DR. MICHAEL GERHARZ
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Posts in Tag: Küchenzuruf

Looking from the other side

Quick, in one sentence: What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you see …

… the McDonald’s logo?
… the Red Cross logo?
… an iPhone?
… Donald Trump?
… Billie Eilish?
… your product?

We’re super quick with a short statement like “That’s fast food.”, “It’s super tasty”, “Unhealthy diet.”, “It reminds me of my childhood.” when we think about others but we struggle a lot when it’s about ourselves.

Suddenly it’s not that easy to leave this aspect out or that. Suddenly it’s super important to include this detail and that.

Yet, for our customers it’s not like that. For them, we’re the others. They are just as quick with their statements about us as we are about them. They just don’t care what we might think we can’t leave out. They will happily leave it out for us.

It’s better to do this job ourselves. What’s the core that we would like our audience to think of when they are reminded of us?

The ruthless audience

Audiences are ruthless. When, after a talk, someone asks an audience member: “What was the talk about?” they are going to answer with a short reply. In their own words. Every time.

In particular, there’s no way an audience member will reply with a 30 minute verbatim copy of what we said. We’ve had our chance during the talk. But once we’re finished, the audience is in control. Whatever they pass along, we must live with it.

In a way, that’s good news as it forces us to focus. Because if we don’t focus, our audience will happily do it for us. It’s much better to stay in control and focus our story on a concise message that people can and will pass along. Because only when we do, can we craft our talk such that that’s going to work.

Remember, audiences are ruthless. If we don’t provide them with a clear and concise message they will just craft their own.

The 2nd priority

… is the reason why we don’t accomplish our 1st priority.

Get a good price and get the deal at all cost. Grow your business and spend more time with the family. Few production errors and the cheapest product.

As soon as we have a 2nd priority, the 1st priority isn’t a priority any more. It’s become one of two (or more) constraints. The more constraints we have, the more likely it is that we have to compromise on any of these constraints.

The same is true in communication. As soon as you have two (or more) goals for your presentation, for your meeting, for your speech, you’ll probably have to compromise on either.

Let’s say it straight: The 2nd priority is the reason we don’t go full steam on our 1st priority. Better to focus on one priority and handle any other constraints as exactly that: constraints.

Why people aren’t buying from you

Because this is how you communicate your product:

The active ingredient inhibits the body’s own formation of messenger substances, the so-called prostaglandins, which increase the sensitivity of the pain receptors in the body. By inhibiting their formation, the increased excitability of the pain receptors at the nerve endings is reduced and the pain and inflammatory symptoms subside.

Of course, sooner or later marketing comes along and argues that you need a fancy packaging. With a beautiful logo on it and bright colors that make it stand out on the shelves.

But somehow that didn’t work, either.

So, performance marketing comes along and says that this is what you need to say:

Hey, look, if you don‘t buy just one of these litte white pills, but three, we’ll give you a coupon that’ll save you 10 bucks the next time you buy five of the pills. You’ll just need to scan the receipt and email it to this address …

Well, somehow that didn’t work, either. So, you build a funnel. And an Instagram channel. You design landing pages for each target group and host live webinars. You discover TikTok as the next big thing.

And then, you’ve really got a headache. Which makes you realize how easy everything was from the beginning:

Got a headache? This pill will make it go away.

So many communicators just forget to tell us what their product is for. Until people know, most of them just don’t care. But when they know and when they have that problem, they will want you to tell them more.

What is it that I absolutely need to remember from your pitch?

Ok, got it.

Now, how likely do you think it is that I will actually remember all of these things?

But wait, here’s a deal: You tell me exactly one thing and I promise that I’ll remember it.

Would you take it?

What would that one thing be?

How can you craft your whole communication around that most important thing?

The 5 most important things are probably not as important as you think

If your service is anything but trivial there’s a lot you could tell us about it. I bet you could easily fill an hour speaking about fascinating details about the product.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that I, too, must understand all these details. Yet, when I don’t, what happens? Or if I just don’t care about the details? Then what happens? What if I remember only 4 out of the top 5 things I need to remember about your product?

A more useful approach is to think about the most important thing. And that thing could even be a feeling. Actually, more often than not people fall in love with a product not because of the details but because of how it makes them feel.

The fascinating part is this: If that most important thing really does make a difference for me, if I really do care about it improving a profound aspect of my life, then I will automatically dig deeper and I will want to know more.

That’s what matters: How does your product impact me? Rather than me having to learn something about you, things get much easier for you if you learn about me.

