically assess an offering in isolation. Instead, they consider an offering in relation to alternatives based on their own predetermined minimum requirements.

Points of parity* are the minimum expectations for a given product or service to be considered within a specific category or industry. Prospective customers require that these points of parity exist in a product or service offering before serious consideration is granted, and it is deemed a legitimate contester for the consumer’s share of wallet.

Failure to ensure your product or service includes your target markets' specific points of parity, is likely to result in your offering not being added to their “short-list” of potential providers.

As an example, you may be planning to introduce a new mobile telephone that includes video conferencing, allowing both callers to see one and another via their mobiles whilst carrying on a conversation (importantly, this is an example of a point of differentiation). Obviously this innovative feature would appeal to a large section of mobile phone users, and result in significant demand.

But, as you can see, this one feature is clearly not enough to ensure widespread consumer take-up. Without critical points of parity such as the ability to send and receive calls, send and receive SMS messages and store contact names and numbers the new product would be unsuccessful.

Importantly however, points of parity alone are not enough. In other words, points of parity are a necessary evil, but are not sufficient for consumers to use as the grounds for a final purchase decision. This is where performance predictors which are also points of differentiation come into the picture.

For example, promoting a client success statistic such as Nicorette's ActiveStop program which claims that smokers are 4 times more likely to quit smoking by using the ActiveStop program than with will power alone^. This success statistic is a point of differentiation for Nicorette (it is also a performance predictor). And if a competitor were to introduce a client success statistic that is perceived to be 'better' by smokers wanting to quit, then Nicorette would need to innovate and improve their results or change their point of differentiation (and performance predictor) to focus on another area.

* The term 'points of parity' is credited to Kevin Lane Keller, Brian Sternthal, and Alice Tybout (2002); cited in "Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand," Harvard Business Review, September, 80 (9), 80-89.

^ Source: www.nicorette.com.au [Accessed 28/02/08]

Performance Predictors and Open Source Marketing

Open source marketing is concerned with listening intensely to customers and working with them to develop (and re-develop) the products and services they desire. With open source marketing, gone are the days of creating products, experiences and marketing in isolation of customers, and later releasing it onto them. To explore the concept in more detail, see: http://www.changethis.com/14.OpenSourceMktg.

How does open source marketing apply to performance predictors? Well, I previously mentioned that performance predictors should not viewed as an after thought or add-on to the product development process. And the product development process should not be carried out in isolation of customers. So, when the customers are present, co-creating the products and services, they should also co-create the performance predictors.

The line between where the organisation ends and the customer begins is becoming increasingly blurred. Isn't that great?

Performance Predictors and One-to-One Marketing

In 1993, more than a decade ago, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers penned one of the greatest marketing books ever written, The One to One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time.

At the time, marketers around the world recognised the potential implications for a one-to-one marketing approach, with the first step being to implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system. There were wide ranging challenges which slowed or stopped the successful adoption of CRMs within many organisations, and, in my opinion, the full benefits of one-to-one marketing were never realised.

One-to-one marketing is not about CRM; although CRM is typically required to manage a one-to-one marketing approach. Take the start-up company, Brewtopia* as an example of one-to-one marketing.

Brewtopia (see http://www.brewtopia.com.au/) allows customers to 'brand' their own beer, wine and water. So, you could have your name on your own bottles of beer! This is one-to-one.

How do you merge the concepts of performance predictors and one-to-one marketing? The answer is tailor-making (as opposed to mass offering) your organisation's performance predictors to the requirements of the individual prospective customer.

For example, your organisation could provide a customised guarantee on the part of a product or service which is 'most feared' (i.e. carries the highest perceived risk) to the prospective customer. For one customer this may be lowest price, for another it may be after sales support. Provide a guarantee which is most relevant to the individual customer standing in front of you, rather than generalising based on the entire market.

*The author would like to disclose ownership of Brewtopia shares.

Incorporating emotional appeal into performance predictors

Whilst performance predictors are essentially concerned with rational content which appeals to the left side of the brain, they can be incorporated into an emotional message (which have been proven to elicit action).

