Sep 1, 2021 | Collaboration, Governance
Trust in our institutions is generally accepted as being on a slippery slide to zilch. I am certainly one who has loudly carried that message.
It is easy to say, but what are the essential elements of trust amongst a group?
If you look up the wisdom of Dr. Google, you will see a library of articles, posts and opinion that varies in the words used, but when boiled down, are saying pretty much the same 7 things.
Trust that others have your back. When things go wrong, you will not be left to carry the burden yourself.
Trust in common values and objectives. This implies that the values and objectives are an outcome of the group, rather than having them imposed on the group. Objectives and values can be superficially common, as in a group put together for some specific task. However, those objectives and values will not necessarily be shared, which comes from the interactions of the group with each other over time.
Trust that we will keep each other’s confidences. Inability to keep confidences indicates a lack of integrity, poison to any level of trust.
Trust in our willingness to learn from each other. This is a two way street, and is not driven by artificial hierarchy such as position on the organisation chart.
Trust that people will do as they say they will do. No further explanation required.
Trust that we are free to express our views and ideas. Often, we refer to ‘psychological safety’ as if it were a fence constructed in some way to keep the nasties out. However, it is a fence only in our individual and collective minds, but is critical to building relationships.
Trust that we are able to be critical without being personal. We need to be able to be tough on our friends, without damaging the foundations of friendship and respect. Commonly I refer to this as ‘transparency’. It is not inconsistent with the requirement to be sure that confidences will be kept, it is more a foundation that enables those critical confidences to be shared and kept. Nothing is as corrosive as uncertainty, whether it be about your performance of a task, or how long it will take for the taxi to get to you.
In an HBR article from February 2019, the authors cited three elements a leader must have to hold the trust of those for whom he/she is responsible:
Positive relationships. Meaning a leader must demonstrate empathy, balance results with concern for people, resolve conflict as it occurs, and deliver honest and helpful feedback.
Good judgement and Expertise. People being led will be willingly led, as distinct from managed by someone who demonstrates good and consistent judgement in decision making, seeks and absorbs the opinions of others, and has the expertise relevant to the task.
Consistency. This is simply walking the talk, following through, setting a good example, and being prepared to do what is necessary.
To my mind, the 7 elements cited above contain these three, with a perspective that is a bit closer to the sorts of situations individuals find themselves in over the course of time. They are more specific, less generic than the three cited in the HBR article.
I recently heard a definition of the point at which you have a ‘group’ that is more than an assembly of people looking to achieve a defined outcome, which I like:
“A group is when you do not need to look around to know everyone is doing the right thing, but you do look around to see that everyone is OK’
Cartoon header courtesy www.gapinvoid.com
Aug 25, 2021 | Communication, Customers, Marketing, Strategy
The first QR code I remember seeing was in the early 2000’s, I think. It was a video taken in New York Zoo that showed people clicking on what looked like a square of code in front of an enclosure, and getting way more than the usual summarised information about the animal typically printed on boards. It gave detailed and varied information, linking to videos of the animals in the wild, anatomy, physiology, and the lines from which they had descended, all of which could be selected and viewed as you stood there, watching the animals in the enclosure.
This will change the world I thought. Then, almost nothing, for years.
Until Covid struck.
QR codes were invented by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 as a means to keep track of inventory. The problem was that a barcode could only be read one way, and carried limited information, whereas a two-dimensional QR code can carry 31,329 datapoints arranged in rows of up to 177 X 177. As a result, they can carry a huge range of information, the QR code acting as both gatekeeper and curator of the information.
The combination of the availability of QR code readers on smartphones and Covid has resulted in all sorts of creative ways people are using them to register, and engage in a whole range of information delivery processes.
This level of detail is highly applicable to B2B selling. Send a prospect an engaging letter via ‘Snail mail’ which has an almost 100% open rate, that had a QR code providing access to all the information a potential customer may want. Who would not click on it, even if just for curiosity?
I am nearly 70, so not looking for a job. However, if I was, a personal QR code would be all I would need.
