WHAT do you provide your clients?

We’ve made it to first and discovered our “who” in the last blog.  Now it’s time to talk about our “what” that is sitting on second.  To further the discovery into your Inside Advantage, we need to have a cleare understanding of the “what” that you offer to your clients.

What you learn is the difference between what business you think you’re in, versus the business you are actually in.  Many businesses think that the transaction that takes place between them and their client is their business.  For example, if I remove junk, I’m in the junk business.  If I develop software I’m in the software business.   If I sell coffee, I’m in the coffee business. You get the idea.  This perspective won’t get you far according to Bob (Inside Advantage), because it lacks the most important aspect, which is the customer’s emotional connection to your business.

Let’s try turning this around and looking at it from another perspective.  If I remove junk, I am also in the business of giving you back your space.  If I sell coffee, then I am in the business of creating an escape from everyday life, like Starbucks.  I develop software, but we are in the business of helping you gain execution around your goals, streamlining your processes, making your work like more efficient so that you have more time for your personal life.  Make sense?  See how this relates to people’s emotions, and why people flock to FourBucks for coffee?

It’s all about the emotion that is generated from the interaction with what you offer.  Bob worked with L’Oreal, which you would assume are in the business of cosmetics and hair care.  That’s not the case…L’Oreal markets and conveys in everything they do that they’re in the business of helping women look and feel beautiful.

Bob refers to this as an “uncommon offering” because it focuses on the customers’ benefits and emotional experience that are provided by your product or service.

If you’re thinking that your business is just another copy of competitors, don’t lose hope.  Bob says that in every business there is a hidden uncommon offering, waiting to be revealed, and it is just a matter of looking in the right place to find it.  This isn’t a marketing strategy…this must be an honest and meaningful uncommon offering.

We went about discovering our uncommon offering just like we did with our WHO.  It wasn’t an easy process, but was definitely very rewarding.  If you feel you are a commodity, Bob has lots of examples that prove that you can pull out your uncommon offering in any so called commodity.

Our What is: More than a software company, a trusted technology partner committed to ensuring the best customer experience. 

Have you discovered your WHAT?

Note:  I have recently transferred the publication of my blog from Google to HubSpot. You may have noticed a few small changes in appearance, and possibly received a few additional emails that slipped out during migration.  I’m very sorry for the disruption, we’re trying to make this as smooth and painless as possible!