When it comes to the way most people talk to their potential customers, little thought is put into the words used. This is a TRAGEDY because potential customers do not want to do business with you because of what you tell them!

THEY WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU BECAUSE OF HOW YOUR BUSINESS MAKES THEM FEEL!

It is the words you use to emotionally grab them and make them feel great that keeps them reading about your product or service and then leads them to buy from you.

Too often, companies and business owners are afraid of saying the wrong thing, or of turning a customer off, so in their effort to not displease anybody they try to speak to everybody, and end up appealing to no one -- WHAT A SHAME!

The intention of this article is to help you to understand that your business has power that you can harness in your words. That power comes from the values that you hold and that your company was founded on. They are called your CORE VALUES, and once you understand exactly what they are, you can become intentional about how you use them to repel customers who are not right for you, and to attract (in droves) those who are.

Imagine a day where you spend little to no time trying to deal with unhappy customers, because you don’t have any. Imagine a day where every interaction is with a customer who loves what you bring to the table and values it immensely. What we are talking about is JOY and a business is full of JOY when it understands how to attract the perfect customers (and lots of them!). This is a business that operates with confidence and a business that generates the revenue necessary to grow.

SO WHAT ARE THESE CORE VALUES?

Your core values are the guiding principles that help you make decisions on a daily basis and define what you stand for as a person and a business. You can spend a lot of time haggling over what they are, but what really matters is that you have them and that you allow them to guide you. Walt Disney’s core values, for example, are imagination and wholesomeness. The US Air Force’s core values are integrity, service and excellence.

Let me start by telling you ours and maybe they can spark some ideas for you:

• Integrity — Holding ourselves accountable to the highest standards in everything we do AND creating an environment where those around us make their best efforts to do the same.

• Brilliance — Crafting an atmosphere where brilliance is the natural result.

• Joy — Having fun and enjoying the game of building the business by delivering a unique voice on behalf of each and every client.

• Synergy — Taking the best assets of the client, the writer and the project manager and fusing them together as they move towards a common goal.

• Creativity — Encouraging everyone who is part of our culture to use their hearts and minds to create outside the box by constantly sparking thoughts, generating ideas, and stretching our cumulative brain.

We use these core values to guide our decisions in ALL matters, as often as possible; in fact we do everything we can to LIVE BY THEM!

Like us, you can use your core values in the language of your business. The goal is for everyone within your culture to live your core values and utilize them throughout your branding so that potential customers can discover you and be immediately turned on or immediately turned off.

WE CALL THIS THE 50/50 LIKEABILITY FACTOR!

Do NOT be afraid to repel some potential customers! If they are not right for your company you’d rather know it sooner than later!

Remember: For everyone who doesn’t want to do business with you, there will be another company or individual who is shouting from the rooftops with excitement that they have found you. These are your dream clients, and to find them, you have to put yourself out there VERY clearly, using the right words.

SO NOW TO THE WRITING!

Look at your web copy. Look at your marketing copy. Look at the language of your emails. Beneath the words, what do they say about you as a company? What do they reveal as most important to you? Can people get a sense of your core values by reading your home page? Do the words and the feel of your site, or your marketing copy, or your employee handbooks coincide with your core values? If not, you can be sure that the disconnect will be noted by your customers, your employees, your vendors, your investors (or potential investors) and even if they cannot put their finger on why they don’t want to do business with you, you can trust that they will go somewhere else.

Think about it! Why do people go into Starbucks? Why do they buy Nike shoes? Why do they use Federal Express? These companies live and die by their core values and their values are embedded throughout their company. You know that when you go to Starbucks you are going to get the exact same cup of coffee with the same service in the same environment. You know that when you buy Nike shoes, you’re intending to “Just Do It.” You know when you use Federal Express that your package will arrive on time.

You have to be this clear in your own messages!

USING YOUR CORE VALUES in the way you speak about your company, present your company to the public, and write about your company in your marketing, WILL HAVE A DYNAMIC IMPACT ON YOUR BOTTOM LINE.

People will just start to get it! And that is when they go away and talk about your business. And that is when every interaction between your customers and your employees leaves them all feeling great and confident so that they can continue the circle of JOY which directly corresponds to the circle of REVENUE!

So converse with the heads of your company about what your core values are. Debate them. Narrow them down to the four or five most important parts of your business that you can uphold in all you do!

Then chisel them into the foundation of your company, from the product or service you provide, to the way you approach customer service, to the way you write your copy. Use your core values throughout your branding and let people love or hate them, and you will build a business of meaning; a business that stands for something. Without these, you are bland, boring and destined to mediocrity.

RISE ABOVE. USE YOUR WORDS

Here’s to better business and a better life!