Creating Sustainable Client Results by Defining the Insights & Transformation
In fiction, especially if it’s a mystery or thriller, there’s a point where all of the plot points click together. Maybe there’s a twist that causes the character to have a revelation and now everything starts to make sense. This client breakthrough is the a-ha moment in marketing.
We have those in real life too. They’re not quite as stark as a Netflix season finale, but when we start to take action we get insights into our lives and the problem we’re dealing with.
You start to see how all of the puzzle pieces fit together. Remember in the earlier stages when we had the hindsight to see the red flags and symptoms? Now that you’re taking action, you see how previous attempts to address the problem didn’t work before.
Usually, this is due to you only addressing those symptoms and not recognizing the deeper problem (or the barriers). If your client is looking at it from a surface level, you’ll only get surface level results. They may not be seeing tangible/external results yet, but the internal mindset shifts occurring are giving them momentum to keep wanting to be consistent with the external changes.
Being able to frame the epiphany in the context of the crisis and catalyst is a great way to also structure your sales page headlines. Your headline should make an emotional impact and get them to shift their way of thinking. Seeing the insights you and others have had along the journey can propel them into action while also showing how your style or framework differs from others.
I’ve heard other in the business and marketing space refer to this as the reality check or the truth bomb. You can think of it this way as well, but people need to be ready to receive these and incorporate them. You have to give them the plot points before revealing the twist.
When Internal Shifts Translate to External Action
At the turning point stage is where things get exciting. This is where those internal shifts and insights start to pay off. They’re reaping what they sow. They have results to show.
They’re not done yet, but they’re incorporating these changes into their daily life and it doesn’t feel quite so hard anymore. I worked with a meditation teacher and when we talked about a time when she was so angry at her spouse, she began to see red. I’ve had times like that too. But the difference was with consistent actions to help her become more mindful she was able to not let her anger take her over and could have a reasonable conversation with her husband.
Our lives are full of these moments. We’re at a crossroads. We started to make the change but the challenge keeps coming back to test us. While healing of any kind is not linear, we know we’re on the right path when we meet those moments and take conscious effort to break past our old patterns.
We discussed smoking. For me, my trigger to have a cigarette would be going to the bar or drinking socially. It would often take effort to override that instinct to bum a smoke from someone.
Impactful content can talk about these turning points. For one, it mirrors the red flags in the before picture. But it also shows people concrete ways taking consistent action is going to help them achieve their desired result. While we often make buying decisions based on emotion, we need to be able to use concrete benefits to put context to the solution.
Define a New Identity: How Transformed Clients Become Beacons of Possibility
While no journey is ever fully complete, you (or your customer and client) is now at the point where they’re experiencing what was only aspirational to them before. We don’t often take note of our wins (both for ourselves and our clients’) but intentionally pause and acknowledge the lasting change you or your clients have sustained.
It’s not just about sharing client success stories on your sales pages or website. It’s about refining your message with real life examples of what people are capable of after doing both the internal and external work needed.
This maybe the most important stage to be able to clearly define for others. Those who have gone through it understand it, but from the outside when people aren’t at this stage yet, it can feel unattainable.
A lot of folks want to write a book. But few do. It’s not that only special people can write, it’s that the people who choose to write every day had to make internal shifts to reflect the external actions they’re taking.
Talk about the identity they now have. Or how they’re now able to feel. Is there a weight lifted off of their shoulders? What does freedom look like? While this all sounds pretty woo woo (and yeah, it kind of is), you can’t neglect the tangible things people can now do because of those airy fairy changes.
Paint the picture for someone so clearly they can plug that dream state into their own life and know what’s possible for them. Not just the “special” people who can get up at 5 AM every day or run a marathon or write a book.
Implementing Throughout Your Marketing & Sales Processes
Understanding the journey that we and our customers are going through can help us tailor our content for maximum impact and build connection with the people we’re trying to reach.
This mirrors but not the same as a typical marketing funnel. Not everyone goes through it at the same rate and people can skip or move backward in this arc. Things aren’t so simple in real life, nor are they perfectly linear. That’s okay.
Even the folks who never buy from you can be your biggest brand advocates because your story resonated with them, or they were able to implement the things you speak and teach about.
