Is Your Message Interesting?

“A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.”

– Mark Twain

Doesn’t his observation ring true? The wildest stories and theories seem to have an enduring life all on their own. Meanwhile, as business people we have a difficult time getting our message in front of our customer, much less getting the customer to say, “Yes.”

So how do you communicate your message effectively? How do you get your ideas noticed? It’s hard, but it’s doable. The customer today is bombared by email, billboards, web, print media, television, elevator messages, radio, etc. That alone makes it likely that your message will not be heard. The customer simply can’t process all the information. Think about it — do you?

So the idea here is to think — how do you nurture your message so that it is interesting? How do you design your message so that it sticks in the mind of the customer?

One of those principles (adapted from Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick) is in order to get our audience to pay attention to our message, use the element of surprise. Keep in mind surprise doesn’t last; for our message to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity. Over time we can engage our customers’ curiosity by systematically “opening gaps” in their knowledge —- and then quickly filling those gaps.

Finding the Core

 There are two steps to making your ideas sticky — according to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick.

The first step is to find the core. Finding the core is about discarding a lot of great insights in order to let the most important insight shine. For example, Heb Kelleher, the longest-serving CEO of Southwest Airlines once told someone, “I can teach you the secret to running this airline in thirty seconds. This is it: We are THE low-fare airline. Once you understand that fact, you can make any decision about this company’s future as well as I can.”

He continued, with this example. “Tracy from marketing comes into your office. She says her surveys indicate that the passengers might enjoy a light entree’ on the Houston to Las Vegas flight. All we offer is peanuts, and she thinks a nice chicken Ceasar salad would be popular. What do you say?”

The person stammered for a moment, so Kelleher responded: “You say, ‘Tracy, will adding that chicken Caesar salad make us THE low-fare airline from Houston to Las Vegas? Because if it doesn’t help us become the unchallenged low-fare airline, we’re not serving any damn chicken salad.’ “

This simple idea of finding the core (the intent) has guided the ACTIONS of Southwest’s employees for more than 30 years. It is a well-thought-out simple idea that can be powerful in shaping behavior and actions of the intent of the company and its leaders.

“THE low-fare airline” — simple, memorable, prioritization. Not the words that make the statement — it’s the intent.

Translating the Core

 Many of us struggle with how to communicate ideas effectively, how to get our ideas to make a difference. Good ideas often have a difficult time succeeding in an overcrowded marketplace.

Chip and Dan Heath, two brothers, and authors of Made to Stick share two steps to making your ideas sticky. By “sticky,” we mean that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have an ongoing impact.

The first step is to find the core. Last week I wrote about finding the core. Finding the core is about discarding a lot of great insights in order to let the most important insight shine. The example I used was, Herb Kelleher, the longest-serving CEO of Southwest Airlines. He once told someone, “I can teach you the secret to running this airline in thirty seconds. This is it: We are THE low-fare airline. Once you understand that fact, you can make any decision about this company’s future as well as I can.”

Today we will look at the second step to making your ideas sticky. Step 1 again is about the core. Step 2 according to Chip and Dan Heath is to translate the core using the following checklist which are six principles of sticky ideas:

Principle 1: Simple - “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize.” Saying something short is not the mission. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound.

Principle 2: Unexpectedness - How do we get our audience to pay attention to our ideas? “We need to violate people’s expectations.” You can do this by “opening gaps” in peoples knowledge — and then filling those gaps.

Principle 3: Concreteness - We need to make our ideas clear. “Mission statements, synergies, strategies, visions — they are often ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images because our brains are wired to remember concrete data.”

Principle 4: Credibility - Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves — a “try before you buy” philosophy.

Principle 5: Emotions - How do you get people to care about your ideas? You make them FEEL something.

Principle 6: Stories - How do you get people to act on your ideas? You tell stories and by doing so as the stories are swapped they multiply the experience.

Those are the six principles of successful ideas. To remember, think of the word SUCCESs, a clever acronym to cause it to stick. I also highly recommend reading the book, Made to Stick. The book will delve into all six principles and help think on how to make your ideas sticky.

You Are What You Publish

Stop for a moment and think about one thing — Starbucks. What do you think about their product? Is it a great product? If you were given the opportunity to market Starbucks, would your focus be on the coffee itself? It is their product, correct? But is that what people are really buying at Starbucks?

I don’t think so. I think Starbucks is selling a unique place to meet people. I think it’s a place from my own observation for people to conduct interviews. It’s a place to relax and read a book or watch other people. The reality is that Starbucks appeals to a lot of different buyer personas, and it sells a ton of coffee.