The current NZ Tourism TVCs are a good example. The scenes presented, of various NZ landscapes, are performance predictors (you can almost feel yourself in the scene!). However, they are presented in an emotional context to encourage action from viewers.

You are also able to 'tail' emotional content with rational performance predictors. For example, the NZ Tourism TVC could finish with, "94% of international visitors to NZ report it is the best destination they have ever visited".

Simply stating the facts and nothing but the facts in a very bland format may not be the best way to promote your performance predictors. Some inspiring content goes a long way to ensuring prospective customers actually receive your performance predictors within the context of a well crafted message.

Attraction, Conversion or Retention?

Most marketers spend the majority of their time and focus on 'attraction' activities. Flaging prospective customers down and drawing them in.

You can certainly use performance predictors as a magnet to attract prospective customers. For example, Flight Centre's Low Price Promise (previously framed as 'Lowest Airfares Guaranteed') has been employed very successfully as an attraction performance predictor.

Performance predictors can also positively impact conversion. For example, prestigious lawyers operate from offices with high class fit-outs to help 'justify' their fees (which assists to convert prospective clients).

Finally, existing customers can be retained with performance predictors. This one is more difficult to understand. You see, existing customers continue to evaluate and judge an organisation, even when they have become a customer (especially in the case of organisations which charge ongoing fees). For example, updates to numbers of testimonals and client success statistics are duly noted by existing customers, and encourage their ongoing patronage.

Reducing pre-purchase risks

Why are widely known brand names worth so much? Why are referred prospects the easiest to convert? Why do the majority of consumers compare a few suppliers/products before making a final purchase decision? The answer to all these questions is risk.

In most situations we, as human beings, are motivated to avoid risk of all kinds. Have you ever decided against buying a ‘home brand’ product so as not to appear cheap in front of friends? This is social risk at work.

Risk is a barrier to the prospective customer buying. From the customer’s perspective, there is a risk that the actual product or service may not deliver on expectations.

If the perceived risks outweigh the potential benefits, the prospective customer won’t buy. The key to success is minimise the risks by making the potential benefits more real. This can be achieved using performance predictors.

Generating money in the bank

Do performance predictor create value for an organisation? Or are they simply another marketing cost to add to the budget?

I believe a strategically aligned and carefully considered batch of performance predictors drive revenue. The benefit of additional value creation far outweigh the cost - when implemented successfully.

All major shopping centres require tenants to upgrade the façade and fit-out of their shops every few years. Why? Obviously it makes the shopping centre seem more modern and appealing, but the tenants also gain a benefit … it actually results in an increase in sales that almost without exception, more than covers the costs of the upgrade.

The cost of implementing performance predictors should be considered negative revenue.

The best performance predictor ever

Today, I was fortunate to hear a suggestion which I believe to be the best performance predictor I have ever heard of. At Destiny Financial Solutions, the organisation I am a part of, we help inspiring and experience property investors succeed by providing property-focused investment advice.

My boss suggested we video a 'role play' or reenactment of prospective clients going through the process of becoming clients. This video would then be shown at initial interviews with prospective customers to reduce their anxiety around not knowing what lies ahead.

This is pure genius, and the best performance predictor ever.

Performance Predictor Examples

The following are some classic examples of performance predictors:

• The delivery vehicles of a courier company. Do the courier delivery vehicles look as though they have been bought from a scrap heap? Are they dented and scratched? What is the paint job like? Consumers think that a dented and scratched delivery vehicle = a dented and scratched parcel. In the consumer’s mind, great delivery vehicles = great courier company.
• The written plans of a financial planning firm. What is the paper quality like? Are there any spelling mistakes? How professional is the layout? Is the plan comprehensive? In the consumer’s mind, great written plan = great financial planning service.
• The location of an advertising agency. Are they located in a high-profile business location or out the back of Burke? The world famous Madison Avenue, in New York, houses many of the United States most prominent advertising agencies. This location gives prospective customers a predictor as to their calibre and quality of work.
• The actual bottle of a bottle of wine. Is it heavy glass? Is the label appealing? Is it professionally sealed? Has the wine won any awards? Where is the wine sold, top class restaurants or local pubs?
• The foyer of a hotel. Is the lighting adequate? Are the floor coverings worn? Is the front desk granite or chipboard? Another performance predictor would be the ‘star rating’ of the hotel. Five stars = top quality. Photographs of the hotel, on websites and brochures, is another performance predictor.

