What Value Do You Offer?

by John R. SedivycloseAuthor: John R. Sedivy Name: John R. Sedivy
Email: john@capecodbranding.com
Site: http://www.capecodbranding.com
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Introduction
In reading through my subscribed blogs this morning I came across an interesting article by Steve Pavlina titled “15 Second Marketing”. For those who read Steve’s blog you will find this as no surprise – he provides great content and makes you think, regardless of topic. In this article Steve provides an overview of a product called “15 Second Marketing” which appears to have taken the original concept of the elevator pitch and made it more approachable. I have not used this product so I cannot endorse it, however I found Steve’s recap thought provoking.

His dialogue forced me to revisit our marketing message and update our social media as he had suggested. In this article I will document the highlights of the important key points that I had taken from his article and how we applied them to our business. My discussion is only a brief overview of his article, with my own analysis, however I recommend that those with further interest visit his site and read his article in its entirety, it is well worth it.

The Elevator Pitch Revisited
When first seeing the title of “15 Second Marketing” my thought initially went to the elevator pitch concept as I had learned in business school. My assumption was that his article was just revisiting this topic and therefore I did not expect to learn too much more. However as with every article I had read on Steve’s website to date I walk away more intelligent than when I had arrived and receive a great amount of value. I am actually now in the process of reading through all of his articles – one step at a time. Those who have visited his archive will realize that this is no easy task – he has many articles spanning years, many of which contain thousands of words that are  thought provoking – he lives up to his mantra of “Personal Development For Smart People.” Obviously this is going to take time, but I believe it is time well spent.

So let’s go back to the foundation of this conversation – the elevator pitch, the concept of which I had first come across in business school. The elevator pitch is intended to give an overview of the major service(s) or product(s) that your business provides, or if you do not have a business and are a working professional, a summary of yourself and the value you add as an individual. The recommended duration is generally 1 minute in length and is sometimes referred to as the “1 Minute Pitch” for this reason, however you will hear different people and groups advocating varying durations – like anything else the answer depends on who you ask. The overall concept is that if you unexpectedly shared an elevator with someone (i.e., investor, CEO, client, etc.) and they asked you about your business or your career as an individual and only had one minute to do so – that you could say something of value that would grab their attention and have them come back for more. I personally believe that 1 minute is too long – if you don’t have someone within the first ten seconds they are gone – so make it count.

A New Take On An Old Concept
The beauty of growth is that one may use concepts learned at one point and evolve those concepts to meet one’s need at later points in their lives as they continue to grow. This is essentially what is done with the original elevator pitch concept. Not that the original concept was bad, I just believe that the true intent had lost focus over the years. In the quest to come up with a solid message that sounded polished and professional, the real meat and substance were lost and this was encouraged – albeit unknowingly. Besides, if you possess a professional, clean, polished image and your message matches, isn’t that all you need? No, not by a long shot.

Subconsciously I have trained myself to tune out when hearing the standard fare with the usual buzzwords which are promoted as a solid elevator pitch. Add a couple of suits and my attention drops even further. I have seen and heard it all before – there is seldom anything new here. As the saying goes, “you can fool some of the people all of the time…”

The problem with the original concept is that it does not offer a sincere connection to the person receiving your message. It does not state how you will solve their problem(s) – or alleviate their pain, in an approachable manner. It offers a facade, smoke and mirrors. The idea being if you can maintain the facade for a limited duration – say 60 seconds, then you will capture sufficient attention to have some funding thrown your way. Bad idea.

David Meerman Scott in his new book “World Wide Rave” discusses a similar concept and outlines the following as one of the new rules of marketing: “Nobody Cares About Your Products (Except You)”. What people care about is solving their problems and alleviating their pain – and the key to this is demonstrating that you add value in a manner that will give others confidence that your added value will solve their problems. Individuals and businesses do not want to be “pushed” upon by “interrupting” messages, they want to be “pulled” in by solid content that will build confidence that you hold the key to making their lives better. I will talk more about World Wide Rave in a future article as I have finished this book and it has some excellent philosophies and content which I plan on implementing in my business and exploring further.

Basically the refined elevator concept should be sincere and approachable and convey to the inquiring person the value you add to others in as short a period as possible. We will look at how we implemented this concept, but first another question.

What Do You Do?
As mentioned in previous articles I had spent a good part of my career as a Systems Engineer. My guess is that immediately your mind jumps to computers or something else in the IT arena. However I was not a Systems Engineer in the traditional IT sense – which generally makes people glaze over in and of itself, oh no, it was bit more complicated than that. I was a Systems Engineer trained by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory – which defines a very small segment of the population. Here, I will attempt to explain: Basically I was the equivalent of a project manger but possessed enough technical knowledge to communicate effectively across disciplines, for example Ph.D.s versed in lasers, detectors, algorithms, software, etc., all the while being able to translate our discussions into C-Level exec speak and make an assessment on technical, cost, and schedule risk. I would also do some deeper technical work here and there. Whew! Are you confused yet? If not, congratulations, as usually I lose most people at this point!

The reason that I am telling you this is not to bore you or brag, it is to inform you that I had a difficult time talking with the general population when confronted with the question “What do you do?” At first I would begin to explain but then I would receive a blank stare and get something back like “oh, you’re in computers?” Earlier I would attempt to argue the statement, “but no, it is actually, more complicated, and exciting than that!” only to be confronted with more blank stares and discomfort. Ultimately I would concede to computers. Eventually it came to the point where I wouldn’t tell anyone what I would do, I just said “I’m in computers!” In the end I just hated the question altogether.

