Changing your instructions is risky

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My long-suffering husband has a communications lesson for you. Recognize that your first message is most easily absorbed by your listeners. If you change your message midstream, your listeners may not hear you. To make sure your message gets across, ask them to confirm their understanding of the new message.

“Park your car outside the garage tomorrow, so I can get my tires,” said my husband on a Thursday morning. Okay, I said. We spoke a bit more. I guess my attention strayed because I ran into trouble the next day.

On Friday, I parked where my husband had indicated. However, when my husband arrived home, he asked “Why did you park there?”

Me: “Because you asked me to.”

Husband: “No, I told you that you didn’t have to park there after all.”

Me: “You did?” Apparently my husband’s changed instructions hadn’t registered in my head. Perhaps I was trying to make up for my poor performance that I described in “Instructions for a bad wife.” I should have confirmed my understanding at the end of our conversation. I’ll do that next time. At least, I’ll try. I seem to have a blind spot for my husband’s parking instructions.

What’s the lesson for you?

If you change your mind after giving initial instructions, don’t count on your listeners absorbing the new information. This might apply, for example, if you start by suggesting selling one fund, but then switch to another recommendation.

What can you do to reinforce your change?

  1. Repeat your new instructions.
  2. Explain why you changed your mind.
  3. Ask your listeners, “Do you understand my new instructions?”
  4. Consider putting your instructions in writing.

This may be overkill, if your listeners are more attentive than me with my husband. However, if the new instructions are important, you’ll be glad you took extra steps to ensure your listeners’ comprehension.

 

Guest bloggers: 2013 in review

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I’m thankful for the knowledgeable and talented professionals who have contributed guest posts to my blog this year.

Here’s a list of guest posts, with links to the bloggers’ websites and Twitter accounts.

Blogging

Communication

Marketing

Writing

 

I also hosted some wonderful guest bloggers last year. See “Guest bloggers: 2012 in review.”

Dear husband, please stop

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You can learn a writing lesson from my dear husband.

It drives me crazy when he says to a restaurant’s hostess, “You don’t have a table for two, do you?”

I nag him afterwards, saying “Ask a positive question, not a negative one! It’s easier for the listener to understand what you want.”

The “go positive, not negative” rule applies to statements as well as questions.

Here’s an example of a negative statement that sticks in my mind due to my having earned a Ph.D. in Japanese history.

“The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage…”

This is how the Japanese emperor announced in 1945 that Japan had lost the war. Did you understand that?

The Japanese prefer roundabout sentences. Americans do not.

5 tips for getting your experts’ cooperation when you need it

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I heard high praise for the roundtable that investment marketer Anne Banks of gr8 communications moderated at the May 2013 PAICR RFP Symposium. Below you’ll find tips that will help you earn people’s cooperation whether you’re a financial advisor, marketer, or any person who relies on obtaining information from colleagues.

I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to chat face-to-face with Anne at two PAICR events in New York City.

5 Tips for getting your experts’ cooperation when you need it

By Anne Banks

Throughout your career there will be many times when you will need to collaborate with and/or tap the expertise of fellow professionals to achieve success. In the investment management industry, the expertise of portfolio managers, product and portfolio specialists, and securities analysts is always in high demand. Getting their attention and help can be a challenge—but it’s not impossible.

Having worked in the investment management industry for 25+ years, here’s what I believe can help you get the most out of your working relationships with your firm’s investment professionals and other subject matter experts.

1. Lead from the front.

In my opinion, the best way to get people to give you time and help is to lead by example. It’s hard for people to turn down your request for help if you’ve always been ready and willing to do them the same favor. Of course, there will the odd person that won’t play ball, but they are typically few and far between.

2. Focus on the relationship, not the to-do list.

If the only time you engage with your subject matter experts is when you need something from them—think again. You don’t have to become their best buddy, but people are generally quicker to help those they know and like. So, if you happen to like the expert, work on building a relationship beyond your to-do list. In particular, look and listen for signals as to how you might return their favor.

3. Some respect, please.

You want to build a relationship that is founded on mutual respect and, in my experience, the best way to get respect is by giving it. In particular, be respectful of your expert’s time, because they generally are in high demand. For example:

  • Be on time and come prepared for any meetings you schedule with them.
  • Use your time with them wisely; ask key questions first and, where possible, come with a suggestion on how to approach the issue you are discussing.
  • Give them a reasonable amount of time to respond to your requests.
  • Share the insights they give you with all relevant stakeholders and capture them in relevant internal systems and documents – because nobody likes being asked the same question over and over!

4. Say thank you.

Don’t just thank them for their time and the information. Did their speedy response save your bacon on getting a critical document out the door on time? Did the work get special recognition – either from senior management or from a prospective client who decided to hire you? Let them know these outcomes, and their boss too.

5. Think bigger picture.

When the expert is more senior than you, I would recommend that you view your engagement with them as more than an information-gathering expedition. With the right preparation and approach, it’s an opportunity to make a positive, indelible impression on the expert—one that could be career-making for you, as well as deliver the information/answers you need now.

 

___________

Anne Banks is principal, gr8 communications LLC, an independent marketing consulting firm that specializes in branding, marketing and communications solutions for institutional asset managers.

Instructions for a bad wife

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I’m a bad wife. I confess that I don’t always give my husband 100% of my attention. Maybe not even 75%. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. But in the meantime, you may learn something about communication from my failure to accurately follow my husband’s parking instructions.

