Two books are mandatory reading reading at Tony Hsieh’s phenomenal company Zappos.com.
1. Good to Great
2. Tribal Leadership

Most business owners have read Jim Collins’ classic Good to Great but I hadn’t heard of Dave Logan’s Tribal Leadership until recently.

Tribal Leadership overview

The authors describes tribes as comprising of 20-150 people and the culture of each tribe can be categorised as Stage 1 to Stage 5.

Gangs are a Stage 1 culture

Stage 1: Life sucks

People here feel alienated from others. They are isolated, hostile, desperate & violent. It is the culture of gangs and prisons.

Stage 2: My life sucks – 25% of corporate cultures

People here realise that other people’s lives are working, but theirs isn’t. They feel they lack the power that others have and are apathetic victims of circumstance.

They are disconnected, disengaged and feel that they work for idiot bosses.

Stage 3: I’m great (and you’re not) – 48% of corporate cultures

This stage is characterised by personal accomplishment and outward signs of success. Yet people at Stage 3 have a deep craving for more esteem, respect, loyalty and legacy. Their language is full of  ”I” “me” “my”  and their identity is focused on personal achievements eg. “I’ve got an MBA”, “I’m the one holding this place together”, “I’m the boss”.

David Brent is at Stage 3

Knowledge is power so they only way to stay on top is to hoard information. People at Stage 3 like to make all the decisions and everyone’s got to earn their trust!

Many people at Stage 3 mistakenly believe they are at Stage 4 or 5.  And people don’t go beyond Stage 3 until they have a personal epiphany that there has be a ‘better way’.

They realise the only path to true success is via tribal victories, not personal victories.

Stage 4: We’re great (and others aren’t) – 10% corporate cultures

The betterment of the tribe is the real goal here. The language is repeatedly “we’re”, “we”, “us” and the focus is on the tribe. When there are successes the leader shines the light on the tribe & when there are failures the leader takes personal responsibility.

Trust is assumed and knowledge is over-communicated.  There are shared core values and a united culture.  The key distinction is the formation of 3 person relationships called triads, where members of the tribe work together to reach decisions.

[Compare this to Stage 3s who operate with lots of 1-on-1 relationships where they control (hoard) the information, make all the decisions & believe that 'they're the glue that holds this place together'.]

People at Stage 4 work much less but get much more effective results. And they garner respect, loyalty and admiration from their tribes.

Stage 5: Life is great

Stage 5 - making history

Truly groundbreaking stuff happens when you’re at Stage 5.

At this level it’s not about your tribe beating your competition, it’s about changing the world.

Apple transforming the music, computer and phone industries is an example of a Stage 5 culture.  You are making history!

Stage 5 is rare but it’s what we need to aspire to.

Dave Logan

Here is a good 15 minute TEDx talk where Dave Logan talks some more about the 5 tribal stages of culture.

Patrick Lencioni is an author that Verne Harnish recommends so I started with the book Death by Meeting - a leadership fable about solving the most painful problem in the world.

The book is about providing business owners, managers and CEOs the tools they need to perform in their most important role — meetings.

Unlike other professionals, there really is no training provided for ‘meetings’.  That’s why most meeting are boring.

Basketball players perform on ‘match day’ and their stage is the court.  They do regular fitness training and practice shooting hoops. Opera singers literally perform on a stage and they constantly practice singing.

Business leaders’ stage is the boardroom and they perform in meetings yet there’s rarely any training or any practice.

Would you rather see a movie or go to a meeting?

The author poses this very interesting question & usually most people prefer to see a movie.

However if meetings were run properly people would always favour a meeting over seeing a movie.

Why?
Movies are a passive experience, viewed on a screen and you have no control over the outcome.  Meetings on the otherhand are live, active, involve real people and you can influence the outcomes.

What can we learn from Hollywood, TV and news headlines?

Plenty.  And the analogies are great.

Headline News (Daily huddle – 5 mins)
This is the daily  update of what is going on.  It’s no longer than 5 minutes and gets everyone up-to-speed. These are best done standing up so they are quick!

TV sitcoms (Weekly meeting – 45 mins)
Like your favourite TV shows, you know all the characters and story lines don’t go for too long.  Your weekly meetings are tactical and they should always run for less than 45 minutes.

