Peter Winick explains why thought leaders focus too much on end users and ignore the chooser, the person with budget authority who actually decides to hire them. Spend time understanding what the chooser needs, what results they expect, and what risks keep them up at night.
Hi, it's Peter Winick. I'm the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. And today I've got a question for you. And it's a question that comes out of some of the work I've been doing over the last several weeks with a few clients. And it's about knowing the difference between who chooses and who uses. Let me unpack that a little bit. As thought leaders, many folks are really, really focused on the end user. Who is the individual that is going to be participating in the program, working with the videos, the audience member in a keynote, etc. They're the user, and they're really, really, really important. But they're typically not the chooser. The chooser is the person, the individual, the sponsor, the client, etc., that owns the budget, that makes the decision to bring you in, that is making the investment. of the firm's resources, as well as the decision to allocate people's time to dive into your work. And what I found is most thought leaders spend a little too much time focusing on the user in terms of their needs, their wants, making sure they have an amazing experience. And I'm not saying to not do that, but I think you need to reallocate some of your time and say, what are the needs of the chooser? What are they looking for? What are the outcomes that they're hoping that I can achieve? What are the risks that they have to deal with in order to bring me in? What can I do to make them comfortable to make the right choice to bring me in to work with them? So anyway, think about a little bit. Would love to hear your thoughts relative to where you spend your time thinking about the chooser or the user. Thank you.
