I’ve been asking What Happens Next? since I was a little girl.
My mom would come home from work and I’d jump up and down asking…
“What’s for dinner?” “What are we doing after dinner?” “What next on TV?” “When are we going to the park?” “When are we getting a puppy?”
Yesterday would have been my mom’s 91st birthday and she’s probably still laughing about all my What Happens Next? questions.
Honestly, I’ve never stopped asking What Happens Next?.
In my first job, I managed research projects to find out What Happens Next? for organizations that needed answers about their teams, their products and services, and the people they served.
When I launched my first business, I used the question, What Happens Next? to plan how to lead, market, sell, and manage what could, would, and should happen next…
Throughout my career, I’ve encouraged leaders to measure What Happens Next? so they can fully engage stakeholders and innovate stronger products and services for increased impact and revenue.
“What Happens Next?” is a critical question and metric for every industry, and once we harness its power, every door opens wider.
Think of it this way…
Like a pebble that’s tossed into a pond, your product or service creates an INITIAL IMPACT that ultimately creates ripples in the ponds of every life you touch.
The key is to manage your INITIAL IMPACT so the ongoing ripples will positively change multiple areas of people’s lives.
We’ll talk more about ripples as we go through the FIVE COMPONENTS of REAL-WORLD IMPACT but for now, let’s look at the first component of REAL-WORLD IMPACT…
INITIAL IMPACT is the measurable results, changes, differences, outcomes, events, and experiences that occur in people’s lives after they first experience the promised benefits of a product or service.
Here’s an EXAMPLE: Imagine you’re thinking about buying a new house.
You engage a real estate company and an agent is assigned to find the perfect house for you…
vWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The realtor delivers PROMISED BENEFITS…
You receive:
- Guidance and expertise as you search for your perfect house…
- Assistance as you move through the process of selecting a house…
- A bunch of hoops to jump through to get a mortgage…
- A pen…
- A gargantuan pile of documents with teeny-tiny fonts and sticky flags where you sign your name (here…here…here…here…here)…
- A folder with copies of every document you signed…
- Help to pick up the copies when the folder slides off your lap…
- The keys to the house!
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Now that you’ve experienced your promised benefits, you begin the period of INITIAL IMPACT.
You drive to your new home, insert your new keys into the keyhole, and open the door…
YOUR door!
You feel something you’ve never felt before, though you’re not sure what it is.
You walk inside and find a basket with a bottle of champagne, a note from your realtor, and some snacks.
You sit on the floor with your basket and munch while you make a toast to your future.
You tap your phone and music fills the house…
YOUR house!
You stand up and dance through every room…
YOUR rooms!
You laugh, you cry, you marvel as you realize, for the very first time,
This is OUR HOUSE!
For the next 24 hours, it just keeps hitting you…
THIS IS OUR HOUSE!
(Did we do the right thing?)
WOO-HOO! WE’RE HOMEOWNERS!
(How much are the monthly payments?!)
THIS IS OUR HOME!
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
We’ll look at the second component of REAL-WORLD IMPACT next week in Part (3) – IMPACT RIPPLES!
For now, you might want to focus on the promised benefits your products and services provide, and the INITIAL IMPACT your benefits create.
If you’d like, list your promised benefits in the comments below. If you know your INITIAL IMPACT, add that too! And if you’d like input, let me know. I’m happy to help!
If you missed Part (1), see the link below in the comments.
To your impact!