“Bwoke!” My two-year old son was sitting in the bath trying to find the missing piece to one of his bath toys.
Of course, being two years old, “looking for” consisted of looking at me with a truly pitiful expression, and saying “Bwoke!” (his version of “broken”). The soap had clouded the water, so as I was running my hands all over the bottom of the tub, David ever more urgently pleaded, “Bwoke!” while shaking the remaining piece of the toy in my face.
Eventually, I found it… The little thingamadoodle was floating. I had been looking too deep, and missed it entirely. David was relieved, and so was I.
Your clients have something that’s broken, and they are looking to you to fix it. We can use a lot of nice-nice holistic language around what’s broken, and say things like “challenge” or “growth opportunity.” But the truth is that when a client is struggling with something in their life, they are saying “bwoke!” not “gwowth oppotoonafish.”
The way you communicate about your business is what’s going to let them know whether they’ve found an answer or not. And if past conversations with hundreds of business owners (and exactly two 2 year olds) proves anything, I’m thinking you’re looking too deep.
Get ‘Em Started, This is Where They Go
When I speak with clients about that most fundamental of conversations, who they are trying to reach, within two sentences they usually are talking instead about what they do, or why they love what they do so much and their unique perspective on it.
This may be a little uncomfortable to hear, but I know exactly why folks go to those two subjects. It’s the difference between talking about themselves versus talking about their clients.
You see, when you have something beautiful you want to do, it’s a cherished, sacred venture. Of course you want to talk about it.
But that wasn’t the question. It’s too deep. It’s about you. They aren’t there yet. They first need to talk about what’s on the surface, about them.
In creating a crystal clear and powerful focus to your business, you need to be clear on three things. It’s easy to jumble them together, but that won’t help. You need to get clear about each in isolation.
The Three Things
1. Who you are trying to reach, and what they struggle with.
Need help with this? I recommend our The Heart-Centered Answer to “What Do You Do?” workbook. You can get it here.
2. Your unique presence, personality, voice, both at a heart and soul level, and at a personality level.
The soul level is beautiful, impactful, profound. The personality level can be zany, irreverant, serious, tender. The combination of personality and soul makes for a juicy connection.
This is, incidentally, when implemented throughout your business in a consistent manner, called “branding.” Branding is simply the experience that people have with your business. Is it consistent? Is it memorable? Does it foster trust and love?
3. Your offer. What you’re selling.
In other words, how you’re going to deliver the help. How you put your offer together, what’s included, how it’s priced, is a critical part of your business, because that’s how you get paid.
It deserves being paid attention to all on its own. Of course, a developed business will have more than one offer. And each offer needs its own clarity.
Clarity x3
Once you get clear on all three of these, congratulations, you’ve found the toy! Your client is no longer saying “Bwoke!” and is instead smiling and happily chewing on your offer.
If you’re not clear yet, schedule three completely separate think-heart-sessions and fish each out of the bathtub, one at a time.
So, have you found them yet? What are your three?
p.s. Crafting Your Offer is a bonus with the Sacred Moment seminar in February
Most small business owners create offers that actually discourage people from buying. Crafting an offer that sells means that you don’t have to work hard to get people to buy it, it’s just obvious that your clients need it.
If you’re coming to our live seminar in February here in Portland, not only will you learn how to enroll clients and get paid from a place of humility and integrity (but not collapse!), not only will you find an incredibly powerful combination of service and strength to make your business a powerful presence, but wait, there’s more! 🙂
Our system for crafting an offer that sells is included as a bonus for all who attend the Seminar. Because selling is just that much easier when people already want to buy what you’re offering.
Won’t you join us? Two days of profound healing and transformation. And what you learn will pay you back the cost of the seminar many times over.
13 Responses
You got me with “oppotoonafish” – what a great word! And of course the entire article is spot on. Clarity about what you do and who you help is essential to effective business. Thanks for always sharing from the heart. 😉
Hi Mark,
Great article.
It’s hard to help others if you can’t help yourself. Once I let go of my various disguises and stepped out from behind the curtain, it made my genius really easy to not only share but also to be sought after.
I go to lots of events where folks seem to be stuck behind the curtain.
Thanks! G.
Going too deep: yes, exactly.
