Imagine walking into a doctors office and telling her that you needed surgery, and that it will take you 3 to 5 weeks to recover. Imagine handing her a list of medications you’ll need and a detailed physical therapy schedule to maximize your recovery.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. No doctor in her right mind would put up with that. Why? Because until she assesses and examines you, she has no idea what’s really wrong. Put another way, she knows nothing of your pain.
Savvy businesses, just like healthy patients, know a full exam is needed before diagnosis or treatment can begin. Why? Because they know there’s no cure without first discovering the pain.
For businesses “pain” can come in a variety of forms:
- A lack of brand awareness
- Diminishing website traffic
- A decline in website conversions
- Products with an unusually high volume of returns
- High employee turnover
- A spike in employee accidents
The good news for you and your business is that when properly identified and addressed those pains can actually open the door to solutions and opportunities. But much like the conversation you have with your doctor, if you want a healthy video, it’s in your best interest to share the 4 aspects of your pain with your “Primary Video Care Provider” or PVCP before you begin treatment.
Share Its Source
Like your doctor, the more specific you can be with your PVCP about the location of your pain, the better their diagnosis. Is it a marketing issue? An HR issue or a customer issue? Regardless, identifying and sharing the sources of your pain is the first simple step towards recovery.
Share Its Intensity
I think we could all agree that a ruptured appendix requires a higher level of urgency than a splinter under your fingernail, (as painful as those are). So too share the intensity of your business pain with your PVCP and work with them to identify those factors that bring increased sensitivity to your pain. We find that the intensity of your business pain usually has a direct correlation to it’s cost in lost opportunities or dollars. Have you identified the real cost of NOT addressing your pain? So do yourself a favor and share the intensity of your pain as an indicator to help your PVCP gauge the intensity of your need. Are we talking emergency surgery or will a Band-Aid with a little Neosporin do the trick? Either way, share it.
Share Its Cause
You’ve probably heard the story of the man who goes to his doctor, raises his right arm over his head and says, “Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this.” And the doctor says, “Well then, don’t do that.” (Insert canned laugh track here…) As corny as that is, it is also a good reminder to share the third aspect of your pain, it’s cause. Where did the pain come from? When did you first notice it? By doing a little investigation you and your PVCP can often tie the pain to a cause or causes to help you get to the root of the pain.
Share Your Goals
Usually before you undertake any kind of major surgery your doctor wants to know about your Activities for Daily Living or ADL’s. The ADL’s of a 27 year old NFL linebacker are different than those of a 95 year old writer. You can think of those ADL’s as patient goals or expectations. It’s the same for your business pain. When this surgery is over, what’s your desired outcome? What needs to happen for you to call this video a success? Is it a reduction in the number of support calls for your hottest selling product? Or an increase in referred traffic? Regardless, the more you can identify and share your goals for business after the pain – the more your PVCP can help you get there.
Any good PVCP knows that video alone is not a panacea, a cure for all your business pains. However, used in the right context a healthy dose of video can serve as a strong prescription to treat your business pain. But like a doctor evaluating all the aspects of her patient’s pain, the delivery of healthy videos are only possible after a time of evaluation. For it’s those discoveries, which come from listening, that inform the story you have to tell and it’s ability to connect to and engage with your audience so your business can start feeling better.
So next time you contact your PVCP for a video, be prepared to share these 4 aspects of your pain. They always provide the best prescription for a healthy video!