Why do customers choose one business over another? The answer goes beyond marketing. Dr. J.J. Peterson, Julie Firth, and Sonia Whittam explore nine areas that influence how businesses attract customers, earn trust, and grow. From positioning and thought leadership to changing buying habits and honest leadership, their conversation offers a way to identify what's getting in the way of becoming the obvious choice.
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Becoming the Obvious Choice Takes More Than Great Marketing
Becoming the obvious choice means helping the right customers recognize your value, trust your business, and feel confident choosing you over other options. That requires more than visibility or a compelling marketing message. It also depends on how a business positions itself, delivers its services, develops relationships, and makes decisions.
A business can have excellent marketing and still struggle to grow. It might be attracting the wrong customers, using a sales process that no longer matches how people buy, or delivering an experience that doesn't live up to its promises.
Dr. J.J. Peterson, Julie Firth, and Sonia Whittam have identified nine areas worth examining: thought leadership, positioning, marketing, sales, customer trust, scaling, learning from failure, honest leadership, and business fundamentals.
Together, these areas offer a way to understand where a business may be losing opportunities—and where a focused change could make the greatest difference.
Are You Giving Customers a Reason to Choose You?
The first challenge is helping people understand why your business deserves their attention.
That begins with thought leadership and positioning, two related ideas that are often confused with marketing.
Your point of view is part of your value
AI is changing how people research businesses and find answers. Traditional search engine optimization still matters, but customers are also asking AI tools increasingly detailed questions about their problems and potential solutions.
For J.J., that shift makes thought leadership particularly important.
"AI doesn't have a point of view. It borrows from other points of view that are out there."
Businesses need more than a collection of articles or social media posts. They need a perspective on their industry: what they believe, how they approach problems, and what makes their expertise valuable.
That perspective can inform articles, podcast appearances, conversations, and other content that helps potential customers understand how the business thinks.
But developing a point of view isn't simply a content exercise. It requires leaders to examine what they believe and have the confidence to communicate it.
Positioning comes before promotion
Even a business with a strong perspective can struggle if it hasn't clearly identified whom it serves and why those customers should care.
Positioning answers those questions before marketing begins. It connects the problems customers need solved with the value a business is equipped to provide.
Without that clarity, companies can invest considerable time promoting an offer to people who don't need it, don't understand it, or aren't the right fit.
Even when positioning is right, businesses can struggle to stand out. Understanding why customers don't remember your business can reveal an important distinction: having something valuable to offer isn't the same as communicating it in a way people remember.
Together, positioning and thought leadership help establish what a business wants to be known for. Marketing then becomes the process of communicating that value to the right people.
More marketing isn't necessarily better marketing
Julie Firth challenges the pressure business owners feel to participate in every available marketing channel.
TikTok, email, social media, advertising, networking—there's always another platform or strategy someone insists a business should be using.
But the right approach depends on the customer.
For some businesses, building relationships through networking may produce better opportunities than investing heavily in social media. Others may benefit more from email or search.
Julie's argument is that businesses should resist a scattergun approach. When marketing budgets and time are limited, every investment needs a purpose.
The goal isn't to do less marketing for its own sake. It's to make more deliberate decisions about where customers can actually be reached.
Are You Helping Customers Feel Confident Choosing You?
Attracting attention is only part of the challenge. Businesses also need to understand what customers experience before, during, and after making a purchase.
Customers have changed how they buy
Think about the research someone might complete before booking a vacation, hiring a consultant, or making a significant purchase.
They may compare options, read reviews, ask friends, visit websites, and increasingly consult AI before speaking to a salesperson.
Sonia Whittam argues that buying behavior is evolving faster than many business sales processes.
"The challenge is that businesses with sales haven't evolved their sales process in the same rate that we've evolved our buying process."
Customers may enter a sales conversation having already considered several alternatives. They're not necessarily waiting for someone to explain why they should buy. They may be looking for reassurance that they're making the right decision.
As Sonia explains, businesses are often still focused on persuading customers when those customers are looking for confidence and trust.
That changes the role of sales.
Rather than assuming every prospect is beginning at the same point, businesses need to understand what customers already know, what concerns remain, and what would help them make an informed decision.
A sales process built around answering those questions may be more useful than one focused primarily on persuasion.
Trust depends on what happens after the sale, too
Customers need confidence before making a purchase, but trust continues to develop through the experience that follows.
A business must deliver the product or service it promised. That's the foundation. But the way customers are treated also influences whether they return, recommend the company, or choose it again.
The conversation draws on the ideas in Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, particularly the opportunity to create memorable experiences by paying attention to how people feel.
That doesn't necessarily require extravagant gestures. It means considering the entire customer experience rather than treating the transaction as the end of the relationship.
Did the customer feel understood? Was communication clear? Did the business handle problems well? Was the experience consistent with what its marketing promised?
These questions matter because customers don't evaluate businesses only by what they deliver. They also remember what it was like to work with them.
A business that earns attention through marketing but loses trust through its customer experience has a problem that another advertising campaign won't solve.
Is Your Business Built to Support the Growth You Want?
The remaining areas turn the conversation inward.
Becoming the obvious choice isn't only about how customers perceive a business. It's also about whether the business has the leadership, systems, and financial foundation to deliver on its promises as it grows.
Growth doesn't have to mean more work
J.J. challenges business owners to reconsider how they're using their expertise.
"A lot of us are doing a lot of things in our business that we don't enjoy."
