One of my guilty pleasures is a television show called ‘What Not to Wear’. Unwitting targets, with questionable dress sense, are ambushed by the people who profess to care for them. Then, over the course of the program they take a hard look at themselves, their wardrobe and, often, their lives. In an attempt to find meaning in an otherwise wasted hour of my life, I want to tell you about the 360° mirror they use on the show and suggest that we need to use the same approach in our businesses. In order to get to the core of the problem, participants on the show stand in front of a 360° mirror. The sheer size and perspective of the mirror forces them to ask themselves some tough questions. As it turns out, those questions are less about whether they look good and more about whether they are projecting the image they want.  They are forced to ask if 'who they really are' is what they are communicating to the outside world. I'd suggest that we need to ask ourselves the same question. If I went to your website, called your company or found you on social media, would I get a full and consistent sense of the real value you provide?

We need to ensure that our value is expressed in every corner of our business.  Value is more than a statement; it's an experience.

The Value Audit

Instead of the confidence-busting exercise of a 360° mirror, I’d suggest we need to audit our businesses to ensure that our messaging is both compelling and consistent and that it fully reflects our value. Too often I see a disconnect between the value that advisors articulate and their client and prospect communications. For example, I recently talked to one advisor who was committed to working with couples and families. He had a clear goal and a real passion in this area and, when he was face-to-face with clients, that message was loud and clear. However, his last client event was an invitation to a conference call on investment strategies. Not that there's anything wrong with a conference call on investment strategies, it simply wasn’t aligned with, or support, his stated value.

Assess Your Business

To help you assess if your value proposition is showing up in every corner of your business, I've created a simple exercise.  It's designed to determine the extent to which your value is practically manifested in all areas of your business and your relationships. Let's look at some examples.

1. Your Website

‍Does your website include content that supports your positioning? Real examples of alignment:

• A financial advisor focuses on working with small to mid-sized business owners. On his site you'll find links to valuation resources and calculators.
• An advisor works, predominantly, with older clients. On her website, clients and prospects have the option to click a button to increase the font size.
• An advisor wants to communicate his 'real value'. His home page includes links to client stories that reflect the impact he has made.

2. Your On-Going Communications.

Does the form of your on-going communications clearly reflect your value proposition? Real example of alignment.

An advisor wants to provide on-going education to clients and has implemented a strategy of taping video blogs to reach her geographically diverse and slightly younger audience.

3. Your Workshops or Events.

Do the topics of your events specifically reflect your value proposition? Real example of alignment:

An advisor, who wants to target women, implements a ‘business owner networking luncheon series’ and focuses on issues identified as key challenges for women business owners or executives, including education funding and child care options.

4. Your Process.

Do the processes you employ reflect your value proposition? Real example of alignment:

An advisor who focuses on ‘personalized’ service in his value proposition implements a process to ensure all advisors and staff clearly document personal details on all clients in the contact management system and launches a concierge service for his ultra-high net worth clients.

5. Your Team.

Does your team clearly understand your value proposition and can they consistently articulate that vision for your business? Real example of alignment:

An advisor makes understanding and communicating the value proposition mandatory for staff, regularly asking them to define that value; he hired a mystery shopper to assess performance of front-line staff.

Assess Your Business Now

This process is really about holding a mirror up to your business and asking if you are (truly) reflecting your value, your messaging and the needs of your target audience in every aspect of how you run the business. You invest significant time and energy in defining your value but it’s too easy to forget that value is a living thing that permeates the business. So take a moment and make note of every way in which your clients experience working with you and hold it up to the 360° mirror. I’ve created a simple form with room to evaluate the key areas of your business. You can access that by clicking here.

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‍Thanks for stopping by,

Julie