Standing Out in a Crowded Market with a Signature System with Claudia Schalkx

H: So my good friend, consultants, marketing expert, and specialist in creating signature systems, Claudia Schalkx is here today, all the way from the Netherlands. And we are going to be talking about what a signature system has to offer your small business, so welcome, Claudia.

G: Thank you, Diann. It's a pleasure to be here today and talking about my favorite topic, which is signature systems. Really, it's a wonderful tool for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

H: I'm obviously a fan because you are the person that I hired to help me create my signature system. And during the time that we've worked together and subsequently, I've really come to understand that this may be one of the most game changing things you can do for both your marketing and your business. But I also know, Claudia, that not everyone listening knows what a signature system is or may know it by a different name, so let's go ahead and start there.

G: Well, the signature system has two sides you can also call it a blueprint, business blueprint. You can also call it your solution, your signature solution. But actually what the signature system is, it has two sides. It has the road map of your process, which is the graphic representation of how you take clients from A to B. But then it has the back end of it, which is going granular into every step of your signature solution. So by using the first part, which is the roadmap or the graphic representation, you can use that in your website, in your sales proposals, in every communication you have about your solution.

And it's so handy because a good signature solution is based on the deliverables, the milestones or the transformations your client has throughout the process going from where they are, which is the problem island to where they want to be, which is the solution island. So that already saves you a lot of time explaining your process. And it also shows your clients that you have a process in place that is guaranteed to bring results.

H: You use the word guarantee, right? And I think you and I have both been working in business and marketing businesses online long enough to know that that could be a trigger word for people because a lot of people, including myself, have invested a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of opportunity costs into other people's processes and programs that in a way or explicitly guarantee a specific result and yet we didn't get that result. So one of the things I'd like to talk about with you today is that a lot of people may want what a signature solution can do for their small business, which is to help them stand out and differentiate themselves from others because they have a process, but also simplify everything about their business in terms of their messaging, their positioning, their strategy their copy, all of that and yet, can we really guarantee that it's going to help? Not really.

G: The wonderful thing about the signature system is that it lives in your mind and it's the process you take your clients from A to B. So, if you have done it a couple, if you have clients with whom you have repeated a process, and those clients did their homework, and go to results you can guarantee that your process gives, brings results. Because what happens with a signature system, it's, we just break into specific steps, a process that you are already running with your clients. So that's why I say guarantee, because it is a process that you are already applying, but it leaves so deeply and naturally in you that you're not aware of it.

So, yeah, doing a signature system on your own can, is possible, but it's a richer process when you have somebody else getting it out of your head and on paper. Because then this other person will be asking you the questions that really confirm you that you have a process in place and what happens at each step. So yes, I can tell you if you use a signature system or you create a signature system based on a process that you have in place now, and you have helped clients, and they have gotten results, yes, I can guarantee results with your signature system.

H: And the tricky part is, if you are not working with clients that are right for you, and ready for you, there's nothing you can do, including a signature system. So, one of the things that you help your clients do, that you certainly have helped me do, is get really specific and really, really targeted on who your ideal client truly is because it's like garbage in garbage out and obviously people are not garbage. But getting the right people into your signature system, you can guarantee they're going to get the desired result because your process has been proven with other people just like them, right?

G: Yeah. The interesting thing about the signature system is that when you start to develop your signature system on paper, getting it out of your head and onto paper, you realize what you really bring to the market, and that gives you a deeper insight into the transformative process that you have to offer to your client. And from there, you can then understand why some of your clients are a good fit and why some of your clients aren't a good fit. A signature system is not, by any means, a standalone framework. It's a framework that goes hand in hand with your ideal client profile because they feed each other. And when you have those two things together, that's when your marketing becomes much easier. Your content creation is practically an automatic pilot because knowing for who are you writing and knowing what you have to say about, which is the first one is the ideal client and the second, the signature system that makes everything much easier.

H: Totally makes sense. Do you think every small business needs a signature system or could benefit from a signature system?

G: That's a good question and I've been thinking about it especially if you are a service based B2B, a signature system it's an ideal tool for you or an ideal marketing assets. It's easier to create a signature system when you've been some years in the market and you already have clients and you already have enough input to know if your process is working. Not everybody should have a signature system, but the people who have a process or a process that takes a couple of weeks, a couple of months, where transformation is more evident, they are the ones who best benefit from signature system.

