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Applying the GAP Method
QUESTION: How do you make God laugh?
ANSWER:
Make a plan.
- US Poet Laureate Billy Collins
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At the risk of tickling the funny bone of the Almighty, I favor planning when it comes
to business communications.
Several months ago I introduced to you a simple, powerful and flexible tool for persuasion
called the GAP Method. In its most basic form, the GAP Method holds that to persuade
an audience, we need to understand three things - the Goals, the Audience, and the Plan
to persuade. Regardless of whether we are trying to persuade one person to purchase our
product, or one thousand people to follow our organizational strategy, we need to understand
all three aspects represented in the
GAP Method.
The literal and figurative centerpiece of the GAP Method is a thorough understanding
of the audience. The more intimately we understand our audience’s needs and perceptions,
the more likely we are to craft a successful message. In this issue of The
Beacon, I would
like to explore the notion of understanding the audience by looking at some specific applications.
For the purposes of examining general audience categories, let’s review some recent
examples of clients of The Latimer Group. Doing so lends perspective on four professional
situations - sales, leadership, raising investment capital, and non-profit fundraising.
Sales
Last year, a new client came to The Latimer Group with a classic problem. They were
not a low-cost producer of their product, yet their customers were increasingly relying
on price when making their buying decisions. The choice for this client was clear - reformulate
the message and reeducate the customer, or spin into the business death spiral.
We asked some questions and learned several important things. Like all customers, theirs
would only purchase a product that filled a need. And, like most customers, they would
pay a higher price if they received greater value. However, we also learned that their
customers did not perceive any additional value from my client’s product, even though
they provided a number of additional services. We needed to communicate the additional
benefits, and the value, in order to take the focus off price.
At a minimum, the communication challenge in sales is to cause the audience to view the
product’s value in the appropriate way. Success requires the ability to influence
the variables upon which the buyer makes their decisions. If we are not a low-cost producer,
we need to make sure price does not drive the purchase decision. And only when we truly
understand our audience can we make intelligent judgments that will lead to the creation
of an appropriate message.
The company’s sales team is now out in the market place with a new message, with
sales trending in the right direction.
Leadership
Earlier this year, I began working with the owner of a small company. The company
had been in business for four years, and had weathered difficult times. Recently, the owner
introduced a new strategy centered on a more focused, streamlined business model. He immediately
sensed significant resistance from his employees, but did not understand why.
He showed me the speech he had given to his employees. It was a good speech on a strategic
level, giving the five points of his new plan. But it was immediately apparent what caused
resistance. His speech lacked any mention of the details.
In this situation, employee audiences are concerned with how the big picture translates
and impacts their corner of the world. How will this affect our project? Our team? Our
department? Will people lose their jobs? Will I lose mine?
When conveying a new direction or strategy, the communication challenge for the business
leader consists of making the big picture “real” for the employees. In other
words, the leader needs to make certain that the conceptual is made tangible. We wrote
a second speech that filled in the blanks, calmed some fears, and aligned the team.
Raising Investment Capital
Two years ago, I spent significant time coaching an entrepreneur. He had led several
successful ventures in the past, but his latest was stalled. They needed more capital to
stay afloat until revenues improved. Unfortunately, the market for new investors was even
slower than the market for new customers. The entrepreneur had been making the rounds looking
for additional capital, with little interest.
I had him practice his presentation for me, and the problems were immediately clear.
The presentation was filled with great examples of the benefits of the company’ signature
product. But it contained few answers to the questions most investors care about. Quite
simply, the investor always is concerned with three questions: What
is my likely return? What is the time frame for seeing that return? And what is the exit
strategy if things do not go according to plan? All other information needs to be given in the context of
answering those three questions.
The communication challenge for the individual raising capital is to spend as little
time as possible discussing product features, and as much time as possible quantifying
the investment opportunity. In most cases, the things most important to the entrepreneur
are the things least important to the investor.
We redesigned the presentation, answered these questions, and found plenty of renewed
interest.
Non-Profit Fundraising
I help a number of aspiring Olympic sailors with their fundraising, some of whom competed
in the 2004 Olympic Games and some of whom are training for 2008. Recently, one of the
athletes shared a frustration with me. He was struggling to describe what the return would
be for a donor or a corporate sponsor. This young sailor was focused on trying to deliver
a financial, tangible and quantifiable return for his donors. (The entrepreneur in the
previous example should take note.) I understood the frustration, but knew it was destined
to continue, unless he changed his approach.
The donor in a non-profit environment cares about helping the cause, and wants an emotional
connection. Am I funding a cure? A scholarship? A dream? They are also concerned with how
the dollars they contribute will be spent. What percentage of my dollar is used to help
the cause? What percentage is spent on overhead and other expenses?
The communication challenge for the non-profit fundraiser is clear. It consists of explaining
exactly how the donated dollar will be used, and making an emotional connection between
the donor and the non-profit.
I worked with this athlete to redesign his message to highlight the need that was being
filled and how the contribution would help in reaching his goal. We quantified his training,
personal sacrifice, and described his journey. We tried to let donors live the experience
with him. The results were remarkable.
Understanding What The Audience Cares About
The salesman, the leader, the entrepreneur, and the fundraiser all have a common goal
- to persuade their audience to be supportive. The sales audience cares about value. The
employee audience cares about how decisions will affect them. The investor audience cares
about their return. And the non-profit donor cares about the need they will fill and how
the dollars will be spent. In all these situations, any chance for success begins with
understanding the audience, and designing the right message. In all these situations, the
GAP Method is a good starting point for creating the plan for persuasion.
I have written it before, and I’ll certainly write it again. Persuasion is not
telling people what to think. It is shaping what they think about. The GAP Method is
a valuable tool in our pursuit of persuasive communication and it remains a core tool for
both The Latimer Group and our clients.
Dean M. Brenner
President |
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© 2005 The Latimer Group. All Rights Reserved.
Dean M. Brenner -
The Latimer Group: 203.265.4344.
Feedback or comments: dmbrenner@thelatimergroup.com.
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