by Maxie Carpenter, MVC Advisory Resource/ Bentonville, Ark.

If you’ve ever wondered about the value of having a mission statement, either personally or professionally, listen in on the conversations that take place at any networking or business gathering you attend.

I have a habit of circulating among people at any event, just listening to discussions. I do this for two reasons: First, I’m always looking for information, and second, I’m just plain curious about what makes people tick. It occurred to me after one event that people were, for the most part, discussing what they do and how they do it. Literally no one was talking about why.

This is an important discovery, because consumers really don’t care too much about the “what” and the “how.” They just want their needs supported and fulfilled. Oh, they’ll have discussions with you out of curiosity about what you do, but they won’t want to get into much detail because they don’t connect to it emotionally.

Try having a discussion about why you do a particular anything, and watch what happens! The connection is immediate and of tremendous value. Why?  Because it appeals to the basic principle of why anyone does anything: There is a specific purpose to fulfill a specific desire.

This is a fundamental principle to understand, especially when defining the mission and vision of any initiative, and when designing a marketing plan that will differentiate an initiative from any similar plan in the marketplace.

Maxie Carpenter is a professional analyst and counselor, author, and President of MVC Advisory Resource, Inc. He is the author of I Didn’t Ask You to Dance! and Managing Difficult People in the Workplace. You can reach Maxie at www.mvcinc.org.