Trust me.

Hmm… well that didn’t work. Asking for trust doesn’t usually produce the desired results. So how do you gain it? You know the answer – over time and by depth of experience and relationship. At least when you’re on your own.

Trust is also transferable. You see it on balance sheets as goodwill, exactly because it is transferable. Trust is what makes referrals work. If you trust me, and I recommend Klaus or Allyson, they gain the benefit of the trust you have in me – because you still hold me responsible for their behaviour and performance.

That transferability of trust makes networking possible. It isn’t about who you know, but who you trust. And that is a distinction that a lot of serial networkers don’t get. I fell into that trap myself. I attended BNI Corporate Exchange as a guest for six months. I got to know a lot of people – a lot of the right people. I got a small amount of opportunistic business from members who had an immediate need, as they gained familiarity. I got none from other guests. They gave all their business to the members – the people they see being trusted. That was when I recognized that there’s truth to the maxim that membership has its privileges.

The main privilege is of trust.

A healthy business networking group trades referrals from many sources – the members themselves (we call this an internal referral), their clients (external), guests, members of other network chapters (there are two other BNI corporate chapters which have close ties to Corporate Exchange), and alumni (former members). As a guest, you really only have access to the first of these, and happenstance for all the others, if you are in the right place at the right time.

Even as a member, you have to work your way up the trust cycle. All the statistics show it takes 3-6 months of association to begin to see benefits, and the trust cycle doesn’t really complete until well into the second year. In my role of chapter mentor, I’m frequently asked how to accelerate that trust cycle – because most of us aren’t that patient.

There’s good news. There are two major ways to gain trust more expediently. They both require considerable effort. The first is to meet regularly with the members of your networking group. The better you get to know each other – and your respective businesses, the easier trust flows. And repeat this as frequently as you can. I personally have about six meetings a month, just familiarizing myself with other members outside regular networking.

The second way to scoot ahead on the trust cycle, is to make visible contributions. Raise your profile within your networking group by being an integral part of it’s workings. John prints all our materials, invitations, folders etc, and everyone sees how he’s contributed. We also see the quality of his efforts. This short circuits the need for us to have to have tried out his services personally – because we’ve collectively seen his ability. He’s earned our trust. And that ultimately is what you need to do – earn the trust. The benefit is that you earn the trust of one – and you reap the benefits of trust earned by all.

So trust me – Simon does. And Marjorie does. And Fred does….

There have been some interesting shifts in behaviour over the past twenty years - especially in the business-to-business (B2B) world. The simplest way to describe the trends would be to say that a general skepticism has crept into the average business person when it comes to partners and suppliers.

Here are a few of the major trends:

1) B2B advertising has little effect other than raise brand awareness.

2) Profiles in publications or websites are viewed as advertising, or inextricably linked to advertising, and not journalism.

3) Referrals from other clients are nice, but rarely a factor in decisions.

4) Testimonials are given less credence than advertising.

I'm not out to bash B2B advertising - there are instances where it can be instrumental. It's just clear that you have to be cautious in its use, and aware of what it costs you. What I'd like to examine deeper are the last two points: referrals and testimonials.

Decent referrals generally come to you from two sources: other clients of the service/product being referred; and other suppliers or partners to you. The tendency of each business owner to view their circumstances as unique, has been the prime cause in discounting customer referrals. The perspective seems to be "It may have worked for you, but my needs are significantly different". If they listen closely enough, they may pick up on similarities of note, but frequently it doesn't get that far.

On the other hand, if I'm providing you with a service (say accounting), and recommend a lawyer, the assumption is that because I know your business well, whomever I recommend will be the best person for the situation. As well, even if it's unspoken, I will be held accountable for the suitability of the referral. If the lawyer is someone I work alongside for clients-in common, this will carry much more weight than if s/he is my lawyer. This means that the best referrors for each of us are synergistic companies, not our satisfied clients!

Testimonials have taken a big hit in an internet dominated world. In print, they still have a place, but on a website they merely take up space. The average business person assumes you a) wrote them yourself; b) got a friend to submit them; and that they are not in any way reflective of reality. Harsh! But there's hope....

If the testimonial is included in a case study, then it is given a context and subsequent weight. And to loop back to advertising and profiles, case studies are the number one thing that business people look for in newsletters and periodicals, so you might consider placing these instead of a "puff piece". Even though not viewed as impartial, that testimonial combined with the problem solving approach of a case study does get attention - and plausibility.

Leveraging relationships and making contacts through public relations can help increase business.
By Marjorie Wallens, first published in the Canadian Employer, October 2007.

“Today,” said a prominent sage of one of the world’s largest PR firms; “great brands are built with PR.”  Ok so the quote comes from a PR exec and not from the world of advertising, and he was talking about building national brands. So you might ask what does this have to do with me, a small or mid-sized business with a limited budget and just me, an owner-manager to promote my business.

The fact is that PR is not out of the reach of any business and can yield enormous results and is particularly effective at the local and regional level and therefore useful to people in small to mid-sized businesses.

