Falling On Deaf Ears

Conversations help your customers cut through the hype

By Jeremy Miller

"Blah, blah, blah, ROI. Blah, blah, blah, solution. Blah, blah, blah, leading edge. Blah, blah, blah, results." This is what your customers hear every day. The same old overhyped crap.

Every day people are inundated with marketing messages. Turn on the TV; do a search on the Internet; read a newspaper; watch a movie; drive down the highway. Everywhere you turn there is someone trying to catch your attention and get your money. It's rather annoying actually.

People have developed a simple defense mechanism to manage all of these marketing requests: tune out. That's right. Think for a moment. Do you actually watch TV commercials? Do you read the Google ads when you do a search? Do you try to strike up a conversation with a sales person who just cold called you? Probably not. No one has the time or the mental capacity to give their attention to all of these countless requests.

The same old marketing tactics are losing their impact. The moment someone realizes your goal is to persuade, motivate or sell them something, they become far less willing to believe whatever you have to say. They tune you out. So how do we avoid this inevitable freeze out? The answer is to stop pitching, and have a meaningful conversation with your customers.

Conversations are not new. People have been having them since time began. That is how we learn about each other, how we share ideas, and how we build relationships. People enjoy having conversations, but for companies conversations are scary. Marketing messages are clean, straightforward and one directional. Conversations on the other hand are messy. They require participation, involvement and sharing opinions.

If we boil it all down, companies avoid open conversations, because they don't want to offend anyone. They invest oodles of money carefully crafting messages that speak equally to everyone. The problem with a conversation is you have to share opinions, and sometimes your customers will disagree with you.

Disagreements are good. Consider your close friends and family. You have conversations, debates and arguments with them. Some are fun, and some are frustrating. But they don't jeopardize your relationships – they strengthen them. Getting to know these people at a deeper level and understanding what makes them tick brings you closer. It lets you know where you stand with them, and how you can effectively work with them in your life. That is the real power of conversations.

Let your customers know where you stand. Have a conversation with them. Now this does not mean that you throw caution to the wind and reveal your corporate strategy and competitive intelligence. Rather it means shaping your point of view, and discussing mutual areas of interest with your customers.

Dove, the soap and beauty product company, has done a masterful job engaging their market in a conversation with their "Campaign for Real Beauty." They took a stand. They said women come in all ages, shapes and sizes, and they are beautiful. What a powerful message! Their message was absolutely contrarian in their market. Up until then beauty products were always portrayed by tall, skinny models. Dove took a stance, and it paid off.

Let me put it simply. In one paragraph I referenced the Dove campaign. I expect you can already picture some of their ads in your mind. You can picture the images of women that come in all shapes and ages. You also have an opinion. You either love the campaign, or you are not a fan. Either way it has left its mark on you. My basic reference to the campaign jogged your memory, and if we sit down I bet we could have a real conversation on the ideas of "real beauty." Dove has broken through the clutter, and left its mark on you.

Now try Googling the "Campaign for Real Beauty." I brought up over 43 million hits. I didn't even check how many hits came up in the blogosphere. Dove's contrarian opinion got people talking. The conversation has gone far beyond the advertising and PR campaigns that launched the idea, and now it has legs.

That's the power of conversation. By getting your customers talking, and engaging them as people, you make your messages sticky. Your customers don't have to tune you out to defend themselves against persuasive messages, because they are participating in the conversation. They are asking questions. You are sharing opinions. They know where you stand. All the while you are building trust and rapport with your customers by speaking to them as individuals.

Conversations start with an opinion. We all have them. What does your company stand for? What knowledge or expertise do you have that could be meaningful to your market? What do you want to talk about? Pick some topics that are engaging and relevant with your customers, and strike up a conversation with them. See what happens. I bet you will find your customers responsive and interested.


Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. LEAPJob recruits sales professionals and sales leaders for many of Canada's most recognized companies. Their clients range from the Top 50 Employers to smaller organizations building their first sales force. You can reach Jeremy at Jeremy.Miller@LEAPJob.com or 905.281.3090, Ext. 22. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.