How to Describe What You Do — So You Stand Out in ANY Crowd!
Let’s continue last week’s important topic by diving a bit deeper – and let’s explore how to talk about the results you get for people so they see you as an expert in your field.
(*If you haven’t read last week’s post, click here to get up to speed: http://www.jointheunstoppables.com/2013/10/what-to-say-so-people-buy/ )
When you know how to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack, then you stand out. Competition falls away. People step forward and pay you well for the gifts you hold.
And you can be seen as an expert by describing what you do in JUST the right way. In fact, when you learn to stand strong, own your value and talk about what you do with clarity and finess – you can become an expert in your field in the time it takes for you to answer the simple question: “What do you do?” — taking 10 seconds or less.
But until you’re seen as an expert, it can be tough-going for some entrepreneurs. Because let’s face it: Experts get paid more than just the Average-Joe (or Jane) – even if they aren’t innately more talented or skilled than the “generalists” among us.
Let’s hit this home by pretending that you have an unusual disease – let’s call it Elbow-Broadway-itis – where your elbows sprouts tiny little lips and sings show-tunes until you start to lose your mind. (Might as well have some fun while we’re at it, right?)
Now picture a line-up of 50 brilliantly-gifted healers and doctors standing before you, all eager to support you in curing your dis-ease.
As you stand before each person, eager to pick the practitioner to heal your woes, you’ll likely hear things like:
“Hi! I’m a family practitioner with 30 years experience + success with all types of ailments.”
“Hi, I’m a naturopath, and I’m positive I can help you and am great at what I do.”
“Hey there, I’m a nutritionist, and I help people heal from all types of diseases using dietary changes.”
And while those all sound dandy – and any one of these folks could be the cure to what ails ya, imagine going down the line to suddenly hear THIS come out of 1 practitioner’s mouth:
“Funny you mention Elbow-Broadway-itis — That’s my SPECIALTY! I’ve worked with hundreds of those crazy lil’ singin’ elbows… In fact, people come to me from all over the world to remove those teensy-weensy elbowy lips. In fact, I’m on a mission to rid the planet of Elbow-Broadway-itis!”
Woah.
Can you guess which of the 50 you’re most likely to pursue? Yup – it’s the specialist. And you’ll probably be willing to pay this pro 3, 5 or even 10x more because of their expert status.
So let’s begin to help YOU by reading the list below. Do any of these phrases sound familiar – perhaps even phrases you’ve used in your newsletter, on your website, or out of your own unstoppable lips?…
LIST A:
I help people…
- Transform their lives
- To remove hidden blocks
- Experience more joy
- Find inner peace
- Make their dreams come true
- Get unstuck
- Find fulfillment
- Become more successful
- Boost their self-esteem
- Create lasting, positive change
- Experience more joy
- Find greater satisfaction
- Overcome obstacles
- Achieve results
- Or fill in the blank with your own version: _______________________________
If so, then I hate to break it to you, but while I KNOW you mean well, you’re talking from way up in “La-La Land” — which has your head up in the clouds (and your sales down in the toilet).
It’s not that the things on this list aren’t wonderful. …They are! They are!
They’re LIFE-CHANGING. Over-the-top important. Be-still-my-heart VITAL.
But…
If you actually want the opportunity to offer these awesome benefits to others, you must get your feet back on planet Earth.
(You know — that round, swirling green-blue orb where money gets exchanged?)
To build a thriving business, you want your results to answer what I call a “Middle of the Night” problem.
Because the more you’re solving a grounded, tangible, pain-in-the-bum problem for your peeps, the more you will actually HELP them (and the more you can charge, too)!
What ARE middle of the night problems? They are those nagging, annoying, stressful issues that cause your brain to grind over them, endlessly… usually without much relief.
If we could put a megaphone to most people’s middle-of-the-night thoughts, they’d sound like:
• “I need to make more money – I’m drowning in debt!”
• “I can’t take this lower back pain anymore – it’s wrecking my life!”
• “My spouse isn’t talking to me – I’m afraid he might want a divorce!”
• “All my clothes are WAY too tight – I feel SO disgusting… But I just can’t seem to drop the last 20lbs!”
IMPORTANT NOTE: Often they will be around grounded topics of: finances; health; weight; relationships; career advancement; parenting issues, etc.
Your prospects are NOT sitting around at 3am saying: “Gosh, I just wish I could find deeper satisfaction with my life!” or “Wow, I just wish I could remove a hidden block today.”
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Brains are in freak-out mode. They have specific, GROUNDED problems they want solved. And until you use the words that match their wee brain’s inner dialogue, you’re going to have a tough time convincing those folk’s brains to whip out the MasterCard to work with you…
So try asking yourself this question:
THE UNSTOPPABLE “THEN WHAT” QUESTION:
Once I help people to _____________________________ (fill in the blank with your own “floaty” term from List A)… THEN what happens?
Meaning: What tangible, real-life results show up in their lives once they’ve reached your wonderfully lofty List-A goal?
