Never Forget - We’re All in Sales

We are all in sales.

If sales is the process of establishing credibility and rapport in order to further a relationship, don’t we all do that? CEO, communications director, attorney, paper delivery person? Every communicator in your association is charged with getting a member to do something. So it’s fair to say we are all in sales.

No one ever makes a sale just giving the facts.

• First the buyer (the member) has be aware of you and what you do to bring something different to their business. Knowing what the members needs or wants is crucial. (Target your audience.)
• Link how your offering (service, tools, information) will help the member do something better determines if they will consider you to help them (this is called the benefit exchange).
• Be clear on what you want them to do (your solution). The term Always Be Closing, or the ABC's of selling means giving the member options to respond to your call to action. Anything from a place (or person) to get more information, to registering right there.

Sales: the process of establishing credibility and rapport in order to further a relationship, Look at your work from a sales perspective, and change the way you present your communications. This approach helps you step into your member’s shoes to craft key messages to help solve their problem, versus promoting the association's best features.

Never Forget - We’re All in Sales

Strategic Planning’s Link to Communications

Association Executives spend this time of year planning to do strategic planning. Yes, we all plan to plan.

To be honest, during the past 25 years I wondered the practical purpose of a mission statement, a vision, and a strategic plan. I pretended I “got it” each time I went through the process during my years in corporate America - but it was more of an exercise than a part of the operational plan.

The mission didn’t really guide our daily actions, even though the statement was framed and hung on the wall. Most of the time, the head of the organization didn’t talk about it; nor could the managers reiterate the mantra. I don’t think it guided their daily actions.

A vision was misinterpreted for the mission, and didn’t inspire anyone.  Rarely did we talk about it, or use it for any communications about long term goals and directives.

Strategic planning was a required activity, but no one referred to it. Until the end of any given year when it was time to do it again. We were focused on today and tomorrow. Plans were all short term, in hopes we would hit our annual goals.

Truth be told I pondered this question for years; does it all really fit together? And what does it have to do with communications? I have resolved that communications is a critical part of all three of these concepts.

Communicating the mission and vision is the foundation of any organization’s work. The strategic plan doesn’t get done without communication of the big goals, the progress, and the work that needs to be done today. For an association:

• Strategic goals translate into annual goals.
• Annual goals are the basis of marketing goals.
• Marketing goals guide the planning for how you will get members to do what you want them to do, by communicating in a language they will respond to.

I wish I knew who to give credit for this saying. I know I didn’t invent it. But I adopted it many years ago:

Most of the time, we don’t see the world as it is; we see the world as WE are.

Thanks to whomever coined this phrase. It works for associations and it works in life.

It takes a clear set of eyes to get an association’s real work on track, and remind the leaders what they already know: members don’t know as much, care as much or want as much as those who volunteer for and run the business. That's why it's an art to developing a strategic plan to reinforce your promise to members so that you’ll get more of their attention.

Association Executives tell me communicating value is one challenge they never finally overcome. It may be the reason your communicators give members the facts and think that’s enough. So think again. See the world as your member sees it, let them know your vision and how you plan to get there. If you do, you’ll take the first step to connecting your strategic plan, your mission, and your vision to your daily work.

Strategic Planning’s Link to Communications