A while back on RelishTHIS, I spoke with HR strategist Otisa Eads, and we got into a deep conversation about culture, but a marketing lesson snuck in through a story I shared about one of our clients at Relish Studio.
This client worked in commercial and residential construction, and when we asked what made them special, they lit up about all the great equipment they brought to job sites. Cool gear. Impressive trucks. So we went and interviewed their actual customers – and not one of them mentioned the equipment. What they raved about was how punctual, friendly, and easy to work with the company was. We rewrote their whole website around the experience customers actually valued, and it landed far better than the gear ever would have.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: what you think you’re great at is rarely the reason people choose you. This is an Attract-phase move that feeds straight into Connect. Interview the people you serve and the supporters who love you. Listen for the exact words they use – the problem you solved, what it felt like. Then put THEIR words on your website and in your appeals, and retire the internal jargon nobody but you cares about.
Otisa does a version of this in her own work. She never asks a board to describe their culture – their answer is invariably skewed. Instead, she gathers the real input from staff, presents it, and then asks, “What surprised you?” It’s a great technique for any stakeholder update: show the real story, then invite the reaction, instead of asking people to guess. It creates honest engagement instead of defensiveness.
The theme connecting both: stop guessing, and go get the real language and the real data. Your audience will hand you better copy than you’d ever write on your own – if you actually ask and listen.
Want to sharpen how you tell your story? Grab Mission Uncomfortable for free at missionuncomfortablebook.com, and check your Purpose-Driven Marketing Score at relishstudio.com/purpose-driven-marketing-scorecard. And, as always, if you need some help, give us a shout.
