Know Your “Why”

Janet is having lunch with her sister, who updates her on a mutual friend. The sister says the friend signed up for nutritional counseling through a clinic because she was diagnosed with diabetes. Janet is stunned. She says, “That’s what I do. Why didn’t she call me?” Her sister, instead of agreeing with Janet, looks confused and asks, “That’s what you do?”

What happened? Janet has followed her interests and is a personal fitness trainer, yoga instructor, and a recently certified nutritionist. From Janet’s point of view, she is interested in the mind-body connection, in holistic health, and in alternative healing. From her sister’s point of view, she works at a health club and has additional clients part-time for fitness training and yoga. She doesn’t really remember the nutritionist certification because she’s not sure where it fits in.

Jeff is catching up on the day’s events with his wife after dinner. She tells him the church leadership group met at lunch and is considering hiring a company to provide Christian life coaching to a small group and train them to coach other people. Jeff asks, “Why didn’t you mention me?” His wife tries to figure out what he means, but she’s confused. “Mention what?” she asks. “I’ve been training to be a coach and I’m close to certification,” he reminds her. “I thought that was just another skill for working with your therapy clients,” she sheepishly admits.

Anna is at a networking meeting and sees her friend Dana. Dana is a marketing director for a local small business and mentions her company just contracted with a service to handle payroll. “That’s what I do!” exclaims Anna. “It is?” asks Dana. “I thought you did accounting.” Anna is forlorn. “Dana,” she says, “you were at my open house last month.” Dana gives her a funny look and says, “I know, I’ve given your card to three people who might need accounting services.”

Janet, Jeff, and Anna all have a pretty good idea what their businesses are. They may have a general concept of why they’re doing what they’re doing. But they haven’t done a good job of communicating why a person or business should hire them. When their friends and family encounter people who need what their businesses have to offer, they don’t even realize it.

Why should somebody hire you? What do you offer that they need? Think about what you do in this way so you’ll start talking about it in this way.

Janet’s sister would have understood a lot better if she had said, “I help people with chronic physical problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and joint and muscle problems use diet and exercise to improve their lives.” Jeff would have been better served by telling his wife, and his pastor, “I’m learning to help people set and accomplish long-term goals so they can have more fulfillment and balance in their lives. This works for executives, for business owners, for people in relationships, and even for the spiritual part of people’s lives.” Anna probably had some great promo items with her new logo at the open house, but it would have worked better if she had told people, “I offer services to small businesses that an office manager or finance director would usually do, like budgeting, bookkeeping, payroll, invoicing, keeping track of taxes due, and preparing annual tax reports and tax returns.”

Make sure you’re clear about why someone should hire you, and learn to say it in a straightforward way. Teach your friends and family why people should hire you so they recognize your prospects when they come across them. Your prospects won’t hire you until they know they need you!

Find Your Mission – Write Your Story – Tell The World

Steve Coxsey