Episode 4 - Comparative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives compare two people or things to help us describe other things. Here we compare a buyer's job-to-be-done with buyer personalization (a big achievement for example) to shine a light on the problem your product or service solves.
Context: Bare with me - tough to explain. Comparative adjectives compare two people or things to help us describe other things. Here we compare a buyer's job-to-be-done with buyer personalization (a big achievement for example) to shine a light on the problem your product or service solves. You could also use comparative adjectives to show a positive future state that your product or service unlocks. More effective when written because it gives your buyer a few extra seconds to catch on.
General format: Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).
Here's Josh Braun (buy everything he sells) on jobs-to-be-done via 5onFriday:
*I've looked everywhere but can't find the post. I think this play is inspired by Josh. I think he compared a job to be done to passing the bar exam. Please share if you find it so I can credit him.
Effort: Low
Where to look:
LinkedIn (achievements), Location, Education, Socials, Podcasts and Interviews (hobbies and passions).
Examples:
Suppose you’re Ryan Reisert, Cold Caller (Founder) at Phone Ready Leads (know who picks up the phone) selling to me. Yes I know he'd call instead but I'm short on time and it's an easy example.
My team and I cold-call to book meetings (job to be done).
Connect-rate sucks (pain).
I support Arsenal (personalization).
LinkedIn DM may go like this:
“Harry, connect rate above 7%? With Marketers, that’s harder than Patrick Vieira. Maybe even Martin Keown…
Phone Ready Leads customers average 21%. {INSERT RELEVANT SOCIAL PROOF}
Curious? Or should I leave in disgrace like Mesut Ozil?”
I would respond but if I didn't. Follow-up could be.
"Called earlier Harry - 760 number right? Forgot to mention set-up is faster than Theo Walcott used to be.
Send us your list.
We wave a magic wand.
Like Mesut Ozil (again) you rake in the dough without doing the dirty work"
*You don’t need to be a football fan. Just use Google:
**Hard in England means tough.
If you’re SDR at Oyster or Deel (Global hiring, payroll, and benefits tech) selling to Calendly (never heard of em). Your buyer is Katie Purcell, VP People Ops.
Calendly hires people, pays people and offers benefits to people globally (job to be done).
Legal and tax compliance is manual, time-consuming, stressful, and risky (pain).
via LinkedIn. Katie is super passionate about the outdoors. Big on hiking (personalization).
Subject: via Chilipiper / Moraine Lake
“Katie - all remote is awesome don’t get me wrong. Ever feel like hiring everywhere is tougher than hiking Moraine Lake in heels? Risky. Stressful. Painful maybe?
Before Oyster. It was a "nightmare" (his words) for Tyler Parson, VP People @ Chilipiper.
If your team gets blisters from manual legal and tax compliance have a read: https://www.oysterhr.com/case-studies/chili-piper"
In the wild:
Elena Verna, Head of Growth @ Amplitude (Product Analytics) + Advisor to the biggest and baddest B2B brands in the world. Amplitude launched its first out-of-home ad campaign.
Here's the thinking:
Elena needs to know whether spending on billboards leads to growth (job to be done).
Measuring the impact of outdoor ads sucks (pain).
Elena lives in Nashville. Housing market is insane here (personalization).
Elena even posted about the email. First time this has happened to me in 10 years. Nearly cried. She inspired me to launch this site.
Disclaimer.
- I hated this email. It's clunky and doesn't roll off the tongue.
- I didn't book a meeting with her. She referred me to a colleague.
- Got lost in the weeds researching Elena. So much online about her (occupational hazard). I nearly didn't send it because she's all about product-led growth (enemy of sales?). I was wrong:
If you are not leveraging *all* of the growth [motions] x [levers] combos below in your growth model, you will be disrupted by competition who will.💡Strategy is not about which 3x3 option to pick, but rather when and how to sequence them all. pic.twitter.com/FWra8XVxsv
— elena verna (@ElenaVerna) July 1, 2022
*Will add more examples when I get a minute.
Tips:
- Personalization must be obvious. Not obscure. More differentiated, the better. Try to answer the question. What is different about this buyer?
- Struggling to find a passion or a hobby? Location, career achievements, and education are easier options. For Gong:
"Deal reviews for 12 reps may be tougher than surviving Engineering @ Stanford (kudos btw)"
- For email use your comparative adjective in the subject + preview text. Repurpose across written channels.
- Let the comparative adjective stand alone. My email to Elena was too long. I didn't need to add the explainer text below the image. "We fixed that for Sentinel One" + social proof is often enough.
- It’s never about you. Elena couldn’t care less that I moved to Nashville recently. Don’t waste real estate.
- Tell me without telling me. You don't need to say, "I saw your featured article where you talk about bears and hiking".
- Get a bunch of opens but no reply? Refer back to your comparative adjective across spoken channels.
Don't hold back. I've got skin tougher than Ray Lewis.
*I know nothing about American Football. Does this work?
See you soon for episode 5 - Vendor reciprocation