There are literally hundreds of different performance predictors, many are unique to specific industries or business types. For example, prospective customers of consultants regularly consider qualifications, book authoring, involvement in industry associations and lecturing engagements as relevant performance predictors. However, for a luxury motor vehicle the performance predictors might include grade of leather interior, motoring association ratings and price.

Immersing prospective customers is the 'secret'

While making a cake, your young child sticks their finger into the flour and puts their finger in their mouth. Immediately, they screw up their face and mumble "yuck" (the taste is a surprise as their older sibling had said that cakes tasted great!).

When the cake is finished cooking and has been iced you offer a piece to your flour-tasting-child to be received with, "no way". Your child has experienced the negative impact of jumping in too soon and only being exposed to one ingredient.

The implementation of performance predictors is similar in many ways to this cake tasting experience. The secret to performance predictors is ensuring you have immersed prospective customers in a range of them. Don't try implementing one or two, monitor the results and give up.

Remember, performance predictors allow prospective customers to fast-forward themselves into the future and this isn't achieved with only a couple of them. You need to promote a range of performance predictors that all reinforce one and another, and are aligned to your market position. Prospective customers must be immersed in performance predictors for commitment to be gained.

'Professionals' using consumer products

A professional or profession endorsing a consumer product is a form of performance predictor. I was reminded of this today when a colleague was recalling the purchase of their family's washing machine. They purchased a Maytag, in large part, because the salesperson said, "This brand is in all the laundromats - they are very durable".

Oral B has created an extremely successful consumer brand largely based on the slogan, The brand more dentists recommend. Prospective customers receive this message as - if dentists recommend it, it must be good (who am I to argue with the recommendations of dentists?).

Visual branding as a performance predictor

The problem is that visual branding is perhaps the most common performance predictor in the business world. Poor visual branding means a lot of things to prospects. For example:

• Poor quality products and services
• The business does not have sufficient capital to operate
• Sub-standard attention to detail

What impact is ‘cheap’ visual branding having on the outward quality your business is reflecting?

First impressions count

Many performance predictors reside in the various first impressions created by an organisation.

Try taking off your ‘owner’ hat for a moment, and try on a ‘client’ one. Look at your business as if you were going to do business as a customer, and were meeting for the first time. What would your first impression be?

Are your premises clean and tidy? Would you be fizzing with enthusiasm and faith in your new financial planner if their office space looked like a garage, with dead cockroaches slowly piling up behind the door?

Are you clean and tidy? What if your personal trainer rocked up to your house looking like the rats had just kicked him out of the gutter and with eyes more bloodshot than a Tequila worm?

How do they pay you? Do you offer a choice of EFT, cheque or cash? Would you pause before signing if the invoice from a courier company was a badly-spelt and barely legible scribble on the back of an envelope?

These may be extremes, and you may be snorting in derision at how far from your organisation these examples are, but hold on and think a bit more. Are you presenting your organisation at its best? Just how far from the examples are you really?

Ensure the window into the future of your organisation provides a snapshot of reality by using performance predictors to make a positive first impression on prospective customers.

Bees to the honey pot

When a range of performance predictors are in operation, word of mouth will spread. Prospective customers will be attracted like bees to the honey pot.

A business with effective performance predictors will tend to find that good quality prospects will gravitate toward the business over time. The best source of new business is referrals. Let your existing customers lead you to your new customers using performance predictors as the path.

Make your organisation impossible to resist.

Crash course in Performance Predictors

The first step to implementing a performance predictors’ strategy is to focus your attention on the first P in the marketing mix – PRODUCT (from a product performance perspective). This singular action will reduce the requirement for the development of a marketing façade to ‘hide’ a lack of product substance.

However, great products alone fail in the marketplace everyday. So, what else is needed?