Such a resume could include video of me speaking to a group, engaging in group activity, coaching a team member, playing sport, as well as giving the details of various achievements, spoken by referees. It would be a customisable digital asset that could be tailored to the job for which I was applying. Even better, it might serve to create a new job in an organisation for whom I had decided I would like to work. It would take a bit more work than the standard written resume, but would carry geometrically more weight.
If I was back in my FMCG days, I would be putting QR codes on all products offering information on ingredients and their sources, recipes, supply chains, video that enhanced the authenticity of the end product. At some point, the two retail gorillas will demand it, so you may as well get in front of the game.
Toyota has given the world a bank of manufacturing and process management capabilities through their wide publication of the tools and techniques of the Toyota Production System. To that bank you can add the QR code. They elected to make the technology freely available, rather than enforcing their patent rights. As a result, we have at our disposal what has become a vital tool for the management of Covid.
Imagine the revenue they have foregone in the public good, even if they had extracted a royalty of fractions of a cent every time someone clicked on a QR code.
Aug 20, 2021 | Branding, Social Media
As regular readers would know, I write a lot.
There are a number of challenges faced every day as I scribble another blog post.
- Using several words when one might do.
- Writing long sentences.
- Using words with a clear meaning to me that may not be as clear to others.
- Not having a simple, sustaining idea for the post: no ‘Hook’.
The last one is the most potent challenge, and why I have masses of material that varies from a few words, to a sentence, to completed posts that never made the ‘cut’ to be published.
As I struggle along, I often think of two stories that make the point.
- Mark Twain writing a letter to his wife, apologising to her for writing a long letter, as he did not have the time to write a short one.
- A well-known Hollywood producer only accepting unsolicited scripts when the idea behind the script was distilled so that it fitted on the back of a business card.
That distilled brevity is what made the 140 character limit on Twitter so powerful. Once they doubled it, the blather more than doubled, and I stopped using it.
It would be nice to be missed by a few, but it is better to be ‘twittered’.
Aug 18, 2021 | Customers, Marketing
Your unique value proposition is the reason people will consider engaging with you, and when there is a choice, you, rather than the other options.
The clearer you are about the focus of your expertise, and the value it delivers, the easier it will be to attract customers/clients, and therefore, monetise it.
What single thing do you deliver to customers for which they will pay?
Complete this sentence: I use my expertise to assist people to ……………………………….
This forces you to distil your expertise down into one simple sentence that defines your value proposition.
You must be specific, avoid cliches and generalities such as ‘improve performance’, ‘be better’ and ‘deliver value’
In my case, the sentence is not ‘I use my expertise to improve business performance’. Instead, my sentence is; ‘I use my expertise to help people grow and build profitability.’ Depending on who I am talking to, I substitute the word ‘people’ with ‘SME manufacturers’ or even more specifically ‘suppliers of widgets’.
What differentiates you from other experts in the field?
What you deliver, and the manner of delivery must be different in some way from alternatives. The differentiator is what engages potential customers to you rather than to someone else. Therefore, ‘Better’ or ‘Bigger’ is not sufficient, they are generic claims that anyone can make.
These points of difference do not make you the right choice for everybody, it makes you the perfect choice for a very few, or at any point in time, just one person. When you are their only choice, where else will they go?
In my case, the differentiator is long experience, and success across corporate, government, and SME businesses. I have an unusual combination of expertise across strategy development and implementation, marketing, accounting, and operations management. While I am primarily a strategic marketer, having run manufacturing businesses, and having deep knowledge of ‘the numbers’ and how to interpret and use them, makes me unusual. This can be valuable to modest sized businesses that tend to have areas of weakness in management expertise outside their core skill.
Who needs what you deliver?
Those that are actively seeking it. There are often many people who might need what you deliver, but those who are actively seeking it are the only ones who will see it when it is presented to them. For example, a tax accountant can help anyone who needs an accountant, but their ideal customer is someone actively seeking advice on tax, today.
How will your expertise benefit your customers?
When you buy something, you expect a beneficial outcome, something that eases the pain, scratches the itch, solves a problem, or just makes you feel better.