You have to be able to ask that question over and over and over again until you finally hit on a tangible, grounded situation – usually a problem that people are struggling to conquer.
Let’s take Margie as an example:
Margie was a struggling health coach who was ready to head in an entirely new business direction. But as she started to make this exciting new transition, she found herself struggling to articulate what she did, and how she helped others.
And after a few weeks, she took a quantum leap and declared: “I realize what I really do!!!!! I help TRANSFORM people’s lives…. I bridge the gap from where they are, to where they want to be.”
She was SO elated to get to this next level of clarity. The words sounded lovely. And they couldn’t be more true.
But she wasn’t quite there yet…
Unfortunately most brains won’t be inspired enough to pay her the big bucks – as the message was still a bit too “vague”…
In a nutshell: Brains pay for the solution to PROBLEMS. Specific, tangible problems…
Now Margie is well on her way, but she had to take one more quantum leap in order to ground her language so that people could find her and pay her.
So we did this exercise…
I asked her:
“When you transform lives, and you DO bridge that gap for them…what happens NEXT?”
And she replied:
“Well, then they feel more joy and contentment! They feel fulfilled. They feel more confident, and alive…”
“Awesome!” I said.
(But Margie’s feet were still hovering about 20 feet off the ground – just out of reach of her prospects.)
Then I said:
“When they feel more joy and fulfillment and confidence… THEN what?
…How does THAT impact their careers? Their income? Their relationships? Their health?”
There was a pause. And Margie started to reply:
“Well, they leave their lousy day jobs — and either find a job that fits them like a glove, or they become brave enough to start their own businesses!
They make more because they fearlessly put themselves out there, speak up, and go for what they want.
Their relationships strengthen, or they find amazing new partners that match their new empowered selves.
And their health is off the charts, because they aren’t stressed out anymore, and have endless energy!!!!”
Ah, NOW we’re getting somewhere…
Margie had finally landed on Planet Earth. She was speaking in the language and about the results that really mattered to the BRAINS of her prospects. She was connecting with the real-life, practical pain-in-the-butt scenarios that cause people to lay in bed at night, brain racing, as they sweat it out mentally to come up with a tangible solution.
She determined that who she really loved working with were powerful, driven professional woman and business owners, and the results she knew would spring out of her “transformation” process (the results her prospects BRAINS would be very eager to invest in) would be:
Bold career advancements; the ability to fearlessly put themselves out into the spotlight; a renewed passion to take huge running leaps of career-faith — and through all of that, they were BOUND to make tons more money, too!
Now that’s a juicy far-cry from her original (generic) statement.
Not only does she LOVE these bold types of women (heck, she’s one herself!) — but they’re a group VERY willing to invest in the solution to their business blocks…
So the MORE you can be solving a real-life problem, the more people you’ll attract — and the more likely they’ll be to pull out the ol’ Visa, Mastercard or Amex card.
Here’s a sample list of some grounded problems entrepreneurs like yourself often solve for others:
LIST B:
I help people to…
• lose weight
• escape their corporate cubicle job
• end back pain
• start their own business
• find more ideal, high-paying clients
• triple their productivity at work
• organize their office
• cure insomnia
• get over their fear of public speaking
• heal adrenal fatigue and stress-related health issues
• design a powerful online web presence
• get their kids off of drugs
HINT-HINT:
Note that the common-denominators of List B above is that these are all problems that people are:
1. actively SEEKING OUT
2. Are INVESTING IN
***These 2 elements MUST be present in order to create a thriving business.***
…Is it starting to make sense now? Are you seeing and feeling the difference?
Sure, at the end of the day, List A is what you and I LONG for – what we care about MOST. And in fact is IS what you will be doing for your clients once they begin to work with you.
WARNING: Make no mistake — does today’s topic means you’re going to compromise your integrity, change your work, or do something you don’t love? Oh no – QUITE the opposite.
What you’re doing today, you’ll continue doing for people. You’ll just TALK about it differently so that others step forward, say “Yes!” and see the value in the gifts you provide.
I’m hitting this HARD this week because if you can’t get prospects’ brains to perk up when you talk about your work, you won’t have anyone to help.
You want to get prospects in the door with your “List B” message – THEN unleash your lofty awesomeness to get them where they want to go.
Because at the end of the day, brains just want to know: “Can you help me solve this specific pain-in-the-butt, real-life problem?”
Period.
So like last week, take a stab at your own revised “What do you do?” statement, incorporating a grounded result — just fill in these blanks:
“I help __________________ and help them solve ________________________(grounded problem).”
Don’t worry about getting it right. You can’t do this “wrong”. Just take a stab below — I’m here to help!
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If you’re finding subjects like this are still tough — or you’re craving ongoing support to stay in your unstoppability, we’ve got a small, intimate Platinum Group Business Coaching program starting in November… Grab the opportunity to get my ongoing support to work on topics like this, and countless more – A few spots are still available!!!
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© Copyright 2013 Stephanie McWilliams LLC
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