The character of Veruca Salt, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory always wanted more – and she wanted it now. Most of us know of people in the real world who are just like her. In fact, Amazon Prime appears to be responding to that desire; they offer a one day delivery standard for Prime members. We can get more, and get it now. Awesome!
Or is it? I’m not so sure.
For me, this time of year is jam-packed; I’ve got a lot on my plate for both work and life. And talking to colleagues, clients, and friends, that seems to be a common situation. Yet, rather than accomplishing more, most of us are finding that we end up with less. Naturally, that’s frustrating and makes it even more difficult to achieve our goals. Then, we do more to make up the difference, become more depleted, and increase our frustration. And so the cycle continues.
How do we disrupt that cycle?
Just today, a colleague took one small thing off my plate. What a relief! Interestingly, the impact of having just one less thing to do was vastly disproportionate to the size of the task. That got me thinking: What if I can do that for clients?
From conversations, I already know that many feel buried, or swamped, or just too busy.
So, what is one thing that I can help my client to take off their plate?
In value proposition language, that one thing is the job you can do (or eliminate) for your customers. And in turn, that relieves a pain and creates a gain.
Delivering value is at the heart of my business strategy. That’s probably true for you, too. Much of the time I think in terms of more: what other services can I provide to help my clients reach their goals? Today’s experience helped me to reframe that thinking.
Instead of more, what if I think in terms of less?
2019© Tara J Rethore