But actually, the interesting thing is that we have processes for everything we do. So if you want to do really nitty gritty, you can create signature systems for everything you do. How I clean the kitchen, how I organize my house, how I create my content and inside each step of your signature system, you can create a tiny signature system for each step. So, it's actually a process that you have already practiced, broken to concrete steps. So, yeah, you can, everybody can use the signature system.

H: Actually, you're really making me think about, you know, I often use the expression how you do one thing is how you do all things. Another way of saying it is wherever you go, there you are. We all have systematic behavior, we all do things in a certain sequence, right? I mean, I was just thinking, you know, I don't know why this popped into my head, but a hairdresser that specializes in corrective color, for example, right? They don't do haircuts. They don't do perms. They don't do all of the other things that they could do, all they do is fix color mistakes. They're going to have a very specific process that starts with a consultation where they actually look at, okay, how bad is this?

And then they're going to go through a series of events in a specific order and they're going to do it the same way every time because they know it works because they want to have a proven result and they want to eliminate their own doubt. They want to eliminate the doubt in the customer, but also if this is what they want to be known for, and they want to stand out from everybody else in town who does some form of color, then letting people know what's different about them because they have a specific process they follow, like that, that actually makes everything about their marketing easier.

G: What makes even more the signature system, even more magic is that it's actually your process from the eyes of your clients. So when you have a signature system, let's suppose for you and I, our first step is usually a sort of inventory or an assessment or a test or something, or a discovery session where we really understand what's going on with the client, right? But when I ask you what's in it for the client, then we are changing the whole view of the signature system because usually when I ask, what's the first thing you do when you start working with a client, then everybody says an assessment. Okay, so what, because I need an assessment. I need to understand where the client is. Okay, but what's in it for your client? And then you really start to shift and see your process from the eyes of your clients.

What's in each step for my client and that is what makes so powerful another thing that makes the signature system so powerful. So for instance, an assessment gives a client clarity, or it gives a client perspective, or it gives a client calmness if you are into specific, certain coaching trends. But then the client starts to see what's in it for them, for him or her in the whole process. So that's the other thing it's when you start to see, to understand what you do from the eyes of your client, you get a completely new perspective of your own business.

H: And so this is hard for people to do for themselves, isn't it.

G: It's very hard. Yes, because you know, we're too deep into the process and there are things that we don't see or we put, let's say, two steps into one thing. So for instance, this hairdresser, this colorist, the first thing she will do most probably is let the client cry out the mess because she needs a client that is, you know, back to send so that they can discuss what's going to happen. So, she might call the first step venting out your frustration, because that's what she will do for the client. And then the next step will be I don't know, maybe she will study the face features the skin color, the eye color, everything that will highlight the features of the client. So when you start to see, it's not just sitting, checking what is the mistake, selecting a color, applying the color and letting the client go. It's a much more specific, detailed work where you, that's where you have your client happy. And that's where your client really, gets the transformations or the milestones.

H: That totally makes sense and that is in this example of this corrective colorist their goal is the same as the client's goal, which is not just to fix what isn't working about their hair to correct it. But to also transform what they have into what they wanted to begin with when they either tried it themselves or went to someone less skilled. So they're looking not just how do I fix the problem but how do I then take them all the way to the original desired solution and they use their process to take the person all the way there. Is this also something, I mean, cause I'm very familiar with service based small businesses and they all have the desire to stand out.

In fact, something that you hear, I'm sure you hear this as well, how do I stand out in a crowded market? How do I stand out in a saturated market? How do I, attract clients when I do something that dozens, hundreds, thousands of other people do the same thing like I do. I'm an accountant. I am a lawyer. I am a therapist. I provide the same services that all these other people do. Wouldn't my system be the same as everyone else's and why would I highlight that?

G: No, because even if there are many other colorists, or many other marketeers, or many other business coaches, whatever, everybody has something that makes them unique. And you highlight that in your message, that your signature system is the first step to get to that difference. But also, when you have a signature system, and you talk about your solution, you are really showing the outcome of what you do, which is what differentiates you from other people who talk about process, because the signature system is based on a process, but what you are showing is not a process. It's the outcome throughout the journey from A to B so from where you are, where you don't want to be, to where you want to be. So there are specific milestones along the way or deliverables.