It's easy to assume that growing a business means taking on more customers, working longer hours, or expanding the team. But those aren't the only possibilities.
A consultant might package expertise into a group program. A service provider might develop a product that can be delivered repeatedly. Better systems might allow a company to serve customers more efficiently without increasing the workload at the same rate.
The question becomes how to reach more people, generate more revenue, and use time more effectively while creating a business that's enjoyable to operate.
Not every service can or should be turned into a scalable product. But examining how work is delivered can reveal opportunities that aren't obvious when the business owner is focused entirely on the next sale.
Failure only helps when something changes
Sonia compares learning from failure in business to strength training.
Muscles adapt when they're challenged. In business, difficult experiences can also reveal opportunities to improve—but only if leaders are willing to examine what happened.
A failed launch, disappointing customer experience, or ineffective process doesn't automatically make a business stronger.
The learning comes from understanding what went wrong and changing something as a result.
That might mean improving how customer complaints are handled, reconsidering an offer, or addressing a problem that employees have been raising for months.
The distinction matters because businesses can become very good at explaining their mistakes without becoming any better at preventing them.
Honest leadership makes improvement possible
Learning from failure becomes more difficult when leaders feel they must always appear competent, confident, and correct.
Sonia challenges the expectation that business leaders should never make mistakes or change their minds.
"If we are always the smartest people in the room, we have either hired the wrong people or we are not listening to the people that we've got in the room."
A leader who can't acknowledge flaws may unintentionally create an environment where employees hesitate to challenge decisions or raise concerns.
Over time, that can affect the entire culture.
Honest leadership requires more than inviting feedback. It requires being willing to hear something uncomfortable, accept accountability, and change behavior when necessary.
Those qualities also help businesses respond to the problems they discover through customer feedback, financial results, or unsuccessful initiatives.
Don't overlook the business fundamentals
Julie also emphasizes the less visible elements of running a healthy business: finances, organizational structure, hiring, and culture.
These may not generate the same excitement as a new marketing campaign, but they influence what a business can realistically accomplish.
Leaders need to understand their margins, pricing, and financial reserves. They need to consider whether their organizational structure supports their goals and whether they have the right people doing the right work.
As businesses grow, those needs change. A person who helped build the company at one stage may not have every skill required for the next.
AI may also create opportunities to access capabilities or improve processes that previously required more resources.
But new tools don't eliminate the need for sound business decisions. They make it even more important to understand which problems actually need solving.
You Don't Have to Fix All Nine Areas
Examining nine areas of business can create its own problem: suddenly there are nine more things to improve.
J.J. acknowledges that feeling. Even with his experience helping businesses grow, he can become overwhelmed thinking about everything that could be better.
But the purpose of this conversation isn't to create another overwhelming to-do list.
It's to help business owners recognize where their attention might matter most.
For one business, that could be positioning. The company may be investing in marketing without a clear understanding of its ideal customers.
For another, it could be sales. Customers may be arriving well-informed but encountering a process designed for people who haven't done any research.
Another business might need to strengthen its customer experience, develop better systems, or create a culture where employees feel comfortable speaking honestly.
All nine areas matter, but they don't necessarily deserve equal attention right now.
The more useful question is: Which part of your business is creating the greatest obstacle between the value you offer and the customers you're trying to serve?
That's a starting point for a more focused decision.
Take the Conversation Further: Become the Obvious Choice
Recognizing a challenge in your business is one thing. Deciding what to do about it can be much harder, especially when you're the person responsible for making the decisions.
That's why Dr. J.J. Peterson, Julie Firth, and Sonia Whittam created the Become the Obvious Choice events.
These experiences bring business leaders together to examine real challenges, exchange perspectives, challenge assumptions, and think through what comes next.
The idea isn't that one expert has every answer. It's that being in a room with thoughtful, experienced people can help you see possibilities you might have missed on your own.
You don't need to arrive with a perfect business or a fully formed plan. You can arrive with the challenge you're working through and a willingness to consider something different.
Explore the Become the Obvious Choice events and find an upcoming experience near you.
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What's Preventing You From Becoming the Obvious Choice?
[00:00:00] Become the Obvious Choice
Dr. J.J. Peterson
A lot of people haven't really thought about, how do I reach more customers in an easier way that's more fun? Yeah. Truthfully, like a lot of us are doing, like we're doing a lot of things in our business that we don't enjoy. Well, let's figure out how to scale what you already know and do with systems and in a way that you enjoy
Welcome to Badass Softie, a podcast for leaders who are unapologetically ambitious and want to lead with heart because you're allowed to chase big goals without losing what makes you human. I'm your host, Dr. JJ Peterson, and if you've been listening for a while on here, you have heard me talk about our Become The Obvious Choice events that I created with my friends Julie Forth and Sonia Widham from Story 22 Marketing Agency.
And, you know, the Become The Obvious Choice events are where business leaders spend a day working on decisions or problems that they keep circling, and work through it with a small group of experienced, generous, you know, people who know what it takes to build a business. There's honest conversations, and strategic challenges, and practical problem-solving, with the three of us and the whole group.
And we help people position their business so that they can become the obvious choice for their customers. That's why the name is called Become The Obvious Choice.
And this all grew out of a dream that the three of us had to bring together great people who are doing great things, basically badass softies, and put 'em in a room together so we could all help each other continue to get better, continue to lead, create new products, serve our customers well.
