Case study: maintaining your story in an ever-changing world

https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001354233

?Test case | Nili Goldfein

A precise message is always important, especially in the new work environment. But what happens when the annual exhibition becomes a virtual event?

A smart person once said, “Man plans, and God laughs.” The year 2020 laughed at us, and in a big way. Everyone who made plans for this year found himself right from the start in a completely different place. In the business world, companies of every kind confronted a situation where not only was everything shifting constantly, but also changing its color, texture and shape into something completely different.

Then along came the corona virus and confirmed what the prophets of the new work environment had been declaring in recent years in every possible forum: in the fast-paced era we live in, with its constant changes and immediacy, it is increasingly harder to provide workers with relevant knowledge and information. The most important thing they can be given is the necessary skills, so that they can acquire on their own the knowledge they will need tomorrow. In the new work environment, people need a fishing rod, rather than fish.

For example, look at the sales force of well-known company in the printing business. At the beginning of the year, they were preparing feverishly for one of the biggest events in the printing technology industry – Drupa, the quadrennial exhibition that takes place in Germany and gathers some 2,000 leading corporate representatives, features state-of-the-art innovations, and welcomes over 250,000 visitors who come to see and be seen, as well as to buy.

The company develops, manufactures, and markets advanced digital printers to clients worldwide, as well as accessories, such as patented specialized inks, and other items.

Ahead of the exhibition, this company prepared, as is customary, a pavilion to display its out of the ordinary exceptional technological products and technologies, and the obvious question arose as to what “secret ingredient” could be added to make the company stand out, the “magic” that would make customers come, see, hear, and close a deal with them.

Attention spans as short as that of a goldfish

Chen Cohen, the company’s manager of organizational development and learning, relates: “In world where a person’s attention span averages eight seconds, less than that of a goldfish in an aquarium, we understood that our sales and marketing people must learn how to tell the best and most captivating story possible, before they arrive at the exhibition.”

The challenge of engrossing audiences in a story did not start with sales and marketing people in contemporary organizations. It is a skill that is as old as humanity itself. Even back when people gathered around the tribal campfire, during the cold winter nights, storytellers helped the tribe members get through the harsh seasons with captivating stories.

The company’s human resources team outsourced this to a company that specializes in digital media branding and communications, and thus the team training program was launched.

Over the course of two intensive months, the sales and marketing team acquired a range of skills empowering them to “tell the story” via partnered learning.

They learned how to listen and show empathy, refine messages, address an audience, persuasion techniques, and other skills. They also learned how to consolidate and refine their product’s story, and turn into a riveting and concise five-minute presentation.

However, contrary to what they were used to until then, the focus was not on a state-of-the-art printer, but rather it was the person who walks by their pavilion for a fleeting moment and either stays a little longer and buys something, or moves on. The idea was to enlighten the potential customer about his needs and expectations, both open and concealed, and then, based on the specific listener’s needs, to present the company’s products in a way that addresses those needs, without being overbearing or dull. Refining a message into such a brief “pitch” is demanding, challenging, and requires much practice.

And then, just when the training ended and the team felt comfortable with the concise stories, the corona virus appeared, and the exhibition was cancelled. Within hours, it became necessary to replace the complex technology displays and the pavilion, that so much had been invested in, with a virtual dimension.

Nowadays, it may seem obvious, but in March 2020, no one really knew how to do this, and certainly not within such a short time span. The situation shifted rapidly, and the company had to reinvent everything and come up with a virtual product launch. This powerhouse of a group succeeded in making the changes with incredible speed.

The skills acquired in “how to do it” and not in “what to do,” i.e., a fishing rod and not fish, enabled the company to convert to a digital launch relatively easily. A broadcast studio was set up featuring the members of the group of pitch stars. The refined messages and the ability to appear in public transitioned well, and the smooth and instant staging was well received inside and outside the company.

Recently, the term “power skills” is being used in place of “soft skills.” There is nothing soft, or easy, about human relations skills, but it is now clear that technology will replace any segment of the labor process that is replaceable, and these skills are what will distinguish one company from another.

The ability to “tell a story” in the right way, at the right time, and in a short time, is a power skill of the first degree. It is precisely the skill that successfully made this company stand out and obtain deals that could not have been otherwise obtained, certainly not in the corona era, and thereby to transform a disadvantage into an advantage.

Three practical tips

1.     Define a tangible business objective

People invest more in skills development when there is a real, essential, and perceived business need. The large exhibition waiting at the end of the training program definitely influenced the motivation to train and invest effort.

 2.     Adapt the pitch to the listener’s needs

Active and conscious listening to what the person in front of you is saying, and especially to what is not being said but is in between the lines, is the key. Adjusting the concise and refined pitch to the needs of the other side creates a situation in which the customer feels seen and understood. It has already been proven in countless studies on the psychology of buying that the decision to buy stems from the heart, and not from the head.

 3.  Partnered learning

In order to achieve perfection, it is necessary to practice. Partnered learning groups provide mutually beneficial and shared spaces where the success of all the members together, and not the competition among them, achieves the greater objective.

 The company’s sales and marketing team became real “lions,” prepared to go to battle with a polished roar. Although the venue switched to a digital format, they acquired tools, and with feline flexibility, they adapted themselves to the corona era. The company’s CEO summarized the process this way: “The corona era proved to us once again to what extent focus, investment of resources, and organizational attention to employee development are translated into commercial accomplishments.”

 As we approach the end of 2020, a year that prompted much soul-searching, we can all take a moment for ourselves and consider how to, and where is the right place to, project our voices, and with which audience will a concise and brilliant message resonate and make the difference to them. 

Nili Goldfein is the Deputy Director-General of Niram Gitan NGG Group, and a consultant specializing in behavior and management in a world of disruption.