2 Absolutely Essential and Easy Exercises
That Can Distinguish You As the Customer's Choice!

By Cyndy Bolton

Feeling down? Are you at the crossroads? Do you want to breathe new life into your corporate ID? Below is an easy brief exercise that I have clients perform. At first it may seem too easy. You may want to do some thinking about what drives you to do what you do before you complete the answers. Be honest and true to yourself and take the time to lay out your replies. This will form your strategy moving forward.

Step 1: Choose 5 words to describe your business.

Step 2: Pick the most important word out of these 5, and make a one sentence explanation out of it.

Step 1 in depth:
Using these 5 words in your marketing and advertising campaigns helps you to narrow down your marketing pitch and make it easy for clients to understand what you do. Make the words "fit" what you do for your customers. it can relate to your services, your products, or both. Mix it up. Use both nouns and verbs. For example if you are selling apples, don't just put down "apple" and "crunchy". Tap into your right brain and use your creativity. Everyone has some, you just have to bring it out.

Step 2 in depth:
This part will help you define what it is that you do, and why you do it well or better than your competition. You may choose to make this point from your customers perspective. For example, "why do they continue to use you as a source?" Your point of view as a manager or proprietor has value too. What makes you get up every morning and look forward to the day? Is your consistent pursuit for success due to your love of what you do for a living? Are values and morals the foundation of your business? Then say so.

Your client base wants to know. They want to know why they should choose you, so use integrity and honesty in your company, product or service description. For the most part, consumers are very well educated in marketing. They are exposed to a constant barrage of it every day. It's up to you to bring your message to them and make it credible and effective.

Try not to be too abstract in your description. 6 degrees of separation should not apply here. Make it one degree, two at the most, but the two should be logically related. Don't put a cat and an umbrella together unless that's what your selling, umbrellas for cats. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck.

Be clever. play with your words. Give them rhythm. Set up the environment around you to be an inspiration. Play your favourite music, have your best snacks on hand and that yummy latte or brisk brew at your side. Set the mood for creation and invite your best friends over. Make it a group thing. Sometimes bouncing ideas off of one another can help get the creative juices flowing. Just remember to review your findings after you sober up!

Have fun with this exercise, but be honest with yourself and your clients.