A while back there was a rather heated debate about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) on one of the lists I am on. Actually more than one, for some reason EFT really showcases people’s belief systems.
It got me thinking about the nature of the arguments presented and how the debate focused mostly on features of EFT, and not the benefits.
This is a classic mistake most business owners make in their advertising, and one as a marketing consultant I fix all the time.
In the case of EFT, on the whole it seemed that most people could agree that it worked and was at least somewhat effective (BENEFIT)
Instead, the debate was around topics such as:
- Did meridians matter?
- Which tapping points were best
- Does it only work when done by trained certified persons
- Not proven by science vs is proven
- What role does suggestibility play
- Does it use hypnotic principles or not
- Uses language patterns vs none used at all
None of which a prospective client would care about, anymore than they care what color your underpants are. In fact, only people who are deep into the study of EFT, Hypnosis, NLP, etc. would care about these things.
Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client. And ask yourself if you didn’t know diddly about NLP, Hypnosis, or EFT, which of the below headlines would inspire you to visit a change work business?
Correct Meridians & Tapping Done By Trained Professional"
"Finally, A 10 Minute Method To Eliminate Your ___________
That’s So Simple… You Can Do It Yourself"
Bluntly, if you have to think more than 2 seconds to answer this question, then you need tobuy a plane ticket, get your butt to San Francisco as fast as humanly possible. and pay me for a day of coaching so I can straighten out your marketing before it’s too late.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of a budding new change worker who knows nothing of EFT. What is going to be most important to this person? Is the tapping important? Or ease of use? Or effectiveness with clients?
Here it’s a little tricky and if you were going to offer courses, let the market tell you what’s important. But I would say it’s a safe bet
Tapping Patterns & Meridians"
or
"An Amazingly Simple And Effective Technique
You Can Use With Any Client"
or maybe
"A Technique You Can Teach Your Clients In Less Than 10 Minutes
To Enhance Any Changework You Do"
Again, this shouldn’t be too tough to figure out. All the debate on meridians, tapping order, is it really just a pattern interupt, or collapsing anchors, or a confusion induction… none of that matters to most of the human population.
And especially your prospective clients don’t give a damn!
A real easy way to remember this idea is you want to sell the ‘sizzle’ instead of the steak. I recommend you read that post if you haven’t already done so.
Now go get some clients!
I use EFT with 99% of my clients. I introduce it as a form of tranceless hypnosis. It really doesn’t matter what we call it as long as it is effective. But even with hypnosis we (hypnotherapists) sometimes spend to much time and energy figuring what it is instead of focusing on its benefits (what problems does it solve). Maybe if all us hypnotherapist could tap on releasing our need to explain everything.
EFT is so much fun to use. And it is fascinating to go along for the ride
with an extremely logical client. The mind quiets down right before your eyes.
As a practioner, I feel it is very important to give no merit to the meridians or to enter into any kind of a logical explanation. “I don’t know how it works, I just know it works.” I may site a few examples. Because I am so sure, the client, no matter how smart or educated goes along with it, and it does work. It is a challenge for all of us to get our consicous minds out of the way. So, John Lunhom, I’ll toast what you wrote, and add, ” Wouldn’t it be fun to have a hundred hypnotherapists on a conference call, releasing our need to explain everything?”.
Hi Craig.
I agree with your point here. When it comes to marketing, selling the sizzle is much more effective than selling the inner workings or nitpicky details. For a great example of this, look at how Mazda sells their cars. Mazda doesn’t sell their fuel economy, their performance or safety statistics, or even their brand name, really. They sell sizzle… and they call it “Zoom-zoom!” It’s a 100% emotional hook, and very effective. Too bad “Sleep-sleep!” doesn’t have the same ring. :)