What do you do?

What is it you do?

That's a question I'm asked regularly. I'm a strategic marketing consultant. Our firm offers strategies to help business people grow their businesses.

But, what do you do?

Well, we work with senior management to help them uncover what their customers value about their relationship with our clients, so our clients can sell more to their current customers and create new customers. We also help our clients sell their products and services for more money.

Uh huh, but what do you do?

Do you mean how do we help our clients sell more?

Uh huh.

Well, we start by interviewing our clients to understand why they think people do business with them. Then we go ask our clients' customers why they do business with our clients. It's amazing how often there's a disconnect between what our clients think their customers value and what their customers tell us they value.

Uh Huh.

Once we've gathered and analyzed our research, we walk our clients through the findings and work with them to make the offer they make to their customers the most desirable one available to them.

Uh Huh.

Then, we help them align their marketing, sales and operations with that offer so that when people come to do business with them their expectations are met or exceeded and they want to come back again and again.

Uh huh, but what do you do?

I listen, something that appears to be a lost art.

Uh huh...but what do you do?