Delivering an exceptional ‘product’ is only the beginning of this new marketing journey upon which I am proposing. Sceptical consumers aren’t simply going to line up in droves because we have focused on delivered an exceptional product (after all, how will they know that we are in fact offering an exceptional product when they don’t know it exists?).

Next, you need to perform – either deliver exceptional service (resulting in high levels of satisfaction) or offering a fantastic product (with zero defaults). This is called “getting the runs on the board”.

Finally, you need to develop and promote performance predictors which highlight the benefits and strengths of your product or service.

Why are performance predictors a 'hot' marketing topic?

Consumers are skeptical and sophisticated. They don't want assertion; they want proof. And that is what performance predictors deliver.

Have consumers really become that skeptical and sophisticated? Here's proof: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/expectationeconomy.htm and more proof: http://www.choice.com.au/pressReleaseHomePage.aspx?id=106143&p=1&catId=100582 and here's some more for good measure: http://www.hergestridge.com/skeptical-consumers-122.

(P.S. Still skeptical about consumers being skeptical? Here's one more for you: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BDW/is_47_39/ai_53457352)

Change rooms as performance predictors

Over the weekend, my wife and I had two interesting experiences with change rooms in ladies clothing stores.

The first one involved no change room at all! My wife was interested in trying on a dress, but was astonished to find that the store had no change rooms. Change rooms allow prospective customers to fast-forward themselves into the future to 'experience' the product or service and use the wisdom gained to make an astute purchase decision in the present. Shoppers 'experience' the product by trying it on and trialing how it feels, fits, smells and looks. Clearly the provision of change rooms is an important performance predictor for shoppers.

The second experience involved a change room which doubled as a staff lunch room, and tripled as a storage room. The paint was peeling off the walls, the carpet was dirty and there was stuff everywhere. A negative performance predictor in deed.

The more confidence you can instill, and credibility you can display, the more sales will result. In both 'change room instances' my wife bought less product as a result of the none existent and negative performance predictors, respectively.

Death by 1000 bee strings

Implementing a company-view strategy of performance predictors is not for those attempting to achieve the highly sort after, but highly allusive, instant gratification.

Prior to implementing performance predictors, you obviously need to perform! And this may take some time. Performance predictors are not some form of clever marketing facade - they are real. And creating substance does not happen over night.

Death by 1000 bee stings...

Do not attempt to wage your entire marketing on one performance predictor, hoping to achieve instant gratification. From the consumer’s perspective, it is the cumulative effect of all the performance predictors, rather than any one in particular, that is likely to gain their commitment to buy. It is a case of death by 1000 bee stings.

Changing brand associations with performance predictors

Performance predictors can be employed to change an unwanted brand association. For example, Hyundai has pursued the ‘budget’ position for many years, however consumers were questioning their product quality.

Hyundai cleverly employed a couple of performance predictors (extended 5 year warranty as standard and 24-hour test drives) to rectify this unwanted brand association.

Such a strategy requires the 'brand managers' to walk a thin line between overcoming the negative brand association and not detracting from the brand position. In the case of Hyundai, you do not want consumers to perceive that Hyundai is moving from 'budget' from to 'quality'.

Degree of believability

Performance predictors can be introduced into a lackluster marketing campaign and deliver limited success. There could be numerous reasons, and one common reason is the believability (or lack thereof) of the performance predictors being displayed.

Following are some examples of performance predictors which carry a high degree of believability:

• Independent auditing of client success statistics and internal survey results.
• Unpaid and/or unscripted celebrity endorsements.
• Product demonstrations conducted by the public (i.e. somebody with no link to the organisation).
• Product packaging that shows the actual product inside, rather than a photo of the product.
• Testimonials supported by customer photos and reference details for validation of comments.
• Providing media articles to support any factual performance predictors being stated (e.g. years in operation can be supported by a newspaper article covering the business opening).
• Providing the original source document of a critic review, rather than re-phrasing or quoting the review.

Performance predictors executed effectively will achieve 'effective results'. The reverse is also true.

Using a sports car to sell homes

A colleague was telling about his friend, a moderately successful real estate agent, who told his accountant that he would love to own a Jaguar sports car. The accountant scoffed at the very thought, since he was barely earning enough commissions to sustain the operating costs of his Falcon.

