Why I signed up to be an Essential Message Consoachant

As many who know us have become aware, Rapport has evolved beyond simply providing great design. I want to make sure we’re doing the things for our clients that will get them the best results, the best return for their efforts and investment. That includes drilling down to the thing that they do better than any of their competition. I’ve had the privilege of working with clients who’ve done this with experts like the boys at Blueprint (www.theblueprint.ca) and Michel Neray of Essential Message (www.essentialmessage.com) and the results were amazing. That thing, that differentiator provides the platform for truly inspired branding and all other executions to come.

I was just thinking ‘I’d love to be able to do what Michel does’ when the Essential Message offered a program to teach the method and philosophy to professionals to use in their businesses. I’m about half way through the course and loving it!

A process fit for Rapport

The reason I like it is because it’s a well-developed process that I can mold into my own as I get more practiced. It has a consistent philosophy I identify with. There are exercises that test each other’s results out; clearing away the less effective ideas or backing up the really strong ones. I’ve already started using some of the exercises with great results!

More formally, when ready I’ll most often be doing the ‘Corporate Intensive’ sessions with our clients, which has many different ways to proceed, depending on that specific situation. It provides something tangible and measurable to use along with my natural intuition.

The best thing I’ve learned

My biggest take-away so far is that it seems like most people don’t dig very deep, say the top thing that comes to mind, or describe a benefit – all of which means they say the same thing as everyone else. The second biggest thing is that the root of most of these statements is often something the client does so naturally they don’t even realize that it means something, that it’s interesting. And, this core value can be uncovered with relentless questioning like ‘how’ and ‘what’ – getting specific.

Sometimes, clients have an idea what their differentiator is, they just have no idea how to  explain it. I have a couple of those types coming up I’m really excited about.

Just as that statement core value is compelling to our clients’ prospects, it’s also really inspiring to the creative team here, it gives us something to sink our teeth into.