Catarina's World

Of course you would. You would actually want to read it immediately. And your customers are no different from you.

Women contemplating what different beauty products will do for them. What woman would buy a product that she believes would make her look ugly?

What’s the main interest of a customer? Or let me re-phrase the question. What’s your main interest? You know the answer. Yourself. Sounds terrible I know, but all human beings have an interest in what happens in their lives. Be honest, so do you. That doesn’t mean that you are selfish. What would your life be like today if you hadn’t taken an interest in it? No need to say more, is there.

Your customers are also interested in what happens in their lives and how you, your products and services could have a positive impact on them and their lives. Still it is sometimes overlooked.

Marketing is about what your customer wants

If you can show your customer what you can do for them you will not have to do any selling. They will buy. In fact they want to feel they made a purchase, not that you have sold them something. In other words, let the customer feel that they had the idea.

Keep that in mind when you produce you promotional material. Focusing on the customer is, and always has been, the key to successful marketing. It does not matter what you need or want to tell them since the customers priority is what they, not you, need or want. Usually there is no need to tell them bluntly what you can do, there are more subtle ways to get the message across. Ideally they will get the impression that you are sympathetic with their ideas and desires and care about them. It’s not for nothing cosmetics companies sign up beautiful celebrities to promote their products.

Customers want you to care about them

They don’t care that you are very proud about your new office or that you have launched an exciting new product. However, if you invite them to a party at the new office or give them a sample of the new product, they will be interested. Even better if you can show them how your new product will make them more attractive to the opposite sex.

Customers don’t care if your company has had the most successful year ever, unless it has a positive impact on them. You get the drift. Your customers thinks about themselves when they read your advertisement. No need to tell them all the positive aspects of your company, just focus on what impact you can have on their lives and they will be interested. Make them feel happy doing what you would like them to do i.e. lead instead of command.

If they don’t see the positive impact you can have on them and their lives, you are on the wrong track . It’s time to adjust your promotional material to make them see the advantages and purchase. Needless to say, their purchase will be a one off if your products/services don’t have the impact on them that they would like. Or to re-phrase it, if you didn’t like the article written about you, would you be happy with the newspaper that published it?

It seems to me that we are making the art of leadership too complicated. There are umpteen theories that all have one thing in common – they work for some and for others they don’t.

Would Virgin group be what it is today if Richard Branson hadn’t mastered the art of communication?

Most people who suddenly find themselves in a leadership position swiftly realize that the top position is completely different from what they imagined. And worse, there is no manual.

Lonely at the top

There is no school for becoming a successful leader. New leaders frequently feel lonely since there are fewer people privy to high level information. It can be overwhelming. So much so that the fact that a leader’s success depends on communication is frequently forgotten.

Too many theories confusing

Richard Branson is an excellent example of a very successful leader who masters the art of communication. To the extent of jumping from high buildings to get the attention needed to promote a new Virgin venture. Don’t think anybody would dispute how successful he is. But the confusion caused by all these theories and schools of leadership actually led one guy straight out of university to have the audacity to make a comment in a discussion on Linkedin that he had a lot to teach Richard Branson. Indeed? What are the odds of he, or anybody else, becoming as successful a leader as Richard is? Pretty slim, I’d say considering that very few ever become as successful as Richard Branson is. And the success of Virgin is very much down to his exceptionally good ability to communicate.

The tasks of a leader is, simply put, to vision where a company is heading (strategies, future accomplishments, managing the destiny of the organisation and so forth), find the people the organisation needs to fulfil it’s vision, make choices and take decisions. Leaders also have to continuously serve, learn, correct, evaluate and motivate.

The leader’s most powerful tool

And how are you going to succeed with all that if you don’t master the art of communication ? Both internally and externally it’s the most powerful tool a leader has. It’s crucial to communicate with others about trends that affect the future of your business and stretch your thoughts by discussing your ideas with friends, associates and other great thinkers.

What can be achieved without constantly communicating?

Ideas are an extremely powerful force. By communicating ideas to people you engage their minds and help them see new possibilities and new opportunities. Strong and evocative ideas energize people and incite action. As leaders, our ideas are important. Leaders need clear ideas and philosophies about how to win in the marketplace, how their organisation should operate and how to develop their people.