So for instance, in my case, first, a deliverable is a signature system, and the second deliverable is understanding who your real client is. The third deliverable is your marketing message but, throughout those steps, there is also transformation and there are also milestones. So, a signature system is like a scaffolding. You know, you have some structure, but that structure allows you for flexibility. So, even if you have customized services like you and I do, the signature system is still the process you follow because what changes is not the process you change the tool.

So for instance if I have a client that's pivoting okay they still need an ideal client profile okay so in my signature system one of the deliverables is a client profile and understanding your client right. If you're pivoting you still need a client profile you still need to know to who you're selling you still need to know who's the best person for you. But it might be that you don't have the clients, so I need to change the tool from interviewing your clients to data mining on the internet or reaching out for similar people in my network or your network to interview them. So that's where you adapt and customize the process, you know, to what the client has or doesn't have, but you're not changing your process, you're changing the tool. So, that's how the signature system, the wonder of the signature system, did I answer your question, or you don't remember what you asked me?

H: I think you, you know me too well, Claudia. Alright, here's, for example, I'm familiar with how this works with services and I am familiar with how people in service based businesses really need to have a clear differentiation from the other people who do what they do in the eyes of the client. It doesn't matter if somebody thinks they're the best intellectual property attorney or they're the best dental clinic or they're the best, it doesn't matter. What matters is in the eyes of the client, how do they stand out and why they are the obvious choice, what I would call a no brainer. Why is hiring this particular person a no brainer for you? So I think what's challenging for a lot of people in service based small businesses is that they don't actually believe what they do is different.

They don't actually believe that they have a signature process because especially someone who's in one of the professions like an attorney, a therapist, an accountant. They've sort of been indoctrinated to certain professional standards for in fact, especially like with therapists, you get licensed when you can demonstrate that you know what to do, when to do it, in what order, and you know what the outcome is. So if somebody doesn't believe that what they do is unique, or the way they do it is unique, can you help that person and would a signature system even make sense for them?

G: Yes, what I would do, if that's the case, the first thing I would do is interview clients of this person and figuring out where were they before and after, and what changed from the before and after. When you have five clients saying how you help them, you understand that you can make an impact and you can transform specific people with what you do, that's the first thing I would do. I would then start doing the signature system, and through the questions we, I ask in the signature system, and you start seeing how it forms in front of your eyes, you understand that you have a process, and you understand what makes your process unique. So for instance, in marketing, there are specific steps. You'll have an ideal client profile, you have a marketing message, you have a marketing strategy, a content strategy, et cetera.

But I tailor the marketing strategy to who you are. I don't shoehorn you into specific marketing strategy, which means if you're an introvert or you're somebody who needs to connect with the other person, we need to create a marketing strategy that brings you those opportunities for you to connect and then deliver your magic. But if you're an introvert and we create a marketing strategy that you have to give talks and be in the spotlight and all this stuff, you will do it once, but then you won't do it anymore. So that makes me different, that I tailor my marketing strategies to who you are and to what you want to achieve.

I don't shoehorn you, even if I have a signature system, because in marketing, you need to have your fundamentals in place. If you don't have foundations in place, there is no sense in doing Facebook ads or optimization or whatever, because your castle is going to fall. Or the moment you start to grow, you won't have sufficient foundation or based on your in your business to grow. So yes, it's still the same work, but it's how you deliver it and how your clients experiences it while you do it.

H: I think one of the most important things to remember and to keep remembering as you go throughout all of your marketing strategy and deliverables is the marketing has to be created and perceived from the client's side, not from our side. And I think because you and I worked together for a lengthy period of time to create my signature system, I think it was especially difficult for me, this is like a confession time, it was difficult for me to step back from my own expertise and to see it from the client's side and to also be able to recognize, I do have a process. I do have a way of going about things, but not everybody does things the way I do. And the way I do things may be right for some people and not for others.

I honestly don't know how I would have figured out what my framework is if I hadn't been working with someone like you, because you helped me take myself out of the equation and see things from the client's perspective. And I imagine that's probably pretty common with other small business owners that you work with, especially people who are experts. They're just too close to the business, what they do, to take themself out of the equation and frankly, to be able to look at it more objectively.

