Understand Your Buyer > How People Work > The Guessing Game
What is it?
The Guessing Game reminds us that most potential clients are trying to connect the dots from their limited understanding of your offering. As such they will guess where appropriate and seek to make their own conclusions.
Why does it work?
It works because this is at the very heart of sales messaging. In as few words as possible you need to convey your offering, intrigue and engage (Taglines achieve this) . In much the same way a dot to dot creates a picture, you need to consider how the information you communicate about your business builds up to make the overall picture.
How can you use it?
The acid test is can you stop someone in the street and try to explain to them what you do in as few words as possible? how would you do it? What would you say?
What information could you provide that when connected together will create the picture of your actual offering? Saying your offering is like something else (Equivalence) and being clear to cover the obvious details (WYSIWYG) are a great starting point.
Example
A software company tells people:
“We’re like Airbnb for meeting rooms.”
Why it works:
Rather than listing complex features or industry jargon, this single sentence gives the listener a shortcut to understanding. Their brain fills in the gaps:
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It’s a booking platform
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It’s peer-to-peer
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It’s likely easy to use
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It’s probably cost-effective
The audience “connects the dots” quickly without needing a full explanation—and that’s the power of avoiding the guessing game by guiding it.
See also
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