Define Promise – Page 5 – Discipline makes Daring possible.

December 5, 2019

Dissecting the Promise, Part 3: so that you can join the tribe that feels like home for you

What’s the point of becoming the person you want to be, if nobody else sees it? Or cares about it?

We all want to belong to a community, a tribe. At least one. A group of like-minded people. People like us.

The way we dress, the way we work, what we eat and how we spend our leisure time often signals which tribe(s) we feel we are part of, and those we don’t. Everyone I know would be astounded if I suddenly took up golf.

So in formulating your promise of value, it pays to understand what communities the people you serve are part of, and which they seek to join.

You may even want to consider creating a new community just for them.

December 4, 2019

Dissecting the Promise, Part 2: in a way that is completely congruent with your values, beliefs and style,

Clients and customers don’t just buy the product or service we sell, nor even the promise of moving one step nearer to being the person they want to be.

They also buy the experience of buying and the experience of that becoming.

Which means that the experience of buying and becoming has to be consistent with their values, beliefs and style – with both who they are and who they want to be.

Imagine trying to deliver that experience to someone with whom you share not a single value, belief or style. You would feel like a fraud. they would feel it too.

It’s much easier (and more satisfying) to start by clarifying our own values, beliefs and style, so we can intentionally attract like-minded clients and customers, and deliver an experience that’s authentic for both of us.

To be truly fulfilling for both parties, customer experience has to be built-in, not bolted on.

December 3, 2019

Dissecting the Promise, Part 1: become the person you want to be

We all want to be someone else. Someone better. Stronger, fairer, kinder, cleverer, more authoritative, more creative, more exotic – the list goes on.

If you happen to be a cosplay or fancy dress business able to literally do that – lucky you!

The rest of us have to spend some time working out a) who the people we serve are and b) who they want to be. And of course there can be several of either.

Whether you sell a product or service, the challenge is the same. Take electric drills, for example. As someone famously said, when his marketing department insisted on going through features “people don’t buy drills, they buy holes in the wall!”.

They don’t of course. They don’t even buy a bookshelf on the wall, or a picture hung, or a wooden toy mended. What they buy is the ability to become a closer version of the person they want to be.

Putting up a shelf, or hanging a picture or mending the wooden toy might make a father feel he is taking care of his family, as his father did before him. He’s out at work all day, so he misses out on mealtimes and bedtimes, but he can do his bit for the nest they’re all in.

The same thing might make a woman feel like she is independent, capable, self-sufficient, so that when she chooses to settle down its because she wants to, not because she has to.

That’s a lot to pack in to a product or service. As responsible businesses we have a duty to understand who we serve and who they want to be, as fully as we can, and then find the best, most effective way to help them get there, without harming them, other people or the planet in the process.

We never buy just ‘stuff’. Which means we can’t sell just ‘stuff’.

October 25, 2019

Focus

With a deep understanding of what makes you tick, and what makes the people you serve tick, you can focus on where to find them.

That’s where demographics come in.

Empathy gives you the insight into what these people really want, and why they might like to come to you for help in getting it.

Demographics gives you an idea of where enough of these people might be. And ‘enough’ is a much smaller number than you think.

The trick is to find a demographic that is under-served by what else is out there. People who feel ignored or under-appreciated, will be happy that you focus on them.

Narrowing your focus enables you to make your message much clearer. “This is for you” is far more powerful than “This is for anyone”.

October 24, 2019

The Ideal Client

There is a better way to find out who really is your ideal client.

Simply ask the question from a different perspective:

Who am I ideal for?

That way it’s easier to focus on what they want, not what you want.

October 23, 2019

Transformation

Reflection is an excellent start for clarifying who your ‘ideal clients’ are. By getting under your own skin to discover your values and preferred behaviours, you’ll uncover some of the values and preferred behaviours of the clients you like to work with, and who like to work with you.

This enables you to take the next step – putting yourself in your client’s shoes and seeing what you do from their perspective.

This will move your thinking from ‘features’ (“we produce accurate accounting information”), to ‘benefits’ (“we make sure you have the information you need to run your business well”).

If you already have clients who love you, you can even ask them why they do, and this will uncover benefits you didn’t even know you delivered (“you listen to me”,”you really get to know me and my business”, “you find me suppliers I can trust”).

The next step is to get to the core of the relationship you create with your clients over time, and for that there is one key question:

Who do you help them to become?

Because all business is about transformation – even accountancy.

October 22, 2019

Reflection

Whoever you want as a client, to serve them well, you need to understand them. Empathy is essential.

That’s always hard. Because they are not you. They don’t know what you know, don’t believe what you believe, don’t want what you want.

But you can get a start, by looking at yourself first. What do you know? What do you believe? What do you want? Are you the only one?

Then test what you’ve found with real clients. They’ll soon show you where your assumptions are wrong.

June 3, 2019

Connection

‘Stuff’ is just a poor substitute for what people really want – autonomy, mastery, agency, purpose and above all connection.

With that in mind, the questions any business, new or established should be asking are these:

“What do the people I serve want to become?”

and

“How can I help them get there together?”

not,

“How can I play that to get them to buy my stuff”.

March 1, 2019

Rules

How far can you take the idea of a guitar, and still end up with something recognisable as a guitar? … Read More “Rules”

November 16, 2018

The Promise

Every great business is founded on a promise.

Not to shareholders.

Not to staff.

To prospects and customers.

The promise of a change that’s yearned for, that’s worth more than the money in my pocket.

A promise you do your utmost to keep.

All businesses have such a promise, it shows, but it isn’t always articulated explicitly.

Making it explicit, and sharing it with your team is the first step in building a framework that enables them to deliver it on your behalf.

The first (and last) rule of your enabling framework:

If in doubt, remember the promise, then do what it takes to deliver that.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: Define Promise