G: Yes and then you can add to the complexity jargon. You know, we tend to add a lot of jargon into what we say, and that doesn't make matters easy. I needed help to do my signature system and even when I iterated, I consult either with my clients or I consult with my business coach it's always good to have a soundboard that gives you that feedback that you simply miss because you're too deep in your business, right? And when you have somebody who is not in the day to day of your business, I will ask questions that you most probably will either assume or answer from your perspective. So, having an external party helping you guarantees that you eliminate assumptions from your signature system.

Talking what your system, what your process does with your client, because when you get the right questions, you will realize the transformations or what happened or stories will come to your head when a client said, oh, this and this happened. And I realized so and so, and that was thanks to XYZ you did when, in our working together. So, yes, and if not, you can always go back to your clients. I mean, a signature system is not something that you do in one sitting. It's a process because it's like peeling an onion, right? And once you have it on paper, then you start saying, hmm, is this really this or is there something that I am missing?

H: In its simplest form, Claudia, and I tend to make things complex, but then I have to simplify them in order for them to actually be useful to me. When I think about the signature system and we call it the signature solution, the signature framework, signature system is the term that you use, but all of these other terms also fit. I think about it this way, and I would love to hear your feedback on it. I think about the signature system like this. I am in San Francisco, I want to get to New York City. Now I can fly there. I can drive there. I can hitchhike. I can take a train. I can take the bus. I can combine a variety of these different ways, but it really depends on what my ultimate outcome is. I want to get from here to there, but if I want to get there as quickly as possible, or I want to get there with as much enjoyment of scenery as possible, I want to get there as cheaply as possible.

So you can take the same signature system, where you take people from San Francisco to New York City, and you can customize it to those particulars, right? Like they, an example is like, well, I have a business that is invisible. Nobody knows about my business. I'm not getting any leads. I'm not getting any clients, and I'm worried about going out of business. Okay, that's obviously a big problem. If you don't have any money to tide you through, then you need to transform your ability to attract leads as quickly as possible. You're still going from here to there, but now you need to do it more quickly.

So with your signature system, you know what they need in order to get from here to there, but then you customize it according to their needs, wishes, wants, preferences, and priorities. If they need to get there as fast as possible or they need to get there with a lot of contemplation. You can slow it down. You can even stop your process in the middle, change direction when the client's stuck and then circle back because that's exactly what you needed to do with me.

G: Yeah, I remember this conversation when you and I got stuck in that moment and the interesting thing about the signature system is you know where you're going to. So, the moment the process derails, you can allow it to derail and bring it back to where you need it to go to move forward. So, let's suppose, you're going from Los Angeles to, to New York, and along the way you stop in Texas. So, you can allow it because you know what needs to happen for you to get to New York. So you can always bring the client back because, and you know, the signature system is a representation in a step by step of what you do. Sometimes you can do a step that is later before if it helps the client. Or if the client has a question that is mind boggling for this client, then you can, you know, say, okay, let's do, have a look at this and then we come back because the interesting thing about the signature system, it's like, it's a puzzle. And you know what's behind, and you know what's ahead of the point where you are which is something that you don't have from other solutions.

Solutions give you something, it's like you have a parachute and you fall somewhere, but you don't see what is around you, you don't see what is behind you, and you don't see what is ahead. So what happens with those solutions is that, for instance, Facebook ads. When Facebook came out, everybody was doing Facebook ads. Nobody was telling you that you have, that Facebook Ads, what they do is amplify something you already have. So if you don't have that following, if you don't have that audience, Facebook Ads wasn't going to help you. Other people say communities, you have to create communities because that there you would be selling naturally. But nobody talked how difficult and time and resource consuming it is to create a thriving community. So, that is something that when you have a signature system, you tell the client, this is the road to get from where you want from where you are to where you want to be. So your client knows at every time where in his puzzle he is and what is that missing piece from the puzzle so everything makes sense.

H: You're speaking to one of the major pain points I see with small business owners who have hired different coaches, hired different consultants, purchased digital courses. You know, most people have been sort of cobbling this situation together. How do I market my small business? Do I do Facebook ads? Do I try to become Insta famous? Do I, you know, get on the podcast guest speaking tour, you know, and all of these things are tactics and all of them can work. But they're just a piece, I know that an analogy that you use in your business a lot is puzzle pieces and creating you have to have the finished picture of the finished puzzle to know that you have a handful of pieces that actually aren't part of the same picture and with the signature system it helps to organize the different tactics and strategies so that you always know where you are.

