Welcome 1st Time Website Visitors

A warm welcome to 1st time viewers of our website:  www.huntingtonconsultancy.com

The Strategic Sales Rep. vs. The Order Taker

A new article:

The Strategic Sales Rep. vs. The Order-Taker

Thoughts on Selling by Alan Walsh, Huntington Consultancy Founder & CEO

http://www.slideshare.net/awalsh8174/the-strategic-sales-rep-vs-the-ordertaker

A Lesson From Politics on Business Communication

By:  Alan Walsh, Owner, Huntington Consultancy 

Among the complex factors determining the outcome of the last Presidential election was a significant difference in communication style, methodology, and delivery between the opposing camps. While The Republicans were communicating “lofty thoughts” and “civics lessons” that were issue-focused, the Democrats crafted a set of communications that were “short & sweet”, simple, jingle-istic whenever possible (developing a word or short phrase that would be instantly recognized as representing a more complex thought or concept), and focusing on core hot-ticket issues of voter self-gratification (as determined from polls, town hall meetings, and other sources).

As the success of their communications grew, the Democrats’ messages were presented with more & more of a lofty air, implying “We Get It..They Don’t” and instilling this belief in their adherents to psychological advantage. The Democrats made better use of the internet in getting their messages distributed; thus making better use of their campaign funds and drawing voters into a more personalized relationship. Often, adherents conveyed the message for the campaign.

In other words the Democrats made best use of, and appealed the most to, basic tenets of human nature; in the most effective way.

Before anyone gets their political “underwear in a knot”, let me comment that this is not a political manifesto for –or- against either party. The Reagan campaign in its time did much the same thing to their hapless Democrat opponents. Reagan was a master at reducing complex thoughts into simple, popular, easily-remembered phrases & jingles and planting them in peoples’ minds.

The Reagan campaign used this communication strategy effectively when the internet was still pretty much a “gleam in its daddy’s eye”. We all recognize now that the internet age has brought about a revolution in the style and delivery of communications; opening up whole new realms of possibility & challenge, and lending exponential power to the communication methods described above; if done properly. The Obama campaign made good use of this added dimension.

Businesses which want to survive and thrive would do well to absorb these lessons into the fabric of their communications.

 

  KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

The time-honored “KISS” principle serves well in guiding the crafting of effective business communications.

Simplify..   Shorten:

We’ve all watched company ads on TV that left us scratching our heads afterward about what they were trying to say – or sell. No offense BASF, but I remember an ad campaign of yours that left me saying – “Huh”? Lofty, multi-faceted communications just don’t work well; especially in this day & age. “Manifestos” are quickly ignored and forgotten.

Likewise we’ve all seen ads where they tried to get “cute” or “clever” with the result that the “trick” was a poor fit to the message, or the message just got “lost” in the nonsense. I can’t think of one off the top of my head, but there have been many.

Conversely, we’ve seen ads that communicated strong messages well with very few words or none at all. Budweiser and Coca Cola come to mind.

We live in a “bullet-point” world now. Complex messages tend to get lost in the background clutter, and people don’t have the time or patience for them. They especially don’t appreciate communications that are drawn-out, vague, or communicate above or below them.

Communicate in ways that fit in with the society’s contemporary language usage. People relate better to language that’s in common use.

“Jingle-ize” whenever possible. If you can establish a simple word or phrase to represent and replace a complex thought or concept in the customers’ minds, it makes communication simpler and you tend to gain “ownership” of that talking point; almost as if you copyrighted it. Whole business identities and brandings have been built around such “jingles”.

Know Thy Customers:

The key element in effective communication is understanding the “talking points” that resonate with your customers on a personal level. Society has taken on a much greater personal gratification / quality-of-life orientation than in past generations; which were burdened with global war, nuclear-age cold war and sacrifice for the greater good. A different societal mind-set existed then. Personal talking points that would have had little effect, or been looked on as being “self-centered” by past audiences, now resonate strongly with the new generation. It’s just a reflection of the times, but important to understand for business communications going forward. Even if you’re selling business-to-business, try to reach the key decision-makers on a personal level; and give them reasons to justify with their own people that they made the right decision buying from you.

Businesses are more & more recognizing this “personal” element. For instance, aerospace companies have been running ads that are crafted as “civic messages”, touting “defense and security”, to build public goodwill and cement themselves in the public’s minds as “key players”. Northrup Grumman comes to mind.

Do the research.

The internet’s a great place for any business, especially a small cash-strapped one, to see what works and what doesn’t. In fact, the internet is just as useful for research as for communication. Just go on Facebook or a similar site and see what’s attracting “Likes” and “Comments”. The values, interests, and personal desires of society are laid out for our edification on a daily basis; expressed in their own words. So are the communication efforts of competitors. Likewise, you can go to places like LinkedIn and see what other business people are saying & thinking. It’s all there to observe.

