Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 16, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 25 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Post-truth era business development strategies By Chris Coyle M any of the effects of the post-truth era (PTE) make business develop- ment more complex because its collective effects make it harder to break through the fog of accelerating information overload, opinions dis- guised as facts and the increasing emotional orientation of communication. In particular, strategic deals that require major budget commitments and involve a long and complex sales cycle are highly susceptible to the symptoms of the PTE. In my first article in this series I introduced several strategies to handle the post-truth era, including redefine, recalibrate, reorient and reinvent. Last month I discussed the first step in navigating effectively in the PTE, redefining the focus of initial discussions. This month we continue to discuss strategies for redefining the discussion with business prospects, to shift away from what could be perceived as an attack on your pros- pect's facts, or worse, create the perception of a personal challenge in an increasingly personalized world. The strategy of finding a more neutral way to establish initial engagement seeks to avoid a right-wrong paradigm with what-if considerations. Instead of trying to overcome the increas- ing background noise of "fake facts," a redefining strategy side steps it. Let's consider a specific component of the post-truth era and how we may be able to use it to communicate new business concepts in a more effective way. Who is driving? Most business professionals have a reason- able confidence level that the superiority of their products and services is founded on substantial and material facts and that their value is competitive if not better than other options. The same is true with your prospect who believes their area of business is doing just fine, their facts are correct and priorities in the optimal order. But what is driving these beliefs, facts or emotion? Consider how most informa- tion is presented in the post- truth era, and how the use of emotional hooks is increasingly threaded into the core fabric of communications. According to a number of sourc- es, there are over 1 billion websites on the internet, and the amount of information stored continues to accelerate, especially video. Video offers the most powerful mixture of energy, color, sound and special effects, delivered faster and in a medium that most people are gravitat - ing toward. The shift to video content, and the powerful storytelling platform it offers, adds a new ingredient to communications that increases the cognitive impact and creates a veneer of credibility increasing its persuasive effects. According to Zem- bula, a web market- ing blog, the average internet user is spending about two hours per day watching video online. No other medium including social media, digital radio and even Facebook is growing as fast. Some forecasts predict 80 percent of online content will be video by 2019. From an era of the thoughtful reporting of facts, including information on context and other considerations so readers could draw conclusions as to the merit of the substance and relative weight of the facts, today one increasingly finds studies and reports morphing into narratives complete with pictures and video clips. The com- munication of facts is increasingly evolving into stories with facts as one of the props. The collective effect is higher emotional content that is reshaping the perceptions of facts. Whether or not the objective facts fully support the proposition being commu- nicated, powerful narratives are increasing- ly being used to shape the story, not report it. The business world is not immune. The power of the anecdote A shift to using emerging post-truth era tactics is required if we are to break through, and emotion is more important than ever. Great communicators through the centuries have always achieved the optimum balance of the three means of persuasion (logos, pathos and ethos). In our post-truth era world, pathos, meaning the appeal to emotion, may have eclipsed the importance of the other pillars of persuasion, and in our increasingly emotionally ori- ented culture, this means adjusting our business communi- cations strategies to be more emotionally effective. In the next article we will continue to discuss redefining strategies and explore insights into why storytelling and appealing to pathos is a critical success factor in today's post-truth era business world. Chris Coyle is managing director of business development services for CBC GROUP. Contact him at ccoyle@ cbcgroupwins.com. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT: Chris Coyle NEXT WEEK'S POLL: Is bankruptcy the smartest option for the city of Hartford? To vote, go online to hartfordbusiness.com BIZ BOOKS Tips for managing office politics By Jim Pawlak "Workplace Poker — Are You Playing the Game or Just Getting Played" by Dan Rust (Harper Business, $25.99). Hard work and talent aren't enough to get ahead. You have to learn how to play office politics (OP), the "game within the game." To many, OP means backstabbing, gossiping and playing the blame game. To Rust, it means staying true to your values while creating interdependent relationships through an understanding of the company's business model — and the ability to toot your own horn without blowing it. Those who successfully climb a career ladder view their job descriptions as the foundation of a make-it-happen plan. It details the "what," but not the "how." They under- stand that it's the "how" that sets them apart from others just as talented. As I read the many stories of "how," I recalled mine: I was in the Ford Motor's college graduate train- ing program along with several newly minted MBAs. My first manager asked for a volunteer from his group of newbies to write depart- mental procedures. Writing procedures wasn't the glamor- ous job a new MBA envisioned. Only one hand went up, mine. Why? I understood the game within the game. Writing procedures would allow me to interact with peers, man- agers and executives in other departments whose operations were affected. I would learn the organization's business model from various perspectives, and people would get to know me. As I rotated through other areas, I was giv- en front-burner proj- ects because I knew how things worked and the people who made them work. Over time, part of my brand became "dot connector." You won't find that in a job description. The bottom line: "Those who claim to 'hate' office politics are really just frustrated because they suck at it." Jim Pawlak Book Review Should the state more tightly regulate hospital-health insurer contracts? 73.7% No 26.3% Yes READER COMMENTS: "No! The state is already broke." "The state of Connecticut is in no position to tell anybody how to run their business. The state has proven that it is incapable of managing its own debts. If the state gets involved, insurance companies can simply choose to stop selling or providing coverage unless they want to end up in the same financial position as the state is in." "Those who claim to hate office politics are really just frustrated because they suck at it." Some forecasts predict 80 percent of online content will be video by 2019.

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