The “Company One-liner” is More Important Than Ever
StoryBrand coach works with CEO Nexus members on sharpening their marketing message

For most business owners, the marketplace is going through a seismic shift. The pandemic is changing the way business is done and in turn, the conventional response to the simple question “What do you do?” likely needs to evolve.

What matters today to your customers – and to your customers’ customers – is likely different than what mattered even just months ago. If people don’t understand why they need your products or how your services will solve their problem, then you’re missing out on opportunities in today’s marketplace. After all, the key to sales, even in a pandemic, is the right message, right customer and right time.

In a recent CEO Nexus webinar, Derek Sussner, Founder and Executive Creative Director of Sussner Design Company and StoryBrand Certified Guide, shared key points to honing your marketing message. He reminded the group your company brand is not the hero. Rather, your brand is the guide.

In order for your customer to truly understand what you do, what you offer and how it will solve their unique problem, you must make the customer the hero of your marketing story. The solution to this challenge can be as simple as starting with the following three steps:

  1. The Problem: Begin by stating the problem or pain point most of your customers face
  2. The Solution: Discuss your solution to the problem
  3. The Success: Explain the success your customer will experience after you solve their problem

The above steps follow the StoryBrand process. Based on the process discussed in Marketing Made Simple and Building a Story Brand by best-selling author Donald Miller, StoryBrand outlines real-world steps and actionable items CEOs can take to grow their business. It’s a step-by-step guide businesses can use to help better explain what they offer by bringing clarity to their message.

Following the presentation, CEO Nexus members transitioned to virtual breakout rooms to participate in an exercise creating brand statements for hypothetical, second-stage companies.

Geoffrey Gallo, Sr. Vice President – Marketing & Strategic Consulting at Grennan Fender Hess & Poparad LLP, found the webinar and exercise enlightening.

“CEO Nexus events, whether in-person or virtual, always stimulate, always connect – to great content and to each other. In a time when businesses of all industries are struggling in one way or another, there is nothing more refreshing than having other business leaders connecting on timely topics,” Gallo said. “The StoryBrand program brought practical, simple advice on messaging your company’s value proposition to the CEO audience in attendance. I continually marvel where even an expert in this field learns something important by breaking the brand-scripting process down so all may understand and implement. Derek expertly navigated the time we had and even allowed for a twenty-minute exercise where event guests broke into small breakout rooms on Zoom to interact in a more intimate, meaningful way. Bravo, CEO Nexus! I look forward to the next encounter!”

The StoryBrand webinar was so popular that CEO Nexus is planning an encore presentation.

Click here to view Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller.
Click here to view Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
Click here (members-only) to view the presentation PPT and video.

 
CEO Nexus is committed to serving business owners and executive teams leading growth-oriented, second-stage businesses. Our professionally facilitated Peer Roundtable Programs utilize the CEO Nexus Content Model, which focuses on leadership, strategy, operations and succession planning.