|
|
|||||
|
|
Sell Yourself by Sharing Your Success Stories Q. “You’ve asked me to come up with success stories. But I’m a consultant. I go into companies and help senior managers develop relationships with employees and customers. I’m a great listener. How do I translate these skills into copy?” A. Open-ended results are not uncommon. I ran into this challenge with my own consulting sites. When I looked up benefits, all I could find was “more-better-faster-cheaper.” “That’s not me!” I said firmly. “There must be a better way!” There is. Here’s one approach to begin developing your own perspective. Choose one client who loved working with you – and someone you loved in return. Maybe you find yourself saying, “I’d like to clone this client!” That’s the one. Now write a before, middle and after story. (1) Where was the client before you were hired? Maybe he was satisfied but realized he needed to make small changes. Maybe business was booming but clients were complaining. Or maybe her company always holds an annual training session in October and this time you were chosen. We can work with any of these scenarios. (2) What did you do after you arrived on the scene? Did you use any processes that were unique? What did you do that others couldn’t do? And why? Example 1: “I’ve worked in the industry for ten years. So I can get all the information I need in four hours. The competition takes three days. Who needs a consultant parked in the warehouse for three days? We’re in and out – fast.” Example 2: “I’ve developed a one-of-a-kind listening process so I can read between the lines of a client’s problem. So I used this process to discover a story that most consultants never heard. As a result, I was able to propose a solution that worked for my client, addressing the core problem instead of just hitting the surface.” (3) What was different after you completed your engagement? Look for tangible outcomes. Try to dollarize your results, if at all possible. Otherwise look for scores and numbers. For example: “Every year Company Z holds a training session. Because I have extensive training in communication skills, I created an interactive experience. Result: The Training Director said my evaluations set a record. They rarely ask anyone back – but I’m returning in April for an extra session.” Another example: “Branch managers spent two hours a day untangling angry customers. My experience in conflict resolution allowed me to create a specialized program. Six months later, managers tell me they spend half an hour a day – or less – gaining a productivity increase of 15%.” Translate “what they can do” to “what made a difference.” For example: “Since my project, the managers can communicate more effectively with one another. They know how to frame questions...” A good start, but how has communication helped this company’s bottom line? Did they reduce headcount? Take fewer steps to deliver a product? Make fewer costly mistakes? Telling stories for a lifetime Once you’ve caught on to this process, you can write notes on each project as you finish. Save the notes in a file for your next brochure or website makeover. I encourage clients to choose three success stories and to share lots of detail about each one. Most clients start purring with pride by the middle of Story 1 and they don’t want to stop writing! Your copy won’t look like these stories. We’ll rearrange the words. We’ll choose which details to emphasize. And we’ll find the right place on your website to share your successes – often the most important influence on your next client’s decision to hire you.
This article was posted on January 08, 2006
|
||||