And we started by putting on an event last summer in London, and we had such a great time that people at the end of it were like, "Okay, so what's next? What are you guys doing next?" And we're like, "Mm, I don't, we don't have anything at the moment." But they wanted to keep going. And so Julie, and Sonia, and I started dreaming of what could be, and this event, the Become The Obvious Choice event, grew out of that.
But they live in London and I live in the US, and so it's, you know, putting on events every month didn't really seem super feasible at the time, even though we are putting on more. We wanted to help people keep growing and keep, you know, building and leading outside of those events.
So we started the Become the Obvious Choice podcast, and it's where the three of us share from our own experience about building our businesses and working with hundreds, if not thousands, of other businesses at this point.
And we also interview other people that we respect so we can learn from them as well. And last summer, we started this and we recorded season one in London and put it out there, and then this year, before our latest event, we recorded season two. Now, you can listen to season one wherever you find your podcasts, but I thought, I love the conversation so much, that I would bring season two to you here on Badass Softie.
So for the next six episodes, you are going to hear my conversations with Julie and Sonia. Some of it's just the three of us, and then we have some guests who are appearing in season two. And we talk about different areas of business you can shine your light on to help you become the obvious choice. You know, everything from, like, marketing and sales to customer service, and even starting a podcast.
So if you are working to try to help make you your customer's obvious choice, maybe you have a problem with marketing, maybe you have a problem with messaging or the courage to just put it out there, you're trying to figure out how to grow your business or get your thought leadership out there, then these six episodes that are coming up, they're for you.
Now, in this first episode, Julie and Sonia and I talk about the nine different areas that you can look at to help strengthen your connection with your customers. And we talk about how you don't have to focus on all nine at once, because oftentimes, you know, when you're running a business, you can get really overwhelmed trying to focus on everything at once.
But there are some areas that we talk about that maybe you haven't thought of, and I'm, I'm just so excited for you to hear these conversations and start thinking about areas of your business and leadership that you can focus on to make it even stronger. So here in this first episode, we are going to talk about the nine areas you need to focus on in your business to help you become the obvious choice.
So here is my conversation with Julie Firth and Sonia Widham from the Become the Obvious Choice podcast.
Sonia Whittam
Welcome to the Obvious Choice podcast, where we explore why some businesses make it and others don't. I'm Sonia Whitham, and I'm here today with Julie Firth and Dr. JJ Peterson. And today we're talking about what it really takes to become the obvious choice.
Because let's face it's never been easier to start a business, to create content, to market whatever you do, and look like everybody else. But with AI changing the way that we work, market, and communications, simply being good at what you do isn't enough anymore.
So we've identified nine key areas of business that we believe make the difference between just another option and becoming the business people know, love, and tell other people about.
From thought leadership to positioning to sales, customer experience, scale, and leadership, we're gonna explore the questions every business owner needs to be asking, and perhaps challenge a few assumptions of what actually makes a business successful. So let's get into it. JJ.
Julie Firth
Hello.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Hi. I'm so excited to be back with you guys.
Last season we were in London.
Sonia Whittam
We were.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And now we're in Nashville. Woo! Woo! I know. And, it was, you know, it was so fun, first off, to do this podcast together there, and really learn from so many different experts about what it means to be the obvious choice.
And then we put on an event that we walked people through their marketing and customer service, and it was so fun because at the end of people in the room, we were all looking at each other and like, "But do we have to go?"
Like Yeah.
Julie Firth
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it was, it was brilliant, wasn't it? Yeah, Like, the, how they all came together, it was-
[00:06:31] Why Standing Out Is Getting Harder
Dr. J.J. Peterson
It was. We all learnt from each other. We all, like... And so we just said, "Well, let's keep doing stuff." Like, it just doesn't have to be where all of a sudden, "Oh, we were together for two days in London, and bye bye," you know?
Bye. And because so much of what we found from people we're talking to is that there's so many businesses that are struggling with this, how to find their unique voice, how to stand out in the market. And so we decided, first, we're gonna do season two of the podcast- Mm... which is what this is. And then, and maybe a season three's coming up.
I don't know. We're not saying it yet. And Spoiler alert... spoiler. And then from there we decided also, hey, let's put on some events, some Become The Obvious Choice events, and the first one is actually, by the time people hear this it will be over, but it's happening in Nashville, and we're doing another one in December 4th, here in Nashville, and then there will probably be some other ones that are coming on the way.
Maybe one in London in June. Maybe we'll, we'll done... But it's, we're, we're, you know, putting it out there- Yeah... and see what's happened. But it, and the whole reason we decided to keep this going is 'cause we really found, like you said in the beginning, with AI and with so much more content that's out there, people can't consume all the content, so we're trying to choose who we listen to and how we listen and all those things.
And people are going, "Well, how do I sound different? How do I, like, stand out in the market?" And so many people are struggling with that.
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. And I think it's just sparked some really interesting conversations where we can explore some of the challenges that business owners are facing at the moment.
And, you know, that's what is exciting to us, isn't it?
That we get to kind of unpick some of those things that are happening and explore why people are doing really well in some areas and why, you know, maybe it's falling flat and not, you know, not really, kind of landing properly, or it feels that it's disconnected or not authentic, and how that is making a difference to businesses, business owners, but also, you know, buyers and customers, that they'process that they're going through are changing.
And I think, you know, that's a, it's a it it feels like we're in a really exciting space at the moment where everything is changing so quickly.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Oh, yeah.
