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What I Learned from the “Why Girl” and How It Can Help your Business

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But Why?

Image by Liquid Lucidity via Flickr

Written by Karen D. Swim

Years ago, I had a colleague who we nicknamed “The Why Girl.”  It was not one of those mean, behind the back nicknames whispered in the corner by the water cooler, she knew and embraced our good natured ribbing.  She earned the nickname because in every management meeting, you could count on her to ask “Why?” When presenting her own points, she would give you her list counting them off 1, 2, C (because she always forgot if she was counting down numerically or alphabetically – yes we found it hilarious!). I liked “Why Girl.” Questions force us to examine our own beliefs and opinions, and in doing so renew our own understanding.  One of the best ways to learn is to teach.

I think of “Why Girl” a lot these days as I question actions I have taken for granted and explore new paths. The exercise has opened my eyes to things I do without thinking that may befuddle others. It has made me take a step back and examine business processes – Why did I set it up this way? Is this intuitive for customers? Why did I word this message in that way? Is it easily understood? Is email most efficient for this communication or would it be better to call?

When children ask “Why”” it can be annoying. We may tire of explaining and become exasperated when we can’t explain something that we just accept as true.  Yet, are colleagues and customers silently asking “why?” Are we exasperating them with our lack of answers or unwillingness to even listen.

Social media enthusiasts risk not asking “why?” and assuming that everyone knows how to  (fill in the blank) or that everyone understands why. In truth, only a small percentage of your population may understand “why.” Believe it or not there are still many people who are not even comfortable with email let alone other social media tools. It is important not to become so entrenched in your comfort zone that you isolate those who may not be where you are yet.

Or you can dig in your heels and decide that they need to figure it out because after all the future is here. You could do that … but it would be a big mistake. A willingness to ask why provides you an opportunity to lead. When you not only understand but are willing to show others the way you  will achieve far greater results than simply following the “in-crowd.”  Taking a step back to examine, and question may lead you to discover an unmet need.  Identifying an unmet need is an opportunity to fulfill that need in the market, and to take a position of leadership.

The truly cool kids are not just moving from one shiny toy to the other, they’re taking it apart, banging it against the wall, and merging it with different parts. They’re not only asking why” but also “What if?” If you are wiling to challenge, examine and question you have an opportunity to do and be great. In my mind that’s a much better position than simply standing in line waiting for someone else to figure it out.

Have you asked “why” lately in your business or personal life? Were you surprised by the answer? Feel free to share your comments, opinions or questions. Discussion is welcomed and encouraged.

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What you Talking ‘bout Willis?

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Written by Karen D. Swim

As if we had not tortured and twisted the American language enough, an entire new lexicon has arisen as a result of social media. Our language is now populated by pop culture colloquialisms, abbreviated text speak and social media-isms. Add industry jargon to the mix and you have a communication nightmare.

What Say You?

Me: Here in MI our local ABC station follows that practice, it’s great.

Twitter Friend: I’m new to twitter speak, what’s MI?

In the above exchange I used the standard postal abbreviation for Michigan – MI – assuming that I was being inclusive with my language choice. Think again. We have become so accustomed to strange abbreviations and new words on Twitter that MI could have stood for anything.

Another example:

Travis: I’ll work on the feed and get it corrected, thanks for your help.
Me: No problem, ping me when it’s fixed and I’ll add you to my reader.
Travis: Oh, I don’t use Ping yet but I know I should learn
Me: No, not Ping.fm the service, I meant email or IM me to let me know when it’s done

See how confusing our language has become. We have created a virtual tower of Babel where it’s a wonder that we are still able to carry on conversations. We are friending, tweeting, linking, plurking, kwipping, blogging, shouting, skyping and on occasion hitting each other on our cellies. No wonder, even Dutch words have taken on a familiarity for me of late. These days I am as comfortable with unfamiliar foreign languages as my native tongue of English.

Think Before you Speak or Text

Yes, your mother was right. I have stuck my foot in my mouth more times than I care to admit when I have not taken a moment to think before opening my big fat mouth.  The removal of facial gestures and inflections makes communicating in writing even more hazardous. Pause before you hit the send button and make sure that your message will be read as intended.

So What Does That Have to Do with The Tea In China?

Now more than ever it is important to strive for clear communication. It is easier to have our words taken out of context, misunderstood or even unknowingly offend. Clear and simple language, free of jargon will foster understanding when communicating with a large and diverse audience.

Regional language and colloquial phrases are a wonderful way to add color to your communications but use them wisely. Phrases that are appropriate on one platform can be easily misunderstood on another.

I am going to make a greater effort to not be Misunderstood in MI, after all the whole point of social media is to communicate which implies being understood.

How do you manage our bourgeoning language? Do you have any personal practices or tips to share?

