I am consistently surprised and delighted by seeing vivid examples of excellent communication principles on television and in the movies.
My most recent obsession is AMC’s “Better Call Saul”. For those who may not be familiar, the lead character is Jimmy McGill – a complex and somewhat tortured soul with a good heart, and an internal engine of pure hustler. In a recent episode, Jimmy is managing a bland cell phone store in an obscure strip mall, with virtually no customer traffic. Cell phones, like so many products, are basically a commodity business. The typical ways cellular carriers differentiate themselves are by “turning the small dials” (a phrase I learned and loved from Roger Enrico former CEO of PepsiCo). Which is to say, things like “unlimited data” or “free music for 6 months” or “buy one phone get one free”, are so common, they start to run together in consumers minds like a big pool of luke-warm marketing broth.
However, in this recent episode of BCS, Jimmy decides to “turn the big dial”, and paints a huge sign on the front of the store: “Is The Man Listening? Privacy Sold Here”. Forget price, features, deals…everyone has those. Jimmy changes the conversation by finding an entirely different approach that many people inherently care about – privacy.
The communication take away is simple. Find the conversation customers and audiences care about and tap into that channel, with creative ways to get your message across. Connection. You can’t sell or persuade, until you first connect.
Allow me to tweek Jimmy’s line a bit for promoting The Ganon Group: “Is Your Audience Listening? Connections Sold Here”.
The Ganon Group offers communication coaching for executives and employees across all departments: C-Suite Leadership, Sales, Customer Experience, Technical / Product Development, to improve their communication and presentation techniques. We believe everyone can “up” their game when it comes to communicating initiatives and ideas within the organization, outside to new prospects, to existing clients, or to outside media and trade organizations. www.theganongroup.com