Another sentence to be completed from the perspective of the ideal customer.
Those who use my expertise go from …… to…..
Again, in my case, the sentence is ‘Those who use my expertise go from frenetic activity that seems to go nowhere, to developing and deploying strategies that deliver sustainable profitability’
How do you best connect with, and deliver value to your potential customers?
This is the million-dollar question, and one that should be always left until all the above has been done, at least in some sort of draft. The answer to the question is hiding in the answers to the previous ones you have asked yourself, and the choices you have made as a result.
The choices about how you do this are myriad, which is what makes it so tough. There are many ways to set about communicating and engaging with potential customers. You must make choices, which will miss many potential customers, but will optimise the expenditure of your resources of time and money in connecting with those who are most likely to value and pay for your expertise.
Aug 13, 2021 | Communication, Marketing, Social Media
There are a huge number of choices to be made when considering how to best reach and communicate with your ideal customer.
None are disconnected from the others, but like anything, all have their ‘sweet spots’.
Each has its place, and the better you know the habits and motivations of your ideal customer the better able you will be to make informed choices about when and how to reach them. You also must choose how much of your limited budget should be allocated to the various options, and what resources are required to optimise the choices.
Referral.
The original and still by far the best way to engage with a customer is to have someone they trust refer you to them.
Referral is the gold standard, leading to the challenge of how you make yourself ‘referrable’.
Website.
These days not having a website is like not having a phone in earlier times. You must have one even if it is just to capture the opportunities that emerge. However, not all websites are created equal. Many I see are next to useless. You can spend a lot of money on a site, and get little or no traction. However, done well, it is your digital ‘Home base’, the place where people find you and see if you might be an option for them, usually before you even know they are in the market.
Content creation & marketing.
This is everything from a comment on a Facebook or LinkedIn post to long form e-books, webinars, and courses. The objective of this material is to drive people back to your website, or directly to you, and to establish your position as an ‘authority’ in your field. Those looking for information, reassurance, or just a bit of help would usually prefer it came from someone with the authority derived from knowledge and experience, rather than cliches and blather. Your website is your digital home, you own it, you make the rules. The ‘rented’ platforms, Facebook, LinkedIn and all the rest, are not yours, you do not own the relationships built there, and the platforms can change the rules any time they like. These changes are made in their interests, not yours.
It is also true that the ease of posting to these rented platforms ,means they are filled with stuff that is fed back to you by algorithms, rather than by your choice. They record every click, measure the time spent on every page, and capture what you do with it, so they can sell it to people who want to reach you. It is a two-edged sword. It is too easy to load up rubbish: a dog crap on the footpath is just a pile of dog crap, but somehow, once someone photographs it and uploads it, that pile of crap becomes ‘Content’.
Analogue.
Never forget the power of analogue tools. TV is still a hugely potent means to reach customers, despite the claims that TV is dead, it is not. Neither is radio, magazines, books, catalogues, and all the rest of the analogue communication channels. Too often analogue communication is dismissed as no longer useful, usually by those who have never used them to know. How often would you not open a personally addressed ‘snail mail’? Never I suspect, which compares well to a personally addressed e-mail coming from a source you do not recognise. The e-mail open rate hovers around low single figures, testament to the power of analogue, when used well.
Social Media.
Social can be enormously powerful, which is another double-edged sword. It is often the ‘glue’ that holds the other pieces of the puzzle together. The downside of course is that it can chew up resources faster than a plague of locusts will consume a field of wheat, and have about the same impact on the unwary.
Imagine you sell engineering services to renewable energy suppliers. You are unlikely to be able to communicate what you offer to the buyers you need to speak to on Tik Tok.
However, that same person may watch Tik Tok over the shoulder of their 16 year old kids, but when they do, they will not be looking for engineering information.
It is called ‘Social Media’ for a reason.
None of these work independently, all have their own ‘sweet spot’ all cross fertilise and compound, but are next to useless in the absence of a specific target. Your media choices must come after the work to build a strategy, the assessment of your current situation, and the plan that defines your message, and who you need to reach and engage in order for you to be commercially successful.