Feature length movie (Monthly meeting 2-4 hours)
Like Hollywood blockbusters there should be a proven formula for these meetings. That means having a agenda, but there’s no strict time limit.  In your monthly meetings you get to delve into more strategic issues and allow time to address them properly.

Epic trilogies or movie marathons (Quarterly meetings – 1 day)
Some stories are so important you need a whole day and this is true of the quarterly meeting.  Take a whole day and ideally do it offsite  to keep it interesting.

How to make it exciting

Like a good movie or TV show, there’s got to be drama, excitement or conflict in the first few minutes. This is the chairperson’s most important role because it sets the tone for the entire meeting.  Start with enthusiasm, energy and a bit of drama and your colleagues will enjoy being along for the ride!

Following in from last year’s post, here’s the list of things I’ve shipped in 2011.  I’ve also included what I didn’t ship and mistakes I’ve learnt from.

Business

First ebook - Web Strategy Secrets

- Bluewire survived the Queensland floods and helped raise over $1200 at Bluewire’s 6th birthday party.
- Launched my first e-book.  ‘Web Strategy Secrets‘ written by Toby Jenkins and myself.
- Did our first Social Media Full Day Interactive Workshop. One in Sydney and one in Brisbane
- Did the launch of our first digital download product – DIY Web Strategy Toolkit for $247.
- Did 10 public speaking events (increasing my fees from $550 to $3,300 over 12 months.)
- Got on two speakers’ bureaus.
- Started a guest blogging column on Startup Smart
- Did my first radio interview on 2UE
- Started a muse (a pretty much automated business as written about in 4 Hour Work Week) called Drag + Fly – it’s a swimming resistance device.

Personal/Fitness

My first marathon in 4:03:01

- Lost 14kg body fat by sticking to the 4 Hour Body slow carb diet. And exercising of course!
- Ran my first marathon   Gold Coast (4:03:01)
- Ran my second marathon in Melbourne (3:34:43) – that’s a 28 minute PB thanks to super coach Sean Bowes.
- Ran 2 half marathons.  Canberra (1:52)  and Sydney (1:38)
- Ran City2Surf 14km fun run (1:01)
- Did 3 ocean swims
- Made 13 donations at Red Cross.  8 plasma and 5 platelet donations
- Donated over 1% of my income to charity
- Strengthened friendships with all the great people in Bondi and Sydney!
- Also got to meet John Howard and David Meerman Scott – two aspirational contacts!

Travel 
- Two overseas trips with two of my best mates.  Visited New Caledonia, USA, Ireland, Israel, Germany and Austria
- Had weekends away at Hobart, Canberra, Melbourne (twice) and Hunter Valley.

Meeting John Howard

Things I didn’t ship but would’ve like to:
- a sub 60 City2Surf
- didn’t get to move in with my mate Tom

Mistakes:
- The main one is not having the signed books and DVDs in my possession prior to sending the DIY Web Strategy Toolkit email.

Here’s to 2012.
Reflecting on the year, I feel more and more grateful for the life I’ve got.  Of course there’s always room for improvement but we must always celebrate milestones along the way and I’ve tried to do this!  Living in the same building as my lifelong friend and business partner Tobes has been heaps of fun, as has living in Bondi – many great times.

Sadly, three friends passed away this year who were all way too young. I’ll keep them in my thoughts and their memory keeps me setting goals and chasing dreams because when my time is up, I don’t to be left wondering!

Of course, special thanks to family, friends, Bluewire colleagues, clients and everyone else who made last year unforgettable. Here’s to 2012!

The Flinch is a natural response

‘A book so important we refuse to charge for it.”

That was written on the price tag of Julien Smith‘s book The Flinch which is a free download for Amazon Kindle.

And it intrigued me enough to download it.  [To be honest I would've bought it since Julien had won already won me over with Trust Agents (affiliate link) which he co-wrote with Chris Brogan.]

So what is the flinch all about?

The flinch is literally that feeling you get if someone is about to punch you.  It is the natural reflex reaction that has kept the human species alive for millenia. Fight or flight.

Unfortunately, it is the same feeling that inhibits us from doing the things we really want to.  It stops us quitting our job, going overseas or asking a girl out. The flinch is now our enemy.

