In your unique marketing message, understating your offering’s performance runs the risk of having clients understate its performance even after they have experienced it. Overstating your offering’s performance runs the risk of having clients feel that they’ve been tricked. Studies reveal that accurate marketing descriptions have proven to garner the highest Client Satisfaction ratings. How can you develop your marketing message to align expectations with your deliverable?

• Involve clients in marketing evaluation. Present a set of clients with your message. Have them utilize your offering in a real-world setting. Then ask them to evaluate your marketing message based on their experiences.
• Involve Technology experts in marketing development. Those who invented, design, and developed your offering have a deep understanding of it’s true strengths and weaknesses. The challenge is that they often speak in techno-babble. Teach them to speak in simple, friendly terms and you will have a valuable resource to use.
• Quantify your offering versus expectations. Based on reviewing your marketing message, ask customers to rate how interested they are in purchasing your product or service. After using your offering, have them rate it again. Compare the pre- versus post-use ratings. When your scores are within one point of each other, you have achieved balance between your marketing promise and actual performance.