I don’t know about you but I get pretty squirmy when I’m asked to be more specific.
I feel called out when someone asks “How do you mean?” or “I’m not sure I understand.”
Not because it’s embarrassing but because it forces me to own up to my own lack of clarity.
I have to face the fact that I’m not exactly sure what I mean but was hoping it was close enough.
In communication, when you go for close enough, it can end up confusing people. Which is of course the opposite of what you want.
We make a lot of assumptions. We leave out details that we feel don’t need to be made explicit because we assume people think the same way we do. And while humans are similar in many ways, it’s a mistake to over-identify with those similarities.
In your business, when you want to connect with the people who you can help most, it’s vital to clearly define and get specific with your positioning, messaging, and content.
It’s not easy to do this but doing it and consistently revisiting it will impact your business more than almost anything else you do.
So, what can you do to be more specific?
First, it helps to understand why it’s hard to get specific.
1. It’s challenging to find and choose the right words.
Language is amazing. Humans have been able to do incredible things because of it. But words don’t always convey what we want. There’s a gap between the schemas, themes, visuals, and unending thoughts in our minds and the words we use to relay them to the outside world. Words can feel inadequate.
2. We worry about excluding something important.
Being more general feels like we’re covering all our bases. It seems safer to say something that could apply to many people so we don’t leave anyone out.
3. The more details we add, the more vulnerable we feel.
When we identify and share the specific things that are true for us, we feel exposed. There is a sense that we are giving up a bit more about who we are and if someone were to not agree with that, it would feel terrible.
These are only a few reasons we find it challenging to be more specific but it gives you a sense of what we’re up against.
Here are some things you can do to help you get more specific in your business:
1. Listen more deeply to your clients.
Whenever you interact with your clients, pay attention to how they are expressing themselves. Take note of the words they use and of the times where they get frustrated at not being able to explain something.
2. Ask better questions.
To understand someone better, ask questions that will help them tell their story. Ask questions that tap into their emotional experience like “Before you started looking for help with your issue (be specific here), can you tell me what it was like to do that specific thing?”
And encourage them to keep sharing by listening and asking them to tell you more to get more details.
3. Use what you learn from your clients.
Don’t be afraid to use very specific wording and situations your clients share with you (without identifying them of course). Even if it and especially if it feels too specific, try it out to see how it resonates.
When you take more time to get to know your clients and understand where they’re coming from, being more specific won’t be as hard. You won’t struggle as much because things will be much clearer.
Here’s what you get when you’re more specific:
Differentiation.
When you’re consistently specific in your communication, you stand out among the generic messages almost everyone else is using.
You’ll know where to focus.
Specificity is central to focus. When you’re not sure what to focus on it’s because you can’t define the most important things to work on. When you get specific, what’s important becomes more apparent.
You’ll connect more meaningfully with people.
When you are specific, it is more likely that you’ll resonate with people. They will feel understood and seen. They’ll be able to identify themselves in your words.
Differentiation, knowing where to focus, and meaningful connections are the things that matter most in building a service-based business.
And they’re all fueled by being more specific.