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Lesson Info

Identify Your Core Offer Systems

First thing we're going to do as the newly minted CEO's of those businesses is to start identifying your core offer systems. In other words, that core offer that we have focused on throughout this entire class is more than just a thing that you sell. In fact, it's a system of little systems. And the best way to explain this, I think, is not to talk about an ax, but instead to talk about an airplane. (laughing) I do a lot of air travel, and I think a lot about air travel, because anyone who travels a lot by air, thinks that they could run the airlines better than the people who are currently running them, right. And some people, like Southwest, which I'm pretty sure this is the bottom of a Southwest Jet, some companies do actually run really well. And the reason they run really well, is because they've identified all the systems that they need to optimize to not only have a great customer experience, an insanely great customer experience, but also to be profitable. Southwest typifies th...

is in airline travel. Alaska's another really good example. I'm a United girl because I don't live near places where Southwest and Alaska goes, and so I would ask United to maybe think about these things some. (laughing) Alright, so let's look at air travel systems so you can really wrap your head around this. There are so many systems that you go through just in the process of getting out of your car at the curb, grabbing your luggage and trying to get on the plane. The fist one is checking in. This is one that has really gotten to be much better in the last few years. Now, when I want to check into my flight, I do so 24 hours ahead of time, and I do it from my phone. I don't have to, if I'm not checking any bags, I don't have to walk up to the kiosk or the gate, the agent at the, just inside the airport. I can just walk straight to security. That is a well optimized system. And 99 times out of 100, it works really really well. Every so often I run into a glitch, but not very often. So that's the system that's been optimized super super well. Checking luggage, that one's actually getting better too. A lot of airlines have you tag your own bags now, that can be confusing for people who don't travel much, but for those of us who know what we're doing, it's pretty easy. And even still, the system for that, because they've optimized the check in system has also become easier. Fewer and fewer people are going up to those kiosks to get their stuff done. And so they're thinking through how can I make this process of checking luggage easier. Going through security, now that's something the airlines don't have much control over, but it's still a system that you are interacting with. And the TSA is working on this on a regular basis too. They're trying to make it easier, as they're trying to make you safer. Boarding, of course, is always an interesting system that the airlines are experimenting with. United has switched it up a lot, it sounds like Southwest, although I've never experienced it has an excellent boarding system. And so that's a system that airlines have where they can not only make your experience better, but the faster an airplane gets boarded, the more profitable and airline can be because it means they can turn over flights faster, right. So this isn't just about making people happier, or serving more people, but it's also about making sure more money stays in your pocket as a business owner, or the airline's pocket. Seating and stowing carry ons, that's another system. Safety checks, that's another system. Deplaning, that's another system. And a smart airline CEO, or COO, is constantly looking at how can we make these systems more efficient, more profitable, and create greater customer satisfaction every single time. These are the systems behind the core offer that an airline offers, plane travel, right? So what systems are included in your offer? What systems are included in your offer? At the least, you have some sort of on-boarding process, which simply means how you take the customer from the point where they clicked the buy it now button and gave you their money, to when you're actually delivering the product. For some of you that's gonna be instantaneous, for others it's a process of waiting and getting people kind of onboarded slowly, getting them what they need. For some of you it's a very personal process, for some of you it's a very transactional process. But that onboarding system, is one that can be optimized to make it easier to serve more people, to make that customer experience even better, and to make everything more profitable for you. Obviously there are probably a number of systems that are involved with delivering your product. Maybe there's the system in the way you deliver content, if you have an e-course for example. There's the scheduling system that's involved if you're a coach and you're asking people to set up appointments with you. There's the system that goes into recording the videos, or making sure the questions get answered. If you're a jewelry designer, there's the system of welding or soldering one piece of metal to another, and the way you have that all set up on your bench. I know, because I watch Megan do this all the time. And so, in every single core offer there are a series of systems. What you want to do, is write down what each of those systems are, just the way I did for air travel. You don't have to get in to exactly what all the steps are in each of them, but I want you to write them all down, because each and every one of them is an opportunity to make sure your customers are better taken care of, to make sure your business as profitable as possible, and to make sure that you're getting your customers results, in other words, creating your highest contribution. Everyone of those is an opportunity for efficiency and satisfaction and great results. Anyone have questions about what systems they might have in their offer? Anyone want to share the systems that they're thinking about in their offer? Allie, I'm going to put you on the spot actually. What systems do you have in systems school. So without talking about specific software, there's, it's pretty straightforward. There's the onboarding and welcome process, there's the resource library where all the replays and PDF's and bonus videos are housed, and then there's the software I use to do the live classes and Q and A's, and then Facebook specifically for like technical Q and A's and ongoing community. Great. And so each one of those things is a system or has other systems attached to it. Yep. And then on top of that, of course, you've got marketing systems, you have sales systems, you have off boarding or referral systems after that, and you want to take a look at what those pieces of the puzzle are too, because those are all opportunities as well. To become more profitable, to become more efficient, and to create your highest contribution, alright. As I said, I don't remember if it was this morning now or yesterday, it was in an earlier lesson, we'll say it that way. This isn't about creating systems, it's about discovering and documenting systems. These systems already exist in your offer, whether you're a coach or a jewelry designer, or an app creator, or an e-course builder, or whatever you are, you already have these systems in your core offer. What your job is is to list them and then start documenting them. Once you start documenting them, then you can optimize them. You can make them more efficient, you can increase