What makes a customer choose one vendor, store or service provider over another? Unless you're the only game in town (or on the Internet), that's an important question to consider when you're planning your advertising, promotional literature, sales presentations, website and even your business card. Get the answer right and you'll land more sales than your competitors. Get it wrong, and business that could be yours will pass you by.

So what's the answer? What's the secret to getting customers to choose you over several similar competitors advertising in the same media? The solution is simple: include words or slogans in all your marketing materials that will make the customer feel confident that they can rely on you to provide what they need and be there if they have questions or a problem next month or next year.

What kinds of words do that? Words that conjure up images of stability, reliability, professionalism and experience. Some examples include: "guaranteed," "satisfaction guaranteed," "board certified," "licensed," "insured," "serving the community for 20 years," "complete," "the [industry name] experts," "on time," "24-hour service."

If you're not already using confidence building terms like these, add them to your next print ad. If you're not ready to have business cards or brochures reprinted, consider putting a confidence-building word or phrase on a colorful sticker and affixing the sticker to your existing literature.

More: Take the Test: Does Your Marketing Copy Sell?

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