Now put aside your own products and services and think about the BUYER of those products.

Instead of products and services, what about the BUYER? What does the buyer want? When you fully understand the buyer then and only then can you begin to create compelling content to reach them. This takes focus on the right measures of success and a lot of hard work.

The Heart of Selling

 I remember hearing these words several years ago by my mentor, Todd Duncan, who said:

“The heart of selling cannot be seen, it can only be felt.”

You may remember Don Henley (The Eagles) who wrote a popular song years ago that had these words in it — “I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter.”

If you get to the heart of selling, then you will realize it is not about the money. It’s not about success, or ego, awards, products, or price; it’s not about service, or gaining victory. The heart of selling is about fulfillment. It’s about significance, adding value, making a difference, changing lives, and it’s about joy.

The heart of selling is never about YOU.

There are two ways to look at selling:

First: Life is what you do with the time you have left over after you’re finished selling.

or

Second: Selling is what you do with the time you have left over after you have done life.

Which scenario describes you?

If you see the first scenario as your conclusion, then your career occupies the greatest amount of your time. The problem here is if you wait until you are done selling, you may not have the time to do life like you want.

If the second scenario is your reality, then life occupies the greatest amount of your time. Here you will have to clearly decide what you want your life to look like and you will have to SELL WELL to get it.

Most salespeople DO NOT sell well. What is selling well?

• Selling well is a focus on mastering the sales process. Doing business with you is a world-class affair. Most salespeople are consumed with working for the next sale rather than creating an experience to remember for their current customers. Think about it — why do people not remember you?

• Selling well is being efficient and effective. It is not being a slave to inefficiencies. I see it all the time. Most salespeople are playing three to four roles in their business, two to three of which they play mediocre at best. The result — no meaningful productivity.

• Selling well is saying YES to the right things and NO to the wrong things. Most people work hard but not smart and do not know the top three priorities they should be focusing on.

The heart of selling is about your heart. Most salespeople want more life but find themselves frustrated by the cold, stark reality that getting “to the top” requires long hours and less life. This is a lie. You can make a good living and build a good life. You can live and sell in such a way that your dreams on and off the job come true.

Credible Trumps Creative

Having interacted with many owners and sales professionals, it is easy to see which ones will become successful. It depends on what they are committed to. It depends on if they are asking the right questions. Very few will commit to doing the hard work of building and positioning their business around true expertise. Instead, the masses will opt for some kind of creative trick to get someone to pay attention or to buy. They are not building their business; they are chasing sales. In so doing, their businesses are inconsistent and unwieldy at best.

We all learned that the person who pays the price wins from our childhood stories. We were told this, yet so few adhere to it. Perhaps our culture of instant gratification is too much for us to apply the discipline of building foundations that will grow our business for us. Whatever the case, my encouragement to you is develop your credibility rather than just your creativity. In a world of too many choices, the consumer is skeptical of being tricked or gimmicked. They are seeking the expert who delivers true value.

Relationship or Transaction?

I often hear my clients and salespeople say, “I am in the relationship business.” I wonder whether that has the same meaning between any two people. Are they saying that they get referrals as the highest form of leads? Are they talking about their skill to connect with people? Aren’t we all in the relationship business? After all, it is people that make business happen generally. People buy from people they like and trust.

Is your business truly built on relationships? How much is that relationship worth? At what cost might you sacrifice the relationship? For example, perhaps you have a referral source who has truly added value to you. When they refer you business, do you cross-sell that person back? What if you are partnering with that person in the deal? Have you thrown them under the bus to get the deal? Would you forgo the deal if it means your partner wins?

How about another scenario. Are you a salesperson who is led by the almighty carrot? Are you up and down emotionally based on your next deal? Are you so fixated on your pipeline that your emotions affect the people closest to you like your family, co-workers, partners or past customers? Are your relationships only as good as your pipeline?

Think about an alternative way to approach selling. Build it on adding value. When times are dry, invest more deeply into your partners and co-workers. Create stronger bonds. That old saying from Zig Ziglar always rings true, “If you help enough people get what they want in life, you will have everything you want.” Do you believe this? If your business is built on transactions, it will be hard to grasp. If it is truly built on relationships, the world will open up to you. You will be able to view transactions in their rightful place - consequential to your excellent relationships.

Authentic Connecting

You’ve seen these schmooze artists I’m sure. They are the ones that have a business card in hand ready to hand them out to anyone and eager to get from anyone. They have that pre-rehearsed elevator speech and are ready to deliver it even if you’re not ready to hear it. These type of people are generally out for themselves and have a false sincerity. This is the image that many people have when they hear the word — “networking.”

