START WITH WHY

I recently read the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. If you are in sales and marketing, I highly recommend reading his books and following him on social media. He’s usually spot on and makes a lot of sense. He really keeps it simple and brings us back to the fundamentals of what works in sales and marketing. I wanted to share some nuggets that I took from the book.

Do not confuse your why with your what or your how. Picture a dart board with three circles inside. The small one in the middle is your why. The next one out, or the middle one is your what and the biggest one on the outside is your how. So your business why is not what your do or how you do it, but why you do what you do. Your why should be at the heart of everything you do in business. It’s the middle, the foundation and the axis that every decision revolves around. My business why is to help businesses grow. Every product or service line that I have revolves around helping businesses use marketing to meet their goals and grow beyond their wildest expectations.

Your why is about feelings and emotions. If all else is comparable between you and your competitor as it pertains to price, capabilities, products and services, why would someone choose your business over another business. Maybe you build trust and relationships, maybe your product or service allows someone feel good about themselves, or step outside their comfort zone. Your company why should always be at the heart of your marketing and sales initiatives, but it can also play a large role in recruitment. Just like above, if a candidate is comparing apples to apples when it comes to what job to take, your company why can be the difference in why they choose to work for your company.

Think about what sets you apart from your competition. The ones who are consistently successful and growing are the ones who know their why. Their why focuses on how to make your life better, how to enhance your life, how to connect you to each other and the world and how to open up your world.

I encourage you to take some time and make sure you know your business why. Ask your employees if they know your why. If they don’t then you have a training opportunity. Make sure that all of your business decisions focus on your why and don’t stray from that why. Stay in your why lane.

If you’re interested in any of Simon Sinek’s books, click the link below to find them on Amazon.