What will they say …

… when you leave the room? When you’re not there to correct them? Or to explain what you actually meant to say? Or that this was not the point?

Yet, it’s exactly what they heard and what they made out of what they heard. If you want them to say it differently, then you’ll need to give them the words to do so. Use a clear structure that helps them see your point. Use metaphors and analogies they can relate to so they understand exactly what you mean. And use words they can easily memorize in simple language that have a meaning in their minds (as opposed to your mind).

You’ll never know what’s in their minds and there’s never going to be a guarantee that they understand it the way you intended it to, but you can always try harder to empathize.

Mit oder ohne Sprudel?

Einfache Entscheidung: Mit oder ohne Sprudel …

… bis PowerPoint in’s Spiel kommt und wir daraus eine Entscheidungsvorlage machen. Im Nu wird aus einer einfachen Entscheidung eine Schlacht aus 10 Folien, ohne ein einziges Mal die eigentliche Frage zu formulieren. Stattdessen:

Folie 1: Titelfolie mit Vortragstitel („Vor- und Nachteile unterschiedlicher Wasserdarreichungsformen“), Name des Vortragenden, seine Abteilung, Datum, Ort, mindestens fünf Logos
Folie 2: Agenda
Folie 3: Umsatzanteile der Wassersorten mit und ohne Sprudel während der letzten 6 Quartale, aufgeschlüsselt nach Regionen. Unten Vergleich mit zuckerhaltigen Erfrischungsgetränken.
Folie 4: Mission Statement für das hippe Wasser ohne Sprudel, Marktanalysen.
Folie 5: Zusammensetzung der Inhaltsstoffe, so klein, dass man nichts erkennen kann, dazu Zertifikate der Lebensmittelprüfinstitute sowie von Stiftung Warentest.
Folie 6 & 7: Das Gleiche für die Sorte mit Sprudel
Folie 8: Customer-Satisfaction-Rating und Award für die kreativste Brand-Kampagne 2019
Folie 9: Einordnung in die Brand-Range mit verschiedenen Geschmackszusätzen, Fit-Varianten, Größen und Sonderaktionen.
Folie 10: Zusammenfassung
Bonusfolie 11: „Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit“

11 Folien lang über sich geredet, kein einziges Mal die Frage „Was mögen Sie lieber?“ berührt und kein einziges Mal die Frage „Mit oder ohne Sprudel?“ überhaupt gestellt.

Entscheidungen werden umso einfacher, je klarer ist, wofür oder wogegen man sich entscheiden soll. Es lohnt sich jedes Mal, das auf den Punkt zu bringen und sich zu zwingen, die eigentliche Frage in einem, maximal zwei Sätzen zu formulieren.

Und sich dann in die Perspektive der Entscheider zu versetzen. Welche Informationen brauchen sie überhaupt, um entscheiden zu können? Wie kann ich ihnen das so schnell und einfach wie möglich erklären?

Und oft ist es einfacher, als man denkt. Dann ist jeder froh, wenn ein Thema auch einmal in 2 Minuten abgehakt ist. Wirklich. Wenn alles gesagt ist, ist alles gesagt.

Ich mag übrigens lieber ohne Sprudel.

Was hängen bleiben soll? Ein einfacher Test!

Was hängen bleibt, entscheiden immer die Zuhörer. Sie haben Ihre Chance im Vortrag. Aber sobald Sie fertig sind, haben die Zuhörer das Sagen. Auf die Frage: „Und? Was ist bei dir hängen geblieben?“ antworten immer die Zuhörer, nicht Sie. Und die Antwort ist immer aus der Sicht der Zuhörer formuliert – in einfacher, natürlicher Sprache. Finden die Zuhörer keine einfache Antwort, dann vereinfachen sie eben, notfalls radikal: „Das war mir viel zu kompliziert.“ Oder noch schlimmer: „Keine Ahnung!“

Die gute Nachricht ist: Diese Tatsache liefert einen einfachen Test, ob Ihre Kernaussage, der Küchenzuruf Ihres Vortrags, bei den Zuhörern überhaupt Chancen hat, anzukommen, indem Sie die Frage stellen: Was würde ein Zuhörer auf die Frage „Und? Was ist bei dir hängen geblieben?“ antworten. Ein Zuhörer. Nicht Sie.

Was bei den Zuhörern hängen bleiben soll, muss in deren Sprache auszudrücken sein. Die Zuhörer müssen es sagen können. Es muss für sie einen Sinn ergeben.

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