Episode Transcript

Alright, alright. So, am I the only one that the title of this around What Your Clients Really Want reminds you of the Spice Girls song. Let me tell you what I want. What I really, really want. Yeah. Well, maybe it’s just me. Today, we are continuing our deep dive into the framework for creating a congruent niche.

Two episodes ago, I went over an entire overview of all of the four elements. In the last episode, we talked about being able to identify the specific problems that your clients are facing, which is foundational. Today, we’re moving into the Opposite end of the spectrum, understanding what your clients really want.

There’s often a clear and direct line between the problem someone has and what they want. What they want often is a resolution of the problem, some relief from the challenge that they’re facing. And knowing this is key to creating a niche that works for you and who you want to help, as well as helping them with the thing that they want help with.

And here’s the catch. What your clients want isn’t always the same as what you envision for them. Or even what they ultimately receive from working with you. That’s what I want to explore today so that you can navigate these differences and be able to speak to them clearly in your niching and in your marketing, and to be able to really align your services with both what your clients want and the bigger vision that you hold for them.

So let’s get into it. It is so important to be able to understand what It is that your clients desire, because this will be a part of the force behind whether they decide to work with you or not, whether it’s the right fit or not, and if you can tap into what they truly want, you can create offers and messaging that resonate and again, attract those for whom it’s a fit and.

dissuade those for whom it does not. Let me start off with an example from my work. I remember so clearly being on a networking call and letting people know that I work with reluctant marketers. I don’t think that I had gotten much further than that when a woman kind of piped up and said, oh, you’re talking to me, but I don’t want what you’ve got.

Now, I didn’t take that personally, I didn’t feel compelled to convince her otherwise. What I did was I took that in as really interesting information for me to digest and try to understand what was it about how I introduced my work and who I help that immediately had her resisting what I came to the conclusion that this was because I hadn’t spoken to what she wanted, and because I do work in the marketing space, her assumption was that I was just like everyone else that was gonna tell her, you just have to suck it up.

Or that I would have some manipulative technique to have her become someone that she wasn’t in order to become successful in her marketing. Once I was able to establish that that is not my approach and what I actually help people do is to be more themselves and to, Honor their emotions and how they want to be able to show up to their marketing and in their business that my focus is on safety first.

That changed the conversation. Because, indeed, that is what she wanted, but she hadn’t heard anyone else saying that that was a possibility and that that was what they were helping people create. So, if you’re not speaking to the desire, it could be that people who, for whom it would be a fit to work together, assume that it’s not a fit.

Or that what you help people with isn’t what they want. And when, actually, It is. So there is more to it than just knowing what they want, although that is a critical piece of it. It’s also being able to discern those desires from these other elements. What you want for them is How you deliver what they want and what they actually get out of the experience of working with you.

So let’s start with this first distinction. What your clients want versus what you as the practitioner envision for them. And this is a common scenario. You’re working with a client and you can see their potential. You know that they can achieve even more than what they have set out to create. Maybe they come to you looking to be able to set boundaries and manage their time better, create better priorities for themselves.

And you can see how they can transform their life by addressing self worth and empowering themselves to make decisions. And even being a leader for a cause that they are a strong proponent of. It’s natural to want the best for your clients. And when your clients first come to you, they’re focused on the immediate, recognized problems and the desires that they have.

They might just want to feel less stressed or work, or have more energy during the day. And while you can gently guide them towards bigger goals, it’s crucial to start with what they’ve identified as that primary starting point. To meet them where they are and gradually, and introduce new possibilities gradually, as they build that trust and see results, and start to transform their identity, who they see themselves being.

Next, let’s talk about the difference between what your clients want and how you deliver it.

The model of service delivery. Your clients are focused on the outcome, what they want, the results of working with you, and not necessarily the process. So, if somebody is wanting to lose weight, they’re less interested in the specific dietary plan or the exercise regime. They’re interested in the results.

Losing weight, feeling healthier, looking fantastic for the next vacation. And as a practitioner, it’s really easy to get caught Get caught up in the how, the, your methodology, the tools you use, the specific approach that you see is beneficial. And while these are important, they’re often not what sells your service.

What sells is the result. So when you’re communicating with potential clients, focusing first on the outcome they want, and then explaining how you help them get there, the process is secondary to the promise. Now, let’s dive into the third distinction. What your clients want versus what they actually get, and how these can differ often in surprising ways.

So, sometimes, clients come to you wanting one thing, and And they leave with so much more. Let’s say, for example, a client wants help decluttering their closet. They might have the goal to have a more organized space. And in the process, they find an envelope with a hundred dollars in nestled in with all of this clutter.

That’s a nice bonus, right? Here’s where it gets a little bit tricky. What you don’t want to do is start to put these kinds of happy Outcomes, and start to advertise your service as a way to make money, just because one client found cash. You might say, oh, well, that’s obvious, but one common mistake that practitioners use is taking client testimonials to craft their messaging.

But just because a client experiences an unexpected benefit or outcome, It doesn’t mean that that’s what you should promise to future clients. And this is also, I think, where we can get caught up or stuck around, what is the promise? What is it that I am able to provide? So sticking to what you know you can consistently deliver, and then viewing any of those extra perks and benefits as wonderful surprises.

And certainly, you can. Include that in your messaging and marketing, as some of my clients have even XYZ, right? And being transparent and clear about results versus happy, unexpected outcomes. So how do we bring this together and balance it all? You need to be able to align their desires with the results you can deliver and your expertise.

This means being clear about the outcomes they can expect and careful not to over promise based on any kind of outlier experiences. Here’s an exercise you can try to get clear on what your clients want and how it aligns with the services that you provide. The first step is to write down three top results that your clients consistently are looking for when they come to you.

And make sure that these are specific. The next step is to list the methods or the tools or the approach that you use to deliver these outcomes and results. Of course, this should look very different than what you wrote down in step one. Thank you. And then in the third step, finally, thinking about these ripple effects.

What additional benefits do some clients experience even if they weren’t expecting them? This exercise can really help you discern and determine where to put what in your messaging and ensure that it’s aligned with what your clients want and what you can deliver. The last thing I wanted to bring up in this episode is to encourage you to ground your what people want into tangible 3d reality.

This, I also brought up in the problems episode, the last one, this is equally important in the solution side of the equation. Oftentimes we, or our clients will talk about what we want at a emotional level and how we want to be able to feel. So I want to feel more confident. I want to. Find more joy. I want to feel less stressed and if you’re having conversations with people and that’s what’s coming up you can Bring it down to the tangible by asking them a few follow up questions like how would you know if you feel happier or what would be the evidence that you would be experiencing less stress in your life or how would you If you were more confident, what would that allow you to do that you’re not currently doing?

When we take these feeling or emotion based or fuzzy shifts that people are wanting and locate it into environment, behavior, anything where we can objectively see, did this make a change or not, will make much more compelling copy and help your people see, is this really what I want or not? To wrap up, today we really dove into understanding what our clients really want, and sometimes that’s more than just asking them, and it can be really exciting.

Doing, becoming a researcher into all of these different ways that desires can show up both for our people and for us as a practitioner as well. In the next episode, we’re going to move into the third element of creating a congruent niche, and that’s bringing your history and your whole self into your business.

As always, until next time, stay courageous.