What’s changed?

Cavemen used to hunt for food and avoid sabre tooth tigers.  The flinch was our friend then but we don’t face these daily dangers any more.  However the flinch is hardwired in our brain that wants to protect us.

We feel the flinch when we think about approaching a girl, when it comes to losing weight, when a lecturer asks if anyone has a question.  The flinch is trying to protect us (from embarrassment, from failure, from ridicule) but none of these things will kill us.

In fact the only way we can achieve our goals and live our dreams is to face up to the flinch and use it in our favour.

Julien Smith insists that “the anxiety of the flinch is almost always worse than the pain itself.”

The only way to know this for sure is to do things that scare you.  When your brain is screaming at you to avoid something, use that as your cue to do it.  Recognise the flinch and learn to use it!

My promise to myself for 2012?

I will seek out situations that scare me. When I feel the flinch and feel uncomfortable, I’ll push through and give it a go.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Julien Smith

I like Julien Smith because he is happy to say what he thinks and urges us to follow our dreams and gives us the tools to do so!

You can follow @julien on Twitter.

The Flinch was published as part of Seth Godin’s Domino Project.

Sometimes what works for Yanks doesn’t always wash with us Aussies, especially when it comes to speaking!

So I approached this book with a very open mind but was also prepared to adjust on the fly as I put Brian’s advice into practice.

By the end of 2011, I will have done 10 public speaking appearances, 1 television audition and 1 radio interview, so I’ve been able to apply many of these speaking tips.

Here’s what I learnt.

1.  Do as much speaking as you can. 
It’s just like any other skill but speaking is possibly the most important of all.  There are NO short cuts.  Brian constantly reminds you, if you want to be a better speaker, do more speaking!

2. Pretend you are auditioning for a Hollywood movie.
Experiment with tone, pace and emphasis. Practice by reading poetry aloud. You’re best off doing this on your own and then in the car once you know the words off by heart!

Brian Tracy’s favourite poet is Robert W Service and you can find all his poems online.

3. You are the main event, not Powerpoint.
If you must use Powerpoint, make sure you are main show and Powerpoint is the supporting act.  If you must use words on your slides, bring up one line at a time, and no more than 5 words per line.

The view 15 mins before show-time!

4. Always do a full rehearsal 5 times before show-time!
Ideally film yourself and give the talk to someone you trust so they can give you constructive and honest feedback.  And always test all your slides and videos on site. It’s amazing how many times they’ll decide not to work on a new projector on the day.

5. Practice pays off!
You have three speeches. The speech you plan to give, the speech you actually gave, and the speech you wish you gave. The more you practice the more the three will converge!

6. Overcoming nerves.

Everyone gets nervous before a presentation.  It’s natural and it’s your body’s way of getting energised before giving an important speech. If you’re not a bit nervous, you’re heart’s not in it.

You can address your nerves by speaking to people beforehand, look at them while you speak and tie them into your talk in a positive way.

As you're being introduced, breath slowly!

Also do breathing activities 5 minutes before you’re on. Breath in the nose for 5 seconds. Hold it for 5 seconds. Then breath out through the nose for 5 seconds.  Go for longer if you can.  It will calm you down and put plenty of oxygen in your lungs!

7. Your 60 sec introduction.
Too many MCs fail at their task of  introducing speakers. They fail because they don’t appreciate how important it is to give the audience a reason to listen and they aren’t prepared.

Of course it is very difficult (and culturally frowned upon in Australia) to talk up your own accomplishments and this is why MCs should do this for you.  Make their job easy by sending them with a 60 sec introduction that they can read out.  And print out  a spare to take on the day in case they forget).

Always put your name last and accomplishments first. It builds suspense.  For example:

 ”Today’s speaker is…. such and such at Company XYZ and will teach you about XYZ … and has achieved XYZ… (remember always finish with your name) … Please welcome… Adam Frankin“

Then it's up to you - practice pays off!

8. Once you’ve been introduced.
Walk up to the stage, stand tall, stand still, smile, look at four different people in the audience, wait for silence (this builds anticipation and shows you’re confident) and start with a friendly statement.

9. Your opening statement.
You should always know your first 60 seconds and last 60 seconds off by heart.  The rest will come to you if you’ve practiced enough.

