If you’ve ever tried to explain your expertise and watched your audience’s eyes glaze over… this episode is for you.
In this episode of The Scalable Expert™, Tara unpacks one of the biggest challenges experts face: communicating from a 10,000-foot view while their customers are still standing on the ground trying to figure out the very next step.
Because here’s the truth most experts miss:
Your customers don’t need you to teach them everything you know.
They need you to guide them from where they are to where they want to go.
Tara shares why experts accidentally overcomplicate their messaging, how jargon and “expert language” create friction, and why simplifying your communication doesn’t dilute your expertise - it makes your methodology more effective.
You’ll also hear real-world examples of how organizations unintentionally lose their audience by teaching from the expert perspective instead of the customer perspective, and how shifting from “explaining” to “guiding” creates better engagement, better transformation, and better results.
This episode is especially important for coaches, consultants, service providers, and experts who:
Because the best experts don’t overwhelm people with information.
They create clarity.
They become guides.
In this episode, we discuss:
Chapters:
00:00 – Welcome + What It’s Like to Be an Expert
01:14 – The “Level 1 vs. Level 10” Expert Problem
02:31 – Why Experts Lose Their Audience
03:46 – The Communication Gap Between Experts and Customers
05:00 – Your Customers Don’t Need to Become Experts
06:15 – Meeting Customers Where They Are
06:52 – How to Simplify Your Expertise Using AI
08:04 – A Real Example of Behavior Change vs. Information Overload
09:39 – Why Expertise Needs Translation
10:00 – Customers Don’t Need the Whole Map
10:21 – The Shift From Expert to Guide
10:59 – Closing Thoughts
If this episode resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another expert business owner who may be overcomplicating their message without realizing it.
And if you’re ready to build a scalable business around your expertise instead of staying trapped in delivery, visit Tara Bryan Official Website to learn more about The Scalable Expert™ and the Infinite Scale Method™.
About Me:
Hey, it’s your host, Tara Bryan. And I am on a mission to help more business owners learn to infinitely scale their businesses by leveraging the power of online without sacrificing the customer experience or results.
I like to geek out on all things business strategy, marketing, interactive digital and user experience. This podcast is all about what is working, lessons learned and actionable tips to create and grow a thriving online business.
Join us each week as we dive into different strategies, tactics and tips you can apply immediately to your business.
To learn more:
Find us at https://www.taralbryan.com
Here are two ways we can help you create, grow and scale your business:
1. Want to package your expertise or become a Scalable Expert? Take our free quick assessment to see how close you are to creating a scalable business.
The Scalable Expert Assessment
2. ALREADY HAVE AN ONLINE BUSINESS & READY TO INFINITELY SCALE?
Schedule a 30 minute call with Tara to talk about our offers that will help you master the game.
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Mentioned in this episode:
https://taralbryan.com/step/15-learn-to-scale-call
Hey everybody.
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:Welcome to season three of the
Scalable Expert Podcast, the show for
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:established expert business owners
who are maxed out on time and ready to
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:find the scalable impact of their work.
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:I'm your host, Tara Bryan, founder
of the scalable expert, and creator
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:of the Infinite Scale Method.
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:If you've built a business around
your expertise, but feel stuck
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:in the time for Money Trap, this
podcast is your path forward.
9
:Each week, I'll share stories and
strategies and shifts to help you
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:step into a new, scalable business
model by declaring your authority,
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:packaging your expert framework and
streamlining your offers and systems
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:to ultimately become a Scalable Expert.
13
:Because it's not about working
harder, it's about building smarter.
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:All you need is one signature expert
framework, and you can deliver an infinite
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:amount of ways to be able to scale your
business, your impact, and your income.
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:Alright, let's get started.
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:Hey, everybody.
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:Welcome to this week's podcast.
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:I am thrilled that you're here.
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:Hey, in this episode, I wanna talk
about what it's like to be an expert.
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:And so what one of the things is,
and, and if you're listening, you are
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:probably an expert or learning to be
an expert, whatever that looks like
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:for you, and one of the things is
just naturally, as an expert, you know
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:more about your topic and expertise
than anyone else out there, right?
