Imagine a highly trained runner in a 4×100 relay race. He (and his 3 colleagues) have practiced hard; they’re talented, fast, and they know the competition.
They’re poised to break the tape at the finish line first, except for one little thing that’s missing.
They have no baton.
You know, that thing you hand off to each successive runner in a relay race? That’s the baton. Speed isn’t enough; training isn’t enough; you also have to successfully pass something from runner to runner in order to win.
It’s no different in business. People who win biggest in the marketplace are those who gain the most referrals – messages which are passed accurately from person to person.
Who you are. What exactly you do. And who you do it for.
Your message is your baton. And, like a relay race baton, it has to be compact and easily transferred.
Here’s a bad baton which I recently shared on my Facebook timeline, from a company website that shall remain nameless:
“_________delivers award winning enterprise software, interactive digital solutions, adaptive learning and complete commercial strategies to the biotech and healthcare industries. Our customer-centric approach, talent for client collaboration, and tech-driven business model translate to exceptional products and services.”
Now, think about this message for a moment. Can you accurately refer this company to some potential target client? Can you hand off a clear description to the next person, who can in turn accurately hand that baton to someone else?
Not in a million years! This baton is a hot mess of verbiage that leaves us with only the vaguest notion of what the company is all about. Instead of a sleek baton, the runner coming out of the blocks is carrying a misshapen anvil.
On the other hand, here is how DJ Waldow has positioned himself in his new endeavor:
One glimpse and you “get” what DJ does, and who he does it for (disclaimer: DJ is a Clarity Therapy client). It’s an easy baton to grasp, and to pass on to someone struggling in their career.
There is a veritable Babel of marketing messages out there, but very few “referral-ready” batons. For a business of any size, this can be your unfair advantage. If we can combine two words, think of your message baton as “trans-referrable.”
Here’s what I recommend: distill your key message down to a single phrase or sentence, preferably with a memory hook such as an analogy. Something quickly understood and easily handed off. If this is a struggle for you, I can help (that’s what clarity therapy is all about).
Get yourself a baton, first and foremost. Then you are ready to go off to the races with a great shot at winning!
—–—–
Also on the blog: A 4-Dimensional Approach to Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
Need an unfair advantage? Subscribe to the weekly Clarity Blend e-newsletter here.
Photo credit: By tableatny on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
