Say Something Worth Repeating

Remember in most of my recent posts when I said, "R&R. If I can't remember what you just told me, there's zero chance I'll repeat it"? (You do remember that, don't you?)

Let me add another tasty tidbit to that: If you're saying what others are saying and what people expect to hear, there's zero chance of it being repeated and attributed to you. (Need proof? Look at any election campaign. Candidates who spew tired old party lines -- jobs, economy, defense -- get zero headlines the next day and reduce their competitiveness. Why? We've heard it all before. Yawn...)

You can't be a dominator until you give your important publics something to talk about. Which means you've got to be positioned to dominate. Which means your positioning language needs to be memorable and have a few hooks -- stuff worth repeating that's distinct to you and you alone.  It's your job to make that happen. 

Here's a quick, fun exercise to help sharpen your positioning. It's my "Make Some Noise Radio Challenge." Woo-hoo! Here's how it works: You have 5 minutes to write a 15 second radio script that every person your business ever hopes to reach is guaranteed to hear. Your script has to say who you are, what you do, who you do it for and why people should choose you over everyone else. But there's a catch: You can't use any of the words on your Competitive Noise Summary (ahem, you made one, didn't you? If no, see Vol III). It's not hard if you focus on R&R. Come on. Try it. This is your big chance to send shockwaves through your market! Everybody's waiting to hear what you have to say!

Your Competitive Noise Summary -- AKA the words you're presently scrubbing from your go-to-market vocabulary -- may lead you to think that all the good words have been taken and that it's going to be a struggle to re-position your business to dominate. Nonsense! 

Check this out: People ask why I always refer to Harley owners as "disciples" instead of "customers." R&R is why. More specifically, my intentional use of the "d" word does three things. It:

1. Gets noticed immediately -- nobody expects it -- which makes it memorable and repeatable; 
2. Always prompts, "Why'd you say that?" questions, which means I've got my listeners' attention and opens the door for more me to tell stories about the tattoo-worthy loyalty and passionate advocacy common in the Harley world, which: 
3. Arms listeners with great story-telling material they'll use, further enhancing Harley's reputation.

Of course I could just refer to Harley owners as customers -- which would be completely accurate --  and accomplish nothing.  

So why do Harley dealers say they sell a "lifestyle" instead of "motorcycles" or "transportation?" I know you know. (Bonus points for you if you picked up on "tattoo-worthy" above and realize why I said it. Extra bonus points if you spotted the bear in the above pic)

How's your script look? Imagine if you had all day -- and a team of others at your workplace -- to work on this, refine it and come up with something awesome. You probably do!

What are you waiting for? 

Stay tuned.