Lasting Impressions – Page 2

#MyManifesto

I wrote #MyManifesto in a quick burst of writing last summer. It speaks to me now just as it did then; authentic, aspirational and uniquely mine. A good place to start the new year.

While it is intensely personal, there is some insight that you could apply to your firm and how you work with clients. If there are parts of this manifesto that speak to you, keep it close and make it your own.

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Don’t waste time. Refrain from working with clients who aren’t curious, or courageous. Doing so wastes our time, our money, and keeps us from working with clients who are ready.

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Should your firm tackle social channels?

Yes, your firm should probably be on social.

But not without first knowing what personnel resources you have available, how you want your firm to be known, the kinds of messages you want to share, and which platforms are a fit for your firm and your audience.

Take it one step further: The only reason your firm should be sharing on social channels is to differentiate your people, your services, and your expertise from every other firm in the marketplace. If you can’t do that, don’t post anything on social channels. It’s not worth it.

Is Your Mission Statement Missing a Mission?

A mission statement should clearly communicate the reason your team works together. If it doesn’t, it’s just a statement without a mission and you should stop using it.

Most mission statements, unfortunately, are a waste of time and energy. The overwhelming majority are devoid of personality or corporate strengths, and completely ignore the unique reasons a company is in business. It’s just a flat document; a collection of platitudes that only begin to hint at the personality of the team who crafted it. Furthermore, clients and customers are seldom acknowledged, which is a sad commentary about where they are valued as source of revenue.

Ask Clients To Tell You The Hard Truth

It isn’t always easy to advise clients on smarter strategies to market a business. Sometimes tough love is necessary to stop bad habits, change poor planning, and start thinking about the business in terms of client value. Iron sharpens iron, to be sure. And it can get messy before it gets better.

Don’t let that discourage you. Hearing the hard truth can be indispensable in making better decisions on how you position services to clients. You may already know the truth, but it carries significantly more weight when others say out loud the truths you’ve been avoiding. As the saying goes, it’s difficult to read your own label from inside the bottle. The challenge is not only being open to hear what others have to say, but getting your clients to candidly reveal the transformational comments that can improve your business.

How Competitive Analysis Leads to Better Business

What makes your firm special? If you don’t know the answer, it’s time to find out. Understanding your competition and how they sell their services will help you discover your firm’s unique positioning possibilities.

You could be losing to other less qualified, less experienced firms if you neglect proper positioning. It’s fairly common for firms to list the work they do, the number of years in business, or even their financial achievements; but none of those facts tell a client what value you bring to their project.

It’s Time To Respect Your Clients

I’ve come to the realization that most service-based business professionals don’t respect their clients. It could even be said that you hold contempt for the very clients on whom you depend on for financial success and economic well-being. That’s disturbing to consider, but I think it’s true.

How do I know you’ve lost respect for clients? Because you don’t tell them how your work benefits them. Furthermore, you’re willing to work on projects that are just outside your best skill set all because you fail to stand on solid positioning.