Life Lesson

Here’s a communication exercise not enough brands do after they draft a piece of content: they don’t ask what questions remain.

It’s dandy to write a post for a restaurant that’s pulling out of a location to focus on a different location, but a poorly written post results in more questions from the reader.

What happens to the staff? Is anything replacing the space?

Answering questions instills confidence in your brand, even if the answer is “we’re not sure about X yet.”

This applies to news release, too. After you’re done saying all you want to make sure to say, what questions remain?

Or how about that sell sheet? or buyer’s guide? or anything other content that doesn’t end with a live Q&A?

Stay Positive & More Answers Sooner

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The best way to retain loyalty is to proactively communicate.

Communicate when it’s good news.

Communicate when it’s bad.

Communicate when you screwed up.

Communicate when you have more to give.

It’s not that everyone will listen, but it’s critical that those who do, hear you.

This goes for relationships in general.

If you need to increase your price because if you don’t, your business will begin to tank… communicate it.

If you can no longer accommodate a promise you made to a friend… communicate it.

The cool thing about retaining loyalty is that it’s as impactful to those you’re communicating to as it is to yourself or your business or your organization’s stakeholders.

Lack of communication isn’t just a sign of someone who doesn’t care; it’s a sign of an organization that’s internally struggling.

Why would anyone want to remain loyal to that?

Stay Positive & Communicate

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To a degree, quality used to be better than quantity.

Now? Not so much.

What’s important is the quantity that you ship.

Quality still matters, but not in the sense of shipping only when things are perfect.

It’s shipping so regularly that people can see and feel the improvements happen.

That’s when people see it as authentic, real, and like they are part of the quality journey.

Stay Positive & Ship More Often

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Surprise and delight lives outside the norm.

Same with remarkability.

Loyalty is enhanced with tactics outside the norm.

The list goes on.

Stay Positive & Brands Die Inside The Norm

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You can plow through the work and get it done. You might get a few scrapes along the way and feel alone.

You can go through the work and surround yourself with people willing to help you along the way.

A third alternative is to build support points first before you go through the work. Call friends to help along the way. Set yourself up for success. Have trial points and rewards throughout the process.

Sometimes support is given to us; most of the time it’s up to us to give it to ourselves.

Stay Positive & Set Yourself Up For Success

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Time is something to everyone.

For some it’s money.

For others it’s a different kind of time; maybe time they could have spent with family.

Some might think of time as an opportunity while others think it’s work.

One thing stands true about time: what you think it is may very well be different than what someone else thinks it is.

We’re quick to tell ourselves a story about time that makes us feel better when we’re late to a meeting, when a sales call doesn’t go well, when an email gets sent with a spelling mistake.

Perhaps it’s worth the time to pause and think of what that time actually means to those around us.

Stay Positive & Then, Speak Or Do Differently

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Sometimes moving out of the way is the best move you can make.

Once momentum is started, let it build on itself.

Once you’ve inspired and aligned the team, let them roll out.

Once you’ve broken the ice, let them converse and connect.

By all means, be the one that gets the ball rolling but then… let it roll.

Stay Positive & Onto The Next

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