It’s hard – sometimes desperately hard, when you’re struggling to sign clients – to find the time and patience to reach this level of clarity. As business owners, we know what we do at a very deep, almost subliminal level. That can make it confusing when we try to talk with potential clients at the level they really need to hear in order to be comfortable with what we offer.
Getting out of our own perspectives and finding clarity about our clients’ view of the world – and of what’s “bwoke” in their world! – is crucial.
What’s great fun is that this clarity brings with it such joy, confidence, and ease in talking with people about what we do!
Hi Mark!
It is important to know exactly the client’s needs. For me, good conversation is very important to get the bottom line if what the customer is looking for. Understanding of what you sell and whom to sell is important in business.
Very nice and interesting article.
tee hee, I’m prob more likely to be excited by a “gwowth oppotoonafish” – than a “growth opportunity”.
The former looks and sounds delightful; charming and enticing. It draws in my creative and mischievous rebellious side. The latter, leaves me with a taste of patronising and up-your-own-ass earnest. Yeuch!
And I’m a coach … go figure!
I’m guessing my ideal tribe/clients are also gonna be largely non-conformist, creative, iconoclastic, witty, sharp, highly intelligent, funny – a wee bit (or a great big bit?) VIP with a whiff of diva prima donna – yet charming and delightful and consderate at the core. We know what we like and what we dont’ like … we know what environments we need to be in to thrive, we know that, for us, it’s not just WHAT we do, it’s also about HOW we do it (ie it has to be a way that suits us), WHERE we do it, WHEN (what time of day/night) we do it and WITH WHOM ….
we’re tricky, we’re demanding and we love words like “gwowth” and “oppotoonafish”!
Thank You Mark!
Before I start, can I just say that oppotoonafish is now one of my top five favorite words ever?
These really are the keys to clarity, aren’t they?
I help people to get unstuck through sound. And one of my early mistakes was trying to talk too much about the sound part.
My clients were more interested in the unstuck part. I was too. But I was trying to take them the long way. That (obviously) didn’t work.
One of the best things I’ve done is to structure my scheduling process in a way that means people are in touch with me before any money changes hands or any sessions are scheduled.
My clients can’t just click an add to cart button and book a session. They send a note or call. Which opens a dialog and gives me a chance to understand where they’re at, what they need and if/how I can help them.
The awesome that’s come from this is that I have the chance to listen to every single client and potential client explain their challenges to me in their words. That’s been totally priceless.
p.s. This part? “The combination of personality and soul makes for a juicy connection.” Best definition of branding I’ve ever heard.
Big ups as always, Mark.
Mark – I love question number 1: “Who you are trying to reach, and what they struggle with”
This question is the most important one of them all. Who are you writing to? Why should the care? How can you help them?
I’m trying to reach smart, sensitive people. The things I love about them most are usually their smartness and their sensitivity, but these are often the things they struggle with most. They’re spending their lives being rational (or rational according to the outside world), and it’s crushing them. They’ve done so much trying to listen to the outside world that they’ve lost touch with their own voice. They knew at some point that they were fantastic (or at least had an inkling of it), but there’s no evidence of that in their current life.
And that’s where I come in. I empower them gradually, getting them in touch with their brilliance, and then working with them to bring that into the world in a way that feels wonderful to them.
Thanks, Mark, for providing wonderful questions and a safe space in which to explore them.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and words. I regret how long it took me to get back to you. The only excuse: OMG the whole family has been soooo sick since early December. And then I get hit again.
So, I appreciate you all and how you contribute to the conversation.
Wow, thanks for identifying my pain.
I write a blog meant to be an ongoing resource for my college freshman writing students to consult even after the term is over. Sometimes a post really connects with students and other times I’ve wasted hours and hours crafting the perfect … dud.
School’s been back in session for two weeks, but I have been too stuck to write the series of posts that need to go up. New goal: show them how to mend what’s “bwoke” and quit trying to give them “gwowth oppotoonafish.”
Hi Lynn- nice. Those “opppotoonafish” get you every time. 🙂
Personality is definitely a huge part of business, especially in writing. Your unique voice is a powerful tool if you’re a very engaging writer.
Great way to look at it. I’m going to fix their problems.