Hi Reader,
Monday, I wrote about how easy it is to be unclear to the market while thinking you're perfectly clear.
Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine, wrote back: "I think you're often unclear to yourself too. Ask 10 employees to explain your strategy in a few sentences. See how many have any answer, and how much it overlaps."
He's pointing at what has to be in place before my story even starts.
My problem at Unit4 was the communication end. I knew what made us rare. PJ told me to my face that nobody outside the building understood what we were good at. We fixed how we said it, and the results came.
Jason is one level down. If ten people give you ten different answers, there's nothing you're all building toward. And what you should be building toward isn't a growth number or a market position. It's being the only logical option for someone.
And you're paying for it without even noticing. Sales keeps closing deals that need things Product wasn't planning to build. Marketing burns budget on leads sales doesn't want. Support is stuck with accounts nobody should have sold. Every one of those costs you revenue and margin. And it's not because anyone did a bad job. To the contrary. It's because nobody was working toward the same thing.
Question for you to reflect upon:
If your ten key people wrote down who you're the only logical option for, how many different answers would you get?
The Remarkable Effect is when your whole company is building toward what makes you the only logical option.
Ton