In entrepreneurship:
By now, you probably know that no
one is going to purchase your high-value package or product “cold.” People need to know, like and trust you. You need to prove that you can do what they
need, with strong social proof.
Smart consultants like Ian Brodie
(ianbrodie.com) and Meredith Eisenberg (mereditheisenberg.com & Time
Traders) will tell you that you MUST begin your relationship with a prospective
client by providing them with lots of real value.
Create a sales funnel by all means,
just understand that people will be in various stages along the road, and make
sure that you don’t give up on the people who just aren’t ready for your
high-cost products yet. Have something
that they can use, now, and give them some easy, inexpensive entry ramp to the
concept of spending money with you.
So you need to choose the
enticement or gift that your prospects care about. It's not just where they are at on the sales cycle, but the kind of Language that they prefer to hear most of the time.
In volunteer
organizations, religious groups, other social situations where you want to
encourage people to do something:
You
guessed it. It’s the same situation, in
different clothing. You want the
volunteers to want to volunteer more but they keep dropping out to attend to
other needs or to join a different group.
The “reasons” are legion but they all come down to one thing: you haven’t
convinced them to buy what you’re selling.
When YOU aren’t as committed to a group, you can be sure that they are
not giving you what you need.
So how
do you entice or reward your prospects or the other group you are trying to
influence? Don’t laugh: I have found
great value in the Languages of Love
concept. Two decades ago, Gary Chapman
outlined a framework to help people improve marriages, by getting people to
understand what their partner really values.
I’ve been using this idea in business and social groups for about that
long. Chapman’s basic idea is that we humans
tend to value 5 types of interactions, and some are more important to each of
us than others. They are Words of
Appreciation; Physical Touch; Quality Time; Thoughtfully-Chosen Gifts; Acts of
Service (doing something tangible to help me).
Some
people really just want to be
thanked, sincerely and regularly. Other
people want dedicated one-on-one time to discuss their concerns and be the
center of your attention, regularly.
Other folks love the tangible swag.
And people like me love the people who use the sentence “Let me help you
with that” regularly. Acts of Service
people value tangible help with problems and chores.
This is
how many volunteer-run groups run into trouble.
People will say that they have a lot of chores or they have to spend
time with their kids, but the reality is that if the volunteering was something
that they loved, they would do it with their kids and if they felt cherished
and you were taking tasks off their list, they would take tasks off yours. If people aren’t buying, it’s because what
you’re offering is not what they need right now. Cycle the offers to cover all the bases and
Languages, or (if you’re clever) have people at different stages of the buy
getting different offers.
I remember spending years
volunteer-teaching with a local organization.
The students were wonderful, engaged, funny, energizing people, and only
a few other instructors taught as many classes – volunteered as many hours – as
I did. They appreciation events (Words
of Appreciation) in which my name was honored, and they had food and
appreciation events (maybe qualifies as Gifts), and the director was an incredible
soul who gave you Quality Time when you needed it. But an Acts of Service person like me never
got what she really needed, which is an occasional exemption from the You Gotta
Do This, You Can’t Do That that add stress, aggravation and problems to my
day. THAT is the only Language that means
anything to me. I don’t want to be
thanked. I don’t want pizza. I want 10 less minutes of (to me,
unnecessary) hassle. I never got
it. When I found the same wonderful
students in a less-inflexible world, I bailed.
Less dictation = Acts of Service.
When I was the Volunteer Director
for a county government, I thanked the volunteers regularly (via email and
events), I handed out high-quality swag (coffee-table books and bags were the
hot “sellers”), I gave people my undivided attention when they needed it and I
actively looked for ways to make life easier for them. Most of the Languages were covered.
[Let’s dispose of the problematical
one now. The people who like Physical
Touch, if they are appropriate, are the ones buffeting your shoulder, touching
your arm when they want to emphasize a point or hugging you. To deflect unwanted Touch, just say “Don’t
hug me” or take the person aside and lay out a clear, courteous boundary, like “I’m
uncomfortable when you . Please respect my boundaries and don’t do
that again. I know you didn’t mean any
harm, so I am sure that all will be well from now on.” This is the one language that, because of the
possibility of abuse, you might need to accept not being addressed.]
Applying this idea to my volunteers
and to prospects is really helping me.
Hope it helps you too!
