How often do “we” hide behind the word “we”? Why do “we” do this?
Often times for small businesses we tend to use the word “we” because we are scared to admit that we’re a small business. “Scared” might not be the best word for this, rather it’s that we want to appear to be big enough to serve those larger clients. To be more specific, I’m talking about when a client (or even a prospect) has a question and we reply saying something like “Oh, we’ll get right on that” or “we’ll” do this / do that etc. When really, that “we” is “me”.
I used to do this all the time! It’s funny actually because I’ve always used the fact that we are a small family / woman-owned business (ValueBP Marketing Group) to our advantage when prospecting. However, once we get an opportunity going I put on this “front” (for lack of a better term) that we are a large company. You know at the end of the day, people appreciate a personal touch. All “we” does it make you look like you don’t really care and that your going to pass it on to your team and at that point where’s the reassurance?! I want my clients (and prospects) to feel reasurred. I want them to know that when they come to us, we are going to get back to them not in a timely manner but get back to them immediately. I want my clients to know that I CARE. I want my clients to know that if there’s something pressing I am going to handle it.
Try replacing “we” with “I” for the next few days and see how it feels. I think you’ll definitely notice a different. I love finding little ways to mix up normal “routines” and one of the reasons why is because it puts you in a conscious state of living where you are constantly thinking about how you can improve.