The agent wasn’t deterred, and went to the local Jaguar dealer for a test drive. The astute salesperson there understood the importance of performance predictors, and the agent left the dealership with a signed contract for a new Jag that same day.

The salesperson didn't apply the concept of performance predictors to the Jag sale itself, however understood that the Jag would work as a performance predictor for the agent in his role. Prospective vendors would see the agent as highly successful – and it worked.

His income doubled over the next twelve months. Within moments of seeing the agent pull up, the prospects saw what his success would mean to them - fast sales at the maximum price. After all, who doesn’t want a successful agent selling their home?

Risk minimisation is big business

How much money is spent each year by people protecting themselves against risk? In Australia alone, the figure would be billions of dollars. Think of all the insurance policies, ambulance cover, alarm systems, fire extinguishers, health check-ups, etc.

That is telling marketers an extremely important lesson – consumers hate risk, so much that they are willing to pay billions to minimise any and all perceived risk.

Do you sometimes feel like it’s an uphill battle to convince a prospect to commit? They have the need, they have the money, but they just won’t commit. Why not?

The answer is that you haven’t tipped the potential benefits scale in your favour. You need to employ some performance predictors to do the 'convincing' for you. Talk is cheap.

Every time a consumer considers a purchase, they engage in a cost/benefit analysis in their mind. This will result in a number of outcomes, for example: (a) that’s too expensive, (b) that will make me look fat, (c) it doesn’t include delivery, (d) people will think I’m cheap, (e) I’ll feel a lot safer, etc.

Consumers almost simultaneously weigh up the perceived risks (including functional, psychological, etc.) against the potential benefits prior to making a purchase, or a non-purchase.

For example, a new type of tasty soft drink that cleaned your teeth while you drank it would likely be priced higher than standard soft drinks. The potential benefits include the removal of the need to clean your teeth the conventional way (including the cost saving of not having to buy toothpaste or toothbrushes again), the potential to have cleaner teeth as the soft drink can get into all the gaps between your teeth, the improved social image associated with trying something new, the dentistry savings as a result of cleaner teeth, etc.

Or a horror book that omitted an electric shock and loud frightening sounds at the points of a climax within the story line (using visual sensory technology to assess where the reader is up to) would again fetch a higher price than a traditional paperback. Consumers trade off the potential benefits and perceived risks prior to making a purchase decision; your job is to make sure that the benefits outweigh the risks. Highlight the benefits with performance predictors, not idle claims.

When consumers purchase low cost items, they do not take as long to make a decision as when they are choosing a high ticket item. This is because with low cost items the risks carry less severe consequences. Take the purchase of a packet of lollies, for example.

Perceived Risk:

“People might think I’m greedy"

Potential Benefit:

“Eating lollies gives me extra energy”

Perceived Risk:

“Will my friends think it’s cool to eat this brand of lollies?"

Potential Benefit:

“Eating lollies makes me feel good”

Perceived Risk:

"Will the texture of the lollies feel nice on my tongue?"

Perceived Risk:

"Will the lollies make my breath smell bad?"

Potential Benefit:

“My breath will smell better and therefore people will like me”

Perceived Risk:

"Will the lollies make me feel sick after eating them?"

Potential Benefit:

“The lollies will satisfy my hunger until dinner”

Perceived Risk:

“Am I wasting my money by buying lollies?”

In the above example, the perceived risks outnumber the potential benefits. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the consumer wouldn’t buy the lollies. One of the potential benefits might carry substantial importance and tip the scales in favour of buying.

For another example, let's consider someone buying a luxury cruiser:

Perceived Risk:

"How can I be sure the boat will perform on the water?"

Potential Benefit:

“My wife will appreciate me more because I’m trying to get the family together by owning it”

Perceived Risk:

“Will my friends accept me owning an expensive boat?”

Potential Benefit:

"Friends will look up to me because I own a luxury cruiser"

Perceived Risk:

“Can I afford the ongoing costs of owning this boat?”

Potential Benefit:

"I will be able to take customers out on my boat"

Perceived Risk:

“Does the company provide a speedy warranty service so my boat would never be out of action long?”

