I have a hard truth for you.
You might not wanna hear it.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
No one gives a shit about your product.
No one cares about your service, your accolades, your approach…
UNTIL THEY DO.
And so, as marketers and sellers, we have a responsibility to ourselves and our target audience to share what we know about our awesome offering in the way that’s going to connect FOR THEM.
For most, this is a problem. See…most marketing fails before it can get started.
We fixate on the solution, sharing all the benefits and whiz-bang-cool features before people are ready to hear about 'em.
We start from our own perspective instead of our buyers’.
We start inside-out instead of outside-in.
And there's the rub.
This next thing might make you uncomfortable…especially if you’re a technical founder or marketer.
People make decisions based on emotion, then justify these decisions with facts.
It all happens in three parts of the brain:
Lizard brain: decides good, bad, or meh (in a snap).
Limbic brain: feels something or nothing at all (in a snap).
Rational brain: justifies with facts, but emotion is remembered.
It means when you lead with what you sell explicitly, it's often a swing and miss for any early-stage buyer who doesn’t yet realize the depth of their own problem. You're literally skipping the feeling. Do that, and you can’t fully engage the brain.
Because that initial gut feel is the thing that has the most staying power.
OF COURSE, technical details matter! But, it’s WHEN (and where) you get into them that makes the difference.
Match message to mindset first. Provide details later.
So how do you fix this?
How do you go from meh to hell yeah?
The fix is remarkably simple…
In fact, it’s so simple, you might have to suspend your disbelief. It’s ok. I had to, too.
After using this approach myself successfully for about a decade, I was still nervous about sharing it. I worried it would be seen as too simple. Worried I’d get laughed out of the room. But once the sales org got their hands on it, I realized just how wrong I was to keep it all for myself.
So…you ready? Here it is:
Answer the three Clarity Questions.
When you answer these big-rock questions the right way, you get to the essence of what you’re marketing and selling. Then, connecting it with the cares, wants, and needs of your target buyers becomes remarkably easy. When you apply everything correctly, an amazing thing happens: you become perfectly understood.
The Clarity Questions
Work on answering them, then test your answers out in the wild!
What is it?
Not what it does. Not how it does it. Just what it is. That's it.
What does it do?
Not the 16 things it does. ONE. One active thing above all others.
Why does it matter?
To your audience. In their words. At this very moment. Right now.
A Real Example
ProperSky, a Philadelphia-based IT company, came to me with generic, weak messaging: "Smarter Business. Smarter IT."
Why weak? Simple. Plug that in for ANY of his competitors, and it fits. It’s so generic, no one could stand out using that message.
Working through the three Clarity Questions together, we discovered their real differentiator wasn't their technical expertise. It wasn't their services. It wasn't even their happy customers. It was their no-BS approach that was transparent in everything they did…
We named it “The Proper Way.”
The Proper Way
Here are our answers!
What is it?
The no-BS approach to IT for leaders who are sick of mediocrity.
What does it do?
Elevates your IT so you finally get the freedom to focus.
Why does it matter?
You know how you keep having the same IT issues? The same conversations. The same lag in everything technical?
Yeah. We fix that.
Their new message: "Elevate your IT, get freedom to focus...with the Proper Way, the No BS Approach to IT for leaders sick of mediocrity."
They took massive action with this new positioning and messaging. Website. Proposals. Sales conversations. Conference room names. Literally everywhere.
Just a few months after launch, a new prospect -- a large non-profit -- signed on.
When asked why they chose Proper Sky? Well...check it out:
"Proper Sky was the only company that clearly defined the Proper Way to support us. For those reasons, we felt you were the best choice to support our mission and vision."
They used our exact words! That's message clarity in action.
It just goes to show ya...
Get the answers to the Clarity Questions right and your value becomes super obvious, super fast.
And if that's not deserving of a BOOMshockalocka! ...I don't know what is!
