Imagine that you’re playing a game of flag football with friends. Your team is behind, and the clock is ticking down.

The ball is snapped; within seconds, it’s handed off to you.

You know the distance you need to cover in order to reach your goal, the opposite end zone. If you score, your team wins. The result is a jubilant celebration with overjoyed teammates. You’ll experience feelings of ecstasy, confidence, and triumph.

If you don’t score, you’ll lose. The result is a slow march off the field with frustrated, downcast teammates. You’ll experience feelings of failure, loss, and discouragement.

You can see the end zone you need to reach. The problem is, the field is full of defenders who are ready to tear off your flags and take you out of contention.

Metaphorically, your potential customers are in this situation on the journey from the problem to the solution. They’re facing multiple challenges, and they need a clear way to get from point A to point B.

But the truth is, their situation doesn’t mirror the one on the field in three distinct ways:

1. It isn’t linear.
2. They can’t physically see it.
3. They aren’t totally aware of the distance they’ll have to cover to get there.

Most often, the path from A to B is complicated, sideways, and conceptual, making the problem (and challenges in the way) feel extra confusing and frustrating.

This means that in order to let your potential customers know that you’re the right choice for getting them from A to B, you need to lay out a map showing them where they are, where they want to be, and a plan for successfully crossing the distance. 

Key Components of the Map from A to B

Here are the key components of that map. You need to...

• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the problem your customer faces (all the better if you have people’s actual comments from the survey you took or from the data you gathered during your market research process).
• Outline common ways that people approach the problem and why those don’t always work, or what the challenges are when it comes to choosing or implementing a solution. (Without directly mentioning competitors, you can use some of the data you gathered about what people said was missing in solutions like theirs).
• Explain and/or illustrate why your solution is different. (Use your differentiator in addition to the transformation.)
• Emphasize why it matters right now to choose your solution. (Communicate reasons for urgency.) 
• Make it clear how people can participate or act on the opportunity. (State the call-to-action.)
• Describe what success and failure look like for your customer. (Define what’s at stake.)

You could use these components as the rough outline for a home page, sales page, or landing page. There are more details and best practices when it comes to building each of those, but the goal here is to help you grasp the necessary framework for making the customer journey linear.

Creating a Map from A to B is the formula for a basic sales pitch. If you keep this map in mind, you won’t struggle with what to say when you’re working on your sales and marketing materials — or even when you’re speaking to others about what you do.

This is an edited excerpt from my book Mission, Market, Message: The Actionable Guide to Marketing for Small Business Owners, which you can purchase on Amazon.