The First Step to Being the Obvious Choice

In New Zealand, people comment on how big everything is in the States – the meals, cars, even the people.

There’s one trend towards largeness that seems particular to the West Coast though: giant straws.

The first time I saw one in 1999 blew me away. Drinking through it felt like having a whole cup in one sip.

Luckily outside of West Coast fast food chains, the big straw fetish seems limited to smoothies and milkshakes, which is actually brilliant. Those thick, potentially chunky drinks need thick, chunk-handling straws.

The need is perfectly matched to the solution.

Which brings me to your business… Do your clients have a need that you solve? Do they know it?

Because you may have the best fix in the world – you may actually hold the cure to cancer, AIDS, and war. But if the people you can help don’t know they’re sick or in trouble, then your efforts are in vain.

The problem is that not all problems are clear or seem worth the effort to solve. They’re just not a priority.

Imagine for a minute you’re a cafe owner. Straws probably fall somewhere around 720 on your list of things to consider. So how would a big-straw seller get your attention?

Easy – a free demo. First-hand experience sells.

If you’re in business, you most likely already offer sneak peaks of your work. But how do you even get that far?

How do you convince a busy person that they have an issue you’re uniquely qualified to solve and that it’s so urgent, they need to take action and hire you now?

You articulate the problem for them.

Your future client may know something is off, but they may not realize exactly what the problem is, let alone see a need to move towards fixing it.

It’s your responsibility to make sure they can identify the source of their pain.

Because confused customers can’t take action. You have to educate them so they know how to think about and articulate their problem.

Once their issues are clear, the next question is always “so what do I do about it?”

And that’s where you’re solution comes in. (More on that step HERE.)

So how can you articulate your future client’s pain in a way that makes them see the problem (and thus move closer to you as the trusted solution)?

First – you drill down into who they are.

– Get to know your target audience. Then find the words they use to describe the challenges they’re facing.

For example, my lovely clients usually don’t know they have a visioning problem. They think they have an implementation problem. Very few of them say to me: “I wish I knew my life purpose”. Instead, they say things like “I’m spinning my wheels” and “I don’t know why it’s not working”.

– Go undercover and spend time with your tribe.

Find out how they’re feeling and thinking. Not because you want to sell them something (though that’s a nice side benefit), but because you actually want to help them.

– Then empower them with the language to recognize and describe those feeling.

From there, you can tie it to action.

Clarifying the problem is #1.

I hope that clarifies something for you 🙂

Be free. Be brave. Be YOU!

Love,
Alexis