It's one of the biggest frustrations I see in working with small business owners is that they don't actually know where they are, so how can they possibly know what they need to do to get to where they want to be? It's very, very confusing and of course, new tools, new tactics keep coming out. And everybody jumps on the bandwagon because we have this thinking like, Oh, maybe this is the thing. But actually having a roadmap from A to Z will always make things more simple. Because you don't know where you are if you don't know where you need to, how you need to get to where you want to go.

G: Well, the thing is, marketing is susceptible to the sum of its parts. So you can, marketing is not linear, so you can do some things first than normal. So I would always start with your ideal client or with your signature system because that is your process and that allows me to understand what you do and then create the marketing around it better. But we could do first, what is your marketing style? Who are you? What is the kind of marketing that would fit you? Because that is something I need to know and then you put the pieces together. But that's what makes marketing so confusing at times, is that it's not a linear process. You need to, if the parts aren't there, you won't have the complete thing. If you are missing something, it won't work. But it's sometimes very hard to see what is what you're missing. It is, it makes marketing very frustrating.

H: Okay, now I'm a tiny bit confused. So marketing is not, I know, I know you're used to me and my confusion. This is a common occurrence, marketing is not a linear process, but is a signature system a linear process?

G: A signature system is a tactic in marketing, it's a marketing asset. So it doesn't stand by itself. It needs more things to live so it needs an ideal client and it needs a message and you use your marketing, your signature system to conduct your discovery calls, to decide what content you should be creating, et cetera. But marketing is the sum of your signature system, plus your content, plus your ideal client, and knowing how to use each of those elements or assets or standalone things. So you can start either with a signature system or with an ideal client or with something different, but you need all the elements. And if you are missing one, then your marketing is not going to work. But because it's not a precisely a linear, scientific thing it can be very confusing for people. Did I explain it? I see a few things I didn't.

H: Well, no, no, no, it's not that you didn't explain it. It's just that the way my brain works is as you're explaining it, I'm generating both a better understanding of what you're saying, but I'm also generating other questions about it. So, I think it's really, really, really important that we all understand when it comes to marketing for a small business is that there is no magic pill. And it's a signature system, I'm very fond of it. Obviously, Claudia is very fond of it. It's not a magic pill. There is no magic pill. There is no one thing you just need to do this one thing and then everything else is gonna be like magic. In truth and I think especially for someone like me, who has a lot of ideas and a very busy brain and a tendency to chase shiny objects. One of the primary benefits for me in having a signature system is that I need intentional constraint to keep me from running off in 20 different directions at the same time and really exhausting myself and not really accomplishing my goals.

That is my tendency to chase a bunch of different things at once. Now that I have a signature system, and it is an organic, living, dynamic, evolving process. Because you and I created the signature system and it continues to evolve as I understand it better and as I may be pivoting or shifting a little bit in who I want to work with or how I want to work with them. So it's two things. It's not a magic pill. It's not a one and done. It's something that can evolve with you as your business evolves and as your understanding of it evolves. For me, it's a way of kind of containing all the different new ideas that I come up with and all the new tools that I hear about and all the things I see other people doing and I think, Ooh, I want to do that too.

I can come back to the signature system and say, does it fit with my process, if this new groovy new tool I heard about or this new strategy that I see someone else using and I think, Oh, this is amazing I need to do this. Or just a new idea that just comes up out of my very own head, does it fit with my signature system. Will it enhance my signature system? Will it allow me to do what I'm already doing more efficiently, more effectively? Will it allow me to serve my client in a better way? Will it allow my ideal clients to recognize me more easily? If yes, then yes, adopt, integrate, bring it on into the party. If not, I should let it go because I'm adding unnecessary complexity. That's really helpful for me.

G: Yeah, I think the only magic in marketing is what you do to bring your clients from A to Z. That's the only magic there is, your secret sauce, your unique solution that is the only magic in marketing, the rest is being consistent and stick to what works. But the interesting thing about a signature system is what you mentioned, for instance, when you learn something new, the difference if it's a tool or it's something that changes the process. So for instance, let's suppose now I introduce some form of artificial intelligence into the way I do ideal client profile. That's not going to change the outcome. You still will have an ideal client profile. I'm just changing the tool, right? But if I add something into my process like preparing yourself for speaking gigs, right? That is a step that changes the outcome.