The reality is these are networking jerks. They don’t have the foggiest idea what true connecting is about or the value of meaningful trust-based relationships. In Keith Ferrrazi’s book, Never Eat Alone he shares a few rules to ensure you never become a “networking jerk:”

1. Don’t schmooze. Have something to say and say it with passion. Make sure you have something to offer when you speak, and offer it with sincerity.
2. Don’t rely on the currency of gossip. It just creates lack of trust in the long run.
3. Don’t come to the party empty-handed. In connecting, you’re only as good as what you give away.
4. Don’t treat those under you poorly.
5. Be transparent. People respond with trust when they know you’re dealing straight with them.
6. Don’t be too efficient. Reaching out to others is not a numbers game. Nothing comes off as less sincere than receiving a mass e-mail. It’s not about mass —- it’s about connecting.

Customers: What They Hope You Have

When you are in sales, it becomes much easier to make the sale when you know what the customer expects from you. Many sales people assume too much and often go about their business without a clue of what the expectation of the customer is. So what is it that customers hope you have:

1. Values . . . an unwavering commitment to a clear set of values. Customers admire those who believe strongly in something, and are willing to take a stand for what they believe.
2. Credibility . . . the need to connect one’s voice to one’s touch. Why do people believe in some but not in others? Why do some people choose to follow one leader while others reject that person? Which actions sustaing the relationship? Which destroy it? These are tough questions. Finding your voice is absolutely critical to becoming an authentic person. If you can’t find your voice, you’ll end up with a vocabulary that belongs to someone else, mouthing words that are not your own, or mimicking some other person who’s nothing like you at all.
3. Uniqueness . . . being truly distinctive. There’s no advantage buying from a company that  does exactly the same thing as the one across the street or across town. Only when your customers understand how distinctive you are and how you stand out from the crowd will they stand in line to sign up with you. A good example of this is Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington. Think about the last time you were at your local grocery store to buy fish. Do you have that picture in your mind? Probably uneventful, right? Not the case at Pike Place Fish Market. People from all over the world come to this market to see fishmongers throw fish and have fun with customers. It is a truly fun experience to buy fish at Pike Place Fish Market. Just see what I mean by clicking here and see them on live web cam! They are unique — they have reinvented themselves and made a commodity a value offering. What about you? How unique is your offering?
4. Proactiveness . . . not waiting to be told what to do. Great salespeople search for chances to make something happen and they instill this in their support team.
5. Courage . . . to triumph over adversity. We all have setbacks and defeats. That’s life! However setbacks and defeats are seen by great salespeople and leaders as temporary challenges that can be overcome by will and courage. It is a fierce determination to succeed  that is characteristic of those who survive chaos. It is defying the verdict when it appears to be bad to worse. Like Lance Armstrong, six-time winner of The Tour De France, who said, “To be afraid is a priceless education. I thought I knew what fear was, until I heard the words ‘You have cancer.’ Real fear came with an unmistakable sensation: it was as though all my blood started flowing in the wrong direction. My previous fears, fear of not being liked, fear of being laughed at, fear of losing my money, suddenly seemed like small cowardices. Everything now stacked up differently: the anxieties of life — a flat tire, losing my career, a traffic jam — were reprioritized into need versus want, real problem as opposed to minor scare. A bumpy plane ride was just a bumpy plane ride, it wasn’t cancer.” And having what he called “conversations with cancer” he would think about the email he received from a military guy stationed in Asia who also was a fellow cancer patient: “You don’t know it yet, but we’re the lucky ones.” This personally reminded me of Peter Barton (Not Fade Away) also with cancer who wrote: “I began thinking less about what cancer was doing TO me and more about what it was doing FOR me. And I realized something wonderful. Cancer was giving me the opportunity to live more attentively, more wholly in the moment. It was letting me be as free and as focused on the present.” I cannot fathom their journey but they both took adversity and overcame it with courage and will. This is not just a matter of “where there’s a will there’s a way.” This old folk wisdom is only partially correct according to Charles Snyder, a psychologist and researcher. Hope, he has found, “means believing you have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be.” It takes both a will and a way to achieve and to thrive in a volatile and constant changing economic environment. If you have a goal, no matter what the specific goal — you have to work for it. And the more hope you have the more work you put in to get what you want. That’s how courage and action are connected. That’s what it means to surrender and go through adversity rather than avoid it.

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