Potential Benefit:

"I love boating and fishing. This cruiser will be great for both"

Perceived Risk:

“Will it take long to deliver my boat once I order?”

Perceived Risk:

“Will the motor be really noisy and hurt my children’s ears?”

You should always be working on ways to increase the potential benefits and minimise the perceived risks of prospects doing business with you.

If you do not have the luxury of a Big Brand, you need to minimise the perceived risks using performance predictors.

In the example of the luxury cruiser's performance ("How can I be sure the boat will perform on the water?"), you could highlight the German engineered motor, winning of an industry award for the motor's performance, client testimonials mentioning solid performance of motor, offering of an extended 'test drive', independent research comparing the motor's performance with competitors, dollar amount of the R&D budget spent on the motor, offering of an extended warranty and boating critic reviews.

Prove it to me...

“I am skeptical. I doubt every single word you tell me about your product and business. I feel jaded. Everyday, marketers are screaming their messages at me ... trying to attract me to buy their product. When you tell me how fantastic your product is, I think “prove it”, or I will ignore you. If you are making unsubstantiated statements in order to get my money – forget it, I’ve heard that before.”

This message is being delivered by the consumers of the world. As marketers, we must listen.

The answer is not to move focus from advertising to public relations, or public relations to direct marketing, or direct marketing to online. The answer is...

...performance predictors. Walk the talk.

The ‘customer side’ of ingredient branding is a performance predictor

Ingredient branding is a technique used by wholesale suppliers of 'inputs', which are added to create the final product for the end-user. For example, Intel microprocessors successfully used the ‘Intel Inside’ ingredient branding campaign to gain the number one spot in their market. Intel created a new demand for computers that have the Intel ingredient added.

As these ‘ingredients’ become better known and their positive reputation grows, there is another side to this story. The ingredients become performance predictors, from the consumer’s perspective.

A multi-award winning builder from my home town, Toowoomba in Queensland, established a premium status by highlighting the ingredients in their homes. Austral bricks, BHP Colourbond rooves, Rheem hotwater systems, Doof tapes, GJ James glass, SMEG appliances … and the list continued to outline each and every supplier of all the ingredients of their homes.

Prospects were given an important insight into the likely quality of the end-product by the builder highlighting the quality ingredients used in construction. Ingredient branding may be a performance predictors of relevance to your business. Or more importantly, of relevance to your customers!

Negative performance predictors detract

During the conceptualisation phase of Performance Predictors, I had discussed the concept at length with my wife Michelle. After a few months of me boring her with the concept, she suddenly questioned, “What is the opposite of a Performance Predictor?” as we drove by a high school in Perth where our soon-to-arrive Brazilian exchange would be attending.

I asked, "Why?"

Michelle simply pointed to the barbwire around the top of the 10 foot high fence that surrounded the perimeter of the school grounds and said, “I’d never send our children to a school that has barbwire around it; because it is there to either keep uncontrollable children in, or problem residents out.”

Performance predictors which would typically be viewed as detracting from the 'potential performance' of an organisation, school, person, community, etc. should be eliminated. These negative performance predictors detract from the reputation building process which positive performance predictors create.

Packaging as performance predictors

Imagine yourself in your local deli. You really feel like some chips, and so head for the displays, where there are two brands (this is a very small shop). The first one has a big display, shiny bright packets and a selection of flavours. The second also has a big display, but it’s sitting at a strange angle, and one of the corners is dented. Their packets seem faded, with barely legible barcodes and brand names, and you have to rummage to see how many flavours are there. They both sell for the same price, so which do you choose?

Or, for a slightly more up-market scenario, you’re at the airport, about to board a plane. Whether or not you get airsick, how far would your heart sink and stomach rise if you saw your plane, the hunk of metal that was all that stood between you and a radical makeover as a pancake, was a grime covered specimen with peeling paint and what looked suspiciously like a giant rubber band beneath the hood?

These may be extreme examples, but every day we ignore our parents and go around judging books by their covers. Those chips mentioned above may be delicious, lovingly hand made morsels of cholesterol enhancing snacky-goodness, and your airline may have no money left over for paint jobs and windscreen wipers because they’ve funneled all their resources into the latest and greatest safety precautions, but that doesn’t change your original impression – and when your customers are considering business with you, these impressions have to count.

