Three Big Mistakes
Here are just three mistakes many of us typically make when trying to sell our ideas:
1. We don’t understand what the “win” is for our audience;
2. We don’t present our idea using language that the audience understands;
3. We don’t take advantage of opportunities to sell our idea, especially if the opportunity comes along unexpectedly.
Whether you are a CIO selling the business continuity planning (BCP) process to the board of directors, a risk manager selling the idea to the CFO, or a BCP manager selling the importance of business continuity to your peer in human resources, the very first thing you need to determine is what the “win” is.
Do Your Research
What’s in it for your audience? Before presenting, either formally or informally, you need to find out. And if you are responsible for BCP the answer to that question is going to be different as you sell the idea up and down the corporate ladder. Your chance of success skyrockets when your audience understands the benefits to them of your initiative.
What’s in it for you? You successfully sell BCP and you get to keep your job.
Talk Their Talk
Have you seen the television spot where an executive walks into a party and asks what’s going on? The IT guy, in true geek speak, explains they have just successfully rolled out a database. He goes on and on about all of the technical bells and whistles. The executive looks blank. Then the proverbial light bulb turns on, the IT guy says, “We just saved the company a zillion dollars” or something to that effect. The next thing you see, the executive is drinking champagne with the rest of the revelers. You can’t make the message any clearer than that. Keep it simple and use language your audience understands.
In Elliott’s book he tells a true and painful story. A young director of public relations ran into the new CEO on an elevator. The CEO said, “What’s new?” After six floors of, “uh, uh, uh,” the CEO walked away with a bad impression. I am happy to say that PR director was not me. And please, don’t let that happen to you.
When the CEO stops you in the hall and asks, “What’s new?” the first four words out of your mouth have to be, “I’m glad you asked!” Then clearly, concisely and with passion grab his interest. Make him want the whole story and schedule time to present it.
Or take the story of BC planner who pulled together a comprehensive proposal for why her company should implement a comprehensive business continuity plan, complete with why it should be done, how it could be done, and what the return on investment would be. She presented to the CIO – who loved it, and bought the whole enchilada. So, he scheduled a meeting for her to talk to the CFO to get budget approval. The planner went to meet with the CFO, armed with the exact same pitch she used with the CIO, meaning it was filled with tech talk and didn’t get to the bottom line ROI until the end. Unfortunately, the CFO was called into an emergency meeting before the presentation was wrapped up. And frankly, she hadn’t even piqued his interest let alone won his endorsement.
You have to know your audience. It doesn’t matter who you are trying to persuade, find out what floats their boat, talk to them with language they understand, and always be ready to tell your story.
Judith Eckles was a founding member of DRJ’s Editorial Advisory Board and Executive Council. After nearly 20 years in the corporate marketing world, including more than a decade with SunGard Availability Services and three years with Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, Eckles launched Judith Eckles & Partners (JE&P), an integrated marketing/communications firm. JE&P specializes in solving communications challenges by developing and implementing creative marketing solutions with particular expertise in the business continuity industry. You may contact her at Judith@juditheckles.net.
