By the Ocean
Sunny 77 Degrees
6:33 a.m.
“I’m paying for results.”
“We want results.”
“It’s the results that matter!!”
I know that’s all true. Clients want results. That is not what is in dispute.
WHAT IS THE RESULT they’re actually paying for? That’s the real question.
Sometimes it takes you years to figure that out.
If you’re in a business where you don’t fully control the result you think the client is after, what do you do then?
Do I control whether or not a specific market wants a product my client creates? No.
But when I got started in the copywriting, marketing and consulting business, I didn’t have the guts to say THAT! No, I gently implied that there might be a chance that I actually COULD control that. I actually wrote something like that in sales letters for myself that I mailed out all over the country. I basically said:
“If you want your sales to go up, hire me!”
What a twerp I was. And a scaredy cat. Anyone who knows anything about the truth of business knows that it takes far more than a slick salesletter to build a business. The real players I sent that to probably laughed and chuckled when they read my garbage.
I had no idea what result I was offering to the world. So I just picked one that other people were using:
“Hire Jason and watch the cash register ring.”
Hilarious.
- Do I help sales increase? Yes.
- Do I help multiply the number of prospects a business gets? Yes.
- Do I help a business make more money in less time? Yes.
All of those things tend to happen when I’m around. But not always.
But that’s not the result I’m selling because that’s not a result that is FULLY within my control. And ultimately, helping people just chase money seems like a shallow thing to do given the mission I’m on. Especially when you can create a business that brings money and so much MORE…if you do it right.
Creating clarity for a client is a result I control. Helping a client know which way to go is a result I control. Transforming a complicated journey into a rather simple and straightforward process is a result I control. Helping someone structure a business so it transforms their core gifts and abilities into money is a result I control.
But no one wakes up shouting about wanting clarity or direction or even alchemy! They DO wake up NOT wanting confusion, lack of action and disorganized thinking. They know that. That’s where the pain is. It is wrapped up in what they DON’T WANT.
I can’t hang up a sign that says, “Clarity and Direction For Sale.” Because there is no emotion there. There is only quiet power. There’s zero attraction because polarity is low in that state. Clarity is peaceful and clear and stable. Direction doesn’t require fanfare. No one throws a party when you come home with it.
Clarity and direction aren’t the exciting part, it’s what you can DO with them that is exciting.
So when you’re marketing the result, when you’re demonstrating the result, you have to show the thing that has emotional power behind it.
What result are you delivering to the world? Did you pick one that people care about? Will pay for? Want sooner than later?
You get to choose the result you offer. I’d suggest you make it something within your control. Something you can deliver each and every time. Something that connects with your buyer at a level deeper than just a meaningless transaction.
That way you can make a promise to the world, implied or overt, that should they come near what you have, SOMETHING they care about will happen.
And then SHOW THEM you know what you’re talking about.