This seems like a very simple question to answer, but you might be surprised to find that so many individuals and firms struggle to answer this question with any degree of certainty or clarity.
There are two key reasons that create this lack of clarity as you try to answer this question:
You don’t often pause and reflect on what you are doing well (you might just spot the things that aren’t going so well). And, your own biases and assumptions kick in without you having clear insight.
Perhaps a better question to ask ourselves would be: How do you know what you do well?
This will help give you a better insight and encourage you to think about your thinking!
Here are some of the key indicators and areas you might need to explore to get your deeper understanding and insight:
Reflection
Take time each week, month, and quarter, both individually for your own reflection and for that of your firm. Ask yourself what are doing extraordinarily well, and make sure you capture this. Keeping a simple written log of your successes can really help (especially when you are having a challenging day or week) to keep these wins to the front of your mind.
Figures and results
Not just any old figures and results, but the ones that mean something important to you and your clients. Look beyond simple things like revenue and turnover. Look at net promoter score (NPS) and client advocacy. Look at how many of your clients refer others, or give you a testimonial, a case study or quote for the website. The figures won’t tell you everything, but they will give you the start of a very important story to explore and understand.
Others telling you?
We love feedback! Feedback will help you repeat successes and improve areas that aren’t working so well. If you want an open culture of feedback, take the lead and make the change. When you start to give high quality feedback (we often call this evidential feedback, where emotion is removed and real examples are used) to those around you, it helps encourage those around you to start doing the same.
You knowing you have done a good job?
One area that can really help you is when you really understand your personal strengths. This can come from your log of success as well as you being attentive in the moment to the simple things that you do. When you are attentive to what you do, you see the positive effects on those around you (colleagues, clients and your network). It’s great to have a clear answer to the question “What do you personally do well?”. It gives you confidence and clarity in your work.
Clients, suppliers and your network telling you that you have done a good job?
Those around you are an important source of feedback and development. Have you ever had positive feedback and brushed it off with a sentence starting with “Oh, that was nothing, I just…”. Rather than responding this way, how about just saying “Thank you for noticing” and really pay attention to what they say and why they have said it. Their feedback should be received like a gift, one that gives you insight and learning over a longer time period.
One final thing to think about when getting feedback from clients. Many firms seek out those clients that they didn’t win. In my experience this is ok, but you might not learn as much as you hope. How about understanding the clients you do win. Getting your clients on board then investing some time really exploring why they chose you and what motivated them to buy from you and not from someone else. You will very often find rich and deep learning about yourself and your firm here. Be attentive to everything they say, dig and explore the language they use to describe you and fully understand this. This gives you something meaningful to share with potential new clients.
However you do it, hopefully you can se there is a great deal of value in being able to articulate your key strengths individually and the key strengths of your firm. The confidence that shines through when you answer that question effectively will be clear for all to see.
