What I've Learned In Business: Don't "Convince" People
This article is part of an occasional series about what I’ve learned from running a business. You can read other articles in this series here.
I recently received this email from a reader named Patreice:
“I have a question about creating a Media Training business in Detroit. Often times, [small non-profit organizations] feel that media training is a luxury and not a necessity. How can I convince them otherwise?”
My answer? Don’t. It’s a bad use of your time.
Since starting Phillips Media Relations in 2004, I’ve encountered the same situation numerous times. Occasionally, I’ll get a call from a PR or communications professional who explains that their executives desperately need media training—but they don’t know they need it. They’ll then ask me to come meet with their executives to “convince” them that they need media training.
I sympathize with those PR or communications professionals and know exactly where they’re coming from. But I turn down those requests. They’re a bad use of my time.
Think about it this way: Could you ever imagine someone calling a dentist’s office and saying:
“My mother desperately needs to see a dentist but she refuses to go. Would you please come to our home and convince her to make an appointment? If you can get her to agree, she’d become a new patient of yours, so it would be good for you.”
The bottom line, Patreice, is that there are plenty of potential clients out there who already understand the value of media training—or, for that matter, any other services you’re selling. And it’s a whole lot easier to sell your services to them than it is to convince someone that they need your services in the first place.
So focus on finding clients who already know they need your services. Market your brand so that customers needing your services can easily find you when they seek them. And gently decline the opportunity to “convince” people who don’t think they need your services that they do.
Have you had similar experiences? How have you handled them? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Brad,
Couldn’t agree more! I once had a client whose bosses didn’t see the value in social media and refused to consider using it. He wanted me to submit a proposal but I decided that I didn’t want to waste my time trying to sell them on the value of social media. It would have meant more time for me, and ultimately, it would be frustrating.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this.
Deborah
Thanks, Deborah! Glad to hear I’m not alone on this one.
One thing I didn’t mention in my post is that when this has happened in the past, I’ve happily offered some ideas to the internal communications person to help them sell the value of media training. I don’t mind giving them a few minutes on the phone to help them with their internal “convincing” efforts – but I do mind blocking out a few hours to do it in person.
I think we’re both making the right calls here…
Brad
Wow – SO true! To which I’d add… when you get a chance to do media training with a willing exec, you need to OWN and drive the training. Don’t let meddlers come in – you may never get that chance again.
I recall one media training session which completely got out of control. Two MARCOM types (who were having their own personal catfight/war/power struggle) invited themselves along. They were at loggerheads over our messaging, and hijacked the media training session to have an argument with each other in front of the CEO and execs who were preparing for a media tour associated with a major product launch.
It was pure territorial pissing, I was the junior person (both in position/title and relative access to the boss). Our VP of marketing was not very decisive or engaged and decided to join in as if it were a brainstorming session on what our message should be.
The engineering type bailed first. The CEO just kind of rolled his eyes and said, “Let me know when you get this figured out” – and then, with any adult leadership absent, the three of them just started hashing out a discussion which was both unneccessary (the happy to glad changes did nothing to improve or alter our message) and expensive (our PR firm’s principal, their media trainer, and a note-taker staffer).
Most importantly, we lost the opportunity to get the CxO team trained to deliver ANY message. The basics of having a message. Key talking points. Camera presence. Preparation, dress and voice coaching. The elevator pitch. The strong close. The “anything to add?” softball. Simple stuff. Most of us aren’t facing an ambush, an angry mob, or Mike Wallace.
That was a painful lesson for me to learn – but a good one. At my media training, NOBODY gets to be a straphanger, good idea fairy or chime in from the peanut gallery.
You have to OWN the training session – prep the room, prep the execs, prep the trainer. And don’t let ANYONE meddle in it – at YOUR peril.
Tom,
Thank you so much for adding your personal experience to the blog. You raise a lot of really important points.
Instead of reacting point-by-point to what you wrote, I’d like to just add a related point. I’ve also had it happen to me where a training session started to degenerate into a messaging debate. At that point, I usually tell them that the point of media training isn’t to leave them with perfectly massaged messages that have been wordsmithed with precision and have received universal internal buy-in. Instead, I tell them that the point is to learn the technique of how to comfortably navigate their way in and out of messages — and that when they ultimately settle on the “right” messages, they’ll be well trained to know how to use them. That usually shuts down the discussion.
If all else fails, I’m not afraid to offer a bit of a stark choice: “Look, I’m only here for a day. If we spend our time here, we’re not going to be able to cover the material that will make you a more effective speaker. I’m your vendor, and I’ll do what you what – but I recommend that we move on and sideline this conversation for now.”
Thanks again for commenting.
Brad
Good discussion here and I totally agree that one has to own the media training session.
I have also had media training become a messaging session, usually because it’s the first time everyone on the senior management team has been in the same room discussing the issue rather than sending emails.
Unless media interviews are eminent, I always go with the discussion and become a facilitator for the messaging. Media training is always easier with robust messaging and usually I get more work to come back and provide a more practice oriented session.
I also stay mindful of the senior communications person in the room who is usually the one that hired me. That’s the person that probably convinced the execs that media training is a good idea and if I make him or her look good I’m more likely to get called back.
Hi Ken,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. It sounds like you’re approaching this in a smart way that benefits your clients, and I agree with you that having robust messaging leads to more targeted training sessions.
There’s a side point here, but an important one: hopefully we can elicit enough information from our clients before the training session to prevent these unexpected surprises. That’s no guarantee that we won’t end up facing a few surprises in the room, but it should help at least reduce the odds of being caught off-guard with a session that evolves into something unexpected.
As always, Ken, thank you for adding your voice of experience.
Brad
Hi Brad,
your answer – don’t bother with people that aren’t really motivated – is, of course, very true and wise. If Patreice just wants to make money doing her job as a Media Trainer, she should just try to sell to the people who want to buy her service.
BUT….
There is a point in the original question that raises my attention, because I find myself in that situation often: these were “small non-profit organizations”. What if my desire to serve these institutions is driven by my concern for the importance of their work, and getting payment is not an issue, or not the main, driving issue?
What if the question was NOT “how do I sell Media Training to people who don’t want to buy it?” but rather “how do I give Media Training to the people that would most benefit the world… if they only knew they needed Media Training?”.
I don’t know if that was Patreice’s question, but it is mine, if you will be so kind as to take it….
Best regards
Pedro
Hi Pedro,
Terrific question – thank you for posing it.
I once read how another media trainer made the case to potential clients (I wish I could remember who said this so I could give him/her credit!). The trainer said that he discusses the way a nonprofit measures their programmatic results, applying an “ROI” (return on investment) measure. Then, he/she asks, “What is the ROI of your words?” That’s a smart way to make the case, since most of us can improve the precision with which we articulate an argument.
Thanks very much for commenting. It’s nice to “meet” you!
Brad