A Three-Question Self-Diagnostic

How strong is your company narrative?

You might think this is a question for Marketing to figure out.

I would argue that this is a question for everyone, because if your organization doesn’t have a strong narrative, you are probably not cutting through the noise and 60% more likely to waste a lot of money and opportunities.

Here is a simple test that will show you right away if the perception that people have of your business is making or costing you millions.

A 3-question diagnostic: ask people around you the 3 following questions. Request that they give you only one brief sentence for each.

1 - What do we do?

2 - What problem are we solving?

3 - Why do customers (internal or external) buy from us?

Phase 1 - Internal: do it with your team

Do it via email or have people use a piece of paper during your next team meeting (better because you'll get more candid answers). No cheating by looking at things like the strategy deck, sales deck, or company website.

Ask for honest and “in the moment” answers only.

This can be used for the whole company, a specific product or service, a project, or your team.

How far off are people?

Phase 2 - External: do the same with a few clients or customers

This is for the braves, but this is where you get real eye-opening moments.

Phase 3 - Compare and contrast: internal vs. external answers.

What do you see?

I really hope you give this a try. Please let me know how it goes.