22 | From Zero to Sidekick: The Secret Sauce to Winning Over Customers

Ever wondered why your business isn't resonating as well as you'd hoped? What if the key to unlocking customer loyalty is to stop being the hero and start being the sidekick? In this episode of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show, I’m leaving a special voicemail for Tim, a small business owner hitting a rough patch. We explore a transformative idea inspired by StoryBrand: positioning yourself as the guide in your customers' stories. Tim’s recent struggles are the perfect backdrop for showcasing how flipping the narrative on your website and social media can change everything. 

Join me as we dive into practical tips on revamping your business messaging to put your customers first. Using Tim's own website as a case study, you'll see how simple changes—like switching the order of your paragraphs—can make a world of difference. This episode isn't just about theory; it's packed with actionable advice to help you build stronger, more empathetic connections with your customers. So get ready for a hefty dose of optimism and some fresh tactics to get unstuck and back on track, both for Tim and for you!

If you are self-employed or run a small business and feel more like you're self-annoyed then get in touch, visit the website www.theannoyinglyoptimisticshow.com where you can submit a question or problem and start your journey to becoming self-enjoyed! 

The majority of 'business advice' out there isn't aimed at self-employed or micro businesses, following it leaves you frustrated and chasing quick fixes. I specialise in tools, systems, techniques, inspiration and help specifically designed for YOU, the person who has to do it all, who doesn't have a team of people, unlimited resources or the time to spend months learning complicated techniques. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey there, listeners, it's your annoyingly optimistic host here bringing you another season of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Welcome to Season 2, voicemails to Tim. Now let's meet Tim. He's been running his own small business for almost three years now and let's just say he's hit a bit of a rough patch. You know how it is Sometimes you get so stuck, you make yourself busy and just avoid finding the real problems. Well, that's Tim. So, as a good friend, I decide to leave him a daily voicemail, if I can't get hold of him, filled with nuggets of inspiration, insight and wisdom and downright brilliant ideas to help get him unstuck Every day. In just under 10 minutes, I'll share some tips, tricks and a healthy dose of optimism to get Tim, and maybe even you, back on track, because, let's face it, we're all a little tired, in need of help and muddling through. So here we go. Oh wait, never mind Tim's being busy. Here's the voicemail I left him today. Hi, tim, sorry I missed you again.

Speaker 1 0:59

There was something that you said when we spoke the other day and about something one of your customers had told you, and it just kind of sparked something. And this is one of my little kind of passions and you know, one of the businesses I set up a few years ago was called Sidekick Services, and it was this idea of being a sidekick, and it was really something that developed from that and with StoryBrand that I've mentioned to you before, and it's basically about the role that we take when we're dealing with our customers. We live our lives as the hero in our own adventure. We're the person that we see in the mirror every day, and the whole world revolves around us as people, and that's just naturally. That's what we do In business. However, we need to flip that round, because every customer that comes to you, you're solving a problem for them, you are fixing something, you're making their life better in some way with the products or services that you offer, and they are the hero in their own journey, and so when we insert ourselves into their life as the expert and something like that and make it all about us, we actually tend to push those customers away. What we need to do to kind of invite them in and invite them into the conversation. We need to be the sidekick, we need to be the guide, we need to be the person that helps them achieve the things that they want to achieve, whatever it is that our product offers them. It's taking them on that journey. We are Obi-Wan Kenobi to their Luke Skywalker. We've got to help them and help them take those steps, and you start that journey from when people see your social media posts and people see the website.

Speaker 1 2:38

The language that you use is very, very important. If you look at a lot of people's websites is they'll talk me first, they'll tell people all about themselves and then they'll finish off in those paragraphs kind of going oh, and this allows me to help you by doing xyz. You see this all the time and this can make it very, very you can come across as kind of arrogant and it can put barriers up to people because you're immediately talking about yourself first, whereas the most important thing to them is their problem and themselves. Now the quick, easy fix for this one is to flip it, obviously not write it backwards. But if you look at some of those paragraphs and I was looking on a bit on your website and you're doing this on and the about me pages is a prime example of this If you look at the very last paragraph, you're talking about all the wonderful things you can do for the customer and how you can help them, and the very first paragraph is all about me, me, me, me, me.

Speaker 1 3:33

If you were to literally switch those paragraphs around, so you start the conversation going, I can help you and give you this and provide you this, because and then you talk about your experience, your passion and everything else what you do is you invite them into the conversation, you become the guide, helping them solve their problem, and then you add empathy and authority, which are the two key ingredients to help them understand that you've not only got the knowledge, but you've got the passion and experience to be able to deliver what they actually want to achieve. So it's about changing that role and that kind of dynamic. And if you look at, if you think of yourself as as robin, as obi-wan, as a sidekick, as someone there that's to help help someone achieve these goals, then what you do is you build up much better customer relationships and because they understand very, very early on from everything you put out there, that you're there to help them, that they are the most important you know aspect of what you're doing and they remain the hero in their own journey, which is important. You can be your own hero in your head and think my business is amazing and because I'm helping all these people I'm amazing. That's great. But when you're talking to people, you need to let them remain the hero, let them remain the most important person, and you're there to help and guide them. And I said that change in dynamic can just make a big difference into how people see you, talk about you and, you know, tell other people about you. So it was just saying that popped into my head and I thought I thought I'll catch you, but um didn't manage to catch you this time. So I hope that helps Tim and I shall speak to you soon. Bye for now. And that's it for today.

Speaker 1 5:10

Episode of voicemails to Tim on the annoyingly optimistic show. Now, remember, tim might be busy, but we're all in this together. Whether you're tired, in need of help or just muddling through, tim is here for you. Because, well, tim, tim is you. Yes, you heard that right. Tim isn't just my friend. He's a reflection of all of us who are struggling to make it work. T-i-m stands for tired, in need of help and muddling through. So if you're feeling like a Tim, you're not alone For all those ambitious listeners. If you've got a burning business question, a quirky thought or just want to see if you can leave an even weirder voicemail. Head over to the website voicemailstotimcom. Submit your question and maybe, just maybe, you'll hear your idea in a future Voicemail to Tim. No-transcript.