There are several opening statement techniques you can use.  My favourite is to draw a connection from your experience to the audience’s industry.  I like to tell a personal story and use a real photo as the slide if I can.  For example, to the FSAA (Foodservice Suppliers Association Australia).

I told the story of how I’d worked in kitchens in Austria, Greece and Spain and how that meant I suddenly became multi-lingual in four letter words.

Me (left) working in a Kitzbuhel kitchen

It resonated since many of them had started their careers in a kitchen or were chefs or caterers.

Alternatively, thank the organiser, comment on local news or compliment the audience, although I’ve found this last technique doesn’t work as well with an Australian audience so I’ve stopped using it.

10. Give them a teaser and 3 reasons to pay attention
Highlight what’s in it for them and try to speak in 3s. For example

[teaser] I have some good news.  [1] Now is the best time in our life time to be marketing your business. [2] The web tools we have available to us now are free and they didn’t exist 10 years ago.  [3] And the opportunity for you to get ahead of your competition is right now.

Your job is to learn how to use them and my job is to teach you!

11. Always dress equal or better than the audience.
You’ve got to look the part!

You can buy Speaking to Win by Brian Tracy on Amazon (affiliate link).   Brian Tracy’s tips have enabled me to be much better speaker. I now have two speaker bureaus representing me and I have been able to increase my fees as a keynote social media speaker from $550 to $3,300 in the space of 12 months.  If you’d like to book me to speak, I’d love to hear from you!

And I’d love to know if these tips work for you!

Many of my business and marketing friends pride themselves on having read every word Seth Godin has published.  I am not quite there yet, but I read his blog daily and have read at least 8 of his books.

I bought one of his recent titles, Poke The Box, as a hard copy and read it in one hit.  That is the beauty of Seth’s books, he is very succinct.   Poke The Box is only 70 pages.

By the way, Poke The Box is Seth’s term for giving something a go, doing something, starting.

Ideas are NOT enough. There are millions of ideas, everyone has them.  What we struggle with is implementing them.  Seth’s solution is to ‘poke the box’ and START.

You don’t even need to know how you’ll finish the idea or even if it’s worth finishing, but get in the habit of starting.  The gap between having an idea and doing something about it (ie. starting) is usually the failure point where we leave most of our intellectual capital on the table, wasted.

The notion to “get started” is simple but it’s certainly not easy.

What did I learn?
You don’t wait for initiative ‘to be granted’ . You must take it.   So start something.  Imagine if their were no bosses or middlemen, what would you do?   Go do it!

For example, magazine publishers have conceded to bloggers.  The bloggers have taken the initiative, not had it handed to them.

In fact Seth goes as far as to say the difference between organisations growing and dying is ‘initiative.’  He urges us to get in the habit of starting.  It doesn’t even matter if it goes wrong. In fact mistakes are a necessary part of the process.

Why do we usually do nothing?
Easy, FEAR.

It’s scary starting something new. And it’s easier to do nothing.  You fear it may not work, you fear you may get ridiculed, it may be too successful and you fear that.

Having 1000s of ideas and starting none is fear too (under the guise of self-protection).  And so is setting yourself up for failure.  Seth’s example is seeing Elton John at a bar and asking him to sing for free at your daughters wedding.   Of course he’s most likely to say no to a stranger’s request.

What must we do, aside from ‘get started’?
Invest in your relationships before you need to ask.  Earn the permission to ask!

Start Now workbook

Here is a gift from Seth.  A free, short, 23 page e-book to help you get started - Start Now: Poke The Box workbook!

If you like it, try reading Seth’s daily blog. Or get it delivered in my preferred format, via Seth’s iPhone app.

Robert Bloom

I am usually quite wary of books written by old school advertisers, mainly because many of their beliefs and strategies were formulated before the web came along.   And of course a lot has changed in the last 15 years with the web.

However I found the “The Inside Advantage” by Robert Bloom to be excellent on many fronts;  very practical, no jargon, easy to read and based on strategy not tactics (which come and go).

Robert Bloom is the former CEO of advertising agency Publicis Worldwide and his book “The Inside Advantage” was recommended by Verne Harnish at the Growth Summit.