Julie Firth
And we're super lucky to know some amazing people that are doing things differently- Yes.
Sonia Whittam
Yes...
Julie Firth
and that can challenge that. 'Cause, like, every day when we have conversations with people, like, oh, yes.
Yes. Yes, that's the answer to whatever the problem is. So I think that's been a part the reason that spurred this on in the first place. There is so much out there that people need to know about. Yeah. And hopefully that's gonna bring some of that to everyone.
Sonia Whittam
And I think, you know, we, Julie and I run a business together, and we have a WhatsApp group that we it's called Ideas.
We have lots we have about 700 WhatsApp groups. But one of these WhatsApp groups is called Ideas, and anytime we have something, we just chuck it into the Idea chat, and then once a month we'll sit down and we'll go through the Idea chat, and we'll, we'll pull apart, you know, what those ideas are. And what is fascinating to us is the speed in which-
ideas in the Idea chat just become obsolete. You know, so we'll have... You know, we might go back four weeks and we're like, "Actually, that doesn't work anymore.
That isn't, you know, isn't fit," because things are, you know, moving just so quickly and, you know, I think a lot of business owners are finding that, and then that is making them question how they show up in their business, in their workplace, to their employees, to their customers- Mm
you know, online.
Julie Firth
It's exhausting.
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. Yes,
Julie Firth
it is. Really
Sonia Whittam
exhausting, isn't it? and we, you know, we've, we've spoken about this, Julie and I, you know, kind of separately. Actually, it feels a little bit like the exhaustion is slightly- it's a different type of exhaust- exhaustion. You know, you might have seven different AI chats working at the same time.
You're not actually having to do the writing in the same way that you did before, but you're having to function in a different way to remember how you've prompted all those different chats and where I'm at and, you know, what's happening. So let's kind of pick apart the areas that we're gonna be focusing on.
[00:10:31] Thought Leadership in the Age of AI
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. So JJ, can we start with you? Let's think about thought leadership. What, why has thought leadership changed? What is, you know, what do business owners need to be really thinking about differently today than they might have done, you know, six months ago, a year ago?
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Yeah. I think this is, this is where a lot of it starts for me when it comes to positioning your business as an obvious choice because the amount of content that is out there and the amount that people have access to content out there and the amount that people are turning to AI for advice versus even another human is kind of insane.
And so it used to be that, specifically in, searching online, people searched for keywords in Google to pop up, and so if you were thinking, like, best plumber in Nashville, you type that into Google. If you had on your site best plumber in Nashville, then you are more likely to show up higher in that search.
Well now, more people are using AI as search, and what AI is looking for is thought leadership, experts in an area. So no longer can you just say best plumber in Nashville, which you still can, and it still matters. SEO still matters, and it still has an impact on search. However, now you have to show up articles.
You have to show up with, being on podcasts. You have to show up on, Instagram, and have a very specific perspective on your industry and on the way that things should be done. And so in thought leadership, you need to have a point of view. That's really what we believe as we're talking with a lot of businesses, is that AI doesn't have a point of view.
It borrows from other points of view that are out there.
Julie Firth
Yeah.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
So if you don't have a distinct point of view, or even if you're using AI to write emails and write blog posts and write social media posts, if you don't show up with a point of view, you're going to sound like everybody else.
So whether you are a leader who is wanting to write a book or be a speaker or be out there as a thought leader individually, or you're a founder of a company who wants to be positioned as a thought leader, or more importantly even, I think, if you are a business, how are you showing up as a thought leader?
And we're gonna talk about that in one of our first episodes of what it looks like to actually form a point of view and develop thought leadership. And if people are not thinking about that now, like where six months ago, a year ago, that wasn't really on the table for everybody, there might be a few select people, now everybody really needs to show up and have a perspective.
How are you doing business? How are you doing differently than other people? What value are you bringing to the table? And basically showing up in a way that helps your customers find you.
Julie Firth
With some practicals stacked in there.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Some practical. Yeah. Yeah. So we give really practical that comes from our own wisdom.
That's a spoiler alert-... that you're gonna learn about later, about the wisdom in this. And, you know, so we give some really... In all of these episodes, we're listening to some experts. We're bringing in some people who are gonna, we're gonna be interviewing who are bringing their own expertise.
We're bringing our expertise and wisdom and point of view to the table, and one of the things that because we believe that's so foundational to understanding who you are in the industry and helping your customers understand who you are in the industry, thought leadership is really important.
[00:13:58] Positioning Before Marketing
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And it really leads into some of the other things. And specifically, one of the other areas we think businesses really need to focus on and try to identify in themselves to become the obvious choice for their customers is their positioning. A lot of people think about that marketing is positioning in the marketplace, and it's not.
There's a difference between marketing and messaging and positioning. How would you describe positioning and what people need to think about for their business in positioning?
Julie Firth
Yeah, so, I think, this is something that Sonya and I talk about a lot with the, clients that, come to us. And generally, sort of some of the challenges that people have with their, with their business is they kind of understand...
They may not have done that for thought leadership work in the first place to then understand where they position themselves in the marketplace. So the challenge is then they've just kind of gone straight to market without thinking through who am I for? How do I... Who else has sat in that area?
Who am I specifically focusing on? And then how do I position the business as the ideal solution to that? It's just a, "I've got a nice product. I'm going to go and sell it." And then somehow something's not working there you know?
