In the recent climate of hardship, death and grief, government grants and loans have brought in unexpected opportunities to some and a light at the end of the tunnel to others. The new injection of cash flow has been a lifeline to many businesses.
Yet, I feel that the real currency at this moment is clarity. We’ve all had an injection of time to work on business and exchange ideas. Crisis causes creativity.
Businesses that take time to invest in their story will trade their way out of uncertainty by being certain of who they need to work with.
The four pillars of clarity cover the You, Who, What and How of marketing communications.
Clarity of purpose: (You)
It all starts here, but it’s often forgotten. You started there but then left it there!
Businesses that remind themselves of purpose don’t drift off mission. They take greater strides toward success.
Having clarity of purpose makes recruitment easier and nobody wants to get it wrong. Being clear on purpose helps you to attract the right type of team member.
Purpose-driven businesses get it! They know that culture cultivates. Positivity is felt. Making choices purposefully brings great freedom. It’s clear who doesn’t fit.
Everyone in our team at some point has worked for free, including me. In doing so we all voiced to each other that our mission was more important than money. Thankfully, that isn’t the norm right now, but we have a process for recruiting. Volunteer, freelance and then recruit.
Because of this we have a stronger team that has been around for years.
Trust has also allowed us to embrace further opportunities such as R&D and the 4 Day work week!
Clarity of audience: (Who)
We’ve talked about this over the last few weeks.
The clearer you are the easier it is. Here’s the revelation, you have just made a choice to choose your clients. When you make your Who abundantly clear you are more in control. You’ll be able to say no.
Who wants clients that swear down the phone, or message you all hours, or only make negative calls? No one. Be specific about who you want to work with. I can honestly say that the clients we have right now are all exceptional people. Everyone in our team likes the people they work with. It’s not fear-based, we just want to do our best to help our clients win. We are very clear about who we want to work with.
If you have clients you don’t like, or frustrate you, despite doing your best, then perhaps it’s time to tell them that you’re not working with them. You might take a financial hit but you’ll free up time to do better work for those who like you. Resolve as much as you can but be honest if you don’t fit.
Not everyone will like you, but it’s your business, right? Then choose who you want to work with.
When you are clear on you who you’ll know what to do. You won’t settle for second best!
Clarity of offers: (How)
When you know the audience you now know what they need. The more you know your market the more you’ll be able to understand their needs. You see, a relationship in marketing is rather like the five love languages.
Physical Touch – Find the touchpoint that resonates with them. To leave an impression you have to know what excites and engages. The clearer you are on pain points the easier it is to soothe them: Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. The more you look at the problem the better the solutions will actually be.
Words of affirmation – Often the most underused part of the marketing mix. Words left to last! Copywriting is an exceptional skill and writing the right messages from headlines to quotes really helps bring about clarity. Words that inspire empathy hold the person enough to desire more.
Acts of Service – How can you help? Now and in the future. What value can you deliver quickly? A discovery call, a free ‘how-to’ guide, secrets shared. Acts of service give people what they need right now, they’re practical. Fixing an immediate challenge can go a long way.
Quality Time – Time is valuable. How can your client get time with the right people in your team? I’m not technical and so when people get technical my team members are better placed to give answers. I don’t have to know all the answers, I’m secure enough to know my team have answers when I don’t. Spending time checking in and asking how people are is one of the best ways to build friendships. We do it in life and we should in business. People that win in business are personable.
Gift-giving – This is how we add value. How can you go the extra mile to wow a client? Give your clients strategies that will transform for free. What I find is that in helping people for free, the return is deeper relationships. You are not driving a taxi, people shouldn’t be on meters. Leave every conversation with a gift that clients can unpack. If they need more help, then, of course, they can enlist and employ you but don’t get caught up in worrying whether you’ll give everything away. If you are an expert, it’s going to take more than one conversation to exhaust your knowledge!
Clarity of execution: (What)
When you have clarity on the previous three things you’ll be so much clearer on the right activities to locate and engage your audience.
So whether it’s Facebook Ads or a website that is built the right way, being clear about why you are spending gives you confidence.
As we have mentioned, spending time on ‘You’ and ‘Who’ makes the ‘What’ and ‘How’ so much easier. Execution is to a plan. Too many businesses execute themselves by not having one.
When you know what to do you just double down on the activity. If you want to lose weight (a different kind of spread), you need to know the cause and then put the actions in place to avoid comfort eating. Yet, knowing and doing are two different things. You have to DO!
For your business to survive you will have to work at it, but executing the right things creates the momentum to improve and grow.
Ideas win or lose as a result of execution. When you know your audience you need to speak their language to be heard. Don’t speak at people, speak to them.
So, join the free MVV Challenge today and take action to get the clarity you need to do business by starting with purpose. We’ll help you create the mission, vision and values that will be the power-tools to really unlocking your potential.
Clarity is currency, so make that trade today to ensure a wise investment that pays in the long term.