So, tell me again. How is your business better than all the rest? Why should I, as a picky client, choose you over anyone else?
You’ve spent hours building your business. You probably think you’re the best person to work out, and explain, why it’s special. You’re well qualified to have an opinion on it.
Yes, that’s true. But you won’t necessarily see the whole picture.
Content and clarity
I’ll use myself as an example.
A few years ago, my need for a second opinion was great.
On the surface, I produce content – articles, video, audio – like hundreds of other content producers and consultants.
So how could I explain how I stand out?
It took time, but the more interviews I did, the more I realised that I wasn’t just producing content. Although that was an important part of it.
I was helping directors and senior managers see the value of their work more clearly. And once they got things straight in their heads, they were much better at communicating why their businesses were special. Which meant clients could buy into their company more quickly… and could frame any future marketing or branding more effectively.
So the process – the interview bit – was as important to my clients as the articles and films that emerged from it.
Don’t take yourself for granted
I didn’t spot this crucial benefit on my own. I’ve interviewed clients and got their opinions. I also interviewed business mentor, Julia Chanteray.
Julia started her business, The Joy of Business, in 2002. Since then she has helped hundreds of companies across the UK to become more successful.
Julia’s been in the audience when I have interviewed a range of business leaders and worked with some of my clients.
What she said really helped me. I hope it helps you too, and proves to you that you’re more special than you think.
Over to Julia:
I think we all have things about ourselves or about our business which we take for granted. As owner-managed businesses we often have a real problem seeing what’s good about our work. It’s not rocket science to us.
I see this with clients all the time. They don’t see what is brilliant about what they do, because they just do that stuff.
It would be like me talking to a rocket scientist, and the scientist saying,
‘…and you put the fuel in here and it’s really easy, but the timing is quite tricky’.
And I’d be like, ‘Oh, wow! You can make it go all the way to the moon!’
And the scientist would say, ‘Yes, sure, the moon, Mars, whatever…’
So we can’t see what’s special about our own stuff.
At that point, Miranda comes in and sees it from a, ‘what-do-we-need-to-communicate-to-potential-clients’ way. She is completely fresh to it. She hasn’t got any previous assumptions about it. Not only does she notice what’s special, but she packages it up for the client in a way that they can actually communicate it to other people.
Have you missed something crucial?
That’s how my interviewing approach supports your business. By asking you lots of open questions, I help you to step outside yourself, and see the value of your company in a new way. As Julia puts it, what’s ‘special about your stuff’.
Suddenly, you get a second opinion of yourself. It gives you a deeper understanding of how you can differentiate your company from all the rest.
No doctor required. Your business can go from strength to strength.
Images of Julia by Vervate.
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