“Somebody” is somebody else
In an emergency, the phenomenon of “diffusion of responsibility” can be a huge problem. The short definition is that when an accident occurs and many people are around, everyone assumes someone else will take care of it. When a person yells “somebody call 911”, everyone often assumes that “somebody” means “somebody else”.
The same can happen in marketing. A few years back, I mentioned meeting an insurance salesman that sold literally every kind of insurance. As a consequence, I didn’t know what his real expertise was and had no idea what a good referral for him might look like. He was just looking for “somebody”.
In the book “The 1-Page Marketing Plan“, author Allan Dib shares a great example from a similar event:
Then, the IT guy stands up and says, “If you know somebody who needs help upgrading their computer system, please send them my way.” Who’s “somebody”? It’s somebody else; that’s who “somebody” is.
Specifics matter. There are a lot of people that need IT help, but it’s not generically “upgrading their computer system”. It’s more likely:
Moving to a more accessible email platform.
Making the file storage more secure.
Connecting remote staff with cameras and tools for remote work.
Making it easier for Janet to print the monthly reports without her computer crashing.
If I hear a person say “We are experts in migrating companies from outdated on-site file servers to secure cloud storage to help people work more efficiently“, I get it. When I hear of a person with a need like that, that’s the person I’ll call.
Everybody wants “somebody”, but the more often you can turn “somebody” into “that specific person” it’ll be a win for everyone.