Defining your message—
so everyone knows exactly what you do

One of the most important strategies to growing your practice is mastering how you communicate the benefits of your service. You must convey ultimate confidence to prospective clients and referral sources. Your message must be clear, concise, easily repeated and make an impact. This will require upfront planning and practice.

Your goal is to be able to say in one clear sentence what you do, so that anyone hearing you will say:

“This sounds like something I want to know more about,” or;

“This is exactly what I have been looking for,” or;

“I know people who could benefit from this service,” or;

“Interesting, but this is not for me.”

The first step in defining your message is to develop a statement that will tell prospective clients and referral sources:

What you do as it relates to the interests, needs and goals of the person you are talking to. In other words, it answers the question, “what’s in it for me?”

Your core message is central to effective marketing and will become the foundation of all your marketing.

Your business exists for one purpose only; to make a beneficial difference in the lives of your clients.

Your message must speak powerfully to the needs of your prospective clients and referral sources.

The most important step in defining your core message is to translate your experiences, competencies and service description into a valued outcome for your client. It must answer the question, “what’s in it for me?”

Many attorneys, mental health professionals and financial advisors describe what they do based on a roster of their services or a list of their features and benefits. For example, the following message is a familiar description for attorneys:

We are a group of knowledgeable, dedicated professionals engaged in the practice of family law.

The emphasis is on the competency of the attorney (knowledge) and on a description of the service (practice of family law) versus any beneficial outcome to the client. The client or referral source has to work hard to translate what that means to them.

Your value is important only in terms of a client’s perceived outcome. You need to clarify the distinction between what you do and what you produce. The following is an example of translating a description of a service or feature of into a valued outcome for the client.

As you communicate your message to clients and referral sources, do not tell people what you are, i.e. “I am a family law attorney” Tell them what you do as it relates to the value you provide, i.e. “ I help individuals facing complex family law issues to make informed decisions about their future .”