The Pied Piper of Kent

I have just had the pleasure of meeting and listening to the amazing Fran Boorman at 英国牛津布鲁克斯大学 and more specifically the Oxford Brookes Business School.

Fran runs ?Goal 17 ?which helps deliver mentorship support to vulnerable people and more specifically to those aged 18 who are leaving social care.

These young people have all had a challenging start to life, spending much of it in the care system. Then they hit the care cliff as Fran described it. These young people who have no support network of family are suddenly on their own except for an hour meeting once every 6 weeks with a social worker. Just imagine if this was you, just think of the unique challenges you would face as you navigated your way through early adulthood alone, such as finding stable housing, accessing education or employment opportunities, and essential life skills.

This is where her mentoring programme steps in. These young adults have shown incredible resilience and with a little help from a volunteer mentor they can, and do take bold steps towards building a bright future.

But what has this got to do with the Pied Piper, I hear you ask?

Well, Fran talked about her secret sauce. She has run other successful businesses, and she took a step back and thought through what common thread there had been in their success, and she saw that it revolved around followers. Whichever business she has had she has created a following, not just a lot of likes on social media but a real following of people who share her passion and her story. Almost as if she is playing a flute with hypnotic music to the ears of others.

So, what is this hypnotic music?

Passion, real authentic passion. They share her passion because she tells not just a great story but also an authentic one which is also grounded in creating an impact and adding value to the lives of those her business serves. She has uncovered what I often refer to as remarkability. Remarkability is the value created in the eyes of those you serve or wish to serve. It transcends the traditional view of marketing as it helps you focus your messaging on real value and impact, not some gimmick, give away or catchy but meaningless strap line. More than that though, it creates real growth and momentum as others do your marketing for you through sharing your story with others and through their networks.

You will need patience as it is not a quick fix, but it is a sustainable fix. First though you need to uncover your remarkability, what your service or products provides that your customers really value. You will need to dig into the emotions, how you make customers feel and then use this data to craft a message rooted in this emotional value. Remember people (yes even in B2B) buy based on emotion not just logic and certainly not just on features, benefits and services offered.

So, be more Fran put away your marketing foghorn and get your flute playing the music that rings true in the ears of those you wish to serve.