The Right Conversations in 2020 (Jim Karrh On Marketing)

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Now that you have set your 2020 growth plans for the business, it’s time to set to work achieving them. The secret for most of us lies, in large part, with everyday real-time conversations — the ones with customers, prospects, distributors, donors, members, potential employees and whoever else is important for growth.

I find that the most effective organizations are strategic and intentional about those conversations. They prioritize:

Whom they most want to engage;
Who in the organization has an opportunity to initiate and lead those conversations;
Which buyers are (and are not) a good fit for what they offer; and
Ways to encourage everyone to listen as much as they talk.

Over time, those high-quality conversations become a flywheel of growth for the business. Pretty basic ideas, huh? Unfortunately, these are not always basic practices.

As I was trying to organize my thoughts for this column, a new LinkedIn connection made it easy. Here is how not to approach a business conversation.

I had accepted that LinkedIn connection request from a “speaker and trainer” with whom I share several connections. (I generally welcome those invitations, by the way.) I hadn’t met this person but know and like the friends we appeared to have in common.

My new connection soon asked to schedule a call. I didn’t immediately reply. Next came this message: “Hello Jim, I’m glad we could connect. Not sure if you noticed my last question? I asked because we provide world-class strategies to increase employee engagement and leadership, creating individuals and teams willing to invest in helping each other and the growth of the company. Let’s schedule a call. When are you available?”

Before I could respond, this followed a few hours later: “Hi Jim, following up on my earlier messages. If I told you our processes have decreased unhappy employees by 48% and increased employees feeling more valued, accountable, and productive by over 200% would you like to meet with me? What does your calendar look like for a quick call?”

It was time for me to respectfully pump the brakes. I replied: “As a solo consultant and speaker, I’m likely not a good fit. Happy to have the connection, however!”

Here was the reply: “Of course, you probably receive so many of these messages every week. Why don’t we schedule a quick call so you can see the value of what I bring to the table?”

Apparently, this person had not prioritized his outreach to prospects (say, businesses with a sizable workforce). Neither had he done basic research and homework to establish potential fit (which is pretty easy on LinkedIn). Then, when I as a prospect politely informed him that I don’t have the problem he solves, he continued to press for a meeting to convince me anyway!

It was a shining example of something I once heard a sales speaker say: “Many sellers use listening as simply their opportunity to reload.”

You, on the other hand, can use conversations to build empathy and trustworthiness. As I have noted in previous columns, trustworthiness is not solely a function of your expertise. It is at least equally important to show your empathy, your understanding of the other person’s situation. My new LinkedIn connection was so intent on demonstrating his expertise that he completely missed the empathy part.

My recommendation is to make sure everyone on your team has clarity on your business priorities, your ideal customers, and how to be most helpful in asking and answering questions. Recognize, too, that conversational skills require coaching and reinforcement. The good news is that the bar is pretty low out there in the business world; your consistent competence will put you in a leading position.

That’s a “world-class strategy” you can embrace for 2020.