Marlowe is a three-nager and it isn’t cool. Preschool dropoff has been a total nightmare, and I’ve tried everything – treats, dance parties, and bribes of all kinds – to make it less of a trainwreck. This week, I’ve finally got some traction.

What worked?

Setting super clear expectations ALL MORNING LONG. And then, dropping her off.

Back in my agency days, I had a winery client tell me that they try not to email their members too much because every time they email, it’s a reminder to the wine club that they should cancel their membership.

WHAT?! 

First of all there’s a whole lot that opens up for me, including – if your membership is so bad that just a reminder of your presence would inspire a member to cancel… come on. What was your alternative, to charge their card without telling them and hope they just suck it up? GEEZ.

But second of all, if that is all the value you’re aspiring to create with your emails… you’re doing it wrong.

Here’s where these two stories come together.

With Marlowe at drop off, the treats and bribery, the overexcitement, the dance parties and piggy back rides… they didn’t work. The fall was so hard when she got to school and it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and Marlowe in charge, it led to some really bad days and I’m not proud to admit this, a “spitting in the teacher’s face” incident.

When I simply kept her informed of how the day was going and what her role in that successful day was, she not only went along with it, she took control of her own attitude and CHOSE to have a great day. Not because her teachers or mom were bribing her to, but because she was the boss of Marlowe.

As marketers, we have this tendency to look for ways to spruce up what we have – to spit-shine the highlights, add some razzle dazzle and jazz hands to anything to make it look as good as possible. But do you know what is even more important in marketing?

CLARITY.

When you are CLEAR about what you’re selling, your offers convert. When you are CLEAR about who your product or service is for, you reach more of those kinds of people. When you make it clear how to take advantage of an offer, your customers can follow the instructions and get the value you are giving them.

If you’re so busy adding ribbons and bows to your product that you forget to create a clear user’s manual and path to purchase… you’re going to confuse your customers, or dupe them into buying and then have to issue refunds because your product didn’t live up to the expectations you created with the bows and the ribbons. 

The fall is just too hard.

In marketing, we need to assess our offers from the user perspective to make sure that the value is clear, that the way to get involved with your business is spelled out, and that we can actually live up to the expectations we create with the customer. If you’re nailing it there… go for it with the ribbons and bows. And Balloons, don’t forget the balloons.

So, the next time you’re putting together an offer for your customers, or a communication to your membership, ask yourself these questions:

Is the value of what I am offering clear?
Is the path to purchase straight forward.
Do we actually deliver what we are spelling out?

ONLY when you can answer those three questions with a resounding YES can you take it to this final question:

How can we take this communication to the next level? 

So, I cannot wait to hear from you on this topic- what are some ribbons or bows that you’ve tried with your communications? Are you guilty of the “I don’t want to email my customers because I don’t want to remind them to leave me” phenomenon?

Interact with me on social, hit the show notes to leave a comment, and share this episode with one of your colleagues, your business bestie, the winery down the road who sends garbage emails to you… just kidding, unless you’re gonna do it.