Recently I watched a video podcast from TEDTalks.com that really made me sit up and think about my approach to business. The speaker, Simon Sinek, is a well known marketing consultant and author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. In this video he presents his idea called ‘The Golden Circle’ – the 3 levels across which all organizations function – What, How and Why.
I’d rather not summarize Simon’s full presentation here because the video is certainly inspiring and worth watching. You can watch it here:
What I do want to share in this blog post is how I am now starting to do things differently after realizing that there is indeed a Golden Circle in all our lives.
Not only is it in my nature to be very thorough and detail oriented, WSI training and tools help me ensure that I don’t miss even the tiniest detail as I begin to understand a new client’s business. So 2 days ago, I went to a business meeting with a new prospect. Normally, I would begin by asking questions about what they do and how they do it, even though I would have done some research prior to the meeting. This time, I started with the question, “Why does your company do what it does?” A bit too bold, right? My prospect thought so too and replied that he had never before been asked that question. “Well, then this should be an interesting meeting because you’ll be telling me something you’ve never before had a chance to share or talk about!”
That did it; there was a feeling of trust and confidence that set in, right from the start. Usually, this takes longer as people take a while to open up and speak comfortably to a stranger. This gentleman waxed eloquent about what he as an individual and the company he leads believe in. I gleaned valuable information about what drives them, what their vision for the future is, the mission and principles their business is founded in.
I left the meeting with a clear idea of why this company is different from others in their industry. From an Internet marketing perspective, this information is truly worth its weight in gold. I know now what the content marketing focus will be, which audiences we need to reach, what could be the most suitable methods to get across to them, how to craft the key messages and what measurable goals to aim for. All because I chose to start with the fuzzy, grey areas and learn about them. After that, what was already clear became even simpler to understand. More importantly, my prospect, I mean, client doesn’t just see me as an Internet marketing service provider, but instead as a trusted business advisor.
