Why you? Why now?

Transcript

Hi there, it’s Peter Winick. I’m the Founder and CEO at Thought Leadership Leverage, and here’s the idea that I’d like to share with you today—and that’s this:

As an author, as a speaker, as an expert, as a thought leader, what you need to be thinking about when you’re talking to clients and potential clients is what they’re thinking about. And what they’re thinking about is: Why you? And why now?

And I think too often, thought leaders focus too much on the “why you.”

“Hey, I’ve written these books, I’ve been published here, I’ve got this great expertise, and I’ve developed these models…”—and they go on and on. They’re credentializing themselves when it’s really not about the ‘why you’. In most cases, for most clients, you wouldn’t be there having that conversation if they didn’t already believe that you had the ability, the gravitas—whatever the case may be—to help them.

The “why now” problem is a bigger issue.

How do you get them to break through all of the other priorities and competing demands—things that are competing for their time, their resources, and their money—to say:

“You know what? Now is the time to engage with you—to take on this workflow, to take on this initiative, this project, whatever the case may be.”

So, focus a little bit more on the “why now”, and a little bit less on the “why you.”