What are you doing for me - now?High-level audiences may be the toughest ones of all. The stakes are high, every event is critical and the audience seldom changes. There’s always the fear that they have seen and heard everything before. So, we pile on the food, ladle on the beverages, dazzle them with high-priced entertainment and hope for the best. Or, maybe, temporary amnesia.
Corporations with a number of divisions or units, hospitality, retail, restaurants and QSR, healthcare, franchise… any audience comprised of individual businesses or organizations presents the ultimate challenge. It’s an X-Men-like mutation of an internal and external audience.
By now we’ve used up the traditional approaches of informational workshops, long general sessions and even longer cocktail receptions. So, what do we do now? Think of these special groups as the new experts in surviving a recession. They don’t need to be reminded that times are bad and business stinks. If they are going to show up at the event, convention, meeting, trade show or conference they expect specific information, action and results.
Avoid Temptation
- Avoid the temptation to review the past rather than deal with today
- Avoid the temptation to “remind them of all we are doing for them”
- Avoid the temptation to just be there in case they want to talk
- Avoid the temptation to make claims or provide numbers that can’t be broken down to the local level
- Avoid the temptation to always talk on the national or global level
All success is achieved at the local level. In reality they don’t need to be the best in the nation, the state or even the city. To be successful they need to be the best in the neighborhood, mall or on that street corner.
Isn't That What Are We Paying You For?
Prepare early and give executives, owners and franchisees what they need. You should know their businesses very well so be prepared. Where do they want to go? They want more make more money and be more profitable. Okay, that’s a start. How does this happen? What are their sales and revenue realities? What is their competitive or market situation? What do they expect you to do for them? What can you do for them that they don’t expect?
They Don’t Want To Enjoy The View, They Want To Go To Work
High-level executives, owners and franchisee don’t need views from 30,000 feet. In a challenging economy they are down at ground level looking for solutions. They are more hands-on than they’ve been in decades. They don’t need broad generalities and overviews they want details. Provide them with specific information about their businesses and their business with you.
Make It Business-Specific
Do they have multiple locations or properties? – Give them side-by-side comparisons with key details and totals.
- Revenue
- Where the revenue is coming from?
- Market comparison
- Brand comparison
- Year-To-Date
Of course the information is already available but you want to give it to them in a simple format – 1-2 pages. This isn’t the annual report it’s a working document. With this data in hand the executive, owner, or franchisor can be engaged in a discussion over the actions you can take together and the results they can expect.
Make It Actionable
Awareness isn’t an objective. Assume that every person needs reassurance that your organization knows what it is doing. Then they want an Action Plan. Again, no broad-brush generalities are allowed. To be blunt, if you can’t show up with specific, recommended actions to answer their current needs, you shouldn’t be talking. This really isn’t a time to focus on what you will do for them or might do for them in six months to a year. Just imagine every one of these key people yelling, “What can you do for me now?”
Prepare an Action Analysis that answers what you anticipate are the main concerns. Match each one with an action or actions that you can take together. It has to be Together. If not, you are only asking them to do something that they, most likely, consider is a part of your responsibilities. As economic challenges increase they expect you to do more. Be prepared to either do things with them or for them.
Make It Results-Driven
Every item on an executive’s, owner’s or franchisor’s Action Analysis should produce a definite result. “If we do X then it should generate Y in the next Z months.” I realize that way back in Management 101 we were taught to avoid making promises. Gee, what if we can’t do what we said? Remember the “together” part of the Action Analysis. If it’s a joint effort then the responsibility is shared. After all business is a series of commitments. If we can’t provide intelligent, thoughtful direction and planning to our organizations or strategic partners, we are headed for business extinction anyway.
Make It An Active Consultation
Go 1-on-1 and review the specific information, agree on the key recommendations in the Action Analysis and back it up with the results. Instead of hangovers, the people you rely on for your success will have greater confidence in your organization. You are their working partner and you’ve given then definite, positive answers to their big question:
What are you doing for me - now?
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Andy Johnston is an multi-faceted communication professional with deep experience from strategic planning, to messaging, to marketing, to media, to events, to training, to creative direction … and there are several other ”to’s.” Andy is known for his energy, creativity and his unique ability to discover the key results that must be generated – and then to develop ingenious ways to engage and motivate audiences. Positive business results are the objective. He believes that one of the most important results is an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Andy is a principal partner at Think! Consulting Group and The Idea Group.
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