Leaders succeed because they are able to focus and deal with the 5% of issues that are crucial, build support, create followers, put out fires fast and finish what they started. How would that be possible without communicating? Especially since many decisions are instant so a non-communicative leader would fail miserably.

Successful leaders spend much more time communicating their decision than actually taking the decision. Lots of time is also spent on coaching and motivating others. And, tedious as it can be, repeating the decision to get maximum effect. But despite that most people wrongly believe leaders spend most of their time making decisions. Leaders who only take decisions will fail miserably since communication is the key ingredient. Not communicating enough is hence the main reason for failure and not, as many believe, that they were following the wrong theory. And don’t forget that leaders live in the future so the more your communication enlightens you about tomorrow the better a leader you will be!

(Photo: Flickr linniekin)

Wonder how many articles have been written, including by me, explaining what makes a successful entrepreneur? And rarely is the most important aspect of succeeding in business mentioned.  Watch Andy Rachleff, lecturer in strategic management at Stanford and experienced venture capitalist, in less than a minute stating what is the most important ingredient for entrepreneurial success.

To have the right product or service for the market is something so fundamental it’s easy to forget to even mention it. Wrote Entrepreneurship – do genes play a part? that has attracted a lot of readers’ comments. But neither I nor any reader thought of mentioning the crucial aspect of product- market fit. We all just overlook it even though it is a do or die issue for success.

Doesn’t matter if you are The Entrepreneur of the Decade, if you are offering the wrong product/service you will fail.

Why do so many companies fail?

Did you know that in Sweden as many companies go bankrupt every year as there are start-ups? Sure the tax system is one reason but that’s, unfortunately, not the only explanation. Quite a few of them are offering a service or product that the market, for whatever reason, has no interest in. Sometimes they are actually offering something before the market is ready for it.

How do you know if the market wants what you are offering?

It’s easier said than done unless you are offering something that there is always a demand for. Look at how Nokia laughed when Apple came up with the Iphone and regular airlines didn’t take low price airlines, like Ryanair, seriously. They failed to understand what the market wants and are hence having huge problems.

Nokia is actually a great example of a company with a lot of qualified and talented employees that have the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. But they didn’t understand what the market wants and hence lost out.

Keep your ear to the ground

Determining what the market wants is however not as easy as it sounds. Keep your ear to the ground and do research to test if your idea is a viable one.

Long before disposable barbecues became a hit someone I know had the idea but failed. Why? It simply was too early. But that could have been overcome if the right marketing, communication, branding and promotion had been done. What would have happened to the Iphone if Apple had not been able to promote it to the market in ways that worked? Most likely Blackberry would still be considered the ultimate choice.

Do you agree with Andy Rachleff that product-market fit is the most important ingredient for entrepreneurial success? If not, why? How do you determine what the market wants? Do you keep your ear to the ground? What’s your experience when it comes to determining what product/service the market wants? How do you decide on the right timing for launching it? Are you able to promote it in ways that make consumers desire something they may not yet know that they need or want? What promotional strategies have you found work best?

Video:StanfordBusiness – You Tube

Leadership can be challenging when you team consists of people of numerous nationalities and on top of it are in different locations all over the world. Devote 2 minutes to watching Anne Edmondson, Harvard Business School professor, outline her ideas on how to succeed:  

Geographically dispersed teams offer a lot of benefits – increased efficiency, cost savings, and enables you to choose team members with optimal skills, regardless of where in the world they are. Videoconferencing, intranet and email has already made that way of working an option that's likely to become even more popular. Actually believe that's how we will increasingly work in the future. 

To make a success of your global team, chose team players with the right characteristics and ensure that you have the best possible communication. 

​What kind of team members should you chose?

They need to be self-motivated, have good communication skills, be result driven, open and honest.

It's essential to unite all members around a common objective and communicate clearly and frequently.Set up goals and make sure bonding takes place between all of you. Giving assessment and reward performance is even more important when the members of your team are scattered around the world. 

