Messaging

The number one communication problem that every entrepreneur has, whether corporate, social or political, is how to create an effective sales message. Why its such a problem is that it is impossible to get a group of intelligent, highly opinionated, individuals to agree on a message.

Management teams will go around in circles and never converge on a good sales message. The result is a time-consuming and very frustrating experience. To solve this problem, John invented a process he calls Main Message. Otherwise, his company would have gone out of business.  He has since used it to help numerous entrepreneurs, organizations and politicians create better sales messages, including a former President of the United States.  The process is sophisticatedly simple. It features an overall message positioning the product as “first” or “only,” followed by the six key interests or concerns of a potential buyer and how an organization, a product, or a candidate matches them.  Why six? Very simply, he found that five were two few, and seven were too many.  It has to do with attention span.  After six, prospects start to lose interest.  The following are three actual examples of corporate, social and political messaging.

Corporate:

This sales message was created to position his company’s IDMS database management system at a critical moment in the company’s history as follows:

“Introducing IDMS 5.0 – The first “dictionary” driven database management system designed to address the six key data problems facing IT management, and they are:

• • • Ease of update
    • Security
    • Cost
    • Control
    • Documentation
    • Access

The company positioned its main competition, namely IBM, on the defensive with this new sales message because it was the “first” to introduce this new technology. Then, it identified why it was so important to IT executives in terms that were meaningful to them.  At the same time, it moved the whole sales focus from the database management system to the importance of an integrated data dictionary.  In the process, it created a new playing field.  This put IBM, and the other database vendors on the defensive. This sales message would be incredibly important because IBM thought that they had out-positioned the company with a new computer announcement six months after the company went public. If IBM had succeeded, it would have resulted in a “down” quarter which would have been a disaster. However, getting the company’s management team on board with this sales message would have been impossible without the Main Message process. The reason they were on board with it is because they helped create it using a process that forced them to answer certain questions, such as “Was this product the first or only?”  Also, “What were the six key problems that IT executives had that the product solved?”  If this process takes longer than 90 minutes, then the team doesn’t understand its marketplace, a bad sign.  The less time it takes, the better they do .

Social

Most social organizations also need a good sales message because they always have to raise money to survive. However, their donor presentations always focus on all the good things their respective organizations do versus what a potential donor might be really interested in.  Changing this focus is key for any social entrepreneur.  Using the Main Message process makes it possible.  The following is an example of a science museum’s sales message:

“Introducing Museum X – The only museum that addresses the key concerns of those who believe that science and engineering are critical to the future of America, and they are:

• • • It is national in scope
    • It is intimately involved in creating high school curriculums
    • It has an active teacher education program
    • It has effective exhibits for children and outreach programs for minorities
    • It uses the latest green technology in its facilities
    • It is well run

It wasn’t until we got into the process that it became obvious that 85% of what the museum actually did was education, not traditional museum activities.  Most prospective donors are interested in the education of young people.  Upon listening to this new presentation, they would understand what the museum really did. For the first time, the donor would be on the receiving end of a brief presentation that focused on his, or her, real interests.  Also, donors like to think that their money will be used wisely and that the organization is well organized.

Political

Candidates often lose winnable races because they have no message.  One hears this all the time.  The reason they lose is that they make three fundamental mistakes:

• They talk too long.
• They don’t address the key concerns of most of the people in the room. Worse, they get side tracked by special interests and don’t know how to get back on message.
• They allow the competition to put them on the defensive.

A good message solves these problems. Ironically, political messages are by far the easiest to create.  Why they are so easy to create is that most candidates know exactly what the major concerns of most of the voters in their respective districts are.  Why so many candidates go without messages is that they find it impossible, despite all the consultants and money in the world, to agree on a message.  The candidate, the staff, and the consultants go around and around in circles and never converge on a good message.  They don’t realize that’s its impossible to get a group of bright, opinionate individuals to agree on a message.  However, the Main Message process was designed to solve this problem, and within an hour.  The following is just one example:

“Introducing John Doe’s “A Better America”  the “only” candidate with a “plan” to address the key needs of all the people of the 1st District, and they are:

• They want better security for themselves, but more importantly for their children and grandchildren.
• They want better jobs, the education to access them, and a financially stable country to go with them.
• They want a better infrastructure so that they can get to the jobs, etc.
• They want better healthcare, social security, and a safety net protected and improved.
• They want better government that at all levels works for them rather than for special interests, but no hand outs, only hand ups.
• They want to renew their trust in America’s great institutions of democracy, including the Presidency, the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court.

Note this message puts the competition on the defensive.  In sales, you always want to keep the competition on the defensive.  Shorthand is that America is already great, just need to make it better.

C Span – New Partnership for America’s Future 9/22/04 (video)