Going back further to find the roots of your Unique Selling Proposition

People often ask me, "How did you learn to do these interviews with clients so well?" My answer is that I have been doing this since I was just a little nipper. I have always wanted to know what works for people and why it works. I have always been curious.

In fact, this is something that I can't help myself from doing. You will see the pattern emerge in the "highlights" below. But as you read through this page, I want you to ask yourself, "What is it in my own life that I can't stop myself from doing?"

It might be that you have always "questioned authority." Maybe you always had to "take something apart to see how it worked." Or maybe you couldn't help "bringing people together and creating harmony." This is part of your core nature as a human being. And it is something that drives your own Unique Selling Proposition.

Remember a cardinal rule discovered in doing over 1,000 customer value conversations:

The thing you do the best,
the thing you can't help yourself from doing,
is often the main reason people buy from you.
BUT because you do it so well,
without even thinking about it,
that thing will not appear in your
marketing materials.

Sadly ironic, but this has proven to be the case with every Raving Fan I have ever interviewed for my consulting clients. In fact, it is the main reason you need to talk to your clients about the value they get from you. You may think you know. But your clients really know. Oddly enough, they often don't know that they know. But when you dig deep with them, you will both discover your core value. The basic building block of your Unique Selling Proposition.

So let's look back on some "ancient" history!

The Army Brat

As a career Army officer, my Dad dragged us all around the country when I was growing up. Every 2-3 years, we were saying goodbye to friends and moving to some new place. It was a life filled with change. I was always the new kid on the block. I didn't want to sound different from anyone else. So I listened very closely to the way people talked. I asked a lot of questions. I learned to fit in and make friends fast. So I guess this was the start of my "interviewing" skills. I mean how could you turn down talking to this cute little devil!

College and the Army

In 1970, I graduated from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio in "Interpersonal and Organizational Communications." Can you believe it? They gave me a BS in Communications. Some people have said I have been "BS-ing" ever since! The Viet Nam war was tearing the country apart and escalating after the Kent State killings. My Dad was a lifer in the US Army, so fleeing the draft and going to Canada was not an option for me in 1970. And I KNEW from having a full bird colonel for a father that I did NOT want to be a grunt. I knew how the Army worked. I worked hard at Army ROTC in college and became a "Distinguished Military Graduate." That allowed me to pick my own branch of service — the Adjutant General Corps. This was much to the disappointment of my superiors who wanted me to carry a gun in the Infantry. You can think of the AGC as the Army's Human Resources Department. The AGC's battlefield motto was "We don't retreat. We backspace!" I liked this group immediately! The deal when I went in the Army was simple: I could expect to stay stateside for 6 months and then find myself in a rice paddy in Nam. But the Army also had another choice: "Sign up for "voluntary indefinite status," and go to the assignment of your choice for 18 months, then go to Viet Nam. Hey, I had been to college. "Let's see, 6 months to live or 18 months to live and go work in Italy — DEAL or NO DEAL! I say DEAL! I went to Italy and ran the Army Post Office in Vicenza for 2 years as a 1st Lieutenant. Only one problem — Army Post Offices were run by Staff Sergeants. Officers were just a formality. But my Sergeant was leaving within a week of me coming into the job. Worst yet, his replacement was not due in until January (it was November at the time) and all my experienced personnel were about to leave for Nam as well. Can you imagine? Overseas in a Post Office just before CHRISTMAS! The busiest time of the year! I had to learn every job in the Post Office fast. I interviewed every clerk while holding the Postal Manual in the other hand. I interviewed customers to find out what they liked or didn't like about the Post Office. We had never passed the Inspector General's inspection before — ever! But with all this "intelligence" I gathered, we passed with flying colors. The US left Viet Nam. I got lucky and came home — without paying the extra year of duty. Whew!

The "Rent Man"

After my Army stint, I had a great opportunity to learn about running a small business from a master. I called this period my OJT — MBA — my On-The-Job Masters in Business Administration. I worked hand and glove with a Polish-Jewish immigrant who took me under his wing. Herschel Baker owned the Baker Rental Company. I learned everything about running a small company from Herschel. We paid pretty low wages, so I did a lot of personnel interviewing to fill positions. And when property managers were not around, I interviewed prospective renters and talked to our customers. One of my more dramatic tasks was delivering eviction notices in the ghetto to guys who usually looked VERY mean and scary named Bubba. When kids on the block would see me coming they would run to their Momma's crying "Here comes the Rent Man." I did some of my most intense interviews during those visits to find out when the rent would be paid! Though I did well working with Herschel, my heart just wasn't in property management. I spent all my free time at the local community theatre. Herschel once asked me: "How much do they pay you to work at that theatre?" "Nothing," was my reply. Herschel said simply, "So, why don't you do what you love instead of working for me?" I told you he was smart!

The College Theatre Professor

I went on the get my Ph.D. in Theatre Arts in Directing from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. My high school teachers would faint dead away if they learned that I have a Ph.D. I was always a late bloomer! Guess what I spent my time doing as a Theatre Director? Interviewing actors to help them discover how to put themselves into the lives of the people they were portraying. I had to dig hard to find experiences in their background that would relate to the characters they were playing. It was a stimulating mental exercise. During those college days, when I was learning my craft, I LOVED being on stage. That is me on the left playing Jesus. No, not from Godspell. I played John the Baptist and Judas in that play. No, this was the real McCoy at an outdoor theatre in Tennessee called the Smokey Mountain Passion Play. The theater is gone today, but it was right down the road a piece from what is now Dollyland. I worked there too. Pouring pop for the tourists by day, hanging on the cross at night. What a strange summer. After 2 years of teaching Theatre at California State University in Long Beach, I moved to Chicago and started working as a professional actor.

The Family Guy . . . Diabetes . . . Autism

Along with the absolute joys of being a husband and father, comes the challenges that life throws us. My youngest son, Max, who is now 7, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. My eldest son, Harrison, now 15, was diagnosed with Juvenile Type I Diabetes just this past year. So in my "free time" I am now interviewing folks in both of these communities to help people "translate" what those medical challenges mean to regular folks like parents. Soon I will have another website devoted to interviews I will do with subject mater experts on these two devastating issues. Watch for it!

Want to know more?

Click here for my "Ancient History"

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