So that's the interesting difference, difference that you mentioned is if it's a tool, I can bounce it against my signature system and say, okay, how is this tool going to help any of the steps and the outcome of any of the steps? Yes or no, then you ditch it or you use it. But if you learn something new, or by experience, or a client makes you realize that you are doing something and you realize that if you take it out of your process, it changes the outcome. Then that's a step and you can add it or you can change it or you, so it is a living thing because as you grow in your business and you learn more things, you will, you might change the way you do things, but if it doesn't change the outcome your signature system stays as it is. And that is a wonderful pillar on which to grow your business because a signature system sells the outcome, but doesn't sell the implementation, which makes the selling conversation very interesting for you.

H: And I think for somebody like me and a lot of the people that I work with who have a tendency to keep generating new ideas and adding unnecessary complexity to their small business and their small business marketing, knowing that the signature system has the flexibility. That was one of the things I think we were a number of months into working together when it was, that was a light bulb moment because I kept thinking, well, if I adopt a new tool, then I'm going to have to change my signature system or start all over. You were like, no tools come and go, but your process for how you move someone from where they are to where they want to be, that's actually very consistent. You can adopt all the new tools you want. You're going to bring new things in.

You're going to let things go, but you're always going to do this and then you're going to do this and then you're going to do this and adapt that to different clients. I know we've talked already during this conversation about how people want frameworks that make their small business marketing more streamlined, more sustainable, more simplified, but I think there's a certain amount of suspicion about kind of that any particular framework will work for them. Could you give an example of how it's really not, you're really not confined, even though a signature system is a process? Do you think we should be telling our clients and our potential clients that we have this proven process or could it just be something that we know that we are going to work through with them, but we don't necessarily have to communicate that that's what we're going to do?

G: So, because the signature system focuses on deliverables or on milestones, it frees you from speaking of the process okay right? So, for instance, a milestone is a change of mindset, you need to have a mindset so, and now you need a mindset B. So the mindset it's a milestone and it happens throughout the system. If that person already has the mindset, you are not going to reduce the price of your work because this person already has the mindset. So for example, you check this person has the mindset required for the outcome. But what a signature system has is the, what needs to happen between A and B. So if it's, I'm trying to think a good way of answering your question. So let's suppose for instance, when I reviewed my signature system, I talked to several of my clients and I realized, as a result of those conversations that they needed more support.

So I added a new step to my signature system, which is support at the end of the asset creation process. So there you see my signature system stays the same, I'm just adding something more to guarantee even better, the outcome I promise they will have. If the person is clear on their ideal client, I just check that this person has all the information about their ideal client, and not only psychographics and demographics. They need to really understand their ideal client. If they have that, the process moves, but it doesn't change the process in itself. Now, if let's suppose this person doesn't, is starting or pivoting. And they don't have ideal clients for this new version they're going to do, you still need an ideal client because you need to understand to who are you going to sell and you need to understand to who are you going to talk? How do we do if I don't have clients I can interview? I need the information and the new niche.

So what we do is we do data mining through internet or through networking. I find people who would fill that profile and we interview that people. So what happens there is you don't have the information for us to complete, but we, the information is there. It's just knowing where to look for it. So that is the flexibility of the signature system is these are the steps that the steps don't change because you need the steps to guarantee the outcome. So to have a system, in my case, to have a marketing that delivers results that allows you to stand out and that makes all marketing your business much easier. You need to have a signature system, an ideal client, a message, a marketing strategy and a content strategy and know how to manage your discovery goals.

Then once you have that, you can build on it but that is, in my eyes, the minimum you need so you can adapt. It's what I said to you, maybe you are going from San Francisco to New York and along the way you decide to deviate to Texas. We deviate to Texas, we explore that, but If you want a marketing that is time saving and that you don't, you can step out of the hamster wheel of creating new content and new things every time, we go back to what you need. There is a structure, it's how you complete the structure that becomes customized and it's flexible.

H: Do you think a good time for a signature system is when a business Is rebranding or pivoting because I personally think that could be an ideal time. But I'm wondering what you think about that a lot of people are pivoting and rebranding and shifting into a new market or a new way of working with people. And I think that's a pretty ideal time to do a signature system, in your experience, is that a good time?

