How to reposition your business in the current climate

People have been in survival mode. Some are out of that already. Some not so much.

The thing to remember is that they’re still investing in small business products and services, both at high and low-end, even if we’re assuming they have no money to spend. I know this because I’m easily selling at both levels, as are my clients.

The thing is, right now people are investing in pain-killers and dream-makers.

They’re investing in the life-raft not the yacht.

They’re investing in things they’re aching for.

They’re investing in new dreams.

So it’s about having those painkiller and dream-maker offers that they NEED. Anything that falls short of those just won’t sell.

Whatever industry you’re in, self-reliance is a big thing right now. People have had the security rug pulled out from under them. They may never feel that security again. Many are looking to replace it with their own security.

If you can hook into that, you could do well.

Your people want to hear that you can help them. They want someone to show them the way. They want to be led by people they trust.

They want the lighthouse.

Now’s your time to BE that lighthouse.

The thing is this recession could go on for a long time and how you show up now will mean everything to your business. It is possible to get through. It is possible to survive and thrive. It is possible to come out with a healthy, sustainable business and a smile on your face.

And I want to help you do that.

Right now businesses need to adopt my 4A Model:

Accept / Adapt / Adjust / Align

Accept the changes and release what was, adapt to the new and what your customers want now, adjust your business to align with what you, the industry and your customers need.

Become profit focussed, lean and agile.

There will be more changes over the coming months and years, and you will need to apply the 4As as you move through.

People are connecting deeper than ever. Humans are being more human. Values are shifting as we appreciate trust, love, compassion, empathy.

This is your time to embrace all of those things to nurture and connect deeper with your existing audience, and grow that audience. This is your time to get intimate with them. Think deep and broad in all that you do.

And if you feel that you’ve been held back and paralysed by fear, it’s time to realise that those fears made you hide. They made you play small.

Will you allow them to continue to do that?

Or is it time to toss them aside and do it anyway?

Because you’re being given the chance to step up and step out.

Judgement is irrelevant. Stories aren’t true. It’s your time to shine, by:

• Being more visible.
• Showing up daily.
• Emailing more.
• Getting on LIVES.
• Starting the podcast, the YouTube channel, the video series.
• NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE A WALLFLOWER!

The thing is, what’s happened is accentuating EVERYTHING.

If you were a good person before, that’s shining through.

If you were a crappy person before, that’s shining through.

Masks are slipping. True integrity and authenticity is moving into place. It’s time to RISE and LEAD.

Because everyone is coming online.

And you’re already ahead of them. In a few months, this will be even busier. Do you want them to catch up? To overtake? Or do you want to jump NOW and get even more ahead?

It’s your choice.

So how can you do that?

Connect. Intimately.

I love the five key ways to get people to follow you to the end of the earth from Perry Belcher:

1. Understand and support their dreams.
2. Allay their fears.
3. Confirm their suspicions.
4. Justify their previous failures and highlight the opportunity now.
5. Cast stones at their enemies.

Which means you HAVE to understand their:

Biggest problems and fears and create a painkiller solution for them.

Biggest dreams and things they’re aching for and how to give it to them.

And those have changed in the last few weeks.

You need to be their:

PAINKILLER OR DREAM-MAKER

Once you know those things, intimately, you can analyse your solutions to see if they still align, then double-down, tweak or pivot if you need to.

Not everyone needs to pivot.

I’ll just repeat that … NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO PIVOT!

So if your solutions are still working, just double down on those.

Reposition and pivot your messaging to speak to your people in the way they need, in the right context right now.

Amend your mission if it no longer aligns with your role now. You need to feel it, deeply. Because when you do, so will your people. It will be magnetic. It will anchor you and help you to show-up in a much more powerful way.

Double down on marketing that works.

Try new marketing to increase leads.

Create marketing systems and funnels to support you.

Sell, every day.

Right now your priority is revenue generating activity and client delivery.

Which means marketing AND selling.

But … DO NOT FREEZE!

It’s just your mindset, your stories, it’s not reality.

