How to Make Your Vision Sing

Posted by lauriemorin in Becoming an Entrepreneur | 2 comments

Congratulations!  You are one week closer to having the life of your dreams.

This week, we will focus on the “how” part of the equation…how to take your vision of an ideal business to reality.

The first step…and one you can’t afford to miss…is to become very clear about where you are going.  So today we are going to go back to the vision statement you drafted on Day 3, update it with any new information you have discovered, and then compress it into two key statements:

• Your unique selling proposition and

• Your thirty second elevator speech

Here is a working definition of the kind of clarity you are looking for, from CEO coach Tony Jeary:

The basic definition of clarity is: having an unfettered view of your vision, which is what you want and why you want it, fed by an understanding of its purpose and value.  When people understand the “why” of things (purpose and value), the combination produces a level of clarity that has enough influence to actually become motivational!  It becomes the fuel of voluntary change and enables you to be pulled toward your vision, rather than pushed.

So, if you didn’t do this on Day 3, now is the time to write out your vision.  Let’s start by answering four simple questions:

1. What do you really want, personally or professionally?
2. Why do you want it?
3. Why is your vision important to you?
4. Why is your success important to others?

If you are having trouble figuring out the larger purpose of your business, let me give you an example.  No doubt you have heard of Ben & Jerry’s.   For years, they provided consumers with the most interesting ice cream flavors with creative names like “chunky monkey.”  But did you know that Ben & Jerry’s also had a larger purpose, to create a socially responsible business model that valued employees, the environment, and giving back to the community?  Ben & Jerry’s embodied what is known as the “triple bottom line”…and made millions of dollars along the way.

In their book Values-driven business: how to change the world, make money, and have fun, Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick describe three kinds of socially responsible businesses:

• Companies that provide products or services that improve the quality of life in their communities
• Companies that invest the profits they earn in social or environmental causes
• Companies that are distinguished by the responsible way they operate.

Of course, some socially responsible businesses, like Ben & Jerry’s, strive to meet all of those goals simultaneously. One question you might ask yourself is which of those goals resonates with you, and how you could build it in to your company’s vision.

Work on this until it feels right.  Your vision should embrace your passions and values.  It should be emotional, vivid and exciting.  When times are tough, you will use your vision to motivate yourself to stay on course.  And it should help you attract and motivate the right people to help your business succeed.

Once you feel very clear about where you want to go, it is time to start translating your vision into language that you will use to describe your business to prospective customers and clients.

I’m sure it has happened to you.  You are at a party and someone asks, “So, what do you do?”  If you do not have a clear, concise 30 second response…you’ve just missed an opportunity to promote your business.

When you are immersed in all of the details of starting a new business, it may seem impossible to boil down this complex enterprise into a two sentence sound bite.  But it is surprisingly easy to achieve if you just remember one thing: you are in business to solve somebody’s problem.

In The Answer, John Assaraf & Murray Smith recommend a simple formula for creating a powerful elevator speech.

“You know how …(description of customer’s problem)?”

“Well, what we do is…(description of your business’s solution).”

Does that sound like a tall order?  Here is an example to get you thinking.  Let’s go back to our fly fisherman, who has decided to start an information-based business teaching people the best places, times and equipment to use for fly fishing.

“You know how hard it is to keep track of what fish are biting, where, and what the best flies are to catch them?”

“Our business sends out weekly tips on the hottest spots where the fish are biting, how to get there, and what are the best flies to use to catch the big ones. “

By the way, in case you didn’t already catch on…I don’t know a thing about fly fishing.   But even if my speech doesn’t make sense, you can see that I wrote it to solve a problem that my listener may be able to relate to.

So now it’s your turn to draft an elevator speech.

• Describe the problem or need that your customers have, as vividly as you can.
• Now describe the solution you will provide, in one or two concise, descriptive sentences.  Make your sentences as specific and compelling as possible.
• Once you have a draft you are happy with, try saying it out loud.  Then practice it with friends and family members until it becomes second nature.   The good news is…you’ll never be at a loss for words at a party again!

There is one more important tool for communicating with prospective customers and clients.  We talked about your USP (unique selling proposition) on Day 5.  Today we are going to turn your USP into a short, catchy phrase or slogan that you can use as your company’s tag line.

I’m sure you can instantly call to mind some great tag lines:

• Just do it (Nike)
• Have it your way (Burger King)
• Fresh, hot pizza delivered in thirty minutes or less–guaranteed! (Domino’s)

How do you distill the essence of your company to just a few words?  Think about it from your customer’s point of view, and prioritize the benefits.

For example, our fly fisherman has several benefits to offer:

• Up to date information about where the fish are biting — this can help you get to the right place at the right time
• Travel information — to save you time and money getting there
• Expert knowledge of what flies and equipment work to catch the big fish — so you don’t go home empty-handed

The easiest way to turn benefits into a tag line is to have a brainstorming session.  This is a random, quick-fire, uncensored process to produce a long list of words and short phrases that describe your benefits.  If you are a visual person, you might want to draw it as a mind map with a circle in the center and spokes for the various related words that come to mind.

So, now it is your turn.

• What are the benefits your business will offer to customers?
• How many words and short phrases can you come up with to describe the benefits?
• Once you have a long list, pick out the words or phrases that seem the most important or compelling from your customer’s point of view.
• Once you have it narrowed down to two or three, put them together in a short, catchy phrase

This is your tag line.  You will know that you have it right when people ask, “How do you do that?”  Use it everywhere you describe your business.  Incorporate it into your logo, stationery, business card and marketing materials.  It will attract customers to you because they will instantly perceive the benefits you have to offer.

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