By Glen Drummond Estimated Reading Time: 3:00 minutes
Does the competitiveness of your product, or even the success of your business depend on someone else changing their mind or practices? If so, then here’s an instructive tale.
Louis Pasteur
This name, you probably know. Historical reports indicate that by age 55 Louis Pasteur was considered a national hero of France. He won an impressive series of honours and awards for his pioneering work – perhaps most important the germ theory of disease – a theory he developed in the period between 1860 and 1864.
Ignaz Semmelweis
This name most people don’t know. In 1846, Semmelweis was appointed to lead the obstetrical clinic of Vienna General Hospital. In 1847, he got to the bottom of a horrendous (35%) mortality rate from “childbed fever” – drawing a link between doctors performing autopsies and then attending to birthing mothers without first disinfecting their hands.
In his 1861 book, Semmelweis presented evidence to demonstrate that the advent of pathological anatomy in Wien (Vienna) in 1823 (vertical line) was accompanied by the increased incidence of fatal childbed fever. The second vertical line marks introduction of chlorine hand washing in 1847. Rates for the Dublin Rotunda maternity hospital, which had no pathological anatomy, are shown for comparison (view rates).
In the span of one year presiding over the maternity ward, Semmelweis established both cause and cure – instituting a regimen of physicians handwashing with a chlorine solution. Semmelweis conceived and implemented hospital infection-control procedures resulting in dramatic clinical improvements – a full 15 years before Pasteur. And he actively promoted his findings for all to see.
Fifteen years later, Pasteur basked in glory for his achievements in the understanding of the cause and control of infection. Semmelweis was ignored by his contemporaries, who refused to adopt his infection-control procedures. Semmelweis became despondent and his life deteriorated into tragedy. What’s the difference?
The course of a person’s life does not reduce well to a theory – but the course of an idea’s progression in society is a worthy subject of study. Some good ideas have a hard time breaking through. And conversely some bad ideas catch on and linger. What’s interesting is that in this case we have almost the same idea – but in one case it catches on, and in the other it does not.
So what is the difference? One clear difference in this case is “Framing.”
Semmelweis saw that the behavior of the doctors (performing autopsies and then attending to mothers giving birth) was causing the mothers to be infected with “childbed fever”.
He theorized, and then clinically demonstrated, that a change in doctor’s behