MedTech + Mindset Newsletter #003

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This week we cover Mistakes in Messaging, Take the Lead, and Seeking Insight vs. Agreement.

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1. Mistakes in Messaging and the One Way to Fix It

Insight from Matt Tucker

I was looking at a website for a new product recently and the messaging wasn’t clear. Some of it even seemed conflicting.  

 This was a new, very innovative tech that offered Docs the chance to financially grow their practice through reimbursement rates.  It was better for patients' and providers' pocketbooks. 

 What’s holding it back?   

The story.  

 It was unclear, confusing, and was trying to be everything to everybody.  

 Seems simple right?  

 Just create good messaging.  

But, I wouldn't be writing this if it wasn't a problem.

What’s the part that so many people miss...particularly if you are in early-stage/small companies and/or a solo brand leader?

Customer feedback.  

People develop messaging they think is effective and then never test it for effectiveness and gaps. 

Instead, they get in front of customers and involve them in creating the most optimized messages possible.  Instead of guessing, let customers (even potential ones) guide you through it.  Then, watch their reactions so you can avoid turning them off by saying the wrong thing.   

Some important considerations when doing this:  

1. Message optimization 

What are the key messages you want to communicate?  Who are your various audiences?  What are the different needs of your various audiences?  How do you explain the tech one way to all audiences, but then as they dig deeper, they can learn the value specific to them as a unique customer category?  

2. Message misinterpretation 

What are the messages to avoid?  What messages could have an unintended effect if they miss the mark?  How are these messages being misinterpreted so you can see patterns and themes? Are there terms you’re using that have different meanings to different customer groups?  Are some customer groups resistant to certain values (i.e. money) that might be critical and important benefits to other customers?  

3. Messages and competitors 

How do those messages compare to what your competitors are saying?  What is your product position? What are the similarities and differences versus your competitors?  Are you carving out a differentiated and own-able space for your product?  Can your customer easily see the difference between the options they have?  

4. Message delivery 

How does your target audience want to receive information about your product or service?  Are messages able to be deployed effectively using all channels? Are there restrictions/changes you need to make when communicating in different ways across different channels?  How do you need to adjust the message based on the medium: website, social, text, etc.?

Pressure testing is a critical tool in designing an effective communications strategy. It is also important to revisit it routinely.  This allows you to update it as you learn more and as customers use your product and provide feedback.  

Be clear. Be concise. Be curiosity-inducing.   

Most importantly, be customer-centric in your messaging.   

Do this and you'll set your product up for success.  

2. Take the Lead

Insight from David Taylor-Klaus

How often have you experienced leaders who try to get the most out of others, helping to grow their skills, their capacity, and draw them into being their best without doing that for themselves? Maybe that’s been you. It was definitely me. While it may seem selfless to focus exclusively on others, it is actually a selfish act, an easy way out. Any growth achieved through a shortcut is short-lived. As people grow and outgrow their leadership, they’ll move on. And that’s a hard thing to watch as a leader.

If you want to grow your company, grow your people. If you want to grow your people, grow yourself. It starts with you. Always.

"First LEAD YOURSELF. From there, you can GROW to LEAD OTHERS." – David Taylor-Klaus

Fifteen years ago, in a previous entrepreneurial incarnation, my partner and I built what we imagined at the time was a well-functioning team. However, at several stages during our fourteen years co-leading that company, the people on our team began to leave. They were looking for more, and it seemed they weren't feeling like they could grow where they were. So, as opportunities presented themselves, they left.

I had to look closely at why this was happening and ultimately I had to take responsibility. I learned that the first question a leader facing a challenge must ask is, “What part of the problem am I?” In this case, the problem was that I wasn’t growing. And without that essential ingredient, the company wasn’t growing much either. I was that leader seeking to get the most out of his team though not seeking to get the most out of himself. Ironically, when I did begin to focus on my own growth, I realized it was time for me to be somewhere else entirely. That’s when the journey to become a professional coach started for me.

I’ve often heard it said that the best-kept secret in personal development is coach training. It was certainly true for me. The deeper I went into my training, the deeper I had to dig within myself. The more I learned about myself, the more I grew. It may have been too late for me to impact my last company, but it wasn’t at all too late for me as a leader. It’s not at all too late for you, either. It never is.

Sometimes — OK, usually — it takes getting pretty uncomfortable before we’re ready to make a shift and fill bigger shoes. There needs to be enough dissonance between where we are and where we want to be before we’re willing to shake things up and leave a comfy (in some way) situation. It is only when the pain of the status quo becomes greater than the fear of the change that we leap. It doesn’t need to be some long, drawn out thing, either. It’s can be like fall in Atlanta: extremely short, very intense, desperately beautiful, and then we’re onto our next season. I love that sweet spot, where the discomfort has become enough to take action, and suddenly we find ourselves somewhere altogether new.

Like the Hopi elders said, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

You are the only one who can change your life from the inside out. And you are the only one qualified to lead and grow yourself. (This is not a job to delegate!) Part of the job is staying in the discomfort long enough so that you can hear what it’s trying to tell you. Pay attention, and listen to the signs; they are always there. The opportunity is to choose to notice them.

Leadership starts with you. It’s time to take the lead in your own development.

REWIRE

Reflect: Where in your life have you experienced growth most recently, both in your work and in your personal life? What has led to that growth?

Experiment: Growth happens when you push beyond the status quo. This week, take a calculated risk – business or personal – that you suspect might have growth potential.

Write: Write about when you tend to argue for your own limitations.

Investigate: Where are you expecting more from those around you while not expecting more from yourself?

Revise: Build on your learnings. If your initial growth experiment was in the personal realm, design one for business, or vice versa.

Expand: Keep going (and growing). Where do you want to lead yourself? Spoiler alert: As long as you’re alive and interested, your growth potential is limitless

3. Something Else to Consider...

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