If You Cant Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed
If You Cant Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed
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!
If You Cant Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed - To learn more about this author, visit Stephanie Ward's Website.
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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!
If You Cant Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed - To learn more about this author, visit Stephanie Ward's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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