I am often asked by friends and acquaintances whether I would be happy to advise / have coffee with their friend who has just started or is about to start a business in consulting. It’s usually fun, even though mostly they don’t do what I suggest. Here’s an email I sent to someone I met this week.
Here’s the thing you need to know that will make your site more useful for potential clients. You’re currently writing beautiful words that describe the dilemma and the journey to get to the answer. That’s great. Your headline needs to describe benefits, not process.
It’s a common problem with people coming out of academia and people in data analytics and such. If they were travel agents they’d tell you all about the process: well, you’ll buy your ticket, you’ll have to pack, then you’ll get to the airport on the day 2 hours ahead and go through customs…. etc etc etc.
You need to describe the outcomes: The Beach is amazing, or the Cherry Blossoms are awesome, or the food is to die for.
That means in corporate speak:
- increased revenue
- more loyal customers
- better bottom line
- any other benefits.
- I’m sure if you asked AI to do that you may get a good first draft (i haven’t tried it yet).
That’s what i’ve distilled from spending truckloads of time and money with entrepreneurs trying to help me market my business better – sell the holiday, not the process of getting there.
This applies equally in internal consulting situations – if you’re trying to get people to use your dashboards, your data or your advice, don’t tell them about the many different things you did to get the answer, give them what will happen if they “buy” it. Show the benefits to your boss (with supporting doco of course). Most clients don’t understand or don’t want to understand the stuff behind the curtain, they just want the Wizard of Oz to fix the problem. You’re the Wizard.