So, that's definitely a real, a key, a key factor that we think is often missing, particularly when you, like some of the conversations we have with people that work with marketing agencies, they'll go out, they'll ask them for, "Can you look at my social media?
Can you look at my SEO?" Or whatever it is. But there isn't any kind of, oversight, like from the top that's actually looking Who are you, who are you speaking to those people? Why are you speaking to those people? And some of the challenge is often as a business we want the business to grow, and to grow in whatever direction that is.
That needs to be a different audience perhaps to the ones that we're reaching at the moment. So that whole conversation really links nicely into the thought leadership. You understand who you are to then understand who you're for, and the positioning kind of falls nicely into that.
Sonia Whittam
And, sorry, go, so how then does that positioning differ from marketing?
What is, what does positioning mean versus kind of marketing?
Julie Firth
Well, different people have different opinions on this. For me, this is about making sure that your business is attracting the right people. So the marketing for me is more about how you attract them. The positioning is who you're attracting in the first place, and positioning your business so that you are attractive to those people initially, and that pulls back to is your product right for those people?
Has it answered all the questions that they've got? Is it actually a problem that they need to solve? And we've seen this time and again, that people position their business, their offer, to a problem that people actually don't even have. But there will be someone out there that does have that problem, and that's where they need to position themselves, and the positioning could also pull into the messaging.
Are you speaking in the right language for the people that you need to reach? So I think it's a... I think positioning for me really links strongly to the identity side of the leader, then the business, and then the marketing is the tactical approach in terms of how you then reach those people successfully.
Which is really good. Does anyone think anything different?
Dr. J.J. Peterson
No, no. I agree. And I think positioning is you're, you're identifying what is the value that you and your product brings that will connect with the right customer. Yeah. Right? So really is customer-focused, thinking on what they want, and then what needs to be said in a way and positioned- To make you the obvious choice for them.
Julie Firth
Yeah.
[00:17:44] Choose the Right Marketing Strategies
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And I think, you know, we kind of then you've already led into, but the third thing that we talk about, so once people identify their thought leadership, their unique point of view, and then the position they want, the messaging that's going out to the market and who it's going to, then the third thing that we tell people that you need to look at to become the obvious choice is your marketing.
And what's interesting is most people often start with their marketing. They're like, "Oh, let's look at our," like you said, "Let's look at our social media. Let's look at emails. Let's look at our website." And they don't ask those earlier questions. And again, going back to that thing six months ago, a year ago, that probably was a decent way of approaching it.
But now you have to differentiate. So you have to start with the first two and then lean into marketing. So for marketing, how should people think about, like, what are some things they need to be thinking about in the marketing space in order to become the obvious choice for customers?
Julie Firth
Well, I think the first challenge that we've got is marketing is changing so rapidly at the moment, it's really difficult for people to keep up.
And then there tends to be this, temptation to just do all the stuff, to have a scattergun approach to marketing. And we get told from all these different influences, we've gotta be doing TikToks. We've gotta be doing email marketing. We've gotta be doing this, that, and the other. Actually, for, that business, maybe they only need to be doing networking if that's right for their audience, if that's where they're gonna find them.
But people often don't kind of take a step back and have that helicopter view, and it's... Part of our approach is always to have a very holistic view to the marketing situation. What's right? So we've got the thought leadership. We've now got the positioning, and then what marketing tactics are 100% right for that particular business?
So ignore the noise out there at the you should be doing this, and you should be doing that. There's only ever a limited budget when it comes to marketing. We know that people don't have this bottomless pit. So every penny or every cent has to count in terms of where we're putting our efforts, whether that's time or whether that's, ad spend or whatever.
We need to know that it's going in the right places. So part of that, conversation that we're gonna have is about how do we, how do we actually work out what is 100% right so that we're, every penny we spend is being spent in the absolute right way possible.
[00:20:04] How AI Is Changing Customer Buying Habits
Sonia Whittam
And I think that leads really nicely into kind of the change of behaviors with customers as well, that actually- We've changed the way that we buy things.
the, process that we go through to buy something is, wildly different even again to six months ago. So, you know, people are going to their AI, and they're asking longer questions to AI. Who's the best person to do this? Is this worth it? where can I find the thing that does X, Y, and Z?
So we're consulting with our AI even before we're in a position to, you know, speak to somebody or make a purchase online, and I think the challenge is that, businesses with sales haven't evolved their sales process in the same rate that we've evolved our buying process.
And so the challenge for a lot of businesses that we speak to, and a lot of business owners, is that they are still spending time trying to persuade customers, but actually, the reality of it is that customers are actually looking for confidence now.
They're looking to build trust. They're looking to know that I'm not gonna make a mistake by buying this, and so I'm gonna do my research first. And I think if you... You know, we quite often talk about this in our workshops, that if you kind of think about, you know, maybe booking a holiday 10 or 15 years ago, you might have gone into a travel agency and been consulted with, "You know, I've got this week in May.
Where could I go to? Where's nice? I want some sunshine. I want a beach." And the travel agent would've given you some options to go through. Now, if we were doing that same thing now, I've, I've researched the hotel. I know which wing I wanna be in the hotel. I want... I know, you know, that I want to, do Pilates in the morning and have a, you know, a, a mojito at lunchtime by this particular pool.
I've got all that information. I'm far more detailed in my research and my ability to research, and I think the, you know, the sales process, again, is something we're gonna be talking about quite heavily, about how you then build the response that customers are looking for to build that trust, to build that confidence that you are the right place to do business.
