“Do you use AI to help clients develop their signature frameworks?”

It's the most common question I get these days.

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It’s a fair question.

The answer is no.

The reason is stickiness.

I’ll explain.

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Tools like ChatGPT are incredible, and we’re very lucky to have them.

They can guide us through technical solutions beyond our skill-level.

Revise our writing to adjust tone, style, and grammar.

And help provide structure and spark ideas when staring at a blank canvas.

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It’s that last piece that seems to lend itself well to the POV-development process.

But I find it to be a trap.

A tempting but extremely sticky glue trap that might seem like it opens your creativity, but actually stifles it.

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Here’s an example:

Say you’re a travel agent trying to synthesize your signature POV of how to design the perfect trip for a client.

You have many years of experience doing so, but your approach thus far typically relies on a reactive sixth-sense based on establishing a relationship with the client.

But now, you want to document your process to help market your services, or perhaps to train licensees on your approach.

Not sure where to begin, you could ask ChatGPT for a list of client triage questions and see if it aligns to your process.

ChatGPT generates something like this:

Not bad. It actually does list out most of the things you'd cover in a consult.

Purpose of trip, budget, duration, climate, etc.

And, it’s hard to dispute the order.

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Now, try to come up with a different process.

One that doesn’t start with asking what the purpose of the trip is.

Or what the budget is. Or how long the trip should be.

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Kind of difficult, right?

Because in just a matter of seconds, you’ve been anchored.

And unfortunately, you’ve been anchored to an extremely generic framework that has zero reflection of your own expertise.

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Now, what if we used an organic approach to synthesis, and I asked you:

“What’s your typical first question to a new client.”

“I usually ask what their favorite vacation was, and what they liked about it.”

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“Why do you start there?”

“Because it gives me a hint of what type of hotels they like, their price range, how they like to spend their days, without me having to specifically ask.”

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“Why wouldn’t you just ask?

“It doesn’t seem as personal. And sometimes what people say they want, and what they actually would enjoy are two different things.
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In fact, people come to me because I can guide them to vacation options they didn’t expect. Otherwise they’d just book their travel themselves.”

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Boom.

Here, in just a few questions, you have not only identified the first step of your process, but also you’ve started articulating in your own words your unique insights on the space and your value proposition.

What prompts would you have put into ChatGPT to generate that output?

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Our brains are remarkably creative, but they also yearn for structure, and bond quickly to it when offered.

This is why compelling frameworks demonstrating your POV or approach are such powerful tools for consultants.

They frame a problem in a way that is very resonant and sticky.

Once shared, your clients wonder, “how else could I have even thought about this?”

This is exactly what you want — in that specific direction.

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But be careful to avoid the glue trap AI output can set for you.

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💡

-Wes

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P.S. Feeling stuck sorting out your signature sticky POV?
​Book a free 30-minute brainstorming call with me. No commitment.