Let’s say it’s late August, Labor Day is coming and summer is winding down. You plan on celebrating by heading to a campground for one last getaway before fall. You pack your cooler full of soda, snacks, and of course burgers to grill. But you are out of ketchup. You make a note to pick up some at the grocery store on your way out of town.

Pop quiz: You walk down the aisle. What brand are you looking for?

I ask people this a lot. Most people tell me Heinz. Their answer explains a lot about what impactful marketing looks like. In marketing speak, we call this a category entry point, or CEP.

CEPs are simply cues that your clients will use to access their memories when faced with making a purchase, such as obtaining your coaching services. CEPS can include both internal cues such as motives and emotions as well as external cues, such as location and time of day.

At Paige Black, we leverage the power of CEPs to create strategic marketing plans for our customers. For example, when crafting the marketing for our industrial manufacturing client we built CEPs around extending equipment lifespan and reducing high maintenance costs. So, when a mining company is looking at repairing a worn out hydraulic rod or cylinder liner they know who to call. 

If you’ve done your job, your brand will be easily thought of during these buying situations. Just like when you think of Heinz when you run out of ketchup. 

As you can see, building these memories, evoking these emotional narratives, and being top of mind is incredibly important. Because coming to mind at the right time is what drives revenue. 

But category entry points can also be applied to networking. If you utilize CEPs correctly, when you have coffee or lunch with someone, they will work with or have a network of business contacts who are your ideal clients. 

As we established, an integral part of category entry points is the triggering situation. You need your network to remember you and then bring you in when that ‘triggering’ situation arises. 

Here’s how:

Establish and document your top 5 category entry points.

What are the most common triggers that cause people to hire you? Are they pain-focused or aspirational? 

If you aren't 100% sure, here are some typical  reasons that a business coach is commonly brought in:

• Not hitting revenue goals
• Concerns about team dynamics
• Concerns about leadership effectiveness
• Cash flow and/or profitability challenges
• Process or operational challenges

Develop a story for each

Studies show that stories enhance our memory. So we want to tell our network stories about what makes us great. To make this simple, here’s a basic narrative arc: current situation, journey, and desired situation. 
Remember that the current situation is the trigger and all the negative outcomes related to that ‌trigger. When composing your story be sure to include emotions, as emotions are closely linked to memory. The journey is how you helped the client solve the problem, and the final desired situation or outcome is helping the client achieve their new reality sans initial challenge.

Aspiration vs pain challenges

Some people get caught up in talking about selling against pain or aspiration challenges. From my perspective, both are valid and really are opposite sides of the same coin. If you have some challenges, that’s painful and removing that pain is likely an aspiration. If someone has an aspiration, underneath that aspiration is usually some type of pain. 

Tell one or two stories over each coffee

You want to help your network spot a trigger situation and feel comfortable and confident bringing you in. This will naturally happen if you describe the trigger and then the journey to the desired situation without those challenges. If you tell this narrative well, you will always be top of mind.