If this isn’t the coolest thing you’ll watch this week, I want to know what is.  It’s the ultimate whiteboard video.  But just a second.

Let’s say you weren’t convinced by my meager whiteboard video and the concept of story in your messaging, because your product or service is mundane or boring.  I have friends that do a great job of selling really boring SaaS for 1099 filings.  (Gag!)  This is just the kind of service that needs a whiteboard.  The proof you say?  How about 750,000 hits?

OK.  Now you can look at the video.  As you do, think about the following:
•    The subject could be boring.
•    It’s a technical subject.
•    The video title contains the word “Terror.”
•    The opening music is “Jaws like.”
•    The  opening “hook” is “When people look at it, it looks crazy!”
•    Find the drama.  The odds, the potential crash, their reputations.
•    Notice the two second scene changes.
(click the image to play)

And they spent a little money.  But Mars curiosity will be landing one way or the other August 5th. Will you have seven minutes of terror or will you know your prospects are watching your video before it’s over?

Send your whiteboard video links.

Do Great Things!
Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
651-357-0110 (Cell24x7)

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My Grandson

In a recent post, People Don’t Read…What Are You Going to Do About It? I advocated the use of video to get your messages across.  But by extension, if no one watches your video, you’re still stuck.

I’ve tried a few videos.  They’re OK.  Not great, but I got a good number comments on them.  I tired to keep them less than two minutes in order to keep people’s attention.  But I wasn’t satisfied.  Something was missing.  Then recently it clicked when I asked my four year-old grandson to tell me a story.

This is his story.   “There was a elephant. His name was Ralph, and he had big teeth. (Not the same elephant that got stuck in the room.) Then he went to the store.  He chased all the people out.  So then they called the POLICE.  But he ate all the food.  Then he pooped. Ha, ha.  When the police came, he got on a fire engine and drove away.  THE END.”  I asked him what happened next, and he continued the story for another two minutes.

So what do George Lucas and my grandson have in common that can teach us something about your marketing video?

The most important aspect for marketing videos is that you have to tell a story.

The first thing is that every story needs is a “hook” or a reason to continue listening.  For example; an elephant with “big teeth” (why big teeth?), or “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”  This engages us in “The Story.”  It helps us suspend disbelief and allows us to listen and focus on what comes next.

Once you are engaged in the story, you need some conflict or drama such as calling the police, or a rebellion in a galaxy against the emperor.

Then the next key element is to keep us engaged.  Two of the most important words you can use are “and then.”  And then… what happened next?  My grandson, without thinking, naturally used “then” three times in his story.  But here is where the genius of George Lucas comes into play.  His version of “and then” was the “two-second” scene change.  What’s that?

We are evolved to look at motion.  We can’t help it.  From an evolutionary standpoint, sensitivity to motion protects us from the predators in the bushes.  By changing the scene rapidly, Lucas keeps us hooked into the action of Star Wars and raises our adrenaline levels.  We are forced to pay attention because we are looking to see what happens next.  Look at any commercial on TV today and you will see this phenomenon.  No scene lasts more than two seconds.

So how does this relate to creating a white board video?  In my video, I try to tell a story.  It begins with “a great idea.”  We all identify with the creation of a great idea; it’s a classic business narrative.  Conflict is created by failure to sell that idea.  Motion is created by drawing.  This is the equivalent of Lucas’s fast scene changes.  The viewer wants to see what is being drawn next, and this creates the “and then.”  Next there is a little humor to open our minds.  Finally, there is the resolution.  The elephant drives away on the fire engine, Darth Vader is thwarted, and a solution to a marketing problem is presented.

It’s not perfect.  It’s longer than I wanted, but I am surprised at how fast it moves.  It was created for less than $100.  And I want to know what you think.  Did it capture your attention?  Does it hit the mark?  What would you do differently?  Leave a comment below.

So if your video turns out to be an elephant, put him on a fire engine.

Do Great Things!

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)

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Seriously.  This is not a ruse.  Seriously.

For years, VPs of Sales and CEOs have been looking for the magic bullet to help select the best sales people, the top 20 percent that bring in 80% of their sales.  There are minor industries built on evaluating and testing sales candidates.  Including recruiters, testing, and the risk of making the wrong decision, hiring a great sales person can be an expensive proposition.

So with advances in genetic testing, why can’t we test for the genes that make great sales people?