Get to the Point

Any ad man will tell you that certain styles sell. Without making a qualitative judgment, I’ll just note that “Sex” still works well if used properly (even though certain segments of society are increasingly finding it repugnant} –and- “Friendly.. Touchy.. Feely.. Warm.. Safe.. Secure” is taking on increased importance; amongst other styles.

Whatever “flavor” you want to give your communications, you’ll be wasting your breath if you don’t get to the point; quickly. You can have all the “sex symbols” or “friendly, warm, fuzzy style” you want, but if you’re not appealing to a real and direct want or need, and doing it with a quick, simple, memorable message, you’re wasting your time and the customers’.

Get Their Attention, and Give Them Something to Remember

Sometimes, it’s just not possible to get across everything you want to say with a simple message or “jingle”. In such cases, use the simple message or “jingle” to capture their attention and draw them into the more complex message. You’ve got to get their attention before you can tell your story. Plus, the simple message or “jingle” will be remembered way after the long message has faded; especially if you finish with it. Reagan did this well. He’d start off with jingle-istic phrases and work into more complex statements in his speeches; finishing off by reinforcing the jingles. Later, when the long speech was forgotten, people would be quoting the jingles.

Differentiate Yourself

A car is a car, but lots are sold for their “safety”, or “sexiness”, or other “fuzzy qualities”. Those “qualities” are often planted in customers’ minds with well-crafted messages and images. By associating your products or services with desirable or friendly “qualities” in customers’ minds, you will “own” those “qualities” and differentiate yourself; carving a unique niche.

Just as in politics, you’ll have competitors making their own offerings. Sometimes those offerings will be stronger than yours; sometimes they’ll be the same. Where you can, stress those offerings of yours that are unique and/or stronger than your competition’s. Otherwise, try to build an aura that disguises or downplays your weaknesses and gives you the edge on the common points. Politicians do this to each other all the time; usually through some “likeability” factor. If you’re personally attracted to the politician, you’re likely to overlook flaws and weak “fighting points”.

Use Visuals

“A Picture Says a Thousand Words”. A single image can convey a whole message. A set of images can attach “qualities” openly or subliminally while you’re stating your main message; or can be your main message. Images are “eye candy”, and are usually well-received. They fit in well with the concept of simple, rapid communication. They can “define” your brand. Use them to advantage. Just consider the image at the start of this article. It defines the topic instantly and attractively.

Electra Blue

A Short Story by Alan Walsh

 

 Black ice brought on by fresh rain and freezing night air made driving conditions dangerous & tiring for the Deputy Sheriff making his mountain rounds; so he decided to stop at his favorite turnout for a rest & smoke. He lit up while gazing down into the valley at the village that was his next stop. The contrast of bright village lights against the dark valley floor, and the towering mountains all around, touched a part of his soul. The air was crisp, dead-still, and rain-sweet in the aftermath of the storm.

Long before his conscious mind kicked in, his subconscious detected a subtle change. Slowly the valley took on a blue hue that crept part-way up the surrounding mountainsides. It had an eerie “electric” quality about it, but there was no sound emitted and no detectable sparking or movement in the valley. It brightened in intensity to the point of being uncomfortable to watch. As he turned away and reached for his shades, the light suddenly blinked out; like someone had thrown a switch. The valley was immediately plunged into cave-black darkness. No blue hue.. no village lights.. no nothin’. Only faint moonlight painted the upper slopes of the surrounding mountains.

The Deputy assumed a power outage, and headed down the mountain to see if they needed assistance. The village was utterly pitch-black. Only his headlights provided illumination. Not a soul in sight. Given the time of night, this didn’t surprise him too much; but then a realization came to him. No light anywhere. Not even candlelight. Most people would be asleep and blissfully unaware, but every burg has it’s night crawlers; and they were nowhere to be seen. Cruising around, he searched out likely places for people to congregate. The local diner, which he knew stayed open for night workers, was dark and silent. The door was unlocked, and there were signs of recent activity, but no one was home. The tiny city hall, the school, the town auditorium.. all deserted. He found an unlocked car and tried the horn & headlights.. nothing. Not a soul to be seen anywhere. He stopped and banged on a couple of doors. He drove around cranking his siren and “Mickey Mouse” lights. No response. Everything looked perfectly in order; except for no light.. no power.. and no people. The hair on his neck & arms stood on end, and a creep settled into his soul.

Things were getting over his pay-grade fast, so he jumped on his radio to call in. No response. The repeater up-mountain apparently wasn’t working. At this point, there was only one thing to do. He headed out to the nearest Forest Service fire lookout station.

