by Recently I talked with a business owner who needed help with a tightrope walk.
He’s not an acrobat, which is just as well. Physical balancing acts aren’t exactly my strong point.
(Put me on anything with wheels and you’ll see. I have the natural coordination of a giraffe on an ice rink.)
We got on a call for an hour and went over his website looking for ways to improve his messaging.
One of his biggest challenges – in his own words – was defining and expressing exactly what he’s offering on the site.
See, he does fantastic work helping people in his local area with all sorts of issues related to back and muscular pain, so they can return to their formerly active lifestyles…
But, since he does this in a number of different ways depending on the client’s situation, it can be tricky to express that online in a way that says ‘BUY NOW!’
(Sometimes it’s like you can have “too much” value and it gets harder to focus attention on one aspect.
A good problem to have, but a problem all the same.)
Digital marketing makes a lot of things easier, but it also regularly presents us with new hurdles to jump
In this case, it’s about expressing clarity in an unclear situation:
More information is needed from a prospect before my client can offer them an accurate solution.
Because, he doesn’t help just anyone and everyone – he helps a particular subset of people who have seemingly common problems.
(Which is part of what makes him and his service truly unique.)
Many consulting businesses work in that way – perhaps yours does too – but that doesn’t mean they can’t offer something of value to help people take their first steps towards becoming a client.
But they have to present that something in a way that makes it desirable to their ideal prospects…
…while ‘weeding out’ those who aren’t right for them, so the consultant doesn’t have to spend all day dealing with unsuitable leads.
That’s where the tightrope walk comes in, and a balancing act begins
In my client’s case, we decided to focus on one key thing that he does – a unique process he’s developed over years of helping people where others couldn’t – and have every call to action point towards that and that alone.
The process starts with a free short phone call, which means the balancing act begins.
Obviously his time is limited and he doesn’t want to talk for hours with people who aren’t right for his service…
But because he’s also doing the work to better express who he helps, how and why, it’s becoming easier for him to attract the right people.
That allows him to talk to a limited number of people each week, so he can quickly figure out who he can help, and how.
He can afford to spend time doing this personally and offer greater value (for free), even though he charges pretty healthy sums for his billed consulting work.
So the tightrope is walked, and nobody falls.
That’s what happens when you get clear on your core offer…
It can be confusing at first, even to the person making the offer – but that doesn’t mean you have to change your offer, just communicate it better and reduce the alternatives.
If you’re a consultant or service provider and suspect your site is ‘burying’ your core offer amongst distracting ‘alternatives’, it’s often a case of getting out of your own way…
Try hiding your other options – yes, even the ones that make money – from your site’s visitors for a few weeks.
Point all your CTAs (calls to action) to one clearly expressed offer that showcases your unique process.
Give people a reason to believe in you alone, and support that reason with proof.
(Testimonials, reasoning, results… ‘biz bling’, basically.)
Here’s a quick exercise you can use to define your offer…
Ask yourself the question:
“If my ideal client is an _____ who wants to _____, why should they (follow my process) rather than _____?”
Fill in the blanks with what you know about your best client’s situation and the alternative options…
…and then simply answer the question with your most logical response.
That will help you get clear on how to present your single best offer (you can get creative later).
Give it a try – it’s a simple but powerful way to isolate the essentials of why your best clients or customers should buy from you.
It’s also part of how I’m helping entrepreneurs and biz-owners with Selling Unique Clarity Calls like the one I talked about above.
I’m opening up one spot every week to get on an hour-long call with someone who needs this kind of clarity for their sales messaging.
You can find out more about how it works at this page.
Here’s to getting crystal clear on your core offer!
