We spend most of our time thinking about our customers in a rational way. We talk about pricing, what we offer, and even how we deliver our services or products. Our websites are devoted to bios that describe the number of years we have been doing whatever we do, and our mission statement includes buzzwords like “quality” and “customer service.” This might be just the ticket if our customers made all of their buying decisions in a strictly rational way. But most of the time, that isn’t the case. Deep down, people buy for emotional reasons. If you listen to Simon Sinek’s inspiring 18 minute talk on TED.com , you will learn that it goes even deeper than that. According to Simon, “People don’t buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it.” My question for you, then, is WHY you are doing what you do? What is the core belief that drove you to become a butcher, or a baker, or a candlestick maker? You could have opened any number of businesses, sold all sorts of different products, delivered services of any kind. But you chose to do this. You care deeply enough to commit your time and energy to this business. WHY? By answering that one question, you will gain a new perspective on your business. You will understand why some customers will buy anything you are selling and why others never seem to be satisfied. With a little bit of thought and some practice, you will find a new way of telling the story of your business that will truly resonate with your customers. You will be sharing your passion with everyone. Once you clarify what you believe, you can look for customers who share those beliefs. Your WHY statement doesn’t require group consensus; in fact, it should be created by the owner. It needn’t be in the form of a clever tagline, but should instead function as an internal guidepost that can be used for decision making. It’s more important to capture your authentic beliefs than to be clever. By understanding your WHY, you will be able to connect with people on a deeper level. Think about some of your favorite stores. Why is IKEA in business? What do they believe? This is from their website: The IKEA Concept starts with the idea of providing a range of home furnishing products that are affordable to the many people, not just the few . It is achieved by combining function, quality, design and value - always with sustainability in mind. The IKEA Concept exists in every part of our company, from design, sourcing, packing and distributing through to our business model. Our aim is to help more people live a better life at home. Bringing the IKEA Concept to life The IKEA Concept comes to life in many ways: Through our worldwide stores, in the IKEA catalog, via the web and apps, and most importantly in millions of homes around the world. Their WHY statement might be something like this: “We believe everyone should have access to comfortable, well designed, affordable, and dependable furnishings.” Rather than talking about how long they have been around and how many homes they have furnished, IKEA offers this simple statement: “Our aim is to help more people live a better life at home.” It gets you right there, doesn’t it? Examine your marketing messages. See how much of your content is devoted to WHAT you do and HOW you do it. Then take some time to articulate your WHY, share it with others and see how it changes the discussion. By speaking from the heart, you will begin forming lasting relationships with employees and customers who share your beliefs. By: Geni Whitehouse
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