Relief at last.. lights and people! No one there knew a thing. A mountain sat between the village and their locale. A couple Rangers tried to call places they knew in the village, and got busy signals. Using their phone to call his headquarters, the Deputy reached a bored desk sergeant who listened to his story and then said “damn transformer probably blew.. would explain the weird blue light. These are tough mountain folk. They’ll be okay. Move on and finish your patrol. We’ll check on ‘em in the morning”.

The next day, a Ranger rolled into the village for an early breakfast.. and soon found himself rushing out to the lookout post with his skin crawling. A phone call later, Sheriffs were rushing up the mountain. They found the town intact and untouched.. with no one home. No bodies.. no indications of a mass exodus.. no nothin’. State and federal officials were called.. searches conducted.. tests done.. no answers.. not a single clue. The village was cordoned off, and everyone sat outside the newly-established “danger zone” scratching their heads in shock and disbelief. Drivers were rerouted by the excuse of a landslide, and the whole matter was hushed up tight.

A private pilot crossing the mountains next spotted an eerie blue light below that suddenly brightened and blinked out. It was broad daylight, so a light of that size & intensity had to be really significant; especially in the largely vacant mountains. A post-landing call was made, and he next found himself locked in an interrogation room at the regional Air Force base. The GPS position of the sighting was determined, and once again authorities descended on an uninhabited mountain village. At this point, the response escalated rapidly

An overall Area Army Commander was assigned, who set up shop at the sizeable regional Sheriff’s headquarters down in the flats overlooking the mountains; with connections to the Air Force, National Guard, Police, and other civic assets of surrounding towns. The entire mountain range was emptied and cordoned off. Every conceivable asset was utilized to observe and search for answers; intelligence satellites repositioned.. electronic assets scanning the skies.. aircraft, military, and police personnel scouring the mountains.

No one observed a thing.. until the night a satellite sensed simultaneous blue lights across three mountain locales. There had been police and military observers in those three villages. No one heard from them, and they were gone along with all the villagers. Their equipment sat where they left it; lifeless.

There was no hiding the events from the press anymore. The Area Commander put out a public call for help from anyone who might have observed anything even remotely useful. Hours & hours were wasted taking calls from nut-cases. Front page headlines screamed for answers. Politicians pressured. Family & friends of the missing congregated and held vigils; when not pressuring the authorities. National media pitched camp and interviewed everyone in sight. Self-proclaimed experts put out “end-of-the-world” warnings. UFO nuts held signs up to the sky inviting “ET” down. A wide array of personnel, equipment, and weapons sat on alert. Nerves were heavily frayed.

Two weeks passed without event, so tensions eased a bit. The alert level was lowered. Assets were slowly pulled off for other needs. Politicians complained about the cost. Searches wound down. Local leaders commiserated about the pressure they were under, and their utter inability to provide any answers whatsoever. Everyone held their breath, praying that the bizarre horror was over.

The Area Commander made his daily update call to the President. “No, Mr. President, I’m sorry but we have no answers. Not a clue. Every conceivable asset has been brought to bear, and we’re no further ahead than we were at the beginning..” As he spoke, the Commander’s aid was pulling on his arm. At first he ignored it, but it was getting rougher and he eventually covered the phone receiver with his hand to deliver a sharp rebuke. His eyes turned to the aid, and he saw the man looking out the window.. white as a ghost. His eyes followed to where the aid was looking.. out the window.. toward the mountains.. and after a momentary pause for recognition, he dropped the phone.

The entire mountain range was bathed in blue light. It was brightening, and expanding rapidly.. spilling over the local foothills.. down into the flatlands.. straight toward them.

A New Day: A Short Story by Alan Walsh

A New Day

A Short Story by Alan Walsh

At first, there was no fuss. The Defense Secretary walked into the Oval Office for his 10 AM meeting, stepped back out in a moment, and said..  “So, where’s the Prez?”  The Secretary looked up and said..  “He’s in there!  Been there for two hours.  Must be in the John.”  A Secret Service agent overheard the conversation and quickly canvassed the room.  Coming out, he said..  “John’s empty.  No one there.  Whole room’s empty.”  Rapid inquiries were made in the adjoining offices.. then outward throughout the entire complex.  Then..  panic set in.

The White House was buttoned down and searched top to bottom..  searched again..  then searched again.  No one was allowed in or out.  Business came to a screeching halt.  Finally, dumbfounded and feeling ashamed, the Secret Service reported that the President was nowhere to be found. “It’s as if he vanished into space.”

