How to Get Your Whole Team Saying One Clear Message That Wins Clients

0:00CEOs, you know this moment. One of your leaders explain what your firm does and you think something's off. It's just not how you would say it. It doesn't feel like it gets the real message across. You may think your team just needs to get better at explaining the work, but the reality is the message has been living in your head and nobody gave them the words that allow your brand to show up unified. And that's common for many firms to grow past just the CEO. By the end of this video, you'll have four steps to get your whole team saying one clear message that wins clients. And if

0:30you have a specific business question that you'd like me to answer, submit it through the link in the description. I'll answer anonymously in a future video and send it directly to you. A CEO told me that her organization has strong partners and they wanted to be able to get to steady funding. But each leader described the work differently and this makes funders unclear on what they're investing in. She said, "As long as we can get that cleaned up, I know that the cash will flow in." She had already done the hard part. The work was good and the people were backing it. Now, what was off was how it was being described. And

1:01she was right to care. When three people give three answers, the client doesn't know which one to trust. So, let's name the feeling. When you hear a leader describe your firm and something feels off, it's usually not one wrong fact. Each person is describing the part of the work that they know best. Your program lead talks about the programs, your finance leads talks about the numbers and each answer is true, but put

1:22together they don't sound like one firm. And here's the mistake that I see. The CEO hears an answer that sounds off and corrects that one person, then the next one and it turns into fixing people's responses one at a time. But this is not a people problem that needs to be addressed individually. And here's why

1:39that matters more than it may seem. Successful communication is transferring understanding, not just relaying words. See, when it was only you, the understanding went with you into every room. Now other people carry it and if one carries a slightly different version, the client meets a slightly different firm each time. And the client, a funder, or a partner who hears two versions doesn't pick one. They usually wait, and that wait is where money slows down. So, a clear message is not a nice-to-have extra. It's how your team wins clients when you're not in the room. So, what do we do about it? Step

2:13one, start with one clear core message. One message that answers three things: who you serve, what you stand for, and where you're going in the next three to five years. Why those three? Who you serve tells people if this is for them. What you stand for tells them why they should [clears throat] trust you. And where you're going tells funders or partner what they're signing up for, because they're usually not just backing what you do today. They're backing your long-term vision and mission. So, write it in plain words. If it takes a full page to say, you still got some work to do. And as the CEO, this is the part

2:45that you have a high responsibility responsibility in settling. Because if you're not clear where the firm is going, your team can't be. is to say it to someone outside your field. If they can repeat it back to you in an hour and understand what you mean by it, you have it. If they can't, keep working. Step two, list the groups you want to influence and the one action you want from each of them. A client, a funder, a

3:09partner, each value different things. So, be clear on what you need each one to do. Start by writing it as a simple list. The group, what they care about most, and the one thing you want them to do next. Most firms skip this step. They write one message and send it to everyone. Then it's too general to move anyone. And notice I said one, not three. If you want a funder to do one thing after hearing what you said, what is it? When you know that, the message gets much easier to write. Step three, write a version for each group. Now that you have the core message, make sure

3:43that you write distinctly for what each of those three groups care about. Same promise, but different proof. The promise doesn't change. What changes is proof you lead with based on what that group values and cares about. A client, a funder, and a partner should all hear the same promises from you. They just hear different reasons to believe it. So, keep a short list of proof for each group. The results, the stories, and the numbers that matter to them. Big brands like the ones I led at Procter & Gamble work this way. A big brand has one brand promise, but it speaks differently to the shopper, to the retailer, and to its

4:20own sales team. Nobody at the brand thinks they're working for three different companies. They have one promise, but three different conversations. And that's what you're building. And this is what fixes the feeling that something's off. Your leaders can still talk about the part of the work that they know best, but now every version points back to the same promise. Step four, give your team the words to use. Put it on a page and then practice it out loud. Start with the leaders who speak for the firm most often. Give them real situations to practice, an introduction at an event, the first two minutes of a sales call,

4:53an email to a funder. Don't skip the out loud part. A message people have only read in their head is not a message that they can necessarily say in a clear way. Then, make sure you listen. Where do people consistently stumble? That might be an indication that the words are wrong. So, fix them. And when someone new joins, that one page that you wrote

5:11should be the first thing that they get. This is not about turning your team into robots. People can use their own voice and their own stories. What stays the same is who you serve, what you stand for, and where you're going. The key principle I want you to not miss is that your team can't repeat a message they were never given. One clear message said the same way by everyone is what makes a growing firm look as established as it is. And that's what wins clients. So, a quick recap. One core message, one action for each group, and a version for each group. And give your team the

5:43words. Here's the next step. Ask three people on your team to write down what your firm does in one sentence. Then compare the answers. If the answers don't match, now you know that something's off feeling and you know how to fix it. If this was helpful, subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the next one.