Last month we talked about PSE Day 1 which is focused on the Execution leg of our three-legged People-Strategy-Execution stool. This month we’re going to dive into PSE Day 2, which is more focused on the Strategy and People legs.

We’ll start with a review and discussion of PSE Day 1 work.

We’ll review each tool and answer any questions you still have about them as well as understand how they have been working for you over the past 30 days. Which tools do you need a refresher on? Which tools are working well? How can we continue to improve those execution muscles?

Then we’ll review your Key Accountabilities Chart. Part of your homework between sessions will have been to fill the Chart out for the rest of your company. So we’ll review the full Key Accountabilities Chart and make sure everyone is in agreement that this is the right structure for your company. And that you have the Right People in the Right Seats.

After we’ve reviewed your full company Key Accountabilities Chart, we’ll start filling out your PSE One Page.

This is a two-sided document that captures all the important information about your company so that everyone knows where to find it and can refer back to it on a regular basis. Our goal for PSE Day 2 will be to get through Core Values, Core Purpose, Core Competence, Ideal Client, and Value Proposition.

Core Values are the DNA of your company.

They make you who you are. They set you apart from your competitors.

Core Values help align behavior so that everyone knows how they are expected to act and interact with others and with customers. They act as a guide to how you want things done at your company. They are a handful of rules defining the culture, which are reinforced through your people systems on daily basis. You have to have these Core Values defined in order to know who the Right People are to be working at your company.

Core Purpose is why you exist as a company.

It’s why you do what you do. And why what you do matters. Generally, it’s bigger than just making a profit. It’s your perpetual mission in the world that is guiding and inspiring, both you and your company. And it gives everyone at your company something to believe in, unify around, and strive to achieve. If your company didn’t exist, what hole would there be in the marketplace? That’s your Core Purpose.

If your Core Purpose is why you exist, your Core Competence is what you do with that existence.

What do you do better than any other company? It’s similar to Jim Collins’ Hedgehog Concept. What you can be best at in the world. It serves to focus your efforts and keep you in your wheelhouse by focusing on and staying within your Core Competence.

It helps keep you away from shiny objects that distract you and split your focus. By focusing on your Core Competence you can stay intentional and organized. You can think of it like strategic guardrails to keep you on the path to success.

Defining your Ideal Client is simply defining who your target market is.

Just like with your Core Competence, you want to be able to focus your marketing efforts so that you’re speaking to an audience that is ideally suited for your product or service. In order to do that you need to know who they are, where they live, what they care about, and what they want.

That will give you a very clear picture in your mind of who you’re speaking to and you can then really focus your efforts in appealing to that Ideal Client.

Now that you’ve defined your Ideal Client, you need to know what you should say to them.

That’s where your Value Proposition comes in. What are you offering your Ideal Client?

This is how you point out what sets you apart from your competitors. What are you offering that your Ideal Client would want? How are you solving their problems for them? And why should they do business with you instead of your competitors?

To further clarify your thinking here you can use a framework created by Donald Miller of Building a StoryBrand. The framework is a different way of thinking about your Ideal Client’s problems. You should be thinking of their problems on three different levels: external, internal, and philosophical.

Generally, we market to people’s external problems.

Say, for instance, someone has a really messy lawn, they don’t have time to cut their grass or to weed their flower beds. Externally, their problem is that their lawn looks overgrown and untidy. Especially compared to the next-door neighbor because they mow their grass twice a week. That’s the external, visible, physical problem. And that’s easy to market to.

But what people really connect with is when you speak to their internal problem. If the external problem is that their lawn is overgrown, and they look like a slob compared to their neighbors. Their internal problem is that they feel like an outcast in the neighborhood. Or they don’t feel like they’re good enough, they’re not keeping up with the Joneses so to speak. That’s their internal fears, doubts, and insecurities. If you can speak to that, your Ideal Client is going to connect more with your message than just the “your grass is too long, let me cut it for you”. Their true motivation to buy comes from their internal problem.

The philosophical problem takes it one step further and talks about more of the coulds and the shoulds of the world. Shouldn’t taking care of my lawn be easier? It can be easier if they pay you to do it. That’s another way to think of it.

You’re solving their external problem, but you need to speak to their internal problem and that’s when your marketing will really resonate.

After we’ve completed those sections of the PSE One Page, we’ll Wrap Up.

Which consists of deciding if there are any Cascading Messages that need to go out to the rest of the company for those that aren’t in the room with you and then reviewing everyone’s To Dos.

Then, just like on PSE Day 1, the final step in wrapping up is a Go or No Go decision. After each of these days together you have the option to continue on in the process or to stop right there. If you choose to Go, we’ll meet again in 30 days for PSE Day 3. If you choose No Go, we’ll make sure you have everything you need to use what you’ve learned in PSE Day 1 and 2 and wish you luck.

The PSE Method can help get your company unstuck and moving towards your goals again. It is singularly focused on helping your company run more effectively and efficiently.

If you’d like to learn more about the PSE Method, give us a call today.