The Walking Wounded and Socially Fatigued

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Written by Karen D. Swim

The other day I received an email notification that one of my Twitter followers was no longer following me. I clicked through to the follower’s twitter page and the most recent tweet (message) indicated that he was changing his twitter account un-following everyone and only following those who could have a direct impact on his business.

I was not offended by the un-follow but questioned the strategy. Is it possible to know who will impact our business? Human relationships are not linear so it is impossible to predict the trajectory of an interaction with someone you consider “unessential.” One of the benefits of having a broad social network, online or offline is the access to people beyond our immediate circle of influence. A social network like Twitter affords you the opportunity to be visible to a broad, diverse group and all those who follow them. That is both the benefit and the problem.

The interactions suddenly swell to a high level of noise and you look for ways to tone down the volume. Some are like me and simply take the occasional break from online interactions. Others may un-follow or quit networks altogether. Many have chosen to limit the interaction by shutting off their Facebook Wall or Blog Comments. Those who have a true need/desire can simply send a message or email.

With the rise of social networks we ripped the lid from Pandora’s box and unleashed a beast whose tentacles reach far and wide. As we choke on the glut of social interaction, we begin to question our previous adoration of those shiny new tools. Is it too late to tame this social beast?

The reality is we really do need people. We require some level of interaction in our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, we cannot control how people choose to interact with us, or respond to us when we try to establish boundaries.

My advice is to look carefully before you leap into any social network. The honeymoon period will come to an end and you will be left with a relationship to manage. Is it worth your long term commitment?

Are you among the socially fatigued? How are you managing the balance?

References:

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How Comfortable Are Your Customers?

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A proud moment for America - Change Can Happen...

Image by rscottjones via Flickr

Written by Karen D. Swim

Well, today is November 5th and in case you missed it, the United States has elected Barack Obama as its 44th President.  I did not want to allow the day to pass without acknowledging the historical significance of this moment. Yet, when I tried to form words this morning, I simply could not. Everything sounded trite or cheesy. I am quite frankly still absorbing the weight of America’s decision.

I have been fascinated this election season by the marketing campaigns, lessons in communications and of course the comments, opinions and reactions of voters.  As a writer and marketer, this has been akin to hitting the inspiration lottery.  I could devote several hundred posts to the nuggets of wisdom from this election but today I shall focus on the one thought that dominates – Discomfort leads to action.

I moved to Michigan from California a few years ago. Michigan has been in a one state recession long before the economy went south in the rest of the country.  Most Americans were still happily spending and going about their business unaware of the declining economy in our little neck of the woods. However, that recession spread. Fuel prices soared, layoffs increased, financial institutions collapsed and wall street became a nauseating roller coaster ride. Suddenly, everyone was checking their wallet in search of the thief that was stealing the value of their dollar.

In short, many people became uncomfortable. We humans are funny, creatures of habit. Some of us like constant change and will mix it up “just because.” Most will stay the course until something shakes us up and forces us to change.  Dave Navarrro wisely articulated this in a recent post on the impact of the wake up call. When we’re comfortable, we don’t rock the boat but discomfort leads us to action.

America became uncomfortable. Barack Obama tapped into that discomfort and offered a prescription for relief.  People registered to vote, others who had not bothered to vote stood in line to cast their ballot. Obama reminded us that we were not comfortable, many had a wake up call and took action.

Pain. Discomfort. These words have great meaning to those in sales. You want to uncover pain and discomfort and offer your customers a prescription to make it all better.  You are always offering the cure or the prevention to pain and discomfort. Always. You may have the best product/service/source of knowledge but if you can’t sell it then it’s worthless.

Whether you are an employee fighting to recession proof your job or a business owner seeking to stay alive, you are selling and pain is your key. How can you help your customer / employer avoid or relieve pain? Answering that question will take you far. If you don’t believe me, check out America’s next President.

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A Design for a New Day

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Building Blocks

Image by Holger Zscheyge via Flickr

Written by Karen D. Swim

How often have you questioned a process and heard “I don’t know, we’ve always done it this way” in response? Corporations are often like rusty old trains with an inability to stop on a dime, check out new scenery or even change directions. People and companies go along following processes and procedures just because they exist, most never questioning until a consultant comes in and replaces their round hole with a square peg.  The story below is a funny illustration, courtesy of a client, Jeremiah Josey.

A newly married couple were in the kitchen one Sunday. The wife was preparing a piece of lamb for roasting and the husband was preparing the vegetables. The husband observed as the wife placed the piece of lamb onto the chopping block and promptly chopped 4 inches from each end, discarded the pieces into the bin. She then placed the lamb into the center of the large baking tray, around which the husband began to place the vegetables.

The husband asks, “Why did you do that darling, that looked like perfectly good lamb you through away?”

“Oh, I never think of it”, she replied. “Mother always did it and that’s what she taught me. We can ask her when we visit her for roast dinner next Sunday.”