When I started my first company, Analytica Systems, Inc., which is based on Systems Engineering, I had the same issue. I would get the question, “What does Analytica do?” and I would have a difficult time explaining it. It was difficult as an individual, even more so as a company. Cape Cod Branding was easier, as Amy brought a more approachable angle to the business. Although we thought we were there as far as our value statement after reading Steve’s article I realized that we weren’t quite there yet.

The interesting thing is that most individuals and businesses who are generalists by nature have this same problem. Steve mentioned that in his article he had the same issue, and he is very much a generalist – at least as far as I can tell based on what I have read so far and his own admissions. I am not suggesting that you change who you are, quite the contrary, I am suggesting that you embrace who you are and exploit your strengths by making them authentic, approachable, and easily communicated to the general public. People generally dislike what they do not understand, therefore you need to make yourself and your business readily understandable to the general public.

I remember reading in the book the 4-Hour Workweek how as Americans we define ourselves by what we do professionally. This was not surprising to me, what did surprise me was that most people outside of this country do not define themselves in this way. Stop and think about this for a minute. What is generally the first thing you would ask someone when meeting them? If you were like me, you would ask “What do you do?”I recall becoming a bit uncomfortable when I had come across someone who was self employed, or even worse unemployed, although both were rare at the time. At the time self employment was such a foreign concept that I did not know what to do with it. I could not fit it into a neatly defined category, which was a bit unsettling. I viewed unemployment as a condition requiring correction.

After this was brought to my attention I had to consciously try not to ask this question upon first meeting someone. At first I did not even know what to ask. What else was there than a professional career and ones work? I know this seems silly at first glance, but try it sometime. Try to talk about something other than work, especially when you first meet someone – it is harder than it seems.

What I realized later, when I became successful at practicing this and it became a subconscious habit, is that people will do business with you if they like you. Nearly everything else is secondary. Sure you need to know what you are doing and deliver on a product or service, however if people like you they will traverse learning curves with you and weather storms when they occur. If they dislike you, they will only tolerate you as much as they have to and certainly will not want to pay you for for a product or service. They may tolerate you or your business for a limited time, but will jump ship given the first opportunity. Never be painful to be around, regardless of your position in life.

The same is true for your value statement. David Meerman Scott is right, nobody cares about your product or service, except you -  the same can be said about your value statement. They care about their problems, pain, and making their lives easier – humans are selfish by nature. When they ask they are just making small talk. However over time you will learn to assess the sincerity of questions and interest of others by increasing your emotional intelligence.

Cape Cod Branding Value Statement
So if nobody truly cares about your value statement, why bother? The answer is they will care, but only if it is in their best interest to do so. The key is linking your value to their needs in an authentic, sincere, way. Do not pepper it with professionalism and business speak, this will likely cause most people to shut down, this is why most “push” marketing fails. Poor content is poor content regardless how well it is dressed.

So let’s look at the Cape Cod Branding value statement for the sake of this discussion. This is what we had prior to our reading of this article:

“Cape Cod Branding provides a complete new brand or streamline of an existing presence to small specialty boutiques.  We provide a clean, simple, creative identity to include a new or refreshed website and complete branding package.  Cape Cod Branding creates for our clients the same custom and unique experience that you provide to yours.  Cape Cod Branding will make you unforgettable to your clients.”

Certainly a mouthful, sometimes it was difficult to remember all the listed items, but when we could pull it off it did sound nice. For the revision we kicked around a few different options using terms such as branding, viral marketing, social media which seemed a bit unapproachable. Although social media is picking up steam due to mainstream adoption of this technology, however we were thinking of something more timeless. In the end we had to ask ourselves the following – what is our end objective? What makes us wake up in the morning? We came up with the following:

“We help small businesses create their identity and build momentum quickly.”

The beauty of this statement (admittedly I am partial), is that it is simple, easy to remember, approachable, authentic, and perhaps most importantly – it is our passion. When you talk with someone about something you are passionate about, it shows. When you discuss something that you are dispassionate about, it shows equally. Passion is contagious, so is dispassion.

The fact that the statement is simple, easy to remember, and approachable are crucial. Simple statements are easy to remember. I will reiterate my earlier conclusion – people like what they can understand. Do not challenge people to think when it comes to your business offering, that will provide room for interpretation and perhaps doubt – draw the conclusion for them, mainly by keeping it simple and easy to remember. People like to be told what to do – but only when they have confidence in your abilities. An approachable statement is something that allows the recipient to receive it easily, if you or your business are viewed an unapproachable – this is not a good thing. It may appear great at first glance to be highly intelligent and professional to the point where you or your business are intimidating, however people will not want to approach you. I gravitate towards the approach of making my customer or audience the smartest person in the room.

Authenticity and sincerity are key. People will detect an unauthentic or insincere ploy instantly – you are fooling nobody but yourself. Stay authentic and sincere – keep it real. Best of all, these elements taken in their entirety make your message a nice neat package that is easy to pass on to others. People like to talk about good things – carefully craft your message for easy transmission and it will be passed along.

Try It Yourself
At this point I urge you to consider what I have said in this article and give it a try for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are self employed, employed by a small business, or employed by a corporation -  this exercise will work for everyone in any situation. As an individual, carefully consider what value you provide to the end recipient of your services and then carefully construct a message that entails the aspects mentioned above. As a business consider the same. We were able to do this exercise very quickly in roughly ten minutes, if this is not the case for you or your business you may need to tailor your value being offered to the marketplace. Give it some thought and see what you come up with!

Ask yourself this question – What value do you offer?

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

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