How knowing your O-Factor can transform your business

If you’ve ever seen a commercial for Hotels.com, you’ve most likely laughed out loud over their hilarious spokesman, Captain Obvious, who walks around various hotels saying, well, the most obvious things.

Watch the commercial here: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7BQs/hotels-com-captain-obvious

From a branding perspective, Hotels.com hits it out of the park with their commercials. Each one showcases the main qualities of their brand—progressive, funny, and at times a little risky—all represented perfectly in the goofy yet clever antics of Captain Obvious.

But along with serving up some laughs, Captain Obvious serves as a great role model for business owners and entrepreneurs everywhere (yes, seriously!).

Here’s how:

We should all aim to be the Captain Obvious in our own businesses.

Most likely NOT in the tongue-in-cheek way that Captain Obvious is (unless comedy is your specialty, too!), but instead in the way you communicate the nuts and bolts of your business—what your business offers and to whom.

Your audience should be able to see how obvious it is that the solution your business provides is the best one to meet their needs.

Your audience should be able to see how clearly your message is calling out directly to them, with language they use to describe their pain points or problems.

Your audience should be able to see how simple and easy it is to buy your services and work with you.

In short, the more obvious you are, the better.

This concept has a fancy term known as O-Factor, which was coined by strategy management consultant Marcy Strauss Axelrod. She describes O-Factor as the intersection of the obviousness of the market’s need with the obviousness of the solution you provide.

Your O-Factor is the intersection of the obviousness of the market’s need with the obviousness of the solution you provide. Find out more: Share on X

Axelrod says that the more obvious this intersection is, the less a customer will need to evaluate their decision to work with you, and the quicker they’ll move from prospect to paying client.

Uncovering your O-Factor can completely transform your business—it certainly did for one of our clients, Melissa Josue.

Melissa’s a love and relationship coach whose passion is to help women find happy, fulfilling partnerships that enrich their lives. Before Melissa found her O-Factor, she had a great business, and primarily attracted women who were divorced or already in relationships. She realized, however, that what she really wanted was to work with people who were single and/or dating.

To shift her business, she began to get crystal clear around what aspects of her business lit her up, and specifically what she wanted to offer people who were in this new client group—those who were single and/or dating. Then she figured how to intersect this with her ideal clients’ needs.

With this new knowledge in place, she made three key changes to her business:

1. She changed her website domain from HappyHealthyRelationship.com to MelissaTheLoveCoach.com.
2. She updated the copy on her website with a message that calls out clearly to her ideal clients.
3. She redesigned her site and used images that represent her ideal clients, which helps her immediately connect visually with those she wants to attract.

In a nutshell, Melissa became the Captain Obvious of her business…and it worked!

Now, Melissa is attracting just the right type of clients, all of whom are seeking the exact type of service she’s providing.

See Melissa’s Site Here

So what about you? Have you found your O-Factor yet?

If not, no worries. Here are a few things to do to get started:

1. Get really clear on what lights you up about your business and what you want to provide to clients.
   Think about the aspects of your work or types of projects that you can’t wait to start working on, as opposed to the things you tend to put off or procrastinate on. This can serve as a giant clue about the work your soul loves to do.
2. Figure out what those clients really need.
   Do some research online or spend time talking to your clients. Most likely they’ll be happy to tell you what they need and how your services can help, and even give you creative ideas about how they’d like you to deliver it.
3. Find the best way to match your offering with your ideal clients’ needs.
   Use the intel you’ve gathered from your research and your clients and merge it with what feels best to you. You can always have a few people serve as guinea pigs so you can work out the kinks of new offerings and tweak your process until you find the perfect fit.

When you do the work to nail down your O-Factor, you’ll most likely feel a huge surge of inspiration and renewed dedication to your business. Afterall, you’ll be working from the most authentic part of yourself, which is so rewarding and fulfilling!

This increased excitement may have you talking about your business to anyone who will listen—and before you know it, you’ll have become the obvious choice among the competition in your industry. Here’s to becoming Captain Obvious!

To learn more about O-Factor, click here.