the capacity of the number of people who can use that system at any given time. Remember when I said airlines are all the time looking at boarding, because the faster they can get the people on the plane, and of course off the plane as well, then the more money they can make, because the faster they can turn every plane around. Not to mention, it makes people happy too. The less time I have to spend in that God forsaken line the better. So they're constantly looking at how to optimize those. Is it groups, is it seating front to back, is it left to right, what does that look like. Is it frequent fliers first and then to heck with everybody else? That's how United deals with it. (laughing) That's what we're looking at. So what's a system that you have in your core offer that you're like, yeah I'm gonna need to optimize that one to make it easier for me to serve more people, to make my offer more profitable, do you have an idea of that yet? Definitely some auto scheduling of, like in a Facebook group I've been doing it all manually lately, which is just dumb. But now I can recognize and move forward. Great, so even just scheduling content is a system that you know you have that can be optimized so you don't have to do that work, or that work can be batched anyway. And that makes you more efficient, which allows you to create better customer experiences, allows you to put your effort on the capability you have of connecting people together, or answering their questions, that's hugely important for you. Something so simple, but until you pick it apart, recognize what the opportunities are, you can't take advantage of it. Right. You can't take advantage of it. Another one I would suggest for all of you, is some sort of automated onboarding. So, that can be as simple as just a series of emails that go out to anyone who buys. Something that just says, here's what to expect, here's when we're getting started, here's your next step, try this before we start. Those are like the four things I like to have, like bare minimum onboarding. Could you do that again? Um, I probably can't. (laughing) Here's what to expect, here's what's next, here's something to do while we wait, and here's when we're getting started. I can do it again. I think that was the same thing I said. Slightly different order. So that's another system that I would highly recommend optimizing for people. The other thing that happens when you're optimizing these systems, well documenting and optimizing, is you create capacity to bring in team members as well. When you bring in team members, that increases your capacity to serve customers. The more customers you can serve, the more money you can make. Obviously the financials have to work out there, it all has to pay for itself somehow. But that's the idea here, is the more we identify and document your existing systems, the easier it is to plug in other people and increase the capacity of your business so you can move in the direction of that five year goal. Greg, I know you had a question. Perfect. Yeah. So I can look at these and get my head around most of them, payment systems, and launching systems, survey systems, things like that. The one I'm having a hard time with is anything around coaching and feedback. Yeah. What a system would look like for something like that where, and we've been talking about it, as people are moving through an experience, you don't want them to fall off, sometimes they need their hand held a little bit, you need to give them some good coaching and feedback, whether it be from their peers or from one of us, but what does that system look like. How do you, can you automate that, how do you automate that, just from your experience, what you would have to say about it. Yeah, so a systematization and automation are two different things. And even optimization and automation are two different things. So, in terms of optimizing a system for coaching, feedback, question answering, that kind of stuff that does have to be done by a person. Well one, automation piece, is creating sort of a help doc, and FAQ, a help section. So, as you're going, the more and more customers you serve, the more and more you're going to hear the same questions over and over again, the more and more you're going to hear the same road blocks over and over again. And so if you start documenting those things early and often, then you're gonna, you could essentially build a manual to getting yourself, as a client, past that next road block, or answering that next question. That's one thing you can do that is actually automated. Another thing that you can do is actually further develop whatever you're methodology is. I mentioned methodology earlier with Allia as well. And so, methodology is a system, or tends to be a system for delivering your product, if your product is coaching or consulting or something like that, or even learning, right. And so the further you develop that methodology, the easier it is to train other people in it, the easier it is for your customers to recognize when their question is the same as someone else's question or when they have experience and an answer to someone else's question. And so they can hop in and answer that question for you. And so then the system you need to develop is the connection and facilitation piece, where it becomes easier and easier for one customer to answer another customer's question. But to me that system still comes back to methodology. Yeah, absolutely. That's one I've seen in my own business too, the more and more my methodology gets refined and systematized and kind of out there, people in our community, even people outside of our community will say, oh Tara talked about this over here, I tried it, here's what worked for me, right. Here's how I applied that to my business, I think maybe give this a try. But that all, it all comes back to methodology, and so that's a system you can optimize as well and so Jennifer, I think that's going to be a system that you're looking at. What is your methodology for working with artists, how can you train other art historians on that, and how can you make that methodology better and better and better. Writing books is another way to actually optimize that kind of content delivery. Because, you can have this now, this like Bible of how you do this thing that hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of people can read and use, and then you can create a space where they can talk about it or they can get the next level, but they have this sort of documentation, this guide that they can use to navigate through that higher level content. Yeah, so there's all sorts of different ways you can handle it. Any other questions about identifying your core offer systems and optimizing them? Yeah. Just encouragement from my systems perspective, a lot of people think they don't have systems. They do, they just may not be great. So, as you're pointing out, it's really important to document, because sometimes just writing it down will help you realize how inefficient you are or where you need a better system. So you have a process for doing everything, it just may not be great. Yeah. But you can make it better. Yes, even the most right brained among us have systems for things. The coaches who I know right now, or the healers right now, who are saying well, it's all intuition. It's not. It is not all intuition. You have internalized a system that you didn't know existed, and now you're job is to take it and externalize that system so you can better optimize it, you can refine it. That's how you're going to get better at your craft.