How To Create The Initial Groundwork For Your Membership – Season 2 | Mastermind Series

Melissa: So we're going to hop over now to Dr. Sean. 

Sean: good to see you again, Paul, conversations with you've always been very enlightening. I'm always trying to take many notes but my, my question is, I'm still trying to figure out how to create my membership if that makes sense.

What I want to do is I want to help leadership develop conflict management strategies.

And at first, my problem was, is I wanted to go into emotional intelligence and I found it was so muddy because so many people have such a different interpretation of what that is, that it was not helping my case at all. So through the advice of a friend of mine, he said focus on conflict because conflict is a hot topic.

Conflict is, is still something that is that you can integrate elements from ETQ elements, from communication elements, from personality, which are all things that I want . To do. But I find myself back at the drawing board now with a conflict theme. Okay. How do I, how do I build a membership around that concept?

Because so many people can come in at different skill levels or different ability, levels of managing conflict of being able to have that inner personal communication. I still think that there's a lot of value in, in developing a membership. And I, I can't, I mean, I'm so dedicated to doing a membership if it kills me, but I just want to make sure I do it right too, you know, but I feel like I've been, I've been sitting here this, you know, kind of this waffling back and forth, and I, and I feel like I need to do something.

But trying to figure out. How can I get this set up? How can I at least get initial groundwork going? And I, and I totally understand I'm going to have to adjust. I'm going to have to make pivots in there as people use certain words or certain themes come out that are, that are going to be more necessary, you know, rather than what's in between my ears.

I understand . That, where I'm trying to go at is it's just getting that initial to use your word wireframe put together. So that way I can get that momentum starting. 

Paul: Yeah. Well, Heather has her hand raised, so we'll go with Heather first. Thanks for the question. 

Heather: Just a clarifying question. When you're talking about serving in this area of conflict, are you targeting individuals? Are you targeting HR directors? Are you targeting B2B companies? Because that matters. 

Sean: Looking at leadership, small to, medium size businesses there developing teamwork model, ultimately like, you know, the, with the C-suite or with the management team, kind of that structure, if it was a small business and we're looking at the boss and all the employees at dental office chiropractic office, something like that, where the whole team is 10 people then maybe the whole office.

But if it weren't talking medium-sized business, I'd want to keep it to more than 12, like Patrick Lencioni, you know, if you're familiar with his stuff, any more than 12 and you have a group, you don't have a team. And so I really want to have a focus on the team size. 

Heather: Okay. So your membership is going to be for the members of a leadership team within the organizations.

Sean: It could be. Yeah. Maybe I need to get a little clearer on, on how that, that gets structured, but for conflict to exist, there's gotta be two parties two or more. And so, that's where I'm trying to sit there and figure out, okay. if we're dealing with conflict, where is it going to have the most impact and within an organization that's at the top now, can I do one-on-one coaching with an individual to help them develop specific modalities and specific approaches?

Absolutely. But that's, that's an aside when I'm, when I'm talking about the membership, I want to take that to more of a group type setting with the intention of maybe I might even be able to develop some, some training and coaching opportunities. As they see the value of it, if that makes sense. 

Heather: I think I might need to ask my question in a different way, who is putting their credit card number into, by this membership.

Sean: And that's, that's probably the bigger question that I need to answer because if I my, my initial gut response right out of the beginning is, is the business owner. You know, the, the president, the CEO, , the person that's leading the team would be, yes, that that's who I would initially respond to.

But I would say as a secondary, anybody who wants to have improved abilities, Cause it can also set you up to move up the corporate ladder the more you're able to deal with these kinds of situations

Heather: It can, but those are two different people that you're talking to and you have to have your messaging honed in one direction.

And it doesn't mean you can't. I mean, look, how many memberships, Paul and Melissa run, it doesn't mean you can't do something else later. That's targeted to, to that different route, but you have to figure out first who it is. You're serving exactly who's buying because you can't even frame your deliverables or frame your messaging to get people to the point that they want the deliverables until you know exactly who.

