The plan is the bridge the hero must cross in order to arrive at the climactic scene. Rocky has to train using nontraditional methods. The plan tightens the focus of the movie and gives the hero a “path of hope” to walk that might lead to the resolution of trouble. Not having a plan is a guaranteed way to confuse your customers. After potential customers listen to us, they’re all wondering the same thing: What do you want me to do now?

All effective plans do one of two things:

• Clarify how somebody can do business with us.
• Remove the sense of risk somebody might have if they’re considering investing in our products or services.

Once you create your plans, give them a title that will increase the perceived value of your product or service. Your agreement plan might be titled the “customer satisfaction agreement” or even “our quality guarantee.”

THE PROCESS PLAN

The first kind of plan is a process plan. How many steps should a process plan have?. The answer varies but at least three and no more than six. If doing business with you requires more than six steps, break down those steps into phases and describe the phases.

If you’re selling an expensive product, you might break down the steps like this:

1. Schedule an appointment.
2. Allow us to create a customized plan.
3. Let’s execute the plan together.

THE AGREEMENT PLAN

An agreement plan is best understood as a list of agreements you make with your customers to help them overcome their fear of doing business with you. It can work to clarify shared values between our customers and us. Unlike a process plan, an agreement plan often works in the background. Agreement plans do not have to be featured on the home page of your website (though they could be), but as customers get to know you, they’ll sense a deeper level to your service and may realize why when they finally encounter your agreement plan. The best way to arrive at an agreement plan is to list all the things your customer might be concerned about as it relates to your product or service and then counter that list with agreements that will alleviate their fears.