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503.452.9166
Speak the Language
To sell your strategy, you must "speak the language" of the people you
aim to convince. You must learn who your supporters are, what aspects of
your strategy will be most compelling to them and how to best
communicate your ideas and recommendations. Get inside their frame of
reference and speak persuasively in a dialect that will resonate with their
views. Be prepared to discuss the right things at the right times.
Knowing your sponsors is an essential part of selling your strategy. If your
sponsor is a stickler for statistics, sell him with hard numbers. If your
sponsor is concerned with customer service concentrate on how
customers will be more satisfied. If your sponsor has a technological
focus, tell him how your strategy will take advantage of trends in
technology.
Whatever the context, you must recognize and be fluent in the various
"languages" that will communicate effectively with your sponsors and
inspire their commitment. You may need to speak different languages at
different times, even with the same sponsor. And speaking the wrong
language, or lingering too long in one, will quickly dispel enthusiasm for
your strategy. The question is: What language will ring true with your
prospective sponsors…and why?
Find the Emotion
One approach is to "find the emotion" that will connect your strategy with
the person you are trying to convince. Dr. Keith Davidson of Xplor
International describes this notion in terms of a skillfully scripted political
campaign. "A practiced politician will focus on the issues that strike an
emotional chord with constituents. For instance, when giving a speech to
members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he'll stress the need for a
strong national defense. The same speech delivered on a college
campus will stress peacekeeping with an all-volunteer army. This type of
'spin' is not really a matter of deception, but rather a matter of addressing
the essence of what people really care about."
Consider the Mazda Miata. Legend has it that the designer was having
trouble convincing Mazda executives to move forward with development of
the ragtop. Market studies, schematics and specifications failed to inspire
the level of support he needed. One sunny day the designer took a top
executive on a drive down a curvy road in a cherry red British MGB. With
the top down and the wind in their hair, the designer simply said: "This is
the experience we should build." The Miata, now regarded as a modern
classic, is a legendary success for Mazda.
Beware of Jargon
Industry jargon and technical terminology are effective ways to
communicate when used in the correct context, but your sponsors will
probably be less interested in the bits and bytes of your proposal than the
benefits and risks your strategy presents. Beware of the tendency to
overuse jargon. Selling your strategy will depend on your ability to speak
in terms of the positive impact on your organization, not your ability to
explain how each technical component works. In most circumstances, not
everyone will understand (or care to understand) technical terminology,
so it is best to leave jargon for focused interactions with people who thrive
on the lingo. Otherwise, you run the risk of both boring and confusing the
people you are trying convince.
Another danger presented by jargon arises when you are not familiar with
the terms. If you do not have the benefit of a high-tech background it can
be hard to keep up with the vernacular of technology, especially when
technology evolves at such a rapid pace. This can put you at a
disadvantage. Certainly, in-depth knowledge is best left for the technical
experts. Nevertheless, to sell your strategy, you must have a fairly fluent
understanding of the technological language involved. If you do not, you
must work to expand your vocabulary - take notes, keep your ears open
and do not be afraid to ask questions when you do not understand
something. Even when the techno-babble seems endless, irrelevant and
foreign, take advantage of the opportunity to learn the language.
Be Concise
Unless you work in the executive suite, your exposure to decision-makers
is probably limited. It can be helpful to develop a brief mental summary of
the most outstanding benefits of your strategy. Think of this as an
"elevator pitch." Imagine you enter an elevator in the lobby of your building
and bump into the CIO - the very person you've been hoping to enlist as a
sponsor. You have exactly three minutes before the elevator reaches the
15th floor. This may be your best and only opportunity to pitch your ideas.
If you can be convincing and compelling in this brief time - X will improve Y
because of Z - those three minutes may be all you need to get the support
you need.
Prepare yourself to take advantage of unplanned opportunities to enlist
support. Your ability to summarize your strategy (or at least the major
benefits) concisely will be helpful in meetings and other conversations as
well. You may have only a few moments during a meeting to discuss your
concepts. Your "elevator pitch" will be useful in the hallway, or at the local
Starbuck's, as well as in the executive boardroom.
Build Coworker Buy-In
You also must have the buy-in of your peers and coworkers for your
strategy to be successful. Everyone involved with your document process,
from entry-level clerks to high-level specialists, must support your strategy
(or, at the very least, not sabotage your efforts). This is especially true for
people who are the target of the changes you propose. Your ability to
inspire their support depends on your ability to answer: What's in it for
me? For these people, the "proof is in the pudding." You must prove that
your strategy will make their job easier, less chaotic and more productive.
You must demonstrate how improvements will directly benefit their
department. You must show them that day-to-day operations will be made
better and that everyone will benefit from your plan.
Testimonials
One way to build buy-in is to elicit "testimonials" from people who have
benefited from earlier improvements. Enlisting others to validate and
verify your success is a powerful way to create momentum and support
for your strategy. Testimonials can help you overcome resistance to
change and convert skeptics to your cause. "Behavior is the hardest thing
to change. You are not going to change somebody if they don't want to
change," says Tom Martino, Director of Communications Services at
Warner-Lambert. "The way we do it is to find a champion to provide a
testimonial. So rather than try to sell an overall concept or theory, we
leverage the testimony and enthusiasm of those people whose job has
been made better. If we can get them to say 'this is great, I don't know why
we didn't do it years ago,' then we inspire grass root support for our
strategy."
The testimony of satisfied coworkers and colleagues will enhance your
reputation and credibility. The more testimonials you collect, the more
credibility you gain. Your aim is for cynics to observe improvement in other
areas of the company and decide that they want to get in on the benefits
being realized by other people. To raise awareness within your company
you will need to do a certain amount of self-promotion. Be assertive and
creative in your effort to get the word out about your successes. "We
advertise testimonials and successes in a variety of ways," says Martino.
"Since we are the division of the company that knows how to
communicate, it's not difficult to find ways to get the word out. We use a
combination of printed materials, our electronic bulletin board and our
Intranet."
Use testimonials to continually expand your circle of supporters and
sponsors - at both higher and grass roots levels. Look for people who are
willing to testify how their job or department has been improved and how
the company is more profitably served by your strategic efforts.
Piggyback on Important Initiatives
Another way to sell your strategy is to "piggyback" on other important
initiatives underway in your company. To piggyback, link an aspect of your
strategy with an initiative that has a high degree of importance to your
company or to a particular department. Show how you can help meet the
objectives of the project. Look for new ways of doing things that will
overcome the challenges and barriers that prevent implementation of the
project. Craft a document solution that makes a difference and
contributes to a specific vision or objective. The more you are able to
piggyback on the strategic agenda of other areas in your organization the
more likely it is that you will find willing supporters and sponsors. The
questions are:
- What aspects of your strategy feed into important corporate
initiatives? - What new ideas for your strategy are needed to serve the
initiatives that are planned? - What features serve the objectives of other departments and
sponsors? - Which of your recommendations line up with important items on
their agenda?
You may find that some aspect of your document strategy suddenly
becomes more valuable than you first thought. For instance, a particular
solution or project may not have been your first choice to pursue, but if you
find that it aligns closely with an important initiative, or fits within the
agenda of another department, you are more likely to get a green light for
your ideas. It is also possible that recommendations you made months
or even years earlier will take on a new dimension of importance. The
corporate landscape is replete with levelheaded recommendations that
collect dust in an in-basket until they abruptly become part of someone
else's agenda. Until a related and driving need comes to the surface,
even the best ideas can go unnoticed.