People who need constant encouragement and attention to get the job done is a complication to be avoided. You simply cannot devote the time necessary to make such members perform that you would have been able to do if you were in the same office. For the same reason it's also essential that all members of the team feel they can to come to you with problems and really unite around a common purpose. Everyone must have a desire to reach the team's goals and clearly understand and be motivated by their roles and responsibilities.

Give frequent and fair feed-back to everyone and make yourself available to all members of your team. Can be a bit inconvenient sometimes due to time difference. Have many times had to get up extremely early, or stay up late, in order to talk to a team member on the other side of the world. But there is no avoiding it if you want your team to stay on track. 

Since you are not meeting on a daily basis it's also important to visit them now and then to make sure they feel important. 

Don't forget different cultures and values

Obviously it's easier for those of us who have lived and worked all over the world. Provided of course that you integrated, understood the different cultures and what drives people from there. Am frequently surprised at how people, especially in the West, just presume that the way we think in say, the US or Sweden, applies to all of humanity. But you have to motivate all members of your team regardless of nationality so it's essential to make sure you really understand what drives people from different cultures. 

Do you have experience in leading teams of different nationalities spread around the world? Did you find Anne Edmondson's advice useful? Were you able to build trust when you were not meeting the team on a daily basis? Are you able to ensure that everyone feels they're treated fairly, even if you see some team members much more than others? How do you avoid members of your team feeling isolated? What can you do to make all players feel part of the team's objectives and perform according to plan? Which aspects do you find most challenging when your team is spread around the world? Do you believe diverse groups spread around the world will increasingly be the way we will work in the future? 

(Video: HarvardBusiness – You Tube)

Apple, 3M and Google are prime examples of companies reaping the benefits of ideas generated by someone in their organisation. However, far too many companies still fail to benefit from the ideas of their staff.

The ideas floating around in your organisation are opportunities to develop and innovate. By listening to everyone your chances of innovating from within are unlocked.

So how do you get everybody to come forward with ideas they have for any area of the company? Could be ideas applicable to short term as well as long term benefits. Frequently management find it difficult to find out about all the different ideas employees have. They are unaware of anything from small ideas that would slightly improve their database to ideas that could result in new successful products – or even ideas that would completely change how the organisation operate. So how do you go about reaping the benefits from ideas your staff have?

Let staff know you value their ideas

The first thing to communicate is that you are sincerely interested in any idea someone in your organisation might have. Make sure they feel welcome presenting ideas to you even if the idea isn’t yet fully developed. Find simple ways that enable anyone from the cleaner up to take their ideas further than chatting to colleagues about them during a coffee break. Give them courage to present their ideas to colleagues and management. And make sure they are not afraid of looking ridiculous or get reprimanded for having suggestions.

If you don’t know about the abundance of ideas floating around in the organisation you are missing opportunities to develop and innovate, not to mention earning money. By listening to everyone your chances of finding new strategies and opportunities increase.

Ideas lost may be money lost

The more ideas are saved, mixed and worked on the better for an organisation. And it’s time to move on from the boxes where employees dot down a few ideas for the management to read. Frequently such communication neither give credit to ideas nor does it enable colleagues to discuss and develop a seed into something that can be used.

Develop ideas during office hours

To give an idea a fair chance the person behind it should be able to come forward with it and explain the benefits. One way would be to have monthly or weekly meetings where ideas can be presented to colleagues and management. The more ideas see the light of day the more ideas will be created and developed.

Brainstorm on a regular basis

In my experience brainstorming is a wonderful way of developing ideas, not to mention whole organisations. And it’s mainly ideas that are far out, almost regarded as crazy, that turn out to be the best. It’s hence best to have as many people as possible participating so that a seed can be creatively developed. It’s also crucial that people keep an open mind and don’t discard something that may turn out to be a bestseller before it’s developed.

Develop a culture that embrace ideas

For ideas to flourish staff must feel that they are appreciated for putting forward ideas and encouraged to think, question and be innovative. Obviously not all ideas are good ideas but you will lose out on the good ones if staff don’t let you know what they would like to improve.

