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Method Mapping. The secret revealed.

Written by: Ed Delia

Article Overview: It doesn’t matter what business you are in, you have your own way of doing things, your own methodology, your own unique process.

Method Mapping. The secret revealed.

This is your secret formula. Only, why keep it a secret?

Documenting what makes you different.

Your unique method of doing things is what makes you different from every one of your competitors. Without that point of difference, you’re selling a commodity product. Which means the only way you’re going to get the sale, is to sell for less. And that’s no way to grow a business and build a brand. What you want to do is put your unique way of providing quality and value on paper, as a step-by-step process.

We call it Method Mapping™. Simply put, it means documenting “how” you do what you do, not just “what” you do for your customers.

Method mapping gives prospects something tangible upon which to choose you over others. Potential customers can see the logic of your methodology and they can appreciate the time-tested, organized thinking that produced it.

Make it a team effort.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that it isn’t easy to document the process that makes your company and its output uniquely valuable. But the rewards are invaluable, and the journey can be equally invaluable for everyone involved. So do just that. Involve everybody. It will help refine your company practices, help define areas of responsibility, and expose areas of weakness.

Getting your entire team involved in documenting your methodology has a few secondary benefits as well. People tend to take for granted how important their role is, and how unique your methods of operation are. By documenting the process, everyone’s true worth is revealed.

New team members gain a true understanding of your business model. And experienced members of your team are helped to achieve a new level of coordinated effort, with more defined roles and less duplication of effort.

The final challenge.

Getting it on paper is good. Giving it life is better. After you distinguish your company by documenting your unique process, the final step is putting it in a form that can easily be understood and appreciated by prospective clients.

The best way to do this is to craft your unique step-by-step process into a progressive diagram, or by giving it some other visual form that allows you to present it quickly and confidently. Remember, your end goal is to get something on paper that is easy to follow, truly sets you apart, and has dramatic impact upon presentation. Here are three suggestions to guide the process.

1.Break your methodology down into no more than 10 steps.
2.Present your methodology in the form of a diagram or a logical progression of activities. Make your Method Map as graphically appealing as possible.
3.Make certain your presentation of process comes to a successful conclusion that clearly fulfills your company’s promise to its customers.

Can it be done? You bet. We have a number of clients who have mapped out their methodology and are using it to generate new business on a regular basis. Some we had to help more than others, but every one of them is thrilled with what Method Mapping has done for their brand image and bottom line.

Related Articles
  Using Value Stream Mapping Software
  Mental Momentum
  Draw your Value Stream Map in Excel
  Why would you use Value Stream Mapping
  Start your Visual Thinking Process with Mind Mapping

Article Tags: business model, commodity product, company practices, entire team, journey, logic, methodology, prospects, rewards, team effort, team members, true worth



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Re: How Much Of Ourselves Should We Give Away...? - what a great topic david start here, it reminds me of a movie i watched resently called KUNFU PANDA. The movie is all about keeping secret. there were two secret kept: the secret of dragon scroll and secret of cooking, later the secret was revealed which was no secret kept. the reason am relating this movie with the topic is that, you can give out 90% for free and hold on to 10% secret which will make you have more customer and traffic. I know some marketers both the internet and offline that will give you 100% product for free but whenever they want to sell to you the little one you will be glad to respond because of their gesture. What I would like to say is that giving out most of the product is a great marketing strategy to win more buyers to your future products.
Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? - [quote="Kevin":2b3i4dqy] So what is your husband's secret? Can you give a specific example of what he does in order to win over customers?[/quote:2b3i4dqy] I don't know his secret, he was born this way, and has 40 years of training. He tried to teach me and coaching me, giving me opening lines, and we did illustrations of real conversation. No luck. He knows how to talk to people, and how to read them, even if it's over the phone, he knows exactly what to say and how to say it, he always tells me "you shouldn't say this, you should say it like this". I am amazed every time.
Trade secrets - Hi BizLoanz4u, I think I've only had a non-disclosure agreement with my web designer and I've never even felt the need to have one with my business coach when we were discussing my ideas. In fact, I knew that if he talked about my business with other people, it'd probably be in my best interests. When people talk about your idea, it helps provide free exposure and possibily even attracts others to get involved with your business. I believe that a person could probably have the most original idea, then write up the best business plan and even post it on the web or leave it on a college campus library table and the following would hold true: 1.) The idea or trade secret probably isn't original or a secret. 2.) The majority of people who stumble upon the "confidential" business plan would NOT act on it. 3.) The few who dare to take the risk and implement the idea would fail. 4.) And there's probably a better chance of winning the lottery or getting attacked by a shark or hit by lightning than for a person to find your idea/trade secret and turn it into a successful business.
Re: The secret to happiness - The secret is having a career you love and be happy doing other things
Your choice between... - If you have a choice between $100,000 and a book that guarantee you the secret on how to be a millioniare which one will you choose?


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