We are going to dig into Chapter 3 of the Go-To Expert, and explore in more depth the concept of a sound bite. On the surface of it, having a sound bite doesn’t sound that important for any professional. However, as you read through this blog post you will discover why it is core to what you do, how you do it, and your ease at winning business.

What is a sound bite?

A sound bite is a short sentence that communicates who you help and the results you help them achieve. For example, my soundbite is:

I help professionals become the Go-To Expert

Here are other soundbites from people in the professions:

I help independent retailers to maximise their profits by paying the least amount of tax I help technology companies protect their business’s assets and gain an advantage over their competitors

Why do you need a sound bite?

There are several reasons why you need a sound bite. It is effectively a one-sentence statement of your personal brand. When you know who you are and what you are about, you can use this sound bite to help you make decisions on whether you will take on this piece of work.

For example, one of my clients was having trouble reconciling the two different parts of his business. We took a step back and identified a sound bite which felt right for him but also brought both pieces of his disparate businesses together. When you are meeting someone online or in the flesh you only have a few seconds to make a good first impression. (I know, you have heard this all before…)

But, it’s important, so I will hammer home the point. The business development benefits of having a good sound bite are as follows:

  • it prompts a deeper conversation on the ‘how you achieve results for your clients’
  • it makes you memorable
  • it proactively creates a ‘suffix’ or ‘tagline for you’
  • it differentiates you from the other accountants, lawyers or consultants in the room
  • it forms part of your 60-second networkers pitch

How to create your sound bite

There are two key parts to your sound bite. The first part is identifying your niche or specialism. Once you know your niche, you need to do the second part, which is to identify the value you bring to them. It may help to answer two questions:

The Pain Points they face are…. The solutions I help them achieve are….

The Pain Points are the deep-seated, normally emotional, reasons why someone will buy your service. Of course, this is difficult to articulate when you sell a compliance lead service such as year-end accounts or audit. This is why doing some research with your target market is essential to identifying your target audience’s Pain Points. For example, one of my audit clients, when he did this research, found out that one of his audience’s key Pain Points was loneliness! When you know their Pain Points, you can build in features to your service which help differentiate you from your competition down the road. When you have answered these two questions, you want to combine the answers into a statement with this format:

I help xxxx to do/achieve/make/save xxxx

How does knowing and using your sound bite make business development much easier?

There are many reasons why business development becomes much easier when you start to use your sound bite. For example,

  • it forms a key part of your introduction, whether in an online bio or in-person
  • it differentiates you from your competition
  • it prompts a deeper conversation about what you do and how you do it
  • it helps you decide on which opportunities to pursue and which ones to give to someone else
  • it focuses the rest of your marketing plan and associated activities

Did you know?

We have a great course in our subscriber-only site Progress to Partner  called How to Make time for Business Development.  The course gives you the structure, clarity, and guidance to create a daily business development habit and a business development plan that is focussed and not just based on friendly coffees!

Related Post

  • 5 ways growing your online presence NOW can help you sign up the right clients later

    5 ways growing your online presence NOW can help you sign up the right clients later

    With so many people working remotely right now, there has never been a more important time to have an online presence. Think about it, everyone is at home and searching online, so if you don’t have a presence, how will your prospects find you? We have always stressed how vitally important your online footprint is…

    CONTINUE READING > >

  • How to deal with a tough work colleague

    How to deal with a tough work colleague

    Read this article for over 6 tips to successfully deal with tough colleagues.

    CONTINUE READING > >