So, that next Sunday they visited Mother for her Sunday roast and were served roast lamb and vegetables. Looking at the roast they could both see clearly that the ends had been cut off.

The daughter asked, “Mother, why are then ends missing from the roast?”

“It’s because… I honestly don’t know”, replied Mother. “I’ve always done it that way, just like my mother taught me. She is visiting next week so come for dinner again and we can ask her”.

So, another week passed and they were all seated at the table for Sunday roast, this time Grand Mother is present. And, like last week, the roast with its ends removed appears from the kitchen.

“Grand Mother,” begins the husband, “I’ve seen both your daughter and your grand daughter cut both ends of a perfectly good roast before they cook it, and I was wondering why you taught them to do it that way.”

“That is a very good question Grand Son.” says Grand Mother. “For many years when my daughter was growing up, we lived in a small apartment in New York. In that apartment we had a very small oven with a very small door, and the only way for me to cook my Sunday roast was to cut the ends off so it would fit into the small baking tray I used to fit into the oven. I stopped doing that years ago, ever since I got a larger oven – after my daughter left home I recall. Why waste perfectly good meat?”

# # #

Jeremiah’s story illustrates the insanity of repeating a process without question. However, changing from a round hole to a square peg is also not always the right answer.  Rather, we must assess our processes and actions and create solutions that fit, sometimes that will be a round hole and at other times it may be a combination.  The innovation is not always in the solution but the approach – a willingness to try something that has never been done to look beyond your company and industry for ideas and solutions.

This integrated approach is called Design Thinking.  This video explains it in greater detail.

As we move forward it is clear that the “same old way” will get us the same old results. As you look at your own company or business,  are there things you do out of habit and routine? Do they still make sense? Simply asking the question can pave the way for innovation.

So what do you think of this integrated approach? Is this something you are already doing? Let’s learn from one another. Share your thoughts, and ideas in the comments.

Thanks to Society for Word of Mouth for the article and resources on Design Thinking that prompted this post!

References:

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You’ve Got the Sizzle Baby but Where’s the Steak?

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Written by Karen D. Swim

Last week we talked about improving your marketing by adding a little sizzle. The combination of sizzle and substance will satisfy your market and entice them back for seconds.  The market can be forgiving of a lack of sizzle when the company has substance and high visibility.  Consider Google, who from the inception has focused on technical savvy and functionality rather than visually pleasing aesthetics. Craigslist is a visual nightmare but that has not stood in the way of worldwide use of the site.  Sizzle combined with substance provides a competitive advantage. On the other hand, a lack of substance is a guaranteed way to leave your readers hungry and searching for fulfillment elsewhere.

Here are three tips to help you fill your customer’s plate:

Pay attention to your content. You may believe that in this day when everyone skims rather than reads that you can let your content slide. Wrong! I visited a site last week that was breathtaking in its design aesthetics. Wanting to learn more about the company, I made the mistake of reading the content. I had to force myself not to rip my eyes out of my head.  The grammatical errors made me cringe. Instead of articulate, easy to read sentences there were run on paragraphs of buzzwords. It was obvious the company had intended to appeal to their market with “inside” language but the words hung together like puzzle pieces that were not in their proper place.  Even the press releases were a disaster! Please realize that your website, brochure or one-sheet may be your potential customer’s introduction to you and your company. Take the time to ensure that it is well written because many wil take time to actually read it.

Consider your market, and not your personal preferences. I recently worked with a client on a re-branding effort. His previous marketing materials including his website reflected his own personal tastes. The problem, however is that the marketing messages and images were completely unaligned with his company’s brand. The messages did not appeal to his target audience and the images clashed with the content. The result was an ineffective mess.  Your marketing should reflect some personality but ensure that you do so in a way that is not out of line with your market or brand image.

Tell them what, why and how in simple language.  When your potential customers read your words, they are essentially having a conversation with your company.  As you write, think of what you would say to Joe The Plumber or Shawna the Soccer Mom if they asked “What does your company do?” Will you answer them with industry acronyms or search optimized phrases? Or will you give than an easy to understand  explanation of how you help your market?  If you sell Pizza don’t tell them that you take dough, shape it into a sphere and lovingly cover it with freshly pureed tomatoes. Tell them you make pizza!

Your marketing does not have to be perfect to be effective.  A reader may forgive a typo (it happens in spite of our best efforts) but is unlikely to forgive unintentional grammatical errors, or wordy sentences that say nothing.  Treat your market with respect by delivering substance.

Have you ever made a purchase based on sizzle and been disappointed with the results?  Did it change the way you evaluate purchases?  Feel free to share your experiences, insights, or questions in the comments.  If you have specific questions you would like to see answered in a future post, shoot me an email at karenswim [at] gmail [dot] com.

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