How will you start the new year?
We often think the best place to start our work is at the beginning. With everything in place, we can hit the start button and begin. We venture on a logical path forward knocking out each task and action item. Often, the best place to start is the end.
When we begin with the end in mind, we can paint a picture of what things would look like if customers viewed our product or service differently.
How would they feel? What would they think? Marketing tactics are more easily explained when everyone shares a common vision of what we want the future to be.
Backwards First and Then Forward
If you are working on a new product launch or repositioning of your brand, try and describe what this new state is like to those who will come with you on the journey. Let your team taste the future first, so they understand the path you are taking them.
Ask yourself these three questions.
- What needs to be true, for everyone to see the world anew?
- What do you need to let go of so it is no longer front and center?
- How will you behave differently in the future, when customers are lining up to purchase this new product because it serves a new set of needs?
When everyone agrees what success looks, tastes and feels like, it is easier to dig a pathway.
The best place to begin the New Year is with the end in mind.
When I work with clients, I imagine what needs to be true for their goals to be achieved. Then we start with the end in mind. Have a project that needs a fresh perspective and a creative approach? Email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or text/call me at 919 720 0995. I’ll be waiting for your call from the future.
