Before there were cell phones, I lived in a college dorm and had to make all my phone calls from a pay phone booth on my floor.
Teenage guys are not likely to win awards for organization. So when they were on the phone and needed to make a note, they would borrow a pencil and write on the wall.
Most of the information on the wall was of no use to anyone other than the person who wrote it. I had no use for the zip code of my wall mate’s grandparents or the office hours of the dean in the Physics Department. However, there was lifesaving information (about 3 things) hidden on the wall for all students to share.
Those 3 hidden things were the hours and phone number for the late night pizza delivery company, the cheapest cab company, and the girl’s dorm across the parking lot. Beyond those 3 things, everything else was noise left over from previous years – valuable to only one person and never to be needed again.
As freshmen, one of the first things to learn was which of all the notes on the wall had the lifesaving information.
By the time I started my first real business, a lot had changed, but I still had to find those 3 notes on the wall that would make my business succeed. My first real business was a computer business. So, I took these three lifesaving notes off the wall and printed them out in dot-matrix.
Wall Note 1:
Everything important is messaged from the customer’s frame of reference.
Every letter you write, email you type, presentation you make and EVERY WORD OUT OF YOUR MOUTH has to be crafted so the buyer is GLAD they heard it or read it.
No one plans to be mean or selfish, but your buyers expect that you are there because you have something for them. They don’t expect you to bore them, lecture them, pitch them, convince them, or explain why you are smarter than they are (even when true).
You customer wants their problem solved, their life to be better and, of course, their wealth to be expanded.
Whatever you have to say, learn to express it so the buyer is thrilled they were communicating with you!
Wall Note 2:
Talk to buyers who have a serious problem that only you can solve!
Since the buyer identifies value from their frame of reference, the sooner you only talk to buyers (from their frame of reference) who have a serious problem that you can solve better than ANYONE IN THE WORLD, the sooner your communication to the buyer will get easy. Link solving the buyer’s serious problem to the buyer’s experience of working with you.
Make sure you fully understand the value the buyer will receive by solving this problem. Present your Intellectual Property, Best Practices, products and services as part of a partnering experience that solves the problem. Make sure the buyer can feel the results from working with YOU to solve this problem. When you message from the buyer’s frame of reference, the buyer will feel the results and will see you as part of this unique solution they need.
Wall Note 3:
Solve all problems with a clear, simple RoadMap.
Once the buyer feels the benefits of the partnering experience, you must show them there is a simple, clear RoadMap leading to the desirable outcome. This RoadMap shows roles and responsibilities, for the buyer and you. The path you two walk is clear, safe and will eliminate any unpleasant surprises along the way.
You both will know all the steps, all the roles from the first RoadMap step to the final step of goal attainment. As the buyer’s partner, you are the guide, you bring the high-value tools, and you are committed to the buyer’s success.
Those are the 3 lessons I took from the wall. In the 21st Century, they made it to my smartphone but what has never changed is I use them every day.
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