How do you describe your business? How does your team talk about and describe your business?
If you describe your business as the industry you are in you immediately stereotype how people think about it.
What comes to mind with “ABC Cleaning is a carpet cleaning business specializing in residential cleaning”?
Ah you think – carpet cleaning company and ABC Cleaning is lumped in with any other carpet cleaning company in town (or that you have had experience with)
In this example how the company is described doesn’t communicate the results they produce or have them stand out.
How about a home renovation company? How do you stand out from the crowd of home renovation companies? How do the right people find you?
How about “Transforming Houses into Homes”? Does that capture your attention and have you wanting to know more?
That is the Impact Statement or byline of a renovation company called Bowa, and their website (www.bowa.com) is an excellent example of the importance and impression of clearly communicating the value a business provides.
They have taken the questions that they hear all the time and turned them into how they guide people through making renovation decisions.
It is a deceptively simple website – a LOT of work has gone into making it so simple and straightforward for their prospective customers to become informed and interested in what Bowa can do for them.
I like the overall website design but the key elements they got right that create an impact are: an attention grabbing byline (Turning Houses into Homes); an easy to understand process guiding customers through the remodelling experience; a clearly defined target audience (Luxury Home Renovations is the website tag); and a choice of easy first steps (Free Design Consultation, white paper on Remodeling or sign up for free home advice monthly email).
Plus short videos on the Top 10 Things to Know Before You Remodel.
The challenge is when we describe our business, we automatically start by talking about what we do – ie. carpet cleaning or renovations.
But we have developed expertise, skills and resources so HOW we do what we do is unique.
A carpet cleaning company may use the latest and most powerful equipment, environmentally safe cleaning products, specially trained technicians to not just “clean the carpets” but improve the air quality in a home (essential for people with asthma or allergies) and prolong the life of the carpet (saving money) as well as increasing the enjoyment of their home.
So the Impact Statement may be something like “Creating and Preserving Your Healthy Home” or as a spin-off of the Bowa statement “Transforming Houses into Healthy Homes”.
The 3 Simple Steps to Separate from the Competition are:
- Describe what you do in detail. List all the ways you create value for your customers –these are your company’s Features.
- For each Feature, identify the Benefit your customer receives and why it is important for them.
- Reverse the Features and Benefits to create your message – Your message should communicate the value your customers are going to experience (Benefits) backed up by how you are going to deliver it (Features).
Simple – but not easy! It takes a lot of thought and discussion to simplify what you do for your customers and then clearly communicate it.
Here is a tip to make the whole process easier: Listen to what your customers say to you – EVERYTHING they say to you.
On the Bowa website they distilled down the 6 core questions that people think and want to know about when considering a renovation project.
Pay attention to the questions and comments from your customers. If you are listening your customers will always tell you what they want and what is important to them.
Recommended To Do: review the Bowa website (www.bowa.com) – look for ideas that you can apply to describing your business.
