What Problems Do I Solve?

We can have the greatest product, service, or delivery mechanism anyone has ever heard of, but if a client doesn’t value it or understand the value it can provide, we end up with a lot to offer but no one willing to sign up for it.

This can range from how you solve the problem to something unique in your background. For example, do you have an exit-planning certification or PMP, do you have a proven process you customize for each client (this is seen as evidence that you are an expert), or have you done something 15 times (15 exits, 15 plant relocations, etc.)?

What is the value from the company’s perspective? The WIIFM: What’s In It For Me? If your solution set includes utilizing external employee evaluation tools, such as profiling tools, and the company CEO does not believe in personality assessments, is this a company you want to work with? Are those tools the same? No. Do you want to spend your time explaining that to the CEO and convincing them about the value of it? Likely not. They may have a problem you can solve, but they don’t value how you solve it.

When you approach things from the perspective of the client and the problems they are having or the outcome they want to get to, it is easier to connect with the right opportunities. For example: “I help small to mid-size companies ensure they have accurate and timely financials on a monthly basis.” Or, “I help business owners transition from being VP of sales to being CEO.” Note: I am leading with the problem I solve, not necessarily that I do it as a fractional CFO or fractional VP of sales. Stating our service without stating the pain we solve in the market is like saying, “I sell knives.” Are these for hunting, fishing, cooking (everyday cooking or high end), etc.? What is the application of the product or service, or what problem are they solving? “I help home cooks act like professional chefs with no fear of cutting themselves.” If you know what I am like in the kitchen, you know why I am sold at this statement alone. I don’t care about size, color, name, cost. No more keeping Band-Aids in the kitchen!

As you look through the list and compare it with the list of where you have been most impactful in your career and enjoyed it the most, the picture will start to come together.

Now, call three people who have worked with you before to ask them what value you brought to their situation. You will likely start to see alignment with the value-add of hearing how they explain it, in their words. Write down what they say word-for-word.

This exercise can be especially helpful for executives who have a mix of backgrounds, such as operations and technology. In conversations with referral partners and potential clients, you may be talking about how you provide operational efficiencies and improved processes through technology. In your mind, this is the value you bring your clients. However, if you talk to one of your clients, the conversation would be more centered around how you stepped into an enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation process that was going off-track. In their minds, you helped join the operations of the business with the technology that was there to support its needs, rather than letting the technology dictate how the company should function. Make the shift to describing what you do in terms of the problems clients are experiencing rather than what it is you actually do.

It is helpful to step back and stop thinking like an executive or a consultant. Think more like a client. Put yourself in their shoes.

This is the second in an executive branding series helping executives create their go-to-market plan. Click here to view the first article in the series.

For more information on building an independent executive career, read: The Solution Executive: Transform Expertise Into Impact