Recently in a food shop I caught sight of a wonderful array of oils and vinegars.

The whole display reminded me of being in France or Italy and was extremely attractive, and felt authentic. I enjoyed seeing the large containers and the small sample dishes filled with different scented and coloured oils.

Small samples are extremely inviting

Without thinking, I reached for some of the bread, and dipped it in the first oil. The taste was exquisite. I could immediately imagine eating this wonderful oil with bread and sharing with friends. I could visualise how being a customer would improve my life!

The fact that the colours were interesting and the scents appealing added to the experience.

Even if you have a service business there are many ways for prospective customers to get the experience you provide…and find out how good it is. The more they experience it – with all their senses – the more powerful it will be. You don’t just want to tell them .. it is important to show them.

Consumable items like the olive oil are obviously easy to sample. Services like back massage, reflexology and so on can be experienced in shorter sessions or consultations. Business services or coaching can identify the biggest problem of the client and demonstrate the solution.

Even if you have a service business an object or experience which can be touched, tasted, smelt, heard and seen will stay in the memory longer than an idea. And an experience that has an emotional quality will have more impact that an intellectual idea.

You can use all kinds of marketing ideas that describe your business as a metaphor ie in terms of something else.

So in Spring when everything is growing a beautiful flower bud given away in one-to-one or networking meetings could be perfect to demonstrate a business that helps companies grow. A packet of seeds mailed out to prospective customers could be equally powerful (and easier to send in the mail!)

The big difficulty is getting through defences so that people take in your message. As a small business the more creative and personal you are, the easier the message will get across.

Marketing your business can be an exciting adventure which means you and your future customers will have more fun! And yes, that makes it easier for you to be inspirational, and for them to buy.