You Need to Tell Your Story 💐
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Hello Reader, In my city, they recently released a survey about public service usage. It was FASCINATING. Only 22 percent of people reported using "government services." And yet, over 90 percent use their neighborhood parks, almost 70 percent use their local library, and we can safely assume that essentially 100 percent use sidewalks and roads. See the disconnect? People don't realize these are services provided and maintained by our local government. (Sidebar: Admittedly, as a former public communicator, this failing particularly piqued my interest. When I worked for the very entity we're talking about here, much of my entire job was around helping the public know what was available to them, so they could, you know, use those things more.) Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Well, Sarah, what does this little fun fact have to do with anything related to me and my small business?" Here's the deal: While this is a macro example of the issue, this is a problem service businesses in particular face all the time. People do not understand or even SEE the value of what you do. This is why you need to tell them! I would even argue that it's actually incredibly unfair to expect your clients and leads to understand this—how are they supposed to even know? They don't do what you do! Let's use one of my favorite examples: Web designers. I work with a lot of web and brand designers on their marketing and business strategy and in such a diverse industry, one thing I can say that's true of every single one of these businesses is that their clients and leads have no idea of the impact of the work these designers do. Because I know the design industry deeply, I know that the work these folks do leads to measurable increases in their clients' revenue, increased visibility, business expansion, and essentially—in the case of web designers—adds a 24/7 salesperson to their team in the form of the site. Do their clients and leads know or understand that? Nope! Do many of them talk about this impact repeatedly? Very rarely. When we're "in it," we think the impact is obvious, that it doesn't need to be explained. Folks, it needs to be explained. A whole lot. I know it's annoying, and I'm sorry, but while I'm an idealist, I'm also a pragmatist. And, I want really awesome people to not just survive, but thrive. Which means you have to share your impact. You do not what to be in a situation where people don't even know that they've benefitted from what you do. It is bad, very, very bad and a difficult ship to right when you get far off course. So, here's a little task for you over the next week:
What you uncover might just surprise you. Onward & upward, Sarah |