My definition of Public Relations is the act or ‘art’ of building relationships and creating awareness that can be leveraged to increase sales among the various publics that touch your business-your customers, suppliers, community leaders, business and trade associations to name a few.  It is also the delivery of the right message to the right audience at the right time. Activities include media relations, public speaking, by-lined articles in the media or trade in press, publicity, community participation and the development of good professional citizen ship.  It is not paid advertising.

It is usually the opportunity to provide fact based information about your product or service free of promotional hype that is perceived to be objective and editorially neutral which can appear as an endorsement by the forum in which it is presented..
For the purpose of this article, let’s focus on media relations as a way to increase awareness to build sales.

Remember, the media frenzy created by doughnut makers, Krispy Kreme? They entered the market place by spreading the word strictly through the media with no paid advertising.  By creating a ‘compelling story’ about the unique features of their product; the donuts were freshly made continuously and still warm in the box when you walked out the door, it peaked the interest of the media which in turn carried stories about the Krispy Kreme experience.  It created a lot of ‘ink’ across North America resulting in long line ups (another good media story) and soaring sales. However, Krispy Kreme also found that PR had its downside, when the calorie laden products were targeted as a public health hazard number one and ended up taking a big bite out of their sweet sales.

So PR is a double edged sword. However, it can be very effective in getting the word out and building credibility for your business. A story in the media also provides a boost for employees who work for your company, since ‘being in the media’  gives employees a sense of pride that their company in the news, it’ s also good for recruitment, as prospective employees may have heard of your company through the news and may perceive it as an employer of choice.

The first step however, is to determine your goals and objectives-What is it you want to achieve. Do you have a product or service that is innovative, are you doing something that’s newsworthy, will gaining media interest enhance your business reputation and help differentiate your product or service in the marketplace and therefore lead to increased sales?

For example, a small enterprising Toronto company developed a training program that could efficiently train employees to do routine tasks without the high cost of developing training manuals or taking valuable supervisory staff time to teach the new procedures. What was different? The training program was delivered ‘virtually’ or on-line directly to an employee’s home computer.  Each training module contained a follow-up question and answer quiz with the results fed directly back to head office to gage the effectiveness of the training program. It also saved lots of money and training time and was endorsed by one of the company’s clients, which is considered a good ‘hook’ or unique angle that would be of interest to the target media’s audience.
The target market for the training program was human resource professionals, marketing and sales professionals and any industry that needs to quickly disseminate information to employees working in various geographical locations, where a visual demonstration enhances the ability of the sales person or customer representative to sell the product or service.

The PR strategy in this case was aimed at creating media awareness and stories in various publications read by human resource professionals and marketing trade magazines looking for competitive edge products for their clients and the small business section of the city’s largest daily newspaper. The coverage would then be leveraged by sending the articles to potential clients as part of an overall marketing campaign.  The articles could also be posted on the company website. By gaining positive media coverage in a HR trade publication and a daily newspaper in the small business section, the company was able to use the coverage as an endorsement of their product, especially since several of their clients were quoted in the story and offering both examples and testimonials as to the effectiveness of the training program.

So, if you have an innovative product or service, are doing something that is newsworthy and think it would be of interest to a particular media outlet-

• Tailor your key messages to fit the editorial thrust of the particular media outlet,
• Create clear messages that illustrate what makes your product or service different; and What makes it of value to your particular customer audience
• This can be done through the development of a news release or a ‘pitch letter’ and sent to the editor of a relevant section in a newspaper or trade publication or a reporter who regularly covers stories of interest to your particular target audience
  I then follow up with the reporter or editor-to ‘see’ if they got the release. Most reporters and editors don’t like to be ‘bugged’- because they are bombarded by information and can’t review everything. But, follow up calls are crucial-because it gives you a chance if nothing else to remind the reporter about your story and an opportunity to bring to their attention the unique value of your particular service or product and tell your story. Even if its voice mail –leave a message succinctly outlining your story and why it would be of value to their audience.
• Getting to know reporters or editors personally is also a good strategy to better understand their editorial point of view.  But there is no substitute for a relevant and compelling story that matches the needs of the publications’ target audience, Don’t‘ be afraid to contact the media, an astounding xx% of all stories that appear in the media today are a result of being pitched by outside sources as newsworthy or initiated as part of an event that is taking place.
  The virtual online training story attracted inquires about the program and subsequent sales from interested companies. The articles were also posted on both the company website and that of the two companies that were profiled as part of the story…-further extending the reach and awareness and sales of the product.

Entrepreneurs and business owner/managers rarely spend enough time in direct contact with customers. They get too caught up in conducting business to build business, yet the time you spend with your customers lets you do both. The best business development efforts are when you are in front of your customers, potential customers or people who can connect you with potential customers.

