We are going to dig into Chapter 3 of my book 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 if you work in a professional service firm such as a law firm accountancy or consulting firm. Read on and find out why it is core to what you do, how you do it, and your ease at winning business and growing your own client portfolio.
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
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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
Take a step forward to be in control of your own career progression in your firm. Sign up to my weekly tips here and you’ll find out what you need to be working on in your career development (and how to make the time for your career development) to progress your career in your firm.
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?
There’s a great course in my Progress to Partner Academy 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!