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:Just because that is your thing,
you're passionate about it, you're
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:deep in the weeds of your expertise.
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:And what happens is when we go out to
help other people with our expertise,
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:we get into a little bit of trouble
because we're so comfortable with all
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:of the terminology, all of the details,
all of the things around our expertise,
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:that we sometimes forget that when
somebody is trying to learn something
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:or, or gain something based on what we're
helping them with as an expert, they're
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:not in the same place we are, right?
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:They are not at the
same level of expertise.
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:So I always think about
it on a continuum, right?
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:Like, so, um, put like...
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:imagine a horizontal line, and you have
zero on one end and 10 on the other end.
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:As an expert, you're probably
in the 8 to 10 range, right?
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:Like, you are immersed in your discipline.
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:You're immersed in your expertise.
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:However, your customers are usually
at, like, a one or a two, right?
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:Because they're like, "I don't know
how to get from where I am today to
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:where I want to go, and so I'm gonna
hire somebody who has that experience."
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:That's what they're thinking, right?
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:They're, "I'm not an expert at this.
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:I need to hire an expert to help me."
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:Now, the disconnect happens when
you as an expert sort of forget to
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:look at where your customer, your
potential customer is right now, right?
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:If they're at a one or a two,
they don't even understand the
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:words that you are saying, right?
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:Like, they're not there at all.
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:And so what has to happen is you
as an expert is when you start
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:working with other people, you
need to start to become a guide.
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:You need to look at where
somebody is and then start there.
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:You can't start with your expertise
because that person's like, "I don't even
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:know what you're talking about," right?
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:So I'm working with, a couple
of different experts right now.
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:One group I'm working with, they
are in charge of pre-qualifying,
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:um, different partners for projects
that they have in their company.
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:And so they have a deep knowledge,
that is their thing, is their job is to
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:pre-qualify these partners so that they
are ready and prepared and qualified
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:to be able to do these large projects.
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:Because if not, then there's all sorts
of consequences if that partner is not
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:prepared, or can't support the work
that they've been hired to do, right?
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:So this group is in charge
of making all that happen.
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:However, they need to be able to
communicate to their end users how to
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:initiate all of the different parts
and pieces that go with this, right?
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:So there's a communication sort
of chain that's going on, right?
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:That the person who is, it- wants to
hire a partner has to go to this group
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:and, and there's a back and forth
to make sure that this partner is
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:appropriately qualified to do the work.
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:Okay?
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:Seems simple, right?
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:But here's the problem, is that the
group that's in charge of doing this
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:pre-qualification only knows how to
speak about all of the things that,
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:that play into pre-qualifying a partner.
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:And the end user, the person that
they actually are dependent on
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:to make sure that all the parts
and pieces are happening to make
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:this whole thing successful,
are not experts at this, right?
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:And they're not even
thinking about it, right?
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:They're thinking about all the
things that they need to do.
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:This is just one small piece
of what they need to do.
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:So when this group, this pre-qualification
group, has been tasked to train the end
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:user, the challenge that they have is that
they are trying to create training that is
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:just about this pre-qualification process
and the rules and the, the structure and
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:the this and the that and the other thing,
and they're speaking from their expertise.
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:They're not speaking from that
end user who needs to make all
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:these things happen in order for
this whole thing to be successful.
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:And it's very, very common as an expert,
so you probably can put yourself in
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:that position of like, "Wait, where am
I talking about my thing so specifically
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:that I've just lost my audience?"
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:Right?
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:I've lost the, th- the...
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:even focusing on them because
you're so stuck in what it is that
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:you want to talk about and explain
and show and all of the things.
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:And, and so the first step is really just
to recognize that your end user, your
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:customer, whoever it is you're helping,
is not at the same level that you are.
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:They're hiring you because they want to
go from where they are today to where
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:they want to go, and honestly, most of the
time that's, like, at a level four, right?
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:Again, you're at a level 10,
they're a level one or two.
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:Maybe they just wanna go to a level four.
