Communicating well with public officials – critical to success!
by Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.
Want to sell to government? Want to position specific solutions in the short amount of time you’ll be granted when you get in front of a decision-maker? If so, choose your words carefully.
So what? This question should be carefully considered by individuals making statements to public officials. What did your statement communicate? What makes it important to the listener?
Not to confuse, here’s a trick that works 100 percent of the time…if it's executed correctly.
Make a statement…or write a line in a PowerPoint presentation or bid document. Then step back and ask…so what?
So what have you said or written that will capture the attention of the listener and why should the listener care about what you said? In other words, So, what…
- Makes the statement important?
- Makes the statement relevant?
- Makes the statement true?
Good communication is always difficult, but it is really hard to communicate well enough to impress public officials. They have hundreds of communications a day. They tend to be preoccupied and are almost always in a rush. To add to the dilemma, many don’t listen well. Taking the time to ensure precise communication is worth the effort though…and when communication is good, public officials remember.
In the fast-paced world of government, both spoken and written messages often get garbled. People are busy. People get tired. People are juggling lots of balls each day. Public officials may not remember much of what is said in a short meeting.
Most listeners, unfortunately, are never totally tuned in but their attention can be captured if a communicator knows how to deliver statements that are clear, offer timely benefits and make pertinent statements. The trick is to leave the public official with no need to ask or even think…so what?
Sales executives are usually good at communication. But, when the "so what test" is forgotten, even the best efforts may prove futile. Forget this simple trick and risk forfeiting whatever competitive advantage could have been captured. Forget it and suffer the consequences of fewer successful meetings.
It’s critical to remember that all individuals listen with selfish motives. People want to know what is in it for them. Don’t make listeners struggle to see the connections. Make your statements so clear that listeners never have to wonder:
- So what does that mean to me?
- So what is important about that statement?
- So what should I do about it?
The same is true with anything written…such as bid proposals. People are impacted either positively or negatively based on the "so what factor."
Good luck at communicating so well that your listeners never have to wonder…so what?
Mary Scott Nabers is president and CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., a 15-year-old procurement consulting and procurement research firm headquartered in Austin, Texas.
