businessman in office looking at wall with business strategy
I’ve written here on several occasions about the importance of a strategy and how you can better identify your strategy.
Today I want to bring the conversation down to a more personal level because I want you to take a few minutes as we move towards the start of 2016 to think about your business strategy and to improve it so that you can have more success in the coming year.
Because I know that we are all overburdened and don’t have a lot of time, I want to spend a few minutes working you through a short exercise that you can do to gain a better understanding of your strategy and to contemplate an actionable plan for the next year!
Here’s what you need:
20 minutes
A blank sheet or two of paper
A pen
If you need longer than 20 minutes take it, but I want you to spend a few minutes working through the following questions…
1. What is the tangible value you create for your clients?
Tell me in real words how you help your clients make money, save money, or save time.
Now, tell me how much.
Can you cite specific examples? 2, 3 maybe?
What does this tangible value mean in intangible terms? Does saving time create less stress? Does it give your clients more time to focus on revenue generation? What?
2. Who can use this value and will buy it?
Now I know there are a lot of generalists out there. In fact, to an extent, being a strategic revenue consultant means that I am more about the process of revenue generation than I am about the process of one particular business.
But, this doesn’t mean that everyone is your client. Nor does it mean that everyone will buy your value.
So take a few minutes and ask yourself two questions:
First, who can use your value?
Once you have worked through that one, I want you to focus on thinking about the people that can buy your value next.
The third key is looking for the intersection of those two areas.
Because there may be tons of people that love your value but have no intention of buying from you. The same way that there are likely a lot of people that can buy your value, but they don’t really need it or use.
3. How can I reach this audience?
This is where most marketing and strategy advice starts and ends. For me, this is the fun part of marketing. Because now you get to tell stories to your audience.
So think about this…
First, knowing your unique value and the audience you targeted, what conclusions can you draw?
What do they read? What are their concerns? Where do they go for information? What is their decision making process like?
Now, having decided on some of these factors…what’s the best way to reach them?
Is it writing?
Advertising?
Speaking?
Referrals?
Networking?
Social media?
RFPs?
What?
Because each market and audience is a little different, there is never a one size fits all answer here. But what I do want you to understand is that it won’t just be one item that gets you to your audience, you will likely find that there are two or three things that you need to do to get the results you want.
So you have to track your results, know the number of conversations you need to have, and make sure you adjust accordingly.
Now that you have worked through this exercise, I am certain that your strategy is much clearer in your head.
But the real challenge comes in putting this strategy to work for you.
So what are you going to do first? Let me know!
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