Sean: No great point. 

Paul: And that's going to carry you through from the beginning through to the end, that's gonna help you with the messaging, the copywriting. That's gonna help you with identifying your audience to target, to begin with. That's going to help you with understanding how to create the offer because when you don't have it honed in on who is, because if you think about it from a, from a peer to peer standpoint, like an employee in an environment that is entering into a conflict situation and is going on Google and searching for a solution for themselves.

They're going to language things way differently, because they're doing it from their own personal perspective and point of view. So they're going to also want languaging, that's going to resonate with them as an employee. That's going into a hostile situation or a work environment where they feel harassed or they feel discriminated against, or like they're, they're dealing with in first-person right.

Where somebody that's in a leadership role or that's in a different position is looking at it like, how do I create harmony within a work environment where I do have different personalities, different backgrounds, different belief systems, like there's a different set of challenges that they have to create a ebb and flow in the environment. 

And how do they go through conflict resolution in a leadership role where they don't expose themselves or the company like, so their languaging, their solution, the offer is very, very different in that position. if I'm wrong , Heather let me know, but I think that's also like complimenting what Heather is saying, because you're looking at a totally different, you know from nuts to bolts from the beginning to the end.

And if you don't have that clarity, then what'll happen is you'll never know what, how to build the course or the membership, because if you don't even know who you're talking to or whose problem you're trying to solve, you know, because going to, from a leadership standpoint, if that's the person that's investing to solve a problem, then you are talking more team building, you are talking more corporate structure and more corporate problem solving.

Than if you're talking to the end-user they're again, first person, they're looking at it from a whole different lens. And that could, that could even be like, how do I approach a boss? That is the conflict, you know? You know what I mean? Like, instead of like, I can't even get a raise, let alone, like they, they talk down to me every day or something, you know?

So there's a whole different narrative. So I definitely think you'd have to, you have to figure out what, who, this is not. So that you can get clarity on what it is you are delivering. And that doesn't mean later on, you can't have ancillary or reposition it to the other people, but you won't even know what the deliver.

You won't know what the offer are. You won't know who to target, like all that is just going to be all over because what a lot of us do this to ourselves, because our fear is that we're eliminating people or opportunity. And then what happens because we try to put everybody in the same bucket. We don't resonate with anybody at all.

Sean: I agree with what you're saying. And I think that's kind of part of the area where I've been struggling is, is a. Not wanting to not include, cause I see the value, you know, across a broader audience, but I, you know, I've just been, you know and, and to be clear, I don't want it to be in a business environment.

Paul: I mean, absolutely my focus is on a business environment, so I probably should just focus on the CEO or the small business leader , and be very, very clear on that. 

Would you recommend, taking it down to even to say, small businesses of 20 or less or fewer employees or deciding on medium size organizations. Would you say that that additional level of clarity would be needed or because for me, you know, the, the other aspect that you talked about when you talk about from an individual perspective to me, that's that, that sounds more like life coaching, you know, and, and my, my focus is really from a business perspective.

So definitely no, I want to do that, but how hard would it be too far? You know, if I could just add that addendum to that question. 

Heather: So I saw Heather shaking her head in agreement, everything as well. Again, a lot of us fear that a lot of our, all of our decisions are permanent and it's not like we're on national news and we have Kim Kardashians following where we say something and then like the entire world knows it's on TV tonight that we took this position.

Paul: So it's something like you can purposely strict, restricted down. So you can be very clear to who you're talking about, put it in the market. And if all of a sudden you're like, you start talking to people like, well, I have 21 people. So I thought this wasn't for me, you know, you, you could then purposely just like loosen a piece here or there. 

But whole idea though, is when we try to be all things to all people, we become Walmart or Amazon, and it's all about price and it's all about becoming a commodity. And when you niche in and you specialize, that's when the price goes up, you know, that's when you're more clear, people know exactly what they're going for, what they're after, and that helps you positioning as well.

