Wrapped Up in Why
I sat amongst a group of creatives ranging in age and length of business. We began talking about “Why Statements” and points of difference. One of the gals in the group piped up and said what most were probably thinking.
“What if I don’t have a why statement?”
This was followed by rapid fire questions based out of fear that all centered around targeting the right client based on the perfectly crafted why statement. Now don’t get me wrong . . . we have all been there . . frequently. I am also not saying throw away a well thought out statement of why. What I am saying is that we often get so wrapped up in what all the other businesses are doing that we forget something incredibly important. We forget whom we are serving.
We started these businesses in a service based industry. To serve. I say this from personal experience as a bride. Back in 2006, we were planning our own wedding when the unthinkable happened. Our wedding photographer backed out a month before our wedding. At the time why statements weren’t really a thing and even if they were . . it wouldn’t have mattered to me. All I remember to this day is how she made me feel.
Fast forward ten years and we decided to have a vow renewal. We knew from the reputation of our photographer that we would love our images but even if our photographer had performed 50% less than she did, we would have still loved them. Do you know what made me say that . . . it was how she served us. It was how she made us feel on our day. It wasn’t about her why statement . . but how she made us feel.
We do our clients a disservice when we analyze and overwork our why statement. When we become so wrapped up in words and forget the actual purpose . . the heart and true why . . which is service and people.