Packaging, whist an obvious type of performance predictor, is often given limited attention as we marketers move quickly to the more important stuff. However unfortunately for us marketers, without performance predicting packaging, consumers never move past a 'passing glance'.

Lost customers can be saved

A negative performance predictor does not always result in a lost customer. However, there is a disclaimer: you need to have other more powerful positive performance predictors to counteract the negative.

How many times have you as a consumer thought, "everything else feels right so I'll overlook this one negative aspect. After all, there is no such thing as perfection"?

I remember a few years ago, my wife and I engaged the services of a conveyancer who had a vast amount of experience, testimonials from satisfied clients and masters level qualification, but when you went into his office he had client files piled around his desk. When we were making the decison on whether to proceed, we discussed these aspects and decided to move forward with him as the positives far outweighed the negatives.

Obviously, over time, and with an effective client feedback system operating, you should remove all negative performance predictors as you become aware of them.

Performance Predictors as a Barrier to Entry

An organisation with very prominent and relevant performance predictors will act as a barrier to entry for other would-be industry entrants. The organisation will in affect 'scare-off' prospective competitors.

In this regard, performance predictors are a risk reduction strategy for the organisation implementing them. That is, the performance predictors reduce the risk of excessive competition within the industry.

Hidden performance predictors

Many organisations have the content or ingredients for at least one performance predictor, but have failed to recognise its potential for marketing. For example, many pure product providers have products to offer that actually work. However, few use 'berfore and ask demonstrations' to prove the point. Or for another example, consider testimonials per se. All successful organisations have satisfied customers, but how many actually ask them for a testimonial?

As Stephen M.R. Covey says in his book The Speed of Trust, "In creating credibility with others, it's not just the results that count; it's people's awareness of the results. Thus, it's important to be able to appropriately communicate results to others." Performance predictors which are promoted assist in building trust. And trust is important, very important.

How many performance predictors are laying dormant in your organisation which you could promote?

Performance Predictors: Brand Marketing or Direct Response?

Brand marketing is concerned with developing and promoting brands in the market. The objective is to engage and resonate with consumers, and over time, impact on their purchase decision making. In contrast, direct response marketing is designed to solicit a direct response from consumers that is measurable.

What are performance predictors - brand marketing or direct response marketing?

The answer is both.

Some performance predictors will serve mainly to reinforce brand attributes and assist in creating engagement. For example, the professional offices of an accounting firm. Others will generate a direct response from consumers, because they are compelled to act now. For example, a before and after demonstration of acne cream.

You may even consider 'planting' a direct response orientated performance predictor into a brand marketing campaign to ensure it delivers a return on investment.

'Producing' performance predictors

If you are lucky, you might work in, or own, a company that already has performance predictors ready to be promoted. However, if you work in an average business (that is, the vast majority), you might have some internal improvement to make before promoting a performance predictor.

As a rule of thumb, service providers should focus on service delivery excellence (including experience management, service feedback, capability improvement, customer satisfaction and customer results), whereas product providers should focus on product development excellence (including quality assurance, innovation and continuous improvement).

By focusing a company's limited resources in the above areas, there is a greater chance of creating a performance predictor of merit. For example, a law firm that promotes, "We win 97.8% of our clients' cases" has focused on excellence in service delivery to create this performance predictor. Similarly, a paint manufacturer that promotes, "Dripless paint [and proves it with a product demonstration]" has focused on innovation.

There are some performance predictors which can be used as 'Catalytic Mechanisms' (see Good to Great by Jim Collins for an indepth explanation of this concept). Catalytic Mechanisms force behaviours to change in alignment to the mechanism itself. Guarantees are a good example. If an advertising agency guranteed to always deliver client projects on-time or the project is free of charge there is a very good chance that all projects will completed on-time once the guaranteed is promoted (even if this wasn't the case in the past). There is an invisible discipline at work.

It may take your organisation some time to produce a powerful performance predictor, but the effort will be worth.