Julie Firth
Because if I've done all of that research, the... There's a figure, isn't there? Is it about 75% of the research is now done by the buyer before they Before they speak to-... want to-
Sonia Whittam
Yeah...
Julie Firth
speak to them. So there's also, like, your marketing has to work harder to have done that sales process for you prior to them speaking to you-
Sonia Whittam
Well, not even speaking
Julie Firth
to you-
Sonia Whittam
And Not even
Julie Firth
going to your Or contacted.
Yes. Yeah... They
Sonia Whittam
might be going to your website. Yeah. They might not have even hit your website- Yeah... until they've already done
Julie Firth
that research. Because they've done that in their AI. So when they get there, then that... When they actually get onto a sales exchange, that has to then work so much harder than it would've Yeah
you know, two, three years ago even.
[00:22:44] Building Trust Through CX
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. And that links us then to building trust- Yeah... and how do we do that, JJ?
Dr. J.J. Peterson
So, you know, that's, it's why we kind of have it this way, is it's starting with thought leadership, and then positioning, and then where are you showing up in the marketing, and then closing people in the sales.
And then the reality is now you actually have to deliver the product. And that's That helps. So there's a couple, yeah. And what people are looking for is what I'm buying, does it match what I was told in the marketing and sales? And if you do that, if you actually deliver with high quality, with authority and expertise, and do it in a way that makes people feel good, they're going to then talk about you to other people.
So when we talk about building trust, what we're really talking about here is the expertise to deliver. So how do you show up as a business to deliver the product? And then customer service. How do people feel when they go through the experience? And now, you know, again, at this point, we can order something on Amazon, and it'll be in our door in a couple hours.
Here in Nashville, we have a we have a warehouse, and I can order something right now, it will be here before dinner. So I can buy things quickly. I get them, and so then brick-and-mortar places or hotels or restaurants, right? They, if they really want people to keep showing up, or if I want somebody to pay me a lot of money to come in and work with their company in strategy, they could go to AI for information.
If I'm gonna show up and work with them, I need to deliver something with a higher expertise that comes from my own thought leadership and my own perspective, and then I need to do it in a way that everybody leaves feeling empowered, connected, strong, and that they had a great experience. 'Cause otherwise they can just go to AI.
Mm-hmm. If you just want a better website, go to AI. Yeah. Because it's gonna be cheaper than me, I'll tell you that. Yes. It's not gonna be as good, and you're not gonna enjoy the experience. You're not gonna leave with as much confidence, and you're not gonna have the tools to keep going. But is it gonna be cheaper?
Sure. So when we're talking about building trust, there's a couple elements there. It's delivering the product with excellence and developing products that people actually want, and then secondly, how is that delivered in a way that makes people be able to trust you enough to tell other people about it?
So we often work with customers when we, you know, all three of us are certified in Will Guidara's Unreasonable Hospitality. So we talk to companies how it's no longer good just to deliver a great product. You have to do it in a way that actually makes people wanna refer you and stay connected and loyal to you.
And the best part about that is it's not just a strategic advantage in this space. It's a lot more fun. Yeah, yeah. When you actually- Yeah... serve people well and care for people, you and your entire team Love their job more. And Brings the
Julie Firth
joy back into the business It
Dr. J.J. Peterson
really does. Does it?
Yeah.
Julie Firth
Yeah.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
It really does. And so, you know, there's all these elements and we're, we're naming nine of them, but each of these, it's not like all of a sudden we need to focus on all nine, but we kind of think of this in terms of after you have some of this foundation, where do you need to shine the spotlight in your business and go, "Maybe for me, the sales process needs to look different.
Maybe for me, where I show up in marketing needs to be different. Maybe for me, where I need to show up or focus and shine the light is in the customer service and building trust." Start. And then maybe it's in the products you actually create and the systems you use, and that would be what we would say scaling.
[00:26:18] Scaling Your Expertise
Dr. J.J. Peterson
'Cause maybe you're an individual person who actually works by yourself, but you wanna get more clients without just charging more or working harder What we look at is, to help people scale, is what are the systems that are in place that help you scale?
And then what are the products and the packaging that you, the way you package your products so that not only you're meeting your right customers' needs, you're connecting with your customers in the right way, but you're able to scale.
So for instance, if, you know, somebody is like, "All right. Well, I do consulting one on one." Great. That's great. You make good money doing that. But is there a way to group that into group coaching? Can you do an online course?
What if we developed a keynote that could get you out there, that you're on stage so you're actually getting money for speaking, it's not just lead generation, but you're getting paid to speak, and then have a product that you can turn around to sell people after you get off that stage?
A lot of people haven't really thought about, how do I reach more customers in an easier way that's more fun? Yeah. Truthfully, like a lot of us are doing, like we're doing a lot of things in our business that we don't enjoy. It's like, well, let's look at how you can make more money, be more efficient with your time, and in a way that you enjoy.
Well, let's figure out how to scale what you already know and do in a way, with systems and with products. And so we often will tell somebody, "Well, what if... Have you thought about this? Have you thought about this?" Because when you do that, when you think about packaging your product or service in a different way, you're actually gonna be able to reach more customers in more efficient way, and you're gonna enjoy your, life more.
And so that's where those are kind of some of the other things, but then also, then in the customer service side of things, you know, we talk about developing packages that we deliver and delivering it with excellence, but sometimes we get it wrong, and most people don't think about that ahead of time.
