In the last two posts, I talked about defining your company and delivering an honest message. Here are a few suggestions to putting those ideas into action.
Toss the assumptions associated with your service aside and think in real terms about what you do and why you are the best choice. Your goal is to discover who you really are. This will include the terms others use to describe your company.
What you do is often customized depending on the perspective of your customer and knowing their thoughts about how you deliver value is important. If you provide a customizable solution, you may not realize how much your message will vary based on the needs of the customer and the solutions you can provide to meet those needs. You need to think in the terms of your customers and prospect, not yours.
The five steps:
- Ask your customers why they are customers. Let them tell you what value they see in your relationship. It is likely others see you in the same light.
- Ask customers who refer you, what they say when they refer your services. Remember, referrers are proud of their relationship with you, so how they “sell” you can be enlightening.
- Ask your employees what they say in casual conversation about why they are proud of your company. Think about what you say when you talk about what you do. Look for consistencies or inconsistencies in your internal messaging.
- Document your sales process and look for honesty and consistency in that process. When it comes to relationship building, process is everything.
- Delete your products and services from your vocabulary and then discuss what you do without mentioning a single product or service you offer. This will help you see that without perceived competence associated with products or services, all that is left is the value you deliver. If you have little to say, you need to rethink your approach.
These steps will give you an idea of the common messages that are associated with your company and the value that they may or may not deliver. This messaging, good or bad, is the truth that is defining your organization. If you don’t like what you learn, redefine your organization and culture to address these issues.
Change process, philosophy and methodology to deliver the organization you want, but ensure that the organization you dream about is the same one you can deliver. A change in marketing messaging and process is worthless if it is not completely true.
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