With the entire buzz right now swirling around the President Elect’s pending high profile appointments like Secretary of State and Head of Homeland Security, there is one non appointment that hovers under the radar. Yet this non appointment has proven to be more critical and has generated more ROI than any of the appointed will likely produce. Before I get to that, let’s examine some of the accolades given to the campaign and now the transition. Consistent. On task. Single message.
Single message
With literally thousands of staff and thousands of volunteers, how does a leader get that many people to spread a single, uniform message? In a name, at least on the President Elect’s behalf anyway, that name is David Axelrod. His low profile job during the campaign and now through the transition – as I’ve heard him say over and over – is to make sure that everyone on the organizational chart understands the message and is able to share that message in the same way as the next staff or volunteer person.
Okay, so you may be thinking, what does this have to do with running a profitable business? Everything! As I work with clients in my coaching practice on how to sustain profitability and grow their company, I find that many of them are not clear on their own message. Nor can they communicate a message out to their target market in a consistent uniform way. Sending mixed messages makes it difficult for a small business to attract and retain their most profitable customer. This has a long term effect on the overall sustainability of the business.
A key element to communicating a single message is to know your unique position in the market. Communicating what distinguishes your company from all the others providing a similar product or service can go a long way to capturing the attention and subsequently the loyalty of customers who want to do business with you. Many of my clients come to me with a copy cat mentality regarding what makes them different. They state a position that may work for another company without thinking through how that position really applies to their own uniqueness.