When a lot of people come together and give feedback a lot of good ideas are developed. Even more so when people from different cultures join forces and look at innovations from different perspectives, which is one of the key assets of companies like Google and Apple.

Once you have developed a system where everybody in the organisation are encouraged to develop their ideas and present them you will not only get a lot of ideas but a culture where staff dare communicating what they would like to improve as well as increase the creativity of the organisation enormously. The result will be an atmosphere that is fun, people like to go to work, aren’t afraid to make mistakes and new products and services will be created that otherwise would never have seen the light of day.

Jump on the Google & Apple innovation band-waggon

Far too many companies all over the world have a culture where only the management are allowed to think and have ideas. So many that it’s often assumed that’s the case, even if management would like to develop a culture where everybody contributes. If that’s the case, it’s time for you to start communicating that you are open to all ideas and let staff know that you are interested in their thoughts and ideas. They will never know if you don’t let them know.

What are you doing to encourage a creative atmosphere that breeds ideas? Does staff come to you and explain their ideas? Do you have regular brainstorming session to find and develop ideas? Or is this an area you have neglected since it seems to complicated? If so, it’s high time you follow in the footsteps of Google and Apple and create a culture that breeds success.

(Photo: PhotoXpress – Stasys Eidiejus)

When the ferry Estonia unexpectedly sank, the then Swedish prime minister promised it would be raised. Turned out that was impossible, but the voters never forgave him for breaking his promise.

Handle the issue in a serious manner and don’t try to make it appear to be of minor importance. It is important, so important you have journalists hounding you. If you seem arrogant they will go for your throat.

Negative media coverage hits when you least expect it and you have to be quick, open and take responsibility. It’s actually more important how you handle the crisis than what actually happened.

Not as difficult as it seems

How should a crisis be managed? There are an abundance of strategies claiming to know how to succeed with crisis management. They all have one thing in common – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. But the multitude of theories do give the impression it’s almost impossible to manage disaster when it hits you. And the fact that huge companies like BP fail contribute to making companies feel they are not up to the task. Of course they are.

You can’t anticipate everything that could go wrong

Things go wrong when we least expect it and to make it worse it’s usually something we wouldn’t in our wildest dreams imagine. It’s not the areas where you understand something could go wrong that turns out to be problematic but something completely unexpected. So no matter how prepared you are, you will usually be caught completely off guard when something really goes wrong.

Make a tentative plan of action

So it’s important to decide who handles what and how you will proceed when a crisis happens. Otherwise it will be total chaos with people trying to avoid dealing with it by claiming it’s not their responsibility. And several people have to be prepared to act, in case someone is off sick or on vacation. You also need to make sure the person handling the press gives a serious and honest impression.

Monitor your press coverage

It’s important to be aware of what’s written about you. Not least on social media because that’s often where a problems starts. Keep a close eye on comments being made since things can easily get out of hand if you don’t handle them swiftly.

Can you handle even a huge disaster?

You have to be prepared to do so even if it never happens. If not, you are doomed when disaster strikes.

Be available

Trying to avoid the media is tantamount to suicide. Some journalists will then try to nail you and find whatever information they can to do so. If necessary by analysing the crisis at hand in a way that makes you the culprit. If you don’t know what to say, you can always end a news conference by saying that the next one will be held, say, tomorrow afternoon at 15.00 hours.

Don’t try to hide anything

Be as open as possible to avoid speculation. Use your web site to make documents related to the issue at hand available, questions & answers and statements. Just be careful about not saying anything that could later turn out to be bending the truth. It’s better to say that you don’t know but will find out and get back to them.

Don’t simplify the problem

Handle the issue in a serious manner and don’t try to make it appear to be of minor importance. It is important, so important you have journalists hounding you. If you seem arrogant they will go for your throat. Make sure you convey the message that you completely understand and sympathize with the public outcry caused by the crisis. It’s essential to show that you genuinely care and that human beings are more important to you than money. However, don’t be as emphatic as the former Swedish prime minister by promising something that can’t be done. It would have been better that he said he would like to raise it, but didn’t know if it was possible.

Apologize

When you are at fault acknowledge it, take responsibility and apologize profoundly. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to explain why things went wrong. That usually goes down wrong and give the impression you are not sincere. And that’s fatal.