So I would just say narrowing initially it doesn't necessarily mean that your solution can help other people, but what it is is you want to use your marketing to be the, the circle in the middle of the bullseye. Because when you're very clear on that, what happens, you're going to attract the other rings of people that are going to be just slightly outside of what the bullseye is, but because you market to the bullseye, you're going to get the peripheral people as well.

And Doreen has her hand up. 

Doreen: Yeah. I just wanted to share with Sean you know, I think having those conversations with people that, you know in the C-suite already, and the people that you think are, are the people you want to be working with.

And the people that, you know, you can positively impact, right? Ask them for feedback and start the conversation, or post something on LinkedIn that you were thinking about this. And you'd like to have a dialogue with 10 people and, you know, encourage people to reach out to you, you know, cause their language is really going to help out with.

Sean: And I agree with that. And the only thing is about LinkedIn. I've done that a little bit and I get other people that want to help like coaches or they want to help, you know, they're, they're like other people that, and so I need to be a little bit more directive. I love the idea though, and, and definitely need to pursue that. I just need to be a little more intentional. 

Doreen: Exactly. Don't be afraid to within the post state, I know the direction I'm heading and am looking for a little bit of feedback, but no coaching needed at this point in time kind of thing, you know, you'll find your words. Absolutely. 

Paul: And if any of these real quick, if any of those people that do raise their hand like that, and there are other coaches, you probably should be following them just to see what their messaging is.

Cause they might be further along and they might be more in tuned with how they're serving. And then you're still gonna bring your own flavor, your own attitude, your own outlook, your own experiences. Even if they're in a similar type of field, you're going to have a totally different type of offer, but they might've already been, they might have already done the research and fine tune their messaging.

And there's maybe some perspective that you can learn from that. 

Sean: That's actually one of the things I remember you saying was something about following other people. So that's part of the reason that they're their, their connection in LinkedIn is because I've heard other sit there and say, well, they're coaches or they're doing this, then, then you don't want them there.

But I was like, nah, I remember Paul saying, you know, you might learn something from those that are a little bit ahead of you. So I have been doing that. 

Paul: And if you develop relationships, they also down the line. If they are bigger thinkers, that could be the perfect JV relationships for you as well. When you think bigger versus smaller. So just keep that 

Melissa: as Alisa. 

Zelisa: Hi, Sean. So as a former HR executive, I will say, I, this is just food for thought. I don't know if CEO is who you want to pitch it to because a lot of times they don't see the conflict amongst all the children. They think everybody's getting along really, really well. You know?

 And I wanted to say, the HR folks, depending on what level they are, they may or may not have a lot of power as far as budgeting or something like what you're doing. I was going to suggest lawyer that compliance officer, but it depends on where they are in position in the organization. Their livelihood is depending on the conflict, more conflict with.

So they're not going to want to bring somebody like you in to help resolve some kind of conflict. It's really depending on how you have to look at how like the people's bread is buttered, so to speak. So my recommendation is, I know you have one person in mind right now that you want to do this training for, and this person is in an organization and I would just recommend doing this think of a small workshop, not even a membership.

I think that whole longterm commitment thing with the membership honestly, is what drove me so long in this stuck place. Go out with a quick workshop, go out with an offering and see who bites. And from there, if they want to continue a relationship with you, that's when you know how to establish a membership.

Sean: Okay. Thank you. 

Zelisa: Sure. 

Paul: That's an excellent point of view because when, when you do a one time offer, the buyer can see a fair exchange. As far as, Hey, you made this promise, this is what we're getting. I understand that exchange better than an ongoing relationship. And then naturally, whenever we all deliver our one-time offer, like whatever that is, there's natural tension that's created at the end of it, that people still have a pain point that has now discovered based on you helping them out.

So that will give you basically the secret sauce as far as what the offer should be of creating the membership side of it, because they'll be like, oh, this was great. But we need help with blank now, you know, cause you solve one problem and then creates new children that you get to take care of.

So, you know, you just, you just want to keep that in mind is there's a natural succession when every problem gets solved, it opens up new opportunities on the back end of it. Alright, thank you. That was great. That was good question.