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Are you struggling with how to explain what you do?
When you introduce yourself, what is the normal reaction you get? Do people understand immediately and want to learn more? Or do you hear crickets?
When you’re talking or writing to your potential clients, you obviously want to communicate clearly. But how do you know if what you’re saying is really connecting?
A good What-I-Do statement speaks to your ideal client
In an ideal scenario, your potential clients hear or read about the problems you solve and think, “Wow, she really understands what I need. I want to hire her!”
If this has never happened, there’s a good chance you’re not speaking your ideal client’s language.
Your message (or what-I-do statement) serves a purpose, and it’s not just to talk about you… it’s to connect with your ideal clients.
The best way to connect is to get out of your own head and into your that of your clients.
Why explaining what you do is a challenge, especially for coaches
If you’re a professional who does deeper work with clients (coaching, holistic medicine, energy work, etc), you might experience what I call the problem-solution gap.
The problem-solution gap is the difference between what your clients say their problem is and the real, underlying problem that you help them solve.
For example, if a client shows up at your door and says she’s stuck and doesn’t know how to move forward, you might already know from experience that the real underlying issue is fear or a mindset block.
But if you start talking about how you can help her overcome her fears and mindset blocks… you’ve lost her. She doesn’t yet know that’s the underlying cause. All she knows is that she feels stuck and she wants to feel unstuck.
This is why it’s so important to meet your clients where they are in their journey and clearly explain what you do to help.
Sell them what they want and give them what they need.
This is not to say that your clients don’t have the problem that they claim to have. They actually do have his problem; it’s just a symptom of an underlying, deeper problem that you will help them uncover and solve.
But you need to address the piece of the iceberg that’s visible. Because if you don’t speak to the problem they say they have, these prospective clients won’t know that you can help them.
Remember, your clients can only identify with the experience they’re having at the time. And you want to acknowledge and validate that experience for them so that you can help them on the path to come out the other side.
This means you need to understand and speak your client’s language everywhere: on your website, in your marketing, and in your conversations with your prospective clients.
Side note: If you don’t know exactly what they want… it’s time for Market Research! See more here.
What happens when you clearly explain what you do — in your client’s language
Meeting your client where she’s at and speaking her language does not limit you in any way.
In fact, it opens the gates to serving and impacting the lives of more potential clients who have these same problems.
Acknowledging the initial problem your client comes to you for doesn’t mean you’re not going to do the deeper work. Of course you will.
It’s your job to be the expert and show them how their problem is a symptom of something else.
Changing the way you talk about what you do can help you get more clients
When you meet clients on their level and speak their language, you open the conversation and establish trust… and people buy from people they know, like, and trust.
In order to want to work with you, clients need to know that you 1) understand them and 2) have a solution. Clearly explaining what you do is the first step.
Do you want to get a clear message that you feel confident about, so you can connect with more dream clients? Sign up here.
