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The So What, So That Test (SWST) from our Growth Mapper framework is an exercise that helps you define your business value for clients and potential clients by identifying what problems they are experiencing, how it affects them negatively / positively (So What) why they care about this issue at all (So That).
Let’s take a look at our So What, So That Test (SWST) Growth Mapper framework in more detail.
Why use the SWST test?
The SWST test is an excellent tool to help you determine the best way to communicate your business proposal so that your audience can immediately understand its value. This means they need to help them understand how it will solve their problems and give them what they want, which in turn means you get more of what you want – customers!
You turned every rock and scratched all surfaces to understand your business. You can talk about it with confidence, expertise and authority.
Now you may be an expert, but your clients are not. You can get swallowed up in the finer details when you talk like one – using complex jargon that gets lost on them and makes you look out of their perspective.
The SWST test
The graph below shows a flow chart on the left. For each section, there are three titles: “My Business” (above), then “So My Customers Can” and finally “As a result.” The last step is called “Benefit statements (your value proposition)”.
The purpose of this section is to help you communicate the value your business offers in a way that customers can easily understand. To do this, take a few simple facts about what your product or service does, and turn it into benefits led by you.
In this example, we use an accounting practice as a basis to show how it works.
Let’s look at this exercise in action below by taking a real example of its use: In the case of our fictitious business – “Accounting practices”, they checked their customer base and found that about 10% are small business owners interested in services other than just audits.
So, when these potential clients come to them looking for help with tax or payroll management, this accounting practice uses specific messages to appeal to the individuals.
As you can see, the accounting firm offers three services for businesses. These are accounting, management reports within 7 days after the end of the month and tax advice.
Approximately? Why would these services matter directly and directly to the target audience of an accountant?
The next section explains that you are addressing this question by linking the service to its immediate outcome, before going a little deeper into why it matters in future terms.
To give a more interesting example, an accountant who provides accounting services allows their clients to stay up to date. This is the simplest form of what they do. So we fill in this section like that.
“So that my customers can …”
- Keep up to date accounts
- Make faster and more informed decisions
- Reduce ‘accidental’ tax
We need to find the core benefit of your product. What are people trying to achieve by buying it? Why do they care about these specific benefits, and how would it affect their lives if you could provide them with what they want / need?
A business owner is not motivated to hire an accountant only for the latest accounts. This is a by-product of the service. The real benefit is that they want peace of mind and do not have to stress to file their taxes on time annually. This is an emotional benefit that we express in the exercise.
“Consequently …”
- Peace of mind
- A stronger company
- More available capital to invest or withdraw
“Now together…”
We now have the pieces we need to create our most important messages.
Let’s take the tax advisory service as an example: Me [accountancy firm] give tax advice so that my customers can reduce ‘accidental’ taxes, consequently more available capital to invest or withdraw.
A fairly standard service for an accounting practice (tax advice) provides a compelling reason why someone would want to use it after we have followed the framework. This is not because they simply want tax advice, but rather because they can save money by using our services, and this benefit is the most important in their daily lives.
Doing so can lead to a meaningful and beneficial value proposition that speaks directly to your ideal customer:
Our expert tax advice helps you not pay more taxes than you need, which means you have to keep more of your hard-earned money to invest in your business — or yourself.
To position your business successfully, you need to communicate in a way that is easily understood by customers. If you use jargon or soothe your own ego instead of talking to them and using language they understand, they are less likely to be engaged.
The SWST test gives you a structure and direction to deliver more targeted messages to your audience. Once you have refined the messages, it is possible to change the tone or wording to better match the identity of your brand.
Do you want to improve your messages? Download the workbook here and try it.
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