Before you scoff, consider this.  There is now genetic testing to help you determine whether your son or daughter may have the genes for the quick reflexes required in some sports and activities.  This may help you determine whether or not to encourage them to go for a scholarship in baseball, tennis, and ballet, or to focus on their homework.  (Of course you could have them do both in case they were interested in ballet but also inherited the genes to become a professional wrestler.)

Since so many of us want our children to grow up to be sales people, maybe now we can run genetic tests for that?

A study by Dr. Serena Rodrigues Saturn at Oregon State University, suggests that there is now a genetic test for empathetic characteristics such as openness, trust and caring.  These are linked to a gene for the brain chemical receptor for oxytocin.  The link is so strong that a total stranger, simply by observing someone listen to another person, may be able to guess whether we have this particular genetic characteristic with greater than 80% accuracy.  I’ve long advocated for more empathy in sales and business. (Read Lost)   Research has shown that people who have this genetic variation also have higher self esteem and better social skills.

In the study, scientists videotaped 23 romantic couples having a conversation.  One person was told to tell the other of a sad incident in their life.  Each listener had previously submitted saliva for genetic testing for the oxytocin receptor gene. They then showed these videos to a group of 116 people and asked them to determine the level of empathy in the listeners.  They did this with the sound of the video turned completely off.   The results were that the observers with nothing else but visual clues such as eye contact, head nodding and open body posture identified the most empathetic listeners.

The surprise was that out of the 10 people who were ranked as “most prosocial,” six had the genetic trait for the receptor gene, and of the 10 ranked “least trusted,” nine did not.  This is a very strong indication of genetics influencing what we think of as personality.

Empathy is an important element in sales.  It’s the basis for listening and understanding.  Perhaps our best sales people are genetically endowed?  With genetic testing rapidly reaching the sub $1,000 mark, testing could be entirely feasible.  On the other hand we could test others for lack of the gene… say some of our politicians, or perhaps your boss.  Think of the grief saved if we’d tested Muammar Gaddafi.  (Not to suggest a similarity to your boss.)  This whole area could be a huge breakthrough.

Not convinced? Look, you knew Tommy Boy would make the sale.  How did you know?

I know you’re still skeptical, and I haven’t sold you?  Ah, perhaps that’s because I don’t have the gene. But you’re thinking about it.

While you wait for the test, do great things.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)

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Sales people like to talk.  The good ones listen.  Marketers, on the other hand, tend to be verbal but more focused on reading and writing.  They wind up working on the copy for websites, PR releases, direct mail, email, literature and whitepapers.  The problem is… no one reads any more.  So much of this activity is wasted.  Too bad.  What are you going to do about it?

It’s time to consider a couple of things.  Getting your ‘prospect universe’s’ attention and then finding the best way to communicate with them.  This doesn’t mean that marketers can stop writing, thinking, generating relevant content and being creative at getting attention.  Just that the medium might change.

To illustrate the point, one extreme example of this change is the movement from posted advertisements above urinals in men’s rooms to flat screen video. (I hear women read more than men, but I don’t know what goes on in the other side.)  Or another example is tweeting.

Let’s get use to the idea that our attention span is limited.  We have so much competition for our attention, we want our information pre-digested in bullets so we can determine whether it’s worth another 30 seconds.  Many marketers slave over written case studies trying to satisfy this need.  Don’t waste your time.  No one reads case studies anymore.

Instead, try using the 30-second client testimonial video.  This is especially important at the point in the sales cycle that requires proof, especially in the “tornado” portion of the market (see my post on Crossing the Chasm).  Buyers in the mainstream want to know who else has your product and service, how are they using it, and what it’s done for them?  Since buyers today are much further down the sales path before they call or contact you, they often need this information before you even know they exist.

Here’s an example of 20 seconds from the CFO of a small company:

Now imagine a library of 200 of these videos catalogued by customer experience, benefit, savings and service.  I know one company that accomplished this and there are more.

There’s nothing more credible than a customer saying how much you’ve done for them.  Many marketers will tell you how difficult it is to get a client or customer on camera.  It’s less difficult than you think, and I’ll cover the “how” in my next post… I mean video.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)

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Over the last series of posts, I’ve discussed the subtleties of messaging in relation to how we think and how the brain works.  I have a strong conviction that most B2B messaging is still stuck in the facts and figures mode, and most companies are trying to use reason and logic alone to persuade prospects to buy their products.  As a result, they are missing huge marketing and sales opportunities, especially when positioning for market growth.  This doesn’t mean that facts and logic aren’t valuable, simply that they are not sufficient in themselves.