[00:28:13] Learning From Failure
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And so one of the areas that we think people can shine a light on is what happens when you fail.
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. And I think that's, there's a couple of things here about the, about failure that I think are important. You know, failure can be an incredibly powerful thing if we are willing to change our behavior off the back of failure.
So if we just, you know, we talk about working to failure, and actually, you know, we... A, a good place to kind of think about this is if you, if you're lifting weights. You are training to failure. You know, that is a sign that when you're, you know, in the middle of your, you know, your routine that particular day, you're, you're trying to make that last rep be almost at failure.
You, you know, you're having to really dig deep. Like that
Dr. J.J. Peterson
10th rep should- To... Yeah... you
Sonia Whittam
shouldn't
Dr. J.J. Peterson
be able to do
Sonia Whittam
11. No, exactly. Yeah. You should, you know, should be to failure. And that's a good thing, because you're teaching your body this, you know, response to a stimulus that you're giving, and I think that we need to think about In our business, you know, if we fail in our business but we don't adapt and change our behavior, then that's a problem.
But if we take a failure and then we you know, we modify what we've done because of that failure to improve the experience, then that can be a really powerful thing. And I think that actually the fear of failure is actually what holds a lot of people Mm... from doing something really awesome and, you know, audacious because they're worried about getting it wrong.
[00:29:38] Honest Leadership and Accountability
Sonia Whittam
Yeah. Yeah. and I think, you know, we're definitely gonna explore that a little bit more, how you incorporate failure into positive practice for your business and for yourself, and that kind of leads really nicely into the next piece, which is about honest leadership.
And again, the reason why I think that leads into that is a lot of times we are putting on this facade of getting everything right all the time, and I can't get anything wrong, and, there's a perception of me as a leader not being able to make a step mistake or not being able to be somebody who can modify my behavior.
And the challenge as a business leader from being seen as being perfect all the time and not making mistakes is that it's difficult then for people to challenge behavior and culture that is built up inside a business. And I think as a leader, you know, we should have this ability to flaws and to be held accountable and to be open to new ways of doing things.
Because if we are always the smartest people in the room, we have either hired the wrong people or we are not listening to the people that we've got in the room. And that, I think, is, you know, a paradigm shift for a lot of people, that they think as a business leader they need to know everything.
And actually, there's an opportunity for us to be able to be more vulnerable in particular areas and still hold onto that authority of leadership and being able to lead people moving forward.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And also having really hard conversations. Like, that's a part of it, right? -huh. And that's part of, like, leading from the failure piece is, like, if you can't honestly acknowledge the failure, you're never gonna learn from it. Yep,
Sonia Whittam
yep.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
And that's an area that people need to look at, 'cause that may be stopping them from growing and becoming the obvious choice, is if you can't have honest conversations within your organization, candid conversations, you're in trouble.
And that also leads to kind of the final thing that we really talk through with a lot of our clients, is what we're kind of calling business strengths.
Julie Firth
Yeah.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
That... So we've got the positioning and the thought leadership and marketing and sales and building trust with customer service and scaling and even learning from the failure and creating a structure around how we respond to that and having honest conversations, but then there's just kind of the structure of the business.
The
Julie Firth
stuff.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
The stuff.
[00:32:02] Strengthening the Business Behind the Brand
Julie Firth
All the stuff- All the-... that sits in the back where- Yeah. The business stuff. Okay, so I've written this down because there's a there's an awful Yeah... that goes under this. But I think something that you were just saying then about, the honest convers- the difficult conversations sits right in the middle of this, and that's culture.
So what's the culture? If you think about all of the other things that we talked about, the way that you approach your customers, the way that you communicate with them, the the way that you're leading as well, that then kind of sets a bit of a blueprint, if you like, for what your values are.
And then what sits underneath that? What's the culture that you're, you're creating? Or you don't create a culture's a reflection of what's happening in the business. So definitely culture. Culture's a massive topic in on its own anyway, but we will be exploring how the influences of you as a leader then kind of pull back to your culture and why that matters.
one of the other things I think is funny, not so funny when it goes wrong, is financials So many people we speak to, you say, "So, it, you know, what'what's your profit margin?" or, "How have you tested your pricing?" Or, "How many months left have you got in your, like, reserves?" And it's like, "I'm sorry?"
Like, it astounds me how so many businesses run on a day-to-day basis not having any clue actually what's happening with their finances at all in terms of how robust they are, where their next move is, and why that next move makes financial sense as well. So that definitely something to cover there.
Structure is another one. So, one of the things that, we talk about a lot, which pulls back to the EOS model, is that have you got the right people in the right seats? And it's been really interesting over the last year or so, to see so many, organization charts suddenly have AI seats that popped up for particular specific roles there.
But what AI has done is actually broadened, our vision for who we can have in a company. Whereas we've been restricted to I can only have 10 people 'cause that's all I've got budget for, now we can actually say, "Well, actually, who is my dream team? What are the skills that I wish I had but I've never been able to have up until this point?"
So when you then talk about that structure and who needs what the roles that you need within that, then that just puts a totally different slant on what's possible for your business, and that, I think that's a really exciting one.
[00:34:39] Where Your Business Needs Attention
Julie Firth
And the last one is, your next hire. So it kind of goes back to that culture again, and how do you bring in the right people?