What I love is that the book is written as if Robert himself is guiding you (the reader) through a strategic workshop with Publicis Worldwide.  It is structured so that by the end, you and your team define the 4 things that will unlock your Inside Advantage – the secret to your company’s growth!

In short, Who + What + How + Own It! = INSIDE ADVANTAGE

WHO: is your ideal core customer and why (10-15 words)
WHAT: is your ‘uncommon offering’ – what truly represents unique value to your ideal customer (10-15 words)
HOW: is the persuasive strategy that will convince your core customer to buy your uncommon offering vs. all competitive offerings. This sells WHAT to WHO.
OWN IT!: is the series of imaginative acts that will celebrate the company’s uncommon offering and make it well known to its core customer. You can have ‘explosive’ and ‘ubiquitous’ things you do.

Toby and I read the book and went through what Bloom calls the Growth Discovery Process.  It was a fun and beneficial exercise.

The key discovery for Bluewire:
Prior to reading the book Toby and I both struggled to truly identify our ‘ideal client.’   For years we’d been trying to define our ideal client by industry, sector, size, revenue or location… but there would always be an exception that would debunk what we’d previously defined.

Whilst reading the “Inside Advantage,” Toby immediately came to the realisation that our ideal clients shared a similar mindset, not demographics.  They were all people “who are dedicated to being #1 in their market niche”.

This mindset applied equally to the people at a billion dollar superannuation company as it did to the people at a local dentist, a high school and a big finance company.

We completed all of Bloom’s activities and we found the following was our inside advantage.

Bluewire’s Inside Advantage:

WHO: professionals/people in companies who are dedicated to being #1 in their market niche.
WHAT: trusted web strategy advisors who are devoted to communication and helping you make the most of the web.
HOW: Deliver value and show you care with every interaction, so the relationship always gets stronger.
OWN IT!
Explosive events –  seminars, annual birthday party, web strategy workshop
Ubiquitous events – regular wows, fixes and thank yous, free tools and e-books, VIP client lunches, thank you cards, birthday cards, personal notes and snail mail letters!

Bloom actually advises against sharing your “inside advantage” publicly, but I have decided to because I believe there is more to gain by sharing.  I am choosing to adopt Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh‘s wisdom here.  Tony says competitors can copy your products, website, marketing, pricing and business model, but they cannot copy your people or culture!

Tony Hsieh from Zappos

If you haven’t heard of Zappos yet, I’m sure you’ll come across them a lot more if you keep them on your radar.  The ‘short story’ is that they started 10 years ago as an online shoe retailer and got bought by Amazon in 2009 for $1.2 billion.

Zappos is one of those unique businesses that keeps on getting mentioned by speakers, authors, bloggers for all the wonderful things they do with their marketing, culture, employee engagement, recruitment and customer service.

Their CEO Tony Hsieh is someone I admire and reading his book “Delivering Happiness” gave me an insight into how he runs his company.

Here are some of the best things I’ve learnt from Zappos.

Zappos Culture
Culture comes first.  It is the most important thing and everything follows from there.  You develop your culture by living and breathing your core values.  Culture and Core Values are the  two different sides of the same coin.

Zappos Core Values
The Zappos team have 10 core values that every one knows off by heart and lives by.  These core values embody the characteristics of Zappos’ cultural DNA. It’s what makes them unique.  Tony Hsieh has said that a competitor could copy their website, their products and their offices but they can never copy their people and their culture!

By the way Zappos has 10 core values and Bluewire has decided on five.

Zappos Culture Book

Every year Zappos publishes its Culture Book in which staff, vendors, partners and investors all write a few sentences answering the question;

“What does the Zappos culture means to you?”

All the responses are included word for word in the book, along with a heap of photos showcasing what it’s like to work there. It’s a reference book for Zappos which contains the DNA of its culture.

The Zappos Culture book is free for anyone who wants to order a copy.

Zappos Recruitment
It starts with your hiring.  Hire on cultural fit and technical fit.  Then provide the training. In fact Zappos offer a $2,000 cheque to new staff who have completed the training and then wish to leave the company.  This ensures everybody who stays is totally committed to Zappos.  Only 1% of people take the $2,000 cheque which is a huge testament to the Zappos culture and how much their staff love to work there!

