WOW #005: Outcome Before Process

Quote of the Week:
"The process is not the goal; the goal is the goal."
- Brian Tracy

During one of my recent morning workouts, I overheard a personal trainer talking to a prospective client about her services. She started by emphasizing various workout routines, the relevance of proper technique, and the importance of a set schedule. All these items are the process that she offers to clients.

You know what the client wanted to hear? Outcomes. You’ll have more energy. Your confidence will soar when you see the impacts of regular exercise. You’ll feel better as your body grows stronger and more resilient.

Many of our clients who struggle with sales are emphasizing their process – how complete and exhaustive it is – over customer outcomes. Why do so many people (and companies) emphasize process over outcomes? Because they believe that their process leads to outcomes. And that is usually true.

But your customers are most interested in the outcomes. They have a need or are struggling with a pain point. They’re much more likely to make a purchase if you can focus on how good life could be if they achieve a desirable outcome by working with you.

While a process can lend credibility to achieving positive outcomes, it shouldn't supersede the clear articulation of the outcome.
 

3 Takeaways:

1. Concentrate on outcomes. If you don’t know the tangible benefits of your product or service, don’t expect customers to guess accurately. Your marketing and sales should focus on the end goal – what will be the outcome of working or buying from you. Selling a fan is much more effective if you talk about how refreshed someone who is hot and tired feels with the gentle wind blowing on them – not how many speeds it has.
   
   The key here is to show the emotional, physical, and/or mental transition from State A to State B. From how you feel, the challenges, and the pain of being where you are today [State A] to the joy, relief, and better position found in the future [State B] by working with you.
   
   
2. Structure a process after you’ve achieved the outcomes, to guarantee future outcomes. You likely didn’t deliver the outcome in a structured way the first few times you worked with clients. But after successfully generating positive outcomes, you need to go back and look for the common path. If you are delivering a service, it’s likely that 80% of what you do fits into the common path. The other 20% is tailored and can’t be systemized.
   
   Spend time honing and perfecting the common path process so you spend very little time on it. This frees you up to do the hard (and usually more interesting) work of solving specific client issues.
   
   
3. Show that you've helped others achieve the same outcomes. Saying you can produce outcomes is easy. You need to show potential clients where you’ve done this before, which adds gravitas and social proof to your solution. Make sure you include quotes from prior clients for whom you’ve successfully delivered the desired outcomes on your website and in your marketing. The more positive feedback you can show, the lower the barriers are to acceptance.
   
   Case studies go even deeper and they can show in detail how someone in a common customer situation made the breakthrough – and how they feel when the outcome is achieved.

1 Action:

Take a deep look at how you discuss the value you deliver. Is it based on process or outcomes? If you’re process based, it’s time to make a shift. A shift in mindset can create a shift in demand. If you are already emphasizing outcomes, are those outcomes richly described so potential customers know the State A to State B transition?

Take a piece of paper and create two columns: State A [Pain] and State B [Relief]. In the State A column, write down everything you can think about the problems your potential customers have that you are seeking to solve – describe the pain/need, how it makes them feel, how intense the pain is, and what they may have tried before that failed. In the State B column, write about the benefits/upside of the solution and how they will feel. Refine State B into a few sentences and you’ve got your outcome pitch.

Paint the future first (outcome), and fill in the path second (process).

If you want to read more about emphasizing outcomes, we’ve got a free guide on Creating Value (and more!) at https://peachtreelabs.net/guides

Have a great week.