G: It is a good time because the signature system, the making of a signature system asks you essential questions about what you're bringing to the market. What is what you're really, what is the problem you're really solving? So in pivoting, this really answers that you're pivoting for the right reason and not that you are addressing the same problem with a different name. To give you an example, sometimes a product or a service don't change, but what change is the market. Give you a very simple example, let's suppose, I have a bakery and oxymoron as it is, I bake healthy muffins right? And I have a lot of people coming from the gym, after sweating the calories off, they come because I have healthy muffins.

Then two months later, the bakery two doors down does pretty much the same muffins as I do, but they call them Keto muffins because the Keto diet is now a rage. The muffin is still the same. The market is still the same but there is a trend. So, that's where you need to decide, when are you pivoting? Are you pivoting because there is a change in the trend? Is the market really changing? Is the product really changing? And if it's really changing, then, you know, the questions in the signature system will help you to get there. But the signature system, the process of the signature system gives you a lot of clarity. And then again, you start to see your business from the eyes of your clients. So everything you do when you ask or you could ask, what's in it for the client? You validate your process.

You're pivoted, but in essence, you're pretty much doing the same. In essence, you're still guiding people to have the business that works for them and that allows them to have the life they want. It's now that you narrowed down your ideal client where you saw they were the group that was best benefited by your process. So that was your main pivoting, right? But in essence, you're still doing the same. You took things out that were not contributing to the results. You got clarity what was noise and what was really contributing to the transformation in the client and you fine tuned the steps. So your steps are now more laser focused into a whole result. Now, you know, what is the function of each step into what you want the client to achieve?

H: No, you're absolutely right and I think a pivot is a great time. And also the questions that you ask when you're leading someone through the process of designing and creating and developing their signature system is going to show them exactly where they are. And if they've missed any steps leading up to where they are, you will help them go back and fill in those steps. I think that's one of the things I enjoyed most about, and I have enjoyed most about working with you and continuing to work with you, is that you're looking at things from the bigger picture and you're looking at things from the eyes of the client, which has helped me be more objective and also helped me realize some of the things that I included in my original signature system did not actually need to be there, did not serve the client, did not help the clients create more clarity. And it's like, okay, now I can let it go without feeling angsty about it because I can see for myself that this is actually not in service to their greater goal. I also really like that the signature system is visual because I'm one of those people that needs a visual representation of where I'm going and, and how far I am from the desired result, because I'm not a linear thinker. And even though I understand marketing isn't linear, the signature system in some respects is.

G: Well, there are two things I want to add to what you just said. I remember in your signature system, there is a part about boundaries, right and you help people to define their boundaries. And at some point I asked you, what happens in the environment when these people start to defend their boundaries and you said there's pushback and I said to you, okay, how do you help your people with a pushback and that became a new step in your signature system. Because we realized that from the experience of your clients, one of the things that would prevent them from safeguarding their boundaries was the backlash from their environment. Ah, you used to help me, now you don't help me, what did you change? You're not anymore the person you used to be. And by understanding that it's not only the boundaries, but what happens around the boundaries, you have an extra tool.

You added an extra tool for your clients to be able to do the boundaries thing, but not being afraid of the boundaries thing. So that is what you mentioned from asking the questions and from having the big picture, what happens, because I am outside of your process, and then I see the gaps in what you are doing or saying, like the boundaries and the pushback. So, and the other thing about the signature system is when you mentioned it keeps you structured, you have to get a signature system, like, using your words, like a Swiss knife, Swiss army knife of your marketing tools, because it's a business decision tool. It's a sales tool. It's a content generation tool. It's a sales tool that you use during the discovery call, but also, for instance some of our small businesses clients that you and I have sell to bigger, bigger clients, right? And they have to send a proposal to the person that's not going to be the decision maker.

Because of the graphic component, the roadmap in the signature system, the decision maker gets the story as if you were delivering it because there, you know, it's the graphic of what you do. So it is a sales tool it keeps your message on target every time. It saves you time, helps you to decide content, elevates your market with you because since you have a process in place you are seen as an expert so with that you can also the value of what you do is so evident that you can even raise your prices because the value of what you do is and that separates you also, or allows you to stand out from other people, because when your clients don't see the value of what you do, they will make a decision based on price. But if they see the value of what you do, then you can really increase your prices, because now we're talking about value, we're not talking about something that's in the air. It's, you know, I'm taking you from this to this place.

