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Course Espouses Sales Relationships
The Antidote To Slow and Unsteady Growth

In this series, we will be discussing three different concepts from the Business Builder system: The Credo, the unique ability and the Debrief.

Each of these is a stand-alone tool that becomes part of a larger toolbox.

When integrated and used, these tools can really change your view of your prospects while you improve personal performance and that of your business.

Previously, I had spent time with Robert and, over the course of a few weeks, he helped me create my Credo for Family Business Strategies.

In a little less than a paragraph, I had been able to clearly and succinctly explain what we do to absolutely anyone. If they wanted more information, I could flesh out my explanation, but in the mean time, I had delivered the allegation: `This is what we do, and this is how our clients benefit.´

While the Credo is an important exercise in and of itself, it becomes even more important as the first part of a larger process, and working that larger process is what will ultimately put you on the road to stronger performance. Robert defined the concept of the Credo to us, and illustrated the role it plays in building business.

"The Credo is the simple expression of your business that leads to a relationship sufficient to do commerce. The statement is made by making the purpose and the goals of the business very clear, and by engaging others in that clarity.

"Through the Credo, you are telling others: `This is the service we provide, and this is the benefit-of-the- benefit.´ People will either understand what you do, or they won´t care, but by thinking of it as an allegation, people are encouraged to talk to you about it. If they don´t talk about it, then you know a lot right there: you´re not talking to someone who´s a great prospect."

"In many ways, the Credo takes the place of what most people think of as a marketing plan. In some cases, for some people, it takes the place of what people think of as the business plan. It encourages you to step back long enough to get an idea of what it is that you do, and how you´re going to build relationships in order to build commerce."

A description of your process provides your prospects with an idea of how you work—in other words what they can expect. By combining these ideas within your Credo, those people who are good prospects will become more interested in what you are telling them. The unique ability goes beyond even that to a heightened level of personalization. We´ll cover that next time.

The typical approach to selling is to assume that everyone is a prospect-- and your job is to figure out how to make your products fit them. But with the credo, you are clearly and succinctly stating what you do and how you do it, and prospects will either identify with you or they won´t. It is also important that you put yourself in the right environment. Put yourself in the right arenas, where you have a chance of getting people interested, when you express yourself clearly.

Over the next few months, nearly every business owner will attend some sort of business expo, or trade show, or association meeting. Nearly all of them will be in a place where there are vendors and merchants. Robert finds that these events provide a great environment for working with your Credo in a very practical sense.

"If you find yourself in a conversation with someone in this setting, you can state your purpose very clearly: `My name is Robert Bailey, and I run the company that teaches the Business Builder System, which helps teams and individuals do business effectively and profitably. What makes it fun is that we build relationships, and we do that through a whole series of processes which involves customers.´"

Your initial objective is to tell them who you are and what you do. Then, if people throw out a question or a what-if, you´re in the position to give them more specific information based on their interests. You´re spending quality time on quality prospects, rather than the traditional "everyone´s a prospect" strategy, and people will generally respond more positively to someone talking to them than to someone selling to them.

"The crucial difference is that I´m not holding up a product to sell. I´m telling them what it is that I do, and whether they want it or not, I haven´t expended a lot of energy on it. I put it out there, so that what I do is so simple to understand, that it´s going to be difficult for people not to be interested in it! I want to keep it simple, and I don´t want to sell. What we´re doing is working on slow and steady customer acquisitions.

"Lots of people know this: People don´t like to be sold, but they don´t mind buying. But, it´s moving that idea into a relationship sufficient to do commerce that makes the difference for the prospect.

"If you present an opportunity to somebody and they take it, or express interest in it, well, you´re on your way to a relationship. With the next series of events—the discussion of the process and how the product might work for them—you´ll find yourself in a position where you´re already doing business! When did the sale occur? It occurred in a conversation. And I think that´s an easier way to do business."

It sounds simple enough, and most people probably already have some version of their credo in mind. But in order to make your credo as strong as possible, certain elements should be covered, and certain questions should be asked. What most people do when asked to describe their business is pull out their mission statements: `We help make the safest automobile possible at the best price with the greatest profit.´ But what does that really mean? We asked Robert to explain exactly how people begin to create their Credo:

"Students who take the Business Builder course find that developing their Credo may take days or weeks or even months to truly refine. And in some ways, it´s never really done, because your business is always evolving and your understanding of your business is always evolving. That said, the credo can be done in a week, and revised and refined over a couple of weeks. A lot of people think that takes too much time, but what most people do is just to run for a few months or a year before they even start thinking about what they´re doing. What I´m talking about is getting ready to go out."

The elements that go into the credo are pretty simple: Who am I? What do I do? Who are my customers? How do they benefit?

"Simple questions open conversation! As you progress, and look closely at your business and your goals, it becomes clearer that you´re better off with simple inquiry. How the story weaves together is your view to into the prospects business. You´re interested in standing in on the other person´s point of view."

Answering Who Am I and What Do I Do may be as simple as "I am a lawyer who specializes in child custody cases." In this case, Who Are My Customers would probably be pretty self-evident. The fourth question, however, may require a little more thought. Robert agrees:

"You might also find that how people benefit from your business alters the first three in that your unique ability is what distinguishes you and really starts bringing you business. As we break down the process of working through the credo, we start to understand better what value we are giving to the marketplace."

The credo stands alone nicely, but add it to the other elements of the Business Builder system and it becomes like a giant money and relationship fireball. As we learn more from each of these steps, we´re able to do more business.

Next time, we´ll discuss the next step in this process, the unique ability. This refines what makes you different in the eyes of your clients—it´s your strengths, your talents and your capabilities. Last, we´ll discuss the debrief. This is a powerful tool for problem-solving and analyzing your interactions with prospective clients, customers, and partners. It also begins to develop new business solutions through partnering within your new relationships.