When you're thinking about scaling, who do you need to scale? Because sometimes it's not the obvious person you're thinking of. And Sonia, you were saying about how do you make sure the people that you're hiring are smarter than you, and how they're gonna take you to the next level as well, and the rest of your team.
and I don't think that's always an easy one to navigate. So, we'll be talking through some of, you know, how you need to think strategically about your hires in terms of your long-term business- business growth, and how do you make sure that you're not unhiring them very quickly.
Sonia Whittam
Yeah.
Unhiring. Yeah. Yeah. Is that like you, is that because you can't say, you know, you're not allowed to say dead in, like, Instagram posts. They say, "I've unalived them." You're unhiring them.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Unhire them. Don't wanna get flagged with unhiring and firing. Oh, my gosh. Don't get
Sonia Whittam
unhired.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Well, you know, we just kinda threw a bunch at people.
Yeah. You know? and that, this is just an introduction. This is just kind of the introduction to the whole thing. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. We've got a lot here. But what, and in this series, we're gonna be hitting on a number of these things.
But what really we do is when somebody comes to a Become the Obvious Choice event- They are probably, there's something in their business that fits in one of these nine categories that they're struggling with, whether that's to grow or move forward or relieve stress off of their plate.
Sometimes it's just making a decision when it comes to business structure or marketing, having people around them who can actually speak into that. So at our Become the Obvious Choice events, what we do is we curate the people in the room. We bring in a group of incredible people who've had success, who are doing great things, have a lot of wisdom, and then we help each other solve problems in one of these areas.
And we have expertise that we're bringing to the table through years of business ownership and marketing and working with the, some of the largest companies in the world. But also, we bring this room together of kind, humble people who are brilliant, who are helping each other solve problems. And we really have found- You wanna grow, you wanna become the obvious choice, it's probably tweaking one of these areas.
And so in this podcast, and probably in the next few series, that may be or may be not coming-... we're gonna be discussing all of them. And in fact, during this, we're bringing on somebody, we're bringing on our friend Kyle Willis, who's gonna be talking specifically about some stuff with business strength, like your next hire.
Maybe that's a, an executive assistant that can free you up. We're gonna be talking to Sarah Scott, who's gonna be talking to us about podcast strategy, and in the marketing space, how to show up and have your perspective out there and be known for something. We're gonna be talking with Shel Gower, who's really talking about leadership and vision and marketing and alignment with the communication.
So we bring people in in these episodes, experts outside of ourselves to speak to these, and then we're gonna be speaking about some of these. And we do it in this series and in the next few series, and then we also do it at these events.
And we will be launching very soon, this is the first time we're saying this, we're gonna be launching a mastermind afterwards for people who are looking to walk through these nine areas and help them actually discover what are the things that are holding you back in your business from becoming the obvious choice from your customers.
So I'm so excited. We're back together in person. Yay. Yay. And then we'll be, you know, I don't know, I prefer maybe going to London than Nashville, but we're here, you know. So we're, but we're here. We're so excited.
We're gonna be bringing in guests, and our hope is that through this series, and if you come to one of our events, which you can go to becometheobviouschoice.com, which is really become dash the dash obvious dash choice dot com.
Yep. Yeah. So there's a dash in between all of them, but it's Become The Obvious Choice with dashes in between all of them. The, this'll be in the notes. But you can go there and learn more about our, the events that we do and the mastermind that was coming up. But really, in this podcast, we wanna give you some things to think about in some of these areas that can really help you become the obvious choice.
So, I'm excited. I'm so excited you guys are here. I'm ready to do this.
Sonia Whittam
Let's do it. So thanks for listening to episode one, season two of Become the Obvious Choice, and we're, really excited you're back here with us so we can help you become just that.
Dr. J.J. Peterson
Oh, I love that conversation. And I think for all of us, you know, even myself as I was listening through that conversation again, that I think sometimes I get so overwhelmed with everything that I have to be working on.
I have to fix everything all at once. But if I choose one, and I start thinking about it from the perspective of what's one area I can kind of just shine a light on and start thinking about so that I can serve my customers better, but also so that I can just show them, "Hey, if you are my right customer, I should be the obvious choice for you."
And not out of arrogance, and not out of, you know, being cocky or putting anybody else down, but the truth is, I think there are people who need to hear what I have to say, and it can help them. And if I can get my message right, my IP right, I can get my customer service right, I can get my business built the right way, then more people can be served, and more people can be helped.
And I believe the same thing for you as well. So maybe pause at the end of this episode and just think about what's one area that you would like to start thinking about that you can actually kind of just tweak and grow and help you become the most obvious choice for your customers. In the rest of the episodes, we're gonna continue to talk about very specific areas.
In fact, next week what we're gonna talk about is your thought leadership, your IP, your voice, or your point of view. How you can actually show up as yourself in a way that helps people say, "Oh, I need that." So keep listening, keep thinking about your business, keep growing, and keep becoming the obvious choice with your customers.
So let me leave you with this. May you get clearer about what you do, braver about talking about it, and more intentional about building something that can actually support the life you want. May you trust yourself enough to make the decisions that move you forward, even when you don't have every answer yet.
And may you be known for something that matters, serve people in a way they remember, and have the courage to become more of what you already are. Because we believe you can be both ambitious and kind, fun and driven, powerful and deeply human. Your leadership can inspire, your success can have soul, and your ambition can make space for everyone.
That's why you're a badass softie and the obvious choice. We'll see you next week. Thanks for listening. Follow and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Badasssoftie.com is crafted by Fruitful Design and Strategy.