Do you remember the game of Chinese whispers?

You know the one where the first person whispers a story to the next person and so on it goes until at the end the last person tells the story out loud. Usually, the message at the end is vastly different from the one at the start.

It’s a bit like a rumour mill in a workplace. The end message usually bears little resemblance to the first.

Games and rumours are one thing but what if the same thing was happening in your business?

What if the message that you want to get out to your prospects was so distorted by the time they got it that it no longer accurately told them how you can help them?

The reality is that I see that all the time in business. What starts out as a great business message just gets lost in transmission.

There are two main reasons

Firstly, there has been no structure to the formulation of the message.

Secondly, there is a failure on the part of the business owner to deliver their message internally to their team and partners so that its delivery to the consumer is constantly reinforced.

Great businesses have a message that is so ingrained with their team that the team lives and breathes it every day. As a direct result, they deliver it to every prospect they speak to as well.

Okay smarty pants, I hear you say. You’ve identified the problem but what about a solution.

Well, I am pleased you ask. I have a foolproof five-step plan to make sure your message sings like a nightingale.

Here it is:

Answer these five questions and make sure your message ticks these boxes. Deliver it to your team, sit back and let the magic happen.

1. Reaction: When a prospect thinks of your business and the service you offer what’s the reaction you want them to have?

Do you want them to feel happy, relieved, comforted? How do you want them to react? Get clarity on that and check to see if your message is likely to elicit that response.

2. Features and benefits: What are the top three features or benefits of doing business with you. There are probably tons of them but if you get super clear on the top three and make sure your message includes them, you’ll turn your lead trickle into a flood.

3. Personality: What is the personality of your business? What do your current clients think of when they think of you?

In our Business accelerator Mastermind program, we focus on helping our clients to have a business, not a job by showing them how to build their business, so it is far less reliant on them.

Our personality however is all about making sure that we have fun in the process. We know that the more our clients enjoy the process, the more progress they will make.

What is your personality? Is it reflected in your messaging?

4. Inevitability: If your prospects decide to buy your service or product, what is the inevitable outcome for them?

Will they lose weight in 30 days? Halve their marketing budget?

What is the inevitable tangible outcome of doing business with you? Is that outcome clear in your messaging?

Do your team and your partners know what that is?

5. Transformation: Finally, whilst the inevitability was all about tangibles, what is the transformation your clients will get?

How will doing business with you affect their lives? That is where the real value lies.

Remember we don’t go to the hardware store to buy a drill bit; we are buying the hole in the wall we need to hang the picture. That is the transformation.

Take some time out to look at your messaging and ask how well it addresses these five points. Adjust where needed and then make sure you share it with the team so that they get to be a part of that message delivery every day.

No more Chinese whispers, okay?