By: Martin Grunburg
Following a recent entrepreneur group meeting, I was chatting with a few of the participants and our discussion weaved from sports to business and seemingly everything in between. At one point, a lawyer — a very bright entrepreneur — started to recount some particular struggles related to new business growth.
I think I interrupted him (I need to get better at that), and I asked, “Tell me, why would any prospect or lead select you/your firm over any other lawyer who specializes in the same thing?”
Again, this guy is very smart, perhaps too smart for his own good, so he looked at me, shrugged his shoulders a little and said, “You know, the honest truth is that we’re probably not any different.”
On one hand I got it; I understood where he was going with that sentiment. However, on the other hand, it pissed me off a little. Really!? YOU are NO better? Come on, you know that isn’t true! And, by the way, if it is true you might as well just close up shop!
So, I pressed him, demanding and assuring him at the same time that HE and his firm were very different. “First of all,” I exclaimed, “none of those firms have YOU!” As I began to encourage and prod him for a few other differences, he sat up a little straighter. “Well,” he said, “we just won an amazing case that I’m not sure any other firm could have won!” Then, he went on to cite two or three other exciting and compelling differences about his company.
“Perfect! That’s it!” I almost yelled. His confidence grew.
Then, I shared with him that I could really relate to where he was coming from — his humility. In the world in which we (and probably you) grew up, we were encouraged to be humble and never boastful. However, I explained to him that I’ve recently started to recognize in this crazy, online and social media world, it’s imperative that you first stand out and then quickly explain why you are better. In fact, it’s an exercise he really should undertake immediately (similar to the VALUEs exercise in this new year’s post PDF) that should be performed by you and your employees.
Don’t you think you and your employees should be able to cite at least a handful of reasons why you/your company is superior to the competition? Not because you’re bragging, but because it fires you up — gives you a reason to get up in the morning.
Future clients are constantly looking for help to make their decision, and here’s the key — quickly. They truly need help understanding why you are better and/or different from the competition. If you are unable to quickly recite and display your superiority, then how can you expect them to know you’re the right choice? Simply put, prospects want to feel great about selecting you over someone else.
Now, most business coaches will confuse this idea with the USP (the unique selling proposition), but what I’m suggesting is different. The USP is client-facing first. What I’m talking about is internally facing first — listing the top 10 reasons you are better, awesome and different.
If you’re not familiar with the USP, here are a couple of examples that you may recognize:
“Your pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.” Or, “When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight.”
Both of these USPs have done such a great job distinguishing their respective companies that I don’t even have to cite who they are.
Beyond the USP
While these are solid examples of the USP, I’m suggesting you list the Top Ten Reasons why you are the best, different and awesome! I know, it’s hard for some of us to say we are awesome ; ). But, again, this isn’t about YOU (a bit paradoxically isn’t it); it’s only about you for the benefit of the client, and maybe your self-esteem and self-worth!
This list should be so compelling that it fires you up to fight for your clients — NOT for the money, but because you know your product or service is the best, and if they selected anyone else, it would do them a terrible disservice!
So, leaving the meeting, the lawyer told me he’d be emailing me his Top 10 list right away.
The question for you is, Where’s your list?
To help get you going, here are some starter questions:
- Why did you start the business?
- What is the biggest win/victory to date by you/your company related to your product or service?
- Can you identify three things that are unique about YOU/your personality?
- What are some of the best client testimonials you have received?
- What lives have been touched/changed by your company?
In the next post I’ll give you the Top 10 reasons why The Habit Factor is hand’s down the most awesome, untouchable and absolutely, positively the best habit tracker, methodology and platform for habit development, goal achievement and personal development.
Really.
Pass it on and keep it humble.
; ).
-mg
