If You Can?t Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed!
How do you answer the seemingly easy question, "What do you
do?" Do you talk about YOU? Do you talk about your
products/services? Do you talk about your industry?
Do you explain the process of how your products/services
work? If you answered yes to any of these questions you
are missing an enormous opportunity. Every time someone asks you "What do you do?" and
every time someone reads your marketing materials you
have the opportunity to: * Interest potential clients
* Increase the potential for referrals
* Find out about potential strategic alliances
* Create recognition for yourself and your business
* Position yourself as an expert Stop right now and take the time to discover how to answer
the question, "What do you do?" in a profitable way. The bottom line is that in general, people are not really
that interested in you and what you do (you may have heard
this before, start believing it!) What they really want to
know is what you can do for them. All of the communication
about what you do must focus on the benefits of your
products/services, not the features. Focus on how your
products/services benefit the people who use them and the
results they can expect. Think about the last time you met someone and they told you
what they do. Do you remember what they told you? If so,
would you be able to clearly explain it to someone else?
Your goal is that the people who hear or read your marketing
messages remember what you do AND are able to tell someone
else. The first step to answering the question, 'What do you do'
is to define your ideal client. The more specific you are,
the more success you will have in building your business
quickly and positioning yourself as an expert. The next step
is to define what do you do for your clients. How you benefit
them. When you are clear about these two things, and you can
easily communicate what you do, you will feel more confident
talking about your business. People you talk with will easily
see exactly how you can help them and hopefully remember what
you do! Here are some examples to get you started (as you can see,
you don't necessarily need to mention your profession!): - "I work with professional women who want high returns on
their investments" (Financial Planner) - "I create delicious, healthy meals for busy executives that
have no time to cook." (Personal Chef) - "I help busy doctors find more time to spend with their
families" (Life Coach) - "I rescue stressed out business owners when their computers
crash" (Computer Technician) - "I help stay-at-home moms feel pampered and relaxed"
(Massage Therapist) Try out this formula: I work with (your niche or ideal clients)
who are having trouble with (problems your ideal clients face)
and who want (what they want to see happen, the result). Another way to explain what you do is to relate it to a known
situation, a common experience. So when someone asks you what
you do you can say, "Well you probably know how busy doctors
are, what I do is I help them spend more time with their
families." Or, "You know how stay-at-home moms are always
taking care of everyone else, well what I do is make THEM feel
taken care of." You will know you are on the right track when the next
question you are asked after you say what you do is:
"How do you do that?" Don't wait another minute. Get started now, grab a piece
of paper and write down what you do and then practice saying
it. You can test it out on friends and colleagues to refine
and improve it. Then start using it everywhere (with people,
on your website, on your business card) and you will see and
feel the difference this makes in attracting more clients! (c) 2005 Stephanie Ward Life & Business Coach Stephanie Ward helps business owners
set their profits on fire! Get your free monthly profit
tips plus bonus report at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com
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