For those sales and marketing organizations that take the time, the discipline, and the effort to invest in messaging, the rewards are shorter sales cycles, greater market share and improved financials.  Creating and implementing effective messaging is really hard work and requires thinking differently.

Here is a summary of key points from my last set of posts on messaging.

1. A good understanding of segmentation must proceed effective messaging.  How can we sell or market if we don’t understand who our clients are, how they behave, and how they think?  There are four common levels of segmentation.  To this list, I add an additional one, that of narrative segmentation which translates persona into action through response to familiar stories which are etched into our unconscious.

• Demographics
• Buyer
• Persona
• Behavioral
• Narrative

2.  95% of all thought is unconscious. If we only use reason, and logic, and facts, we are not addressing a big influence in communications.

3. We think metaphorically.  Metaphors are created in the brain as a result of learning and provide a basis for thinking.  (Again, most of this thinking is unconscious.)  They can be expressed by language.  I am not endorsing the use of common language metaphors, such as sports metaphors, in market messaging or sales except as an occasional way to capture attention.  Rather understanding how we think using metaphors will allow you to use language that is much more powerful in crafting your message.

4.  The most powerful metaphor is the frame

• Frames limit the discussion or debate
• They tie the debate to an emotion
• They do this using a readily available story or narrative
• They can be either positive or negative
• Their effect is related to how neurons connect and brain chemistry
• Positive frames are better than negative frames, but the two can be used together

5.  Narratives are built upon metaphors and are universal in their nature.  They transcend culture and language.  Narratives and stories resonant on an unconscious level.  They are the next level of messaging.

In my next post, I’ll give an example of how to put these together in action.  Meanwhile, what is your story?

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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In today’s communications era, we spend a good deal of our attention responding to the negative frame or alert.  For example, one often hears such headlines as, “Tune in at ten, and learn how soccer moms are selling crack to finance extra school activities.”  The negative is predominant in the media.  Why? Because it attracts our attention.  The adrenaline alert or response is wired into our genes and brain chemistry so we can jump into the trees to safety when the leopard slinks by.

Stress, fear, or worry, activate the norepinephrine system in the brain that is closely tied to these negative emotions.  Associated with the activation of this system is a reduced capacity to notice.  Our brains need to focus on the leopard and not the beauty of the leopard’s spots.  So if I want someone not to notice the detail or logic of a position, using fear or the negative frame is a good way to accomplish it.  You’ve heard the expression, “Nobody ever went wrong buying IBM.”   The truth is, of course they have.  Maybe they bought too much, or paid too much, or didn’t get the support the wanted, or are still using Lotus 123.  But the frame is a negative one designed to create some uncertainty.  Many people don’t even think about it.  From a sales standpoint, the story in my post Rationality is Crazy, illustrates the impact of fear and lack of attention through the process of asking a plausible emergency question.

However, recent research (O’Keefe & Jensen, 2008) indicates that the negative frame will only take you so far in influencing behavior through messaging.  Their research finds that there is a slight positive effect at persuasion for messages that were positively framed.  It may be simply that we prefer thinking about the beautiful lady and not the leopard, pleasant thoughts compared to dark thoughts.  There is other evidence that framing in a positive way helps activate the dopamine circuitry in the brain that is associated with positive emotions, happiness and satisfaction.  Does the combination of the positive and negative have some synergistic effect?  Is it better to just say smoking causes lung cancer, or if you quit you will have whiter teeth, or both?  There is some evidence that the combination is more powerful than either alone.  But too much negative wears us out.  That’s why news media add puppy stories next to murder stories.  Sometimes the transitions are ludicrous.

Positive frames seem a little more difficult to develop than negative frames.  But they are worthwhile.  Again, a frame limits the debate, ties it to a familiar story or metaphor and links it to emotion.  While brand taglines are not typically places where you see great positive framing, I can think of a few strong examples in the consumer market.   My favorite is Hallmark’s “When you care enough to send the very best.”  Breaking it down… I am caring.  I belong to the group of caring people which is an “Inclusion narrative,” not those other selfish bastards, which is a “Fundamentalist narrative.”  And, I have taken the market position of best.  Everyone else is second best.  Every time you hear this on TV, it is positioned with a caring loving scene guaranteed to make you cry.

