What Mountain Do You Move?
How to Bring Brand Influence to the Center of Your Communications.

I often see businesses communicate as if their value proposition was a pile of products or services for sale. Unless you make it crystal clear these services and products deliver something your customers want, you may be whispering into the forest.

Want your brand communications to be more magnetic to new customers? You must do a great job wrapping everything you say and do around delivering on a big promise that addresses something your client needs and desires. I like to think of this promise as the “mountain you move” on behalf of your clients.

I find the most intelligent people tend to miss the big obvious things when they communicate. It’s as if anything obvious isn’t worth stating. If I am a marketer, it may seem obvious I’m about increasing top-line growth. However, unless I use those words and build everything I say or do around this big idea, it won’t be clear to anyone outside my firm. Hence, if you are not making it clear what your customer is investing in, then the things you do or say are likely to be irrelevant.

If you are a consultant, I can guarantee your client is NOT paying you to do consulting; they are paying you to help them avoid something bad or realize something good(hopefully fast). So it is your job to help them see the mountain you move first and foremost. In addition to moving mountains for your customers, you can also identify how the experience of working with you is better, easier, or faster than competitors.

Here is a mini-workshop you can conduct with your team or yourself:

Contemplate your mountain: What is the big idea that drives every project, service, or product you deliver to your client?
Ask your best customers: “what is the biggest difference our relationship makes in your business?”
If you keep coming up with a list, keep pushing until you have one big idea that drives everything.
If it feels generic, then keep pushing until it feels specific, tangible, and always true.
Look at your website, proposals, sales presentations, etc., is the mountain you move a prominent and consistent thread throughout your communications?

Keep in mind it’s a lot harder to get this simple. Simple is hard. It will take some work and patience to get to the right place. If you need additional help finding your mountain feel free to contact me.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Taylor, SimpleMind