Lesson 1: Don’t over-explain

As a financial advisor, you’ve probably given instructions to people—clients, employees, vendors, and fellow professionals—who are distracted as they listen to you. If you give them too many details, they may zero in on the wrong points and make mistakes.

In my case, my husband gave me very detailed instructions about where he wanted me to park my car and why I should park there. It involved our shed, his tires, the garage, and the patio. Since I wasn’t listening closely, I imagined a mistaken scenario in which his tires were in the shed, so he needed me to park far back in the driveway.

If only my husband had said, “Please park in the driveway like you usually do when I need to park on the patio. You can’t park in the garage because…”

Lesson 2: Listen and ask questions

My husband forgave me for messing up, but you may not be as lucky if you don’t listen to the folks giving you instructions.

If you can’t concentrate on the conversation, maybe you should wait until another time to get instructions. Or ask questions to confirm that you’ve understood the instructions properly.

I plan to try one of these two methods the next time my husband asks me to do something for him.

 

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Please, no tiny fonts on your PowerPoint slides

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You don’t want to make your audience strain their eyes, so make the text on your slides sample slidebig enough.

Savvy friends have told me to go no smaller than 28 points in my PowerPoint slide text. This squares with what Nancy Duarte says in slide:ology:

For keynotes, don’t go smaller than 28 pt. If you are consistently reducing your point size to under 24 pt and using third-level bullets, you have officially created a document and not a slide.

The Financial Planning Association has similar standards, as I learned preparing for FPA Experience.

Slide:ology presents a handy tip for your slides’ visibility: “Put your file into slide sorter view. Look at the slides at 66 percent size. If you can still read them, so can your audience” (p 152). Of course, if you have unusual eyesight, like a former employee who said she had “fighter pilot eyes,” with vision better than 20/20, you may need to adjust accordingly. 

Poll: How quickly and often should you follow up with prospects for your financial services?

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Gaining new clients is important to you. That’s the whole point of your marketing. However, a blog post by Karyn Greenstreet suggests that you aren’t making the most of a great opportunity: systematic follow-up with prospects who contact you.

“Most people will make one follow-up call or email to a prospective customer. But if they don’t get a response back, they often drop the whole thing,” said Greenstreet in “Why Marketing Fails #3: No Follow-Up” on her Passion for Business blog.

Your follow-up mistake

That lack of follow-up is a mistake. Why? Because there are plenty of good reasons why genuinely interested prospects may not follow up. They may even be grateful if you persist in contacting them. I’ve experienced that gratitude more often than not.

Greenstreet follows up her leads three times: first, within one business day; second, seven days later; and third, 10 to 114 days later.

What about your follow-up with prospects?

What’s YOUR follow-up policy?

Here are your poll choices

  • First, within one business day; second, seven  days later; third, 10-14 days later
  • First, within one business day; second, whenever I get to it
  • Within one business day
  • Whenever I get to it
  • Wait for them to contact me
  • (Add your own answer)

I look forward to hearing from you.

Evoking emotions boosts the power of your writing

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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

-Maya Angelou

Quarterly investment letters–Tell me “What makes them great?”

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Quarterly investment letters are central to many asset managers’ communications with their clients. That’s why I’m asking your help in defining what makes them great.

Please answer my six-question survey (NOTE: I’ve removed the link to this expired survey]. I’ll report on the results in a future blog post.

You inspired me. Thanks!

Investment professionals care intensely about these letters, as I learned when I asked members of  my LinkedIn Groups the following question:

The responses to this “one word” question inspired this survey. I feel fortunate to belong to this community. Thank you!

You vs me — or we: A rant on financial marketing

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Investment and wealth management executives like to talk about themselves. Who doesn’t? But this hurts their firms when it’s reflected in their marketing.

Photo: World Series Boxing

What financial advisors say about you vs. me–or we

A group of financial professionals helped me test my belief that talking about “you,” the audience, is more powerful than discussing “me”–or, by extension, “we,” the company that’s marketing to you.

Here’s the question I asked participants in “The Power of You: The Secret of Great Blogs that Boost Your Readership”:

Which introduction do you prefer? Introduction #1 focused on you, the audience or Introduction #2 focused on me, Susan. Explain your choice.

Prior to asking the question, I’d introduced my webinar in two ways. In Introduction #1, I’d discussed the benefits my audience would receive from watching my webinar. In Introduction #2, I described my blogging success and other credentials related to the webinar’s topic.

You may wonder how my two introductions relate to you, if you’re a financial advisor, investment manager, or wealth manager. In my experience, many financial websites – and other marketing pieces – use Introduction #2. They are about “we, the firm,” not “you,” the prospective client.

The results? A knockout by “you”

Respondents unanimously preferred the introduction focused on “you.” Here are some of their comments about why they preferred a focus on “you” over a focus on the speaker.

  • When you spoke about yourself, I stopped listening
  • You connects with me, lets me know whether it’s useful
  • I don’t care about you, but I do care about what I can do to be successful
  • “I” sounds pompous
  • It’s not about the speaker, it’s about meeting the need of the target audience.

What this means for you

When writing marketing materials or client communications for your firm,

  1. Use “you” more than “we”
  2. Communicate in terms of benefits to your readers more than products, services, or characteristics of your firm
  3. After you write something, ask yourself, “Why will my reader care about this?” If it’s not obvious, then delete or re-write.

Which do you prefer for your company – marketing materials that use “you” or “we”? Why?

Please comment on your opinions.