H: This may be one of the more, maybe even the most important reasons to consider a signature system for your small business, is that with a visual representation of your process, it demystifies what you do in the eyes of people who want the desired result. They know where they are. They're excruciatingly familiar with where they are. They are in the pain and frustration of where they are. They know where they want to be. They don't exactly know how to get there. They do not want to invest money, time, effort, opportunity cost in something that may not work because they've probably already done lots of things that haven't worked.

So your ability to create a visual representation of how you're going to take them from here to there demonstrates that they can be confident that you know what you're doing and that they can trust that they will get there. When we are in service based businesses and I think particularly if you are in consulting or coaching, really any kind of service, some people don't need to hear how you're going to get them there. They just need to trust and be convinced that you can, but other people need to know the how. I almost think about it like a math problem. Some people just want the right answer, can you get the right answer and other people are like, show me your work, show me how you're going to get to the right answer.

But with your signature system, you can with both kinds of people. The people who are like, show me, show me, show me how you're gonna get me there, prove to me that you know what you're doing to take me from here to there. You have a process with a visual representation. You can literally show them and you can talk them through it. And for the other people are like, listen, I don't need to know how this works. I just need to know that it works and that I can trust you to get me from here to there at the amount of time that you say for the amount of money you're asking me for. It gives you the flexibility to work with both types of people.

And I know how frustrating it is when you have a service based business that they, the person wants what you know, you can deliver but you're not able to articulate it in a way that makes sense to them. And especially if they're visual thinkers, to be able to say, okay, here's how we're going to do it. It makes their buying decision so much simpler and it gives you so much more confidence that you can actually work with this person and end up having an outstanding result and maybe even a glowing testimonial as a result to that.

G: Yes. And the beautiful thing about this, what you just described is that by focusing on the deliverables and the milestones, it frees you from talking about details like three calls, two group calls, et cetera, et cetera, because people move at different speeds throughout your signature system. So I have people who understand the mechanical signature system really quickly, but get stuck in the message or get stuck in the marketing strategy. So, you know, you can adapt it because you never necessarily said we will meet three times for one hour and we're going to do this and this and this. You are freeing yourself from that structure and you are free to use different tools that will allow you to get to the same result because you are not tool tight. You are deliverables and milestones oriented and it changed the whole conversation.

H: It also changes the way you're able to offer your services because if you're focusing on features. Features, it's X number of calls, it's X number of this or that. People are automatically going to be trying to figure out, okay, how much per hour is that then. They're going to be trying to evaluate the value of your program by, okay, they're saying it's 10 calls. So they're asking me for 3,000 dollars that's 300 per call, that sounds like a lot there. It's a totally different conversation but what it also does is when you're saying these are the deliverables, these are the transformations, this is the outcome in their language.

You also have the flexibility to have it be a six month program, a six week program, a VIP day, a full day workshop, a live retreat, a course, because different people move at different speeds, but if you know we're going from here to here, you have the freedom using your same process. Your same framework to transform it into all of those different service delivery models for the different people who want to go fast, want to go slow, want a lot of handholding, want to DIY it. It allows you that kind of freedom, which I think fundamentally the signature system isn't the only thing you need, but it may be one of the most important.

G: It's a game changer and you mentioned features and benefits. I think the signature system is the elevator pitch of your service.

H: That's a mic, girl, that is a mic drop moment, and I think we just need to stop with that, because boom, that's it. I think we have made a very convincing argument for the value of a signature system, and the only thing people listening need to know now is how to get a hold of you and what you can do for them and their small business, and that is going to be in the show notes. So, and by the way, added benefit, if you happen to speak one of the 17,000 languages that Claudia speaks, you don't even have to work with her in English, so. How many languages do you speak?

G: Five.

H: Okay, well that's, okay, that's a ways off from 17,000, but okay. Thank you, friend.

G: Thank you for inviting me and for the good questions you ask about the signature system. It always brings me to good things.

H: Well, I just wish that we had been able to include the 20 minutes of laughing our asses off before we got started recording. It's my little warm up routine, you know?

G: Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't see how we were laughing.

H Blooper Reel!

G: Thank you.