Be honest

Whatever you do, don’t lie and hope it will not be detected. Investigating journalists will find out and the repercussions against the company, and you personally, could be grim. Even white lies can be fatal. Heard about one minister that got caught with a white lie and was sacked after eight days in office.

Show the media what actions you are taking to sort out the mess and make sure it never happens again. Needless to say it has to be something that makes sense and enable them to show the public that you are taking your responsibilities seriously.

Maybe the most important thing is for the crisis to be handled by a person that gives an honest and caring impression. If not, media can easily get the impression something is wrong and start investigating. If worse comes to worse they will then dig up something else that can be editorialized into a story needing even more crisis management. Or even make it necessary for the CEO to resign.

(Photo: PhotoXpress Nathalie P)

Sometimes people really complicate the art of communicating. So much so that even large companies convey their message badly to the wrong target groups. Maybe because they are into the latest fad in marketing? Regardless of the reason why, to succeed you need to start by asking yourself what, who, why, how and when. It all starts by having a strategy that delivers your message in ways that makes people do what you want them to do.

What if you don’t need whatever it is you think you need to be successful? Wouldn’t it then be a good idea to start by contemplating what, who, why, how and when and get the message that you can solve their problem across to your target group?

Who do you want to reach?

How can you succeed in getting your message across if you don’t know who it’s for? Who could be interested in what you have to offer? If you don’t know or believe that all people will be interested, I suggest you think again. Not all people are interested. Some could be but not right now, some are definitely not and some people are interested in what you have to offer right here and now. So how do you reach the latter group?

What do you want your clients to do?

The main interest of potential customers is not you and your products and/or services. It’s what’s in it for them. Do you provide information that make them understand what they gain from your offer? Or do you write about yourself, your products and services? Obviously you have to provide such information but in a way that makes clients realize what’s in it for them. How would you solve their problems? And don’t’ forget the importance of customers being able to contact you. If not, what’s the point in making an effort? May sound like a strange thing to point out but it happens that you have to make an effort to find contact details on a companies web site.

When is a good time to communicate?

Timing is key. When is the right time to sell your products and services to your target market? The right time depends on your clients and customers and a lot of other factors. But you really have to ask yourself when they need your products and services as well as if the demand depends on the season? What age group is likely to be most interested in what you have to offer?

When do most customers have problems you can solve? Does something have to happen in their lives for them to need you? For some companies that’s crucial, for others not.

Where do you reach your target group?

What medias should you use to get your message across to your potential clients? Using your web site and blog are musts nowadays. But are you using social media strategically to reach your target group? Where do you find them? Are they local or spread all over the world? Do you tweet your customers? Apart from that do you need newspapers, television, newsletters or direct marketing to succeed? Or it may be as simple as to donate some products to a local charity to create good will in your neighbourhood?

Why should people do what you want?

Are you able to make an offer that’s hard to refuse? In other words offer your target group something special that they normally can’t get. It’s not about just a bargain since people are prepared to pay full price for what they really want. But not always. So when you are doing a promotion it’s a good idea to offer something special in order to succeed. Could be a discount, bonus, premium gadget or some kind of a guarantee. The key is to get the message across that they are getting a good deal. Get your clients to feel that what you are offering is worth more than what they are paying for it. That way they feel good since they are making a good deal. If necessary hire a communications consultant to help you out. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune. And don’t forget that everybody loves a good story.

A lot of the time we think it’s more complicated and that we need to do more than is actually necessary in order to succeed. But communication isn’t rocket science. Once you start asking you will find the answers. There is mostly not a need to apply the latest theories you read about in Harvard Business Review. Many people are actually so confused by all the new theories constantly being launched they think they need more time, money and resources. But is that really true? You can do a lot with a little. Many great projects are started with a simple idea and a willingness to work hard. What if you don’t need whatever it is you think you need to succeed? Wouldn’t it then be a good idea to start by contemplating what, who, why, how and when and get the message that you can solve their problem across to your target group? If you do it right people who have a need will know, like and trust you. And then they will try, buy, repeat and refer.