Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs

CHAPTER 8

Step 5: Articulate Powerful Ideas

How do we establish memorable concepts that speak to the problems buyers have?

 

 

 

 

 

A colleague recently went through the process of designing and building a custom home. We had heard stories about how unpleasant that experience can be—skyrocketing costs, unmet promises, construction delays, and daily frustrations—so imagine our surprise when our colleague said his “dream home” exceeded all expectations and that the entire process was a pleasure! Wow. We had to learn more.

The first step in building a custom home is always design. The choice of architect is one of the earliest and most critical decisions. Our colleague could afford the best, so he initially arranged informational interviews with two of the area’s leading architects. One was an award winner who had graced the covers of several designer-home magazines, and the other was a less well-known architect who had been recommended by a friend.

The first interview was with the famous architect, whom our colleague dubbed “the rock star.” He showed up late for the appointment. When he finally breezed in with no words of apology, he focused attention on the large portfolio of work he had done for other customers. The rock star recommended options for our colleague’s home that he thought would be really unique and that he’d like to explore. He then proceeded to sketch what he referred ...