• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Andrew Jensen

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Efficiency Consulting
      • Business Efficiency
      • Efficiency Coaching
      • Time Management
    • Business Coaching
    • Customer Service
    • Sales & Marketing
      • Marketing Consulting
      • Internet Strategies
  • FAQs
  • Why Andrew?
  • Partners
  • Articles
    • Management
    • Employees
    • Customer Service
    • Communication
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Cutting Costs
    • Organization
    • Personal Efficiency
  • Contact
    • Contact Andrew
    • Media Inquiries
    • Public Speaking
You are here: Home / Management / Show and Tell: Building Your Business by Being Specific

Updated on June 8, 2011 by Andrew Jensen Leave a Comment

Show and Tell: Building Your Business by Being Specific

When taking a class on creative writing, you’re almost guaranteed to hear the following: “Show, don’t tell.” It’s true; effective stories use specific descriptions and details to engage the reader, not just plain statements. For example, describing a character in a story by saying, “She was pretty,” is nowhere near as effective as writing, “Her blond hair, big eyes, and slender waist had her fighting off the men.” Do you see the difference? The first statement makes a simple, broad claim, but the second rewards the reader with specific details that create a solid impression.

The exact same principle applies when building your business and profits, but there are certain steps you’ll want to follow.

be distinctive with your business focusIsolate your focus

The very first step towards establishing your brand is to isolate your focus. Take time to determine your company’s strengths, and be honest with yourself. Just as no individual is good at everything, no company can honestly claim to excel in all areas. But again, just as everyone is good at something, there is at least one aspect of your company that makes it unique. Evaluate what makes your company stand out, and designate this as your specific focus.

Perfect your focus

After you’ve designated your focus, it’s time to perfect it. Your focus probably doesn’t sound very unique right now; in fact, it probably sounds downright generic. Chances are, you’ve chosen something like customer service or quality, and, while these are legitimate focuses, presenting them as-is to your customers will not leave much of an impression.

If you stopped here, at the “telling” part of your mission, you wouldn’t have much success at diversifying your brand. Telling your customers about your strengths would entail just stating your focus. You’d say, “We have great customer service,” or “We have a high quality product.” Well, as much as you might hate to admit it, EVERY business claims to have great customer service and a quality product. Therefore, outlined on its own, your focus simply isn’t good enough.

This is where the “showing” part of your mission begins. Now is the time for you to employ those skills you learned from your English teacher in an effort to diversify your business. This is the step where you highlight for your customers what makes your business special, and you’re going to do it by showing, not telling.

You need to take your bland focus, and add specific, enticing details to make it stand out. To help you get started, ask yourself this question: “How does my company act on its focus?” That is, what do you do as a company to make your focus a reality?

If your focus is customer service, talk about what makes your customer service stand out. Do you have 24 hour a day availability? Tell us about it! Are your employees trained specifically in making customers happy? That makes you stand out, so we want to know about it.

Similarly, if your focus is quality, you need to give your customers a reason to believe that your product is better than your competitors’. Is your product inspected by an independent third party for quality? That makes you unique, and uniqueness is valuable! Do you have a special quality guarantee, such as a double-your-money-back promise? If so -you guessed it -we want to hear about it.

Diversifying your business is a concrete step you can take towards improving it, thereby increasing your profits. In today’s competitive market, simply telling customers about your business is not a big enough step towards that goal. Instead, by using specifics to show your customer what makes your business unique, you can create a memorable, positive reputation for your company.

Filed Under: Management

About Andrew Jensen

Andrew Jensen, a business growth, efficiency & marketing consultant, provides business advisory services for clients in the Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; York, Hanover, Lancaster & Harrisburg, PA regions. Andrew advises regarding business growth, productivity, efficiency, business startups, customer service, and online/offline marketing.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Optimization Strategies for Success™

Contact Andrew Jensen, a business growth, efficiency & marketing consultant, to learn how he can help strengthen your business or nonprofit organization.

Andrew provides business consulting services on-site, by phone & by email for companies nationwide.

Andrew advises regarding business growth, productivity, efficiency, business startups, customer service, and marketing (both offline & online).

Areas Served

Andrew places an emphasis on personal, onsite consulting with clients. He primarily serves clients throughout the United States. International clients are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Andrew is conveniently located within a short drive of Baltimore, Hunt Valley, Bel Air, MD; Washington, D.C.; Wilmington, DE; and Harrisburg, York, Hanover & Lancaster, PA.

Popular Articles

  • Why Is College So Expensive?
  • 5 Ways to Properly Greet a Customer
  • How Office Lighting Affects Productivity
  • When Is the Best Time to Conduct Meetings and Important Business?
  • How Does Workplace Attire Affect Productivity?
  • How to Handle Employee Insubordination
  • How to Become an Efficiency Expert
  • Should You Work More Than 40 Hours a Week?
  • Holding Employees Accountable for Performance
  • 5 Ways to Create a Motivating Work Environment

Recent Comments

  • Carla M. on When Is the Best Time to Conduct Meetings and Important Business?
  • Eli Richardson on Combating the Mid Afternoon Productivity Lull in the Office
  • Tom Melhuish on How Office Lighting Affects Productivity
  • PIUS BYEGARAZO on How to Handle Employee Insubordination
  • Brooke on How to Become More Productive at Work

Footer

Areas Served

Andrew places an emphasis on personal, onsite consulting with clients. He primarily serves clients throughout the United States. International clients are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Andrew is conveniently located within a short drive of the following cities: Baltimore, Hunt Valley, & Bel Air, MD; Washington, DC; Wilmington, DE; Harrisburg, York, Hanover & Lancaster, PA.

Contact Andrew

Andrew Jensen
Sozo Firm Inc
New Freedom, PA

Note: Due to high demand, Andrew currently has a wait list for new projects.

Email Andrew
Toll Free: 800.460.SOZO
Office: 717.885.2312

Services Offered

Business Consulting
• Efficiency Consulting
• Customer Service Consulting
• Sales & Marketing Consulting
• Startup Consulting

Audits
• Business Efficiency Audit
• Customer Service Audit
• Advertising & Marketing Audit
• Website Usability Audit

  • Management
  • Employees
  • Customer Service
  • Communication
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Cut Costs
  • Personal Efficiency
  • Be Organized

Andrew Jensen - Efficiency, Growth & Marketing

Sitemap · Privacy Policy · Copyright © 2023 Sozo Firm Inc · All Rights Reserved · 800-460-7696