Zappos Social Media Policy
CEO Tony Hsieh insists on a very simple social media policy for Zappos…

“Just be real and use your best judgement.”

Tony is very trusting of his staff isn’t he? And he can afford to be because he always hires on cultural fit!

Zappos on PR
Any staff member can talk to journalists and likewise the journalists are told they can speak with anyone they like within Zappos.

That said, Zappos don’t badger journalists with press releases nor do they hire PR agencies.  Looking back, Tony Hsieh reflects that if you do a great job, word will spread, people will take an interest in you and you’ll generate more publicity than you could ever hope for. Just focus on doing a remarkable job!

Zappos on Marketing
The team at Zappos blog extensively and publish amazing videos on YouTube.  All the content is produced by the staff – not a fancy advertising agency.  Loads of the staff are available on twitter or facebook and this helps accelerate Zappos’ word of mouth and referrals.

Tony Hsieh’s marketing advice is build trust, not buzz.

Zappos On Advertising
What impresses me is that Zappos’ spend zero dollars on advertising.   Instead they allocate money they ‘could spend’ on advertising and invest that into customer service.   After all happy customers tells their friends!

Zappos Customer Service
Zappos understand that word of mouth is the best source of business, so they really do ‘love’ their customers. They are always trying to nurture a lifelong relationship, not maximise each interaction.

They have a 365 day return policy and make their phone number very obvious.  Plus staff actually answer the phone, they can talk for as long as they like and they are encouraged to refer customers to competitors if Zappos don’t stock an item or have run out!

Zappos on Outsourcing
Tony learnt the hard way – never outsource your core competency!

How we’ve applied these learnings at Bluewire…
1. A year ago we were considering  a trial to outsource parts of our Help Desk, but after hearing of the issues Tony faced, we decided to keep that core function in-house.

2. We’ve lived and breathed core values for many years, so that practice has been reinforced.

3. When hiring, Bluewire has an initial job application based on core values and we do a “cultural interview” before we delve too deep into technical ability.

4. We provide a fairly thorough induction training process for new staff and the majority of our internal processes are documented on our wiki.

5. All staff are encouraged to use social media and are allowed to respond to journalists.

6. We are releasing a “Bluewire Culture & Glowers” e-book which includes feedback from staff on what Bluewire’s culture means to them.  We’ve also added ‘glowers’ which is a Bluewire-term for ‘unsolicited praise’.

What do you like best about Zappos?

I’ve always had a fascination with the psychology of human behaviour, especially the irrational.

Are you scared of sharks?

eg. Why are we so scared of sharks? But why aren’t we scared getting into a vehicle?

Yet we average 300 road fatalities per year (in Queensland), and average 0.45 shark attack fatalities per year (in Queensland).

You are 650 times more likely to die on the road than by a shark attack.

Stats like this intrigue me. And so does the behaviour it contributes to.

When my brother Ross Franklin, an economist at KPMG, put me onto Dan Ariely’s book “Predictably Irrational” I couldn’t put it down.

This experiment hooked me. Ask yourself… which would you choose?

Web subscription – $59.00. One year subscription to Economist.com.  Plus online access to all articles since 1997.

Print subscription – $125.00. One year subscription to the print edition of the Economist.

Print & Web subscription - $125.00.  One year subscription to the print edition of the Economist. Plus online access to all articles since 1997.

What typically happens?

• 16% chose Web (option1)
• No-one chose Print (option 2)
• 84% chose Print & Web (option 3)

Yet what happens if you remove option 2 (that no-one chose)?

Which would you choose now?

Web subscription – $59.00. One year subscription to Economist.com.  Plus online access to all articles since 1997.

Print & Web subscription - $125.00.  One year subscription to the print edition of the Economist. Plus online access to all articles since 1997.

What happened now?

• 68% chose Web (option 1)
• 32% chose Print & Web (option 2)

What a change in behaviour… Why is this?

It turns out that the Print subscription is a ‘decoy’.  The decoy is designed to simply to make option 3 look more appealing.

In our (irrational) mind, since option 2 & 3 are so similar, it leads our brain to choose between Print and Print & Web. Since both cost $125, you obviously choose Print & Web.

