Ideas for profitable
communication
by Baruch ter Wal

Be brave…not a dick

October 3rd, 2011

When Kiwi businesspeople pursue international opportunities, there’s a band of experts on hand to tell us that we have to come out of our shells. We need to step it up, turn up the volume. But then another band of experts tell us to retain our authenticity. Which band do we listen to?

I must admit that I cringe when I see people taking the first path, coming over all fake and desperate. Apparently I’m not alone, since most people I know opt for the second path. Authenticity provides a comforting moral high ground as well as an excuse for not going out there and doing anything really scary.

Part of me is pretty sure that we need to do scary things, though. I had a chance recently to talk to Rob Adams about the dilemma. His advice is summed up in the title of this post. He loves the New Zealand culture, and wants us to stay true to it. But being understated and phlegmatic doesn’t mean we have to be cowards. So make that call you’re afraid to make. Walk right up to that guy who could open a massive door for you. Tell that lady what you think a fair price is for your product, and why. There’s no need to be a dick about it, though. What’s required is bravery, the courage to put yourself out there. And it should be you who’s out there, not some dick version of you.

It’s a pretty simple formula and, once I understood it, I started seeing it all over the place (thanks Lance, Rowan, Nicole, Pel…). I’m trying my best to put it into practice. I’ve got a ways to go, but definitely recommend you try it.

Dummies are useful

April 11th, 2011

Here’s a tip you can apply tomorrow.

Let’s pretend for a moment that the definition of ‘Expert’ is ‘Someone who knows how to use technical terms in the right places in a conversation, to the satisfaction of other experts’.

Notice that, on this definition, so-called experts don’t necessarily have to have a deep understanding of what they’re talking about. In my experience, that turns out to be true in most cases.

Sometimes that makes it hard to sell things to experts. You need them to actually understand what’s going on in their world to see the value of your product. But you can’t patronise these guys. If you act as if they don’t know what’s going on, you’re sunk (especially if it’s true… which it probably is).

One way out of this dilemma is to use a variation of the following: “You guys get this, of course, but it’s going to be hard to convince the dummies and laypeople out there. Here’s the simplified version we use for them.” No one loses face, everyone now has a better understanding, and the ideas can spread more effectively via word of mouth. Including expert-to-expert word of mouth.

An ode to sacred cows

March 28th, 2011

Should we do it Steve’s way or the high way?

Ok, so you’re going through your sales routine, diligently and truthfully explaining how your offer will save the customer time and make them money.

It’s all going well until you hit this sideshow topic that suddenly becomes the focus of discussion, to the exclusion of everything else. For Maori leaders it might be self determination over their taonga. For the CFO it might be compatibility with their existing financial system. For a software developer things might hinge on whether this can truly be called open-source.

You get bogged down. With each compromise and concession you make, you find yourself wondering what a visionary like Steve Jobs would do. He’d probably slay the sacred cow. He’d tell them to chuck out their old school ideas, and confidently push forward with his agenda – in full confidence that he was making their lives immeasurably better.

[A quick tangent on sacred cows. Usually it is a derisory term. “Haha, look at how their roads get clogged up by those skinny cows. I’d open a hamburger joint and improve traffic flow in one swoop. In the same way you’ve gone and treated a silly notion as sacred, and now it’s clogging up your business.” Should you actually ask a deep thinking Hindu about the topic, however, you might hear a beautiful story about why cows should be treated with reverence in a given context. You might come to think that a story that cool justifies the odd traffic jam.]

Maybe your imaginary Steve is right. But just maybe your customer’s cow deserves to be sacred. Get in their shoes. If you decide that you actually respect the customer’s view, you’ve now got a whole new communication option. Instead of pushing your agenda and then negotiating the sacred obstacles when they arise, you rework your product and proposition in light of the cow.

Then you can lead off with: “Self determination [or compatibility with your systems, or a true open source model] is everything. Everything. That’s at the heart of this proposal.”

My friend Pel calls this ‘taking the high ground’. He takes that high ground with full empathy, genuineness and respect. If you can’t do it that way, you need to find another customer – or take a deep breath and do it Steve’s way.

Meeting the needs of the bored

March 2nd, 2011

That’s not a typo – Boards always get what they need. I’m talking about bored people.

A lot of your customers, or at least a lot of the people who influence your customers, do not enjoy their day at work. Giving them ‘the three reasons our product can help you’ isn’t necessarily going to provide a ray of sunshine.

There are all kinds of ways to make your messages more entertaining. We’ve done mockumentaries, songs, online games…even an old fashioned wordfind puzzle on the back of a postcard. The key, though, is to be sure that you’re talking to bored people. Else you risk trivialising what could be a serious matter.

If you’re not sure if your customers are bored or not, then you don’t know them well enough. Or they’re really polite.

The key to owning your presentation

March 30th, 2010

This is a guest post from my colleague Angus Blair, and introduces a simple but killer tip for PowerPoint and Keynote.

You want your audience to remember you and your message, not your slides. Gorgeous visuals can therefore be your biggest enemy in a presentation.

When I find my audience distracted by my visuals instead of listening to me, I walk over and hit the ‘B’ key. Check out what happens.

It has the dramatic effect of shifting all attention in the room to you. It gives you a chance to demonstrate how well you know your message. And it tells people that you personally want to share the idea with them, because it matters that much to you.