This is Lesson Three in a series of six posts that preview just some of the content we’ll be working on in the Words on Fire Transformative Message Development training.
In our previous lesson, we talked about getting someone’s attention using the “hey you” principle. But it’s equally important to know what to say after you’ve gotten someone’s attention to move them from being interested to actually saying yes to working with you.
A lot of people have been told by well meaning marketing people “No one cares about your process.” But it’s not really true. It’s not that people don’t care about your process, it’s that you need to know when they are ready to hear about it.
And a prospect is ready to hear about your process once they feel they want what you offer and as they begin to make a decision about working with you. Once somebody knows that they want what you offer – their next question, whether it’s spoken out loud or it’s unconscious, is “can I trust you to deliver on that promise? Is it safe for me to go ahead and invest time and money with you?”
And how you answer that question, “Well, how do you do that?” “How do you produce that outcome?” either establishes you as being really credible, or raises fears and doubts that you’re promising more than you can deliver.
And that’s where this idea of True Wisdom comes in.
The structure that your True Wisdom provides makes what you do, which may be very experiential and intangible, feel real.
People find it easier to spend money on things that feel real to them.
True Wisdom is a little like the idea of Signature System, only it goes beyond that. The problem is that the way Signature System often gets taught, it can feel simplistic or shallow. You may feel pressured to make your process linear, when it’s not. Or to simplify what is a complex process to the point that it lacks real depth and substance.
You may be thinking “I don’t want to say I have a three-step formula for outrageous success.”
So sure, if you say you have a three-step-wham-bang-never-fails-absolutely-guaranteed-100%-chance-of-making-a-million-dollars-in-30-days signature system, and you and I both know that there is no three-step-no-fail-absolutely-guaranteed formula, then it would not only be superficial, it would be dishonest to present that.
But you could in good conscience say, “These are the three elements I’ve found open you up to a greater flow of income and abundance in your business.”
Giving your work structure is not about giving people quick fixes or easy answers!
It’s a way to give some shape and form to the journey that you’re going to invite people to take with you, because the more they can see the shape and form, the more confident and secure they can feel about stepping forward with you.
So, that description of the journey you go on together is what’s called your True Wisdom. You can also call it your logic, your process, or your methodology.
If I’m your prospect, your True Wisdom shows me how you think. It shows me how you think about the problem or challenge that I’m facing, and it helps me know if the way you think about it is illuminating for me, or if it feels like you’re covering territory I already understand.
It’s okay if your process is non-linear, or intuitive, or different for every person.
After nearly 10 years doing this work with people, I’ve found there is always a beautiful way to paint a picture of what you do with people, one that can is both accurate and flexible. If you’re not so linear, you might not have steps. You might use much looser structures like having “ingredients” or “components” or “principles.”
So if you say, “I help you build richer more fulfilling personal relationships,” you might see that there are five principles to a really healthy, happy relationship. When you work with people, it might not matter which one you start with, you might customize that for each client, or spend a different amount of time on each principle depending on who you are working with. But if you can at least describe what the five basic ingredients are, people will have a better sense of what they’ll get if they sign up to work with you.
And when you come up with a clear structure for describing how you work with people, it’s going to help you immeasurably if you want to create information product, write a book, or create programs because you’re going to need that structure to do all of those things.
Action You Can Take Now
First, Brain Dump
The first step to figuring out your True Wisdom is to do a brain dump in answer to the question “what is it I know about helping people experience the outcome I promise in my Core Message?”
You may want to do mind map by hand, or use mind mapping software. Meeting and facilitation types will have fun using post-its to capture their ideas. Keep following every line of thought and just writing each of those ideas down on a post-it or as one little piece of my mind map. Keep asking yourself, “Great, is there more?”
Or, if you are someone who has been trained in lots of techniques and processes, simply make a map of every tool, technique, and exercise you do with your clients.
Now, Create Clusters
Once you’ve gotten all the pieces out onto the table, you start to cluster. So you go, “Oh, all of these are about really discovering who you really are at your core.” And you put all the tools and exercises that go there.
You take another batch of little bits and pieces and you say, “All of these are about creating a safe space environment at work,” and as you pull the pieces together, you start to see that there are three or five or seven main themes.
As you cluster, you start to get the big hairy mass of stuff down in to a more manageable grouping.
As you are starting to group things together, you can start to play with names. Just try to find a name that helps you bring into focus why this piece of work matters.
Keep clustering until you have no more than seven chunks or pieces. Don’t worry if it takes you two or three passes to get it down.
Believe that there is a simpler structure there even if you don’t see it.
And that’s how you begin to create your True Wisdom, the one you love, and that invites people to work with you.
I offer the Words on Fire training once or twice a year. Read more about it here: http://isabelparlett.com/intimate-group.