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:They don't really want to be a level 10.
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:They don't really want
to be an expert like you.
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:They literally just want you to
help them solve their problem so
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:that they are successful, so that
they can move on and do their thing.
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:And, and so that's the rub that we
always have as experts is how do we
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:really just look at our end user and
what they need, and look at it from
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:their perspective and through their eyes
so that we can paint the picture of how
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:they can go from point A to point B?
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:And most of the time, again,
it's not to help them become
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:experts like we are, right?
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:It's to help them solve
that particular problem.
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:So in this group, um, you know, we were
able to really look at it from that end
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:user's perspective, fill in the blanks
in terms of what they needed and how
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:they needed to engage this group, and
that shifted what they needed to focus
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:on in terms of the training, made it
much more simple, took out all of the
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:jargon, all of the, the complication,
and just really focused on how do
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:you make this into plain language.
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:Honestly, I would say this is one of the
best ways that you can leverage AI at this
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:point, if that is something that you're
interested in, is, um, how do I make my
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:expertise relatable or understandable
for somebody who's not an expert, right?
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:Like, break it down in
a fifth grade language.
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:Once I did that, when I was working with
this p- pre-qualification group, and I s-
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:like break this down and, like, get rid
of all the jargon and break this down into
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:something that's focused on this audience
and is something that I can understand
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:from a non-technical perspective.
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:And all of a sudden it was like, oh,
well, that's m- much more simple, right?
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:And so we were able to build something
that bridged the gap from where they
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:were to where they needed them to be
without over-engineering something,
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:without over-complicating it with a
lot of expertise and a lot of jargon.
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:So AI can really help with that,
especially if your gift is not to put
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:yourself in your, your customer's shoes.
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:Use AI for that and really get that
perspective that helps you sort
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:of, just meet your, your customer
where they are on their journey.
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:A couple other examples.
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:One, um, I'm also working with a
group on driving more safely, right?
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:And so the ask was, we really need to
work on how to reduce accidents and, and
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:various things that could happen when
people are driving with company vehicles.
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:And so the original training is more...
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:is somewhere like, "Don't drink and drive.
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:Don't drive when you're tired.
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:If you see an animal,
you know, don't swerve.
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:Don't pick up your cell phone."
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:All the things, right?
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:And it's like, all of that's great
and those are great rules to remember,
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:but the question is like, okay, yeah,
we all know all of those things.
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:Why are people not doing them, right?
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:What is the problem that
we're trying to solve?
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:And how do we go from where
we were to where we are, like,
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:where we want them to go?
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:And it's really about, the steps that
they need to prepare to take action
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:while they're in the situation,
and then what to do after, right?
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:It was less around the sound bites of
remember all these details, and more
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:around what we wanted them to do.
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:So again, that shifts from being like,
"Here are all the technical details.
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:Here's like the, the policy and all the
things," to "Here's how this could help
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:you change your behavior, your, what's
happening while you are out on the road."
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:So, so it's just a shift in how
you're taking your expertise and
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:relating it back to your customer.
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:So hopefully that helps you as you're
thinking about your expertise and how
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:you can really shape the experience
for your customers a little bit
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:differently than maybe you are today.
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:Because it's less about you going into
all the jargon and the details and making
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:them become a level 10, it's more about
how do you shift your expertise to be
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:able to help them not make the same
mistakes, not have the same obstacles and
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:hurdles that you had as, as you were going
through this process, or somebody who was
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:going through this process trying to do
it themselves or whatever else, right?
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:How do you fast-track their process
by getting to where they are
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:today to where they want to go?
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:All right, so hopefully this helped you
as a small tip that you can use to shift
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:how you're thinking about your expertise
so that you really put yourself at that
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:same spot where your customers are.
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:If they're all level
10s like you, awesome.
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:But then that's a different conversation,
a different path that you're taking
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:them on than, typically where your
customers are gonna be coming in when
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:they know that you have the authority
to solve that problem for them.
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:All right, if you love this
episode, give it a rating and
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:share it with your friends.
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:We will see you on the next episode.