Another example is Allstate’s “Your in good hands with Allstate.”  The image of hands, of protective and caring hands, allows us to identify with touch and feeling, and is juxtapositioned against the catastrophic background scene, but with someone helping the victims.

The problem with negative framing is that it creates negative emotion regardless of your intent.  In the abortion debate, one side positioned originally positioned itself as “Pro-choice” and the other side as “Anti-abortion”.  The first is positive and the second is negative.  The value of the position doesn’t matter because in the second case, you are against something.  In response, the other side became “Pro-life” and framed themselves positively.  Who can be against life?  In doing so, they also co-opted the term “Pro.”  But which is more intuitive… life or choice.  The balance of messaging swings back toward the life frame.

And in the balance of messaging and framing, try to be positive more often than negative.  Just do it.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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I once had a competitor say to a prospect that if they bought from us, we would nickel and dime them to death.  Of course this is a lousy way to sell, and I would never advocate disparaging your competition like this.  But having been presented with this “negative frame” and hearing it repeatedly in the marketplace, I had to do something.

The last thing you want to do when confronted with a negative frame is to deny or argue against it.  Because, even though it may not be true, arguing against it only reinforces the frame.

It’s like trying to answer the question, “When did you stop beating your spouse?”  Even if you’ve never even thought of such a thing… even if you’re not married, you can’t answer the question because it sets the frame deeper.  Remember frames are based on metaphors in the brain and connected to stories and emotions.  They are not subject to reason.

There are only two things you can do with a negative frame.  The first is to ignore it.  This is hard to do, but it is the prudent choice 95% of the time.  The second is to re-frame it into a positive.

In the case above, we had our sales team quietly answer, “Of course we nickel and dime you… unlike others, we look for every cent of savings until you’ve saved tens of thousands of dollars.”  We turned the frame positive, then changed the subject.

Recently, someone framed Taco Bell as having only 65% beef in their taco meat.  It’s not true of course.  What did they do?  They started an ad campaign saying their tacos contain 88% beef and the rest is secret ingredients. They then list the secret ingredients.  What people eat and consider food is a deep-seated metaphor. You know what I remember?  Taco Bell doesn’t use 100% beef in their tacos, they use 88% and some other stuff.  I hadn’t heard of this issue until I read their ad. They confused jumping on the issue quickly with how to respond to the frame.  Now millions more know about it.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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The point behind the discussion on metaphor is not that their expression in language should be used to excess to convince people that they should buy your products or services.  If you use classical metaphors unsparingly in your messaging, you wind up sounding foolish.

The occasional use of metaphorical language helps with making a point, and the over-the-top metaphor helps jar our brains into saying, “Stop, what’s going on here?”

While it is fun, it is not necessary to make up metaphorical language about beavers.  Rather the point is that we think metaphorically.  A metaphor exists in the brain as a connection of synapses and neurons. It can be expressed by language. So there is a distinction between metaphorical thought and the language metaphor.  Knowing this, we can create messaging based on language that fits naturally into the narratives we already have in place in our heads and that are activated by metaphorical thinking.  The most influential metaphorical language construction is the “frame.”

Framing is a method for choosing the language of a debate and tying it emotionally to an easily recognized story or narrative through the use of metaphorical thinking.  You find it most frequently used in politics, mostly in dirty politics from either the right or the left, although it can be used in business.

A couple of quick nonpolitical examples will help explain the frame.  If I ask a child, “Would you rather eat your peas with a fork or a knife?” I am framing the debate to a choice of utensils, and not whether the child wants to eat their peas.  (This doesn’t always work with kids).  If I am trying to introduce a friend to a new group of people and I say, “She has a heart like a river, it just keeps flowing,” I have framed their impression of her to generosity and tied it to the positive image of a flowing river.

In a common political framing example, reasonable people might agree that a high tax rate is bad for individuals and businesses.  Reasonable people might also agree that no taxes might have severe consequences for funding critical institutions like education and defense.  So there is likely to be an “optimum” level of taxes.  Debates rage back and forth on what this level is.  Sometimes logic is used, but the issue is complex and has many sides.

However, if I want to “frame the debate” and reduce it to language that defines the debate, I could use either of the following two examples depending on whether I was for lowering taxes or increasing taxes.

In the first case, I might say, “We’re drowning in taxes.  Aren’t you for tax relief?”  The term “tax relief” frames the debate as “taxes are too high.”  The word “drowning” creates a graphic narrative and ties it to an emotion of panic, fear and even death.  In the second case, I might say, “Patriots don’t freeload, they pay taxes.”  The word “freeload” limits the debate to paying a fair share and the word “patriot” creates a both a positive image and invokes an inclusion metaphor.  You’re a patriot aren’t you?