We need to move forward, adapt and take action to ensure we take advantage of the opportunities that exist. All it takes is not freezing!

It’s time to lean in and double down.

There are three elements to it.

1. Audience Analysis
2. Offer Analysis
3. Message Reposition

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Have you spent time asking your audience what their biggest problems and struggles are right now?

What they’re hungry for?

What they’re fearful for?

What their big dreams are?

If not, do that before you start your profiling. You can do this by:

• Emailing them and asking them.
• Inviting a few of them to hop on a call to answer a few short questions.
• Sending out a survey.
• If you have social profiles, ask them.
• Run polls.
• If you don’t have a big audience, find where they hang out and listen to them there. Look at other groups, forums, blog comments, hashtags on Twitter and Instagram.

It’s easy to make assumptions, but those are wasted energy. Find out how they really feel. Listen. Really listen. And use this insight to feed your creative process.

What you find from this insight is:

Whether your current offers are fit for market.

Ways to tweak current offers to make them in-demand.

Ideas for new offers you may never have thought of.

Spend time on this.

Update it monthly and tweak as you go.

The more relevant you are, the more intimate you are, the more you will call your ideal paying clients to you.

OFFER ANALYSIS

Once you have your insights, look at your current business model.

Do they align with what your ideal paying client needs?

Will they make you the ONE painkiller they need?

Will they make you the ONE dream-maker they need?

If they do, you could select to double down on one or two offers.

If they don’t but just need to be redesigned, then set about making them the most perfect offers they can be.

If they don’t AT ALL, then release. And get to work on pivoting. Use the insight to come up with what they DO need right now. Be the lighthouse.

Your offers need to be IN DEMAND right now. You need to be the painkiller. You need to be the life raft. You need to be the dream maker.

Redesign until they do, and your sales will fly out the door!

Here are a few pivot ideas to get your juices flowing:

Be creative.

Use your talent.

Be unique.

Go all in.

MESSAGE REPOSITION

Right now, we ALL have to reposition our messaging. In fact this was the first thing I did.

We need to realign with our people, our industry, our emotions.

We need to be careful of language.

We need to come from compassion and empathy.

Now let’s look at your messaging. We have 5 rules for this:

1. This is a time to step out with your messaging. No playing small.
2. Be expressive, be colourful, be vibrant.
3. There will be a LOT of attention competition online. Will you fade or standout?
4. Say it with full gut emotion! Put your soul into your words. Tell your stories.
5. Capture every element of your personality. Infuse you into your words.

Your messaging is everything right now. People are raw. People are hurting. They will connect deeply with what you say, so say it carefully and say it with love.

So it’s time to relook at your messaging and how it can support and connect with your people right now and update your website, social bios, sales pages, content etc.

Be sure to add your empathy and compassion filter to all you create, these are the most important elements to any messaging right now.

General rules of thumb. I’d stay away from using the words COVID-19 and variations of. You can allude to what’s going on of course, but using the terms feels crass. It’s about being sensitive to the situation and showing you care.

And remember this in your messaging from Perry Belcher, it REALLY works:

1. Understand and support their dreams.
2. Allay their fears.
3. Confirm their suspicions.
4. Justify their previous failures and highlight the opportunity now.
5. Cast stones at their enemies.

WHAT NEXT?

Many of you will have a different outcome from this exercise. Some will have completely pivoted their model, offers and messaging. Others may only have repositioned their messaging. Whatever your outcome, roll this out asap.

If you have new or updated offers, get them out there with your new messaging. Now is the time to be selling, every single day.

If you’re doubling down on an existing offer, go make that as amazing as you can and get it out there.

If you just have updated messaging, go and update that and use this guide when you’re writing anything new.

Your words are powerful right now, use them in the right way and they will help you to call in your ideal paying clients.

Finally … please manage your mindset and energy. These are the things that will truly connect with your people.

Show up in high energy. Sell in high energy. You will connect and convert.

Show up in low energy. Sell in low energy. You will repel.

Start with you and the rest will follow.

You’ve got this!

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Originally published at https://gemmawent.co.uk on April 16, 2020.