In scenario two, where there is no decoy, the choice you must make is vastly different. There’s no ‘similar’ option to compare with.  And this means our behaviour is vastly different!

Dan Ariely's book

Put simply, given three choices:

• A
• B (very distinct, but equally as attractive as A)
• A- (similar to A, but inferior)

We will almost always choose A, because it is clearly superior to A-.

[Thanks must go to Ian Lyons who originally explained this theory to me at the EMSA conference dinner at the Gold Coast a few years ago. You can follow @IanLyons]

LESSON TO LEARN:
Be aware of how persuasive pricing can be. Whether you are the buyer or the marketer, it’s useful to know how our irrational minds work!

You can follow @DanAriely on twitter.

PS.For an excellent review that goes into more detail check out:
Chris Yeh’s review in Melodies in Marketing

#1. How can changing 3 words send sales skywards?
ANSWER: At the end of the blog post.

#2. How come ‘what motivates me” is the WRONG approach for marketers?
ANSWER: Half way down

#3. Why must you get someone else to introduce you?
ANSWER: First up.

I’ve just listened to YES! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion. One of the authors Robert Cialdini has been recommended on numerous occasions by ‘Growth Guy’ Verne Harnish and our speaking coach, Kevin Ryan amongst others.

Here are my two highlights from the audiobook!

THIRD PARTY ENDORSMENT IS ESSENTIAL

It should come as as no surprise, that “blowing your own trumpet” is not all that persausive. But then again people need to know why you are worth listening to or else they will not pay attention.

[ANSWER to QUESTION #3]
THE SOLUTION? Get someone else to sing your praises.

If you’re about to speak to an audience, ensure you have a pre-written bio that the MC can read out.

Or if you’re in a meeting or putting a call through to a colleague, make sure that you properly introduce that person & explain why they are worth listening too.

Too often, everyone in your organisation knows each others strengths, except the prospective client!

How we’ll implement this at Bluewire.
We’ll be conscious to introduce colleagues by their name, ‘native genius’ and how they will be valuable!.

eg. This is Lesley. Lesley’s been a web strategy advisor with us for 4 years and her native genius is “making ideas actionable through planning”. In fact, she’ll be able to help you implement your web strategy like she has for many other clients.

SOCIAL PROOF IS POWERFUL

Are you influenced by what other people do? Absolutely NOT.  This is the usual response to this question.

Yet all evidence points to YES. People have a natural tendency to do what other people are doing.

This is called “social proof”.  Think about how you behave in a library.   Or in a bar.

Marketers often ignore social proof

[ANSWER to QUESTION #2]
Marketers around the world FAIL because they ‘think’ people are motivated by what they assume motivates them.

For example, the ubiquitous hotel bathroom signs asking guests, “Please re-use your towel to respect and save the environment”.

This ignores the power of social proof and the fact that people are more motivated by what others like them are doing.

An experiment was conducted where that call to action was tested against one that read “The majority of our guests re-use their towels”.

33% more guests re-used their towels when the sign containing social proof was used.

How we’ll implement this at Bluewire.
We’re testing this line of copy of our invoices.

The majority of our clients are very good at paying invoices on time. Thanks in advance for your prompt payment.

And finally, to highlight social proof, what were the three words that sent sales skywards…

[ANSWER to QUESTION #1:] A call to action was changed from:

“Operators are waiting, please call now”
to
“If operators are busy, please call again.”

You conjure up completely different images with each statement, don’t you?

Your perception of other people rushing to the phone (social proof) creates much more urgency & this sent sales through the roof!

3 BONUS TIPS:
– Speak in layman’s terms. If you use confusing and complicated ‘jargon’ your audience will be less likely to understand you and more likely to dislike you.
– Own up to your mistakes. If you stuff up, admit it! People will trust you more, like you more & you will be more persuasive.
– Have morning meetings and coffee. The more alert people are, the receptive they will be to your persuasive arguments!

PS: It’s worth noting that the authors of this book strongly advise using their “persuasion toolkit” for good not evil.  Afterall, if you manipulate or trick someone once, you may have short term gain, but you’ll definitely suffer in the long term.

PPS. For more on social proof, go to Chapter 3.  For more on third party endorsements go to Chapter 24.

PPPS. You can follow @RobertCialdini on twitter.