Why go into so much detail?   First, frames and metaphors are the building blocks of narratives and storytelling, as well as sales and market messaging.  I’ll cover more about them in upcoming posts. Second, it’s helpful if you understand when a competitor or even a prospect uses a frame.  In general, frames are manipulative.  But sometimes it’s difficult to even tell when you’ve been framed.  You wouldn’t want that would you?

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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How is it that brain uses metaphors to think?  While this is a complex subject too big for a single blog post, it’s important to understand key concepts in order to have a foundation for a discussion about their role in market and sales messaging.  (If you are hungry for more detail you will not get a bitter taste by reading cognitive scientists and linguists such as George Lakoff).

When the brain is very young, we experience and learn about our world through metaphors.  As an example, when we see a glass of water filled, the level rises and we begin to associate rising level (and upward direction) with increased quantity.  As a result, we may eventually understand, and in a similar manner, that when prices rise, they are going upward, and the value is increasing in quantity.

When we are children and are held by our parents, we feel warmth (temperature) and learn to associate warmth with affection.  What happens in these two cases is that our brains do something called neural recruiting.  Two neurons, each holding different concepts, begin to be connected.  The more often that two things are associated together, the more the neurons that hold each of these two things begin to connect or wire together.

But when we say that a sales deal is getting hot, we don’t literally mean that the people are physically heating up.  We know what is meant in a very visceral an unconscious way.  Or when we when sales are rising, we don’t mean that they are literally floating up into the sky.  But we can use the concept of rising to associate with all sorts of things that are increasing in quantity.

Complex metaphors are made up of simple metaphors and link in the brain to form more complex thoughts.   The more a neural pathway is used the stronger it gets.  The linkage also tends to wire from the externally verifiable to the internally verifiable.

So with the concepts of warmth (or temperature) and affection, you may hear that a prospect is warming up to you (increasing affection), but don’t hear that the deal is getting more affectionate.  This is because temperature is externally discernable and affection is not.  The synapses that hold the link to temperature fire more often and as a result take dominance.  The linking of the two goes from temperature to affection, but not the other way around.  That’s why words for temperature are used for affection.  i.e. Our relationship is heating up.

Again, metaphors are actual mental structures in the brain that are independent of language, but can be expressed by language to help us understand something.  They become the foundation on which frames and narratives are built.    The key concept here is that our brains use metaphor to think.  I’ll continue to explore using frames and narratives as a very powerful way to message to your markets and prospects in upcoming posts.

(As a silly example of the use of metaphor in messaging, haven’t I just positioned you as a beaver at the end of the first paragraph? Note that this is a negative frame, depending on how you feel about beavers, but it discourages you from further reading and works subtly if this was my intent.  Just as easily, I could have used the concept of ‘eager beaver’ for a positive frame.)

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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Or can you?  One of the key building blocks* of thought is metaphor.   It is also a building block in market and sales messaging. Metaphors are actually mental structures in the brain that are independent of language, but can be expressed by language to help us understand things.  When used skillfully, the metaphor can be a marketing or sales persons best friend*.

I had a client stop by a project I was doing for him to test a real time sales reporting tool that his IT person had built.  He wanted to see what it looked like.  I told him that it wasn’t complete, and that if he looked at it, in its current stage, he would be disappointed and probably start asking for changes that we weren’t ready to implement.  He insisted, and against my better judgment, I began to show him how it worked.  Not more than thirty seconds into the review he stopped me and asked if it could also do service load projections.

At this point I had a choice.  I wasn’t going to get side tracked* with another set of scope-creep* requirements.   So I said, “No.”  Then I qualified, “We’ve just built you a new house on a good foundation, framed it, and put up the sheet rock.  Allow us to mud the walls.  Then you can decide on what color to paint them, or whether you want to add another room.”  He understood this.

Metaphors can muddy the waters* when used too often, or are over the top, or not appropriate.  They can also be a spring* of clarity and help us understand complex ideas.  When we activate innate metaphors in people’s brains with language, we are then communicating with the unconscious parts of the brain and often have a greater chance at influencing thought than conscious reasoning or the use of facts and logic.

* Metaphors  are so prevalent in our language and thinking we don’t even realize they are present.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)

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