'Matching' is the new 'Selling'

When an organisation embraces the concept of, and effectively implements performance predictors, selling becomes irrelevant.

Selling is associated with the concepts of convincing, influencing, asserting and persuading (sceptics may also add manipulating and deceiving to this list).

With performance predictors shining bright, the people within the organisation become experts, solution-providers, value-creators and trusted advisers (regardless of their position). The performance predictors are continuously 'selling in advance' for the organisation.

This 2.38 minute video makes the point perfectly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZS9ECoDnWg.

What was once selling, may be replaced with matching, only in the instance where the prospective customer isn't sure if they 'fit' the organisation. Additionally, where the prospective customer knows they fit, no matching will be required.

No longer will the organisation be pushing products onto prospective customers with a passing interest. Instead, prospective customers will be trying to gain approval to be served by the organisation.

"That's too risky!"

All consumers (aka human beings) are risk adverse, albeit to varying degrees. Less risk is better.

Lovelock, Patterson and Walker in their excellent textbook, Services Marketing, propose six main types of risk consumers experience when making a buying decision.

1) Functional risk is concerned with performance outcomes. For example: How can I be sure this accountant will gain the maximum tax return for me?

2) Financial risk is concerned with monetary loss and unexpected costs. For example: Will this electrician add extra costs to my final bill that were not quoted or mentioned to me?

3) Temporal risk is concerned with wasting time and consequences of delays. For example: Will the cafe have my lunch order ready on time, so I am not late back to work?

4) Psychological risk is concerned with personal fears and emotions. For example: Will I feel stupid if I don't understand the diagnosis given by the doctor?

5) Social risk is concerned with how others think and react. For example: Will my colleagues dislike my new tie and make wrong assumptions about me as a result?

6) Sensory risk is concerned with unwanted impacts on any of the five senses. For example: Will the restaurant still spell strongly of new paint like last time?

Knowing what are the main risks typically experienced by your customers is step number one. Next, you need to develop performance predictors to eliminate (or at least reduce) each of these risks. In the first example above (How can I be sure this accountant will gain the maximum tax return for me?), you could promote a client success statistic stating that '94% of clients are "pleasantly surprised" with the tax return received from XYZ Accountants (source: 2007 client survey, audited by PWC)'.

When you have completed the process of eliminating risks with performance predictors, you need to select your flagship performance predictor from the list.

What will your 'Flagship Performance Predictor' be?

A golden rule of marketing communications is send only one message in your communications. Less is more when it comes to marketing content. Why?

The ultimate answer lies in the way the human brain processes information. Our brains prefer (and are most effective) when dealing with one concept at a time. Consider the example of catching tennis balls.

If I were to throw you one tennis ball, the chances of you catching it are high. However, if I were to throw you 3 tennis balls, the chances of you catching all 3 balls would be slim. In fact, in an attempt to catch all 3 balls, it is highly likely that you will catch none. The brain prefers to focus on one thing at a time.

Applying this theory to performance predictors leads us to the conclusion that you must develop and promote one flagship performance predictor. Remember, less is more.

In selecting your flagship performance predictor, I would suggest you choose the one with the greatest "wow factor" or potential impact on prospective clients. If you're not sure which one this would be, you should conduct some market research to confirm.

Selecting a flagship performance predictor doesn't in any way suggest you should only have one performance predictor, however promoting only one will maximise the effectiveness of your marketing communications.

Your other performance predictors should act to reinforce your value, position and brand promise. Often your customers will be exposed to your other performance predictors as they progress along, or engage in, your client experience.

Performance Predictors and Marketing Communications

Marketing communications are messages used to communicate with a market (Source: Wikipedia). The typical channels of marketing communications include advertising, public relations, direct marketing, personal selling, sales promotion and online marketing.

Using the above definition, it is obvious that performance predictors are a form of marketing communications. That is, they are a form of message used to communicate with a market.

Performance predictors can be used as content for marketing communications. For example, product demonstrations (one type of performance predictor) is common in infommercials.

I say can be used as content for marketing communications, because they can also be integrated into the service delivery process or product itself. For example, FedEx answering incoming calls after only 1 ring.