A lid of secrecy was clamped down. White House staff went through hell as they were individually interviewed at length; each interview being more heated and intense. The President’s agenda was cancelled, and excuses distributed to the press.  The Vice President and Cabinet were quietly found and spirited into the White House; setting up nervous shop in the Situation Room.  The military was quietly put on alert.. without explanation except to the Joint Chiefs.  Not even Congress was informed, for fear of a leak. No one knew what to say..  or what to do next.  A surreal state set in. The press got wind of a story, and was snooping around hard for answers.  Tempers were short and getting shorter.

After two days of frenetic but fruitless activity, the senior leaders were confronted with the reality that the President was nowhere to be found.. yet the government must go on.  It was all so bizarre.  “Impossible”.. people kept saying under their breath.  Arrangements were made for the Chief Justice to slip in and swear-in the Vice President.  An announcement for 5 PM was announced to the press; without further elaboration.  As the short-list of witnesses assembled for the private swearing-in, a Secret Service agent came running in and breathlessly blurted out.. “The President’s been found!” The Vice President turned and asked.. “Where?”

Where indeed!  An agent on the roof spotted someone standing in the middle of the South Lawn.  At first he didn’t believe his own eyes. He looked twice more through his rifle scope before accepting the evidence.  By then, others had seen the figure and rushed in. Moments later, the President was mobbed by security and literally carried into the building.  Some tourists witnessed the event, tongues started wagging, and it wasn’t long before the press was baying hot on the hunt.

Many questions and a thorough hospital checkup later, there was no progress. When first asked, the President said.. “One minute I was at my desk, and the next I was on the lawn. What happened?”. His story never changed. Other than looking a bit like a deer in the headlights, there were no indications that the President was mentally or physically incapacitated.  Everyone had questions, and no one had answers. Many people aged that day. But life and government go on, so at the scheduled 5:00 announcement the Press Secretary spun a tale about the President picking up a mild bug that laid him low temporarily, and business started to settle down to some semblance of a routine. Nothing was said about the President being on the South Lawn, and reporters finally got tired of posing questions to impassive, silent faces.  But one thing fundamentally changed. White House staff started looking at each other with a suspicion that wasn’t there before.  Fear had crept into the White House.

Two days later, the CIA Director was heading back from a meeting when his secretary handed him a message that read.. “Dragon – Noon – Usual”.  Soon he left Langley and headed into the city where he directed his driver to a place on the Mall. He hopped out of the car and told his security detail to wait down the street; then he walked to a particular bench and sat down.  A couple minutes later, an elderly Chinese man joined him on the bench. After a moment’s silence, the man said “Hello old friend. How’s the President?”. Grunted response.. “Fine ..pause.. How’s the Premier?”. “A bit like a stunned animal. Sound familiar”? Eyebrows rose. “We can guess what happened here, because the same happened to us”.  More raised eyebrows, and a surprised turn of the head. “Naturally we were able to contain our incident better.  We have no explanation.  Do your people”?  A quiet “No”. “These are very strange times. We must stay in touch.” A grunted “Yes” .. and the CIA Director was off to his limo.  Discrete inquiries to assets in Beijing indicated that “something” had happened on the day in question. Appropriate leaders were quietly advised, but what to do? There was nothing to investigate; no minute shred of a clue to follow. Only questions.

One week later, a Cabinet Meeting was winding down when the President turned to the Labor Secretary and asked “How’s that cancer treatment coming along?” The Labor Secretary froze in his tracks. He had contracted bladder cancer two months ago, the tumor had been removed, and he had been quietly receiving treatments without saying anything to anyone except his wife and immediate family; swearing them all to secrecy. Pause.. “Fine Mr. President ..longer pause.. How did you know?”  “Don’t remember. You must have told me.” All eyes in the room turned to observe the dazed look and white face of the Labor Secretary. Over the following days, the President demonstrated several more moments of exceptional and unexplainable mental talent.

Another meeting called by Dragon.. “Our Premier seems to have newly-enhanced capabilities. Same with you?” A surprised.. “Yes”.  “Check the President’s DNA”.. as he rose and walked away.

It was time for the President’s annual physical, therefore a convenient opportunity for discrete sampling. Two days later.. “The President has two additional chromosomes.” “Two more than any other human. Two more than any human being ever.”

Across the cold vastness of space, quiet voices communicated unobserved.  “Have the seed implants taken?” “Yes, and we’re seeing the expected results”. “Good. Begin seeding the next group, and if all goes well seed the whole planet.  Keep me informed of progress”.

End

Article Has Gone Hot on LinkedIn: “Thoughts on Starting a Business”

 

See the Article here on WordPress

http://walshal.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/thoughts-on-starting-a-business/

Article Goes Hot on LinkedIn: “A Critical Attribute to Look For When Hiring”

See the article on WordPress:

http://walshal.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/a-critical-attribute-to-look-for-when-hiring/