And this last part is where networking comes in. The time spent networking face-to-face is every bit as effective in building business as time spent with customers. In some ways this is intuitive – there is a limit to how much face time is effective with customers when it comes to gaining referrals or repeat business. Current customers see your work, know what you do, so it’s mostly building comfort with you as a person. On the other hand, connectors (or networkers) usually have less familiarity with your business style and methods, and stand to gain from exposure. Dedicated networkers also have a broad base of contacts.

Which raises an interesting question: is there more value in a referral from a satisfied customer, or from a trusted supplier or products or services? You may be surprised that in surveys, more business managers will place emphasis on a referral from a supplier. The reason is that they believe their supplier’s integrity is on the line with referrals. A previous customer may have had specific needs which were well satisfied, but which may not match their own. After all, everyone believes that their situation is unique, so a satisfied customer may be of little relevance, where a referral from a trusted source is assumed to be good fit for the issue at hand.

How much time do you spend each day either networking or in direct contact with customers? Most business owners average out at 90 minutes daily. Which isn’t bad. But the number to aim for adds ¾ of an hour to that. Owners who spend 2 hrs 15 minutes on business development, consistently manage double digit growth above the rest of the market. See if you can’t add 10 minutes a day as a great start – everyone can find 10 minutes, right? Remember, it’s an average, so one day with an extra hour of calls or meetings qualifies.

A final word on this – direct contact does not include e-mail, mail or texting. It means a conversation. The phone works, but usually only with existing customers. Phone calls tend to be more directed, as they are less comfortable – people generally want the call to be as brief as possible. For this reason, when it comes to prospects and networking, you need to be face-to-face. But that’s when conversations are easiest to maintain, and develop a life of their own. And hopefully develop into business opportunities.

Article by John Hotson – President, Clearwater Communications, Toronto, Canada

When creating the messaging for your next marketing campaign, company newsletter or lecture to your children, take some time to consider the mindset of the recipient of that message. You may be overlooking some very important facts about how your audience feels about what you are about to say.

If it’s Not What I Believe – I Don’t Want to Hear It!

Fifty-five years ago the Ford Foundation in conjunction with the University of Minnesota undertook a study that revolutionized the way we think about communications. The focus of the study was “communication and social influence”. The scope was broad and ranged from the effects of mass media on individuals to how we interpret interpersonal communication.

The theory that evolved from the study was that when an individual is exposed to information that is inconsistent with his or her own strongly held beliefs, that information is perceived as noise or “dissonance” so grating to the belief system that it is rejected and never accepted as real information. The resulting tension motivates the individual to change either their behavior or attitudes. All humans face dissonance when their behavior does not match their self-concept. Simply put, it is very stressful for me as an individual to do or accept something that I see as being at odds with my belief system or the way I think about myself.

Conversely people will readily accept information that fits with the way they already feel.

Thus was born the theory of Cognitive Dissonance or CD (“an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously”)(1). It is a principle that to this day informs professional communicators as to how people will respond to various types of communications.
In addition, the study introduced CD’s cousin Post-Cognitive Dissonance or PCD, which is the study of how people respond to information having just made a decision.

I’m Sure I Made the Right Decision

PCD is most prevalent with large lifestyle purchases such as luxury cars or boats.
The Ford Foundation study highlighted three interesting things for those who had just purchased a car:
1) New car owners would read many more ads about the car they just bought than about other cars. 
2) New car owners would tend to avoid reading ads about cars they considered but did not purchase. 
3) New car ads that emphasize all the attractive features of the latest model would barely reduce the dissonance that may still exist in the owner of a car that was (say) two years old.
PCD suggests that we seek out and accept information that fits with the way we already feel.

The effects of Cognitive Dissonance however, go way beyond the issues surrounding materialistic decision-making.

It Could Never Happen Here

Let me leave you with a more sobering thought as to the significance of this topic as put forward by Armstrong Williams, commentator and columnist.

“There is a strong argument to be made that the massive national security disaster of September 11, 2001 was not primarily a failure of planning, bureaucratic coordination, or vigilance by either the Clinton or Bush administrations. Instead, the root cause of the American failure on 9/11 was psychological. That is, the American national security establishment simply could not absorb, process, and filter data regarding threats so fundamentally at odds with its post-Cold War mind set and conceptual framework.” (2)

Perhaps more than anything else, the U.S. calamity of September 11 can be attributed to the blind eye and selective hearing of Cognitive Dissonance.

Take Away

Cognitive Dissonance suggests that communication may go a lot deeper than we think.

• Changing people’s opinions causes stress, and even though your intentions may be pure, you will encounter resistance that is irrational and illogical. Recognize that you are tampering with peoples’ reality, and changing that requires time and patience.
• People who buy your products, like your stock or will take out the garbage without being told represent your best opportunity for success. Don’t forget to prioritize them when it comes time to set out on your next marketing campaign.
• Some people may never “get it”. Try to identify them quickly and move on. You may have to find another means of getting the trash to the street.

1. Wikipedia: June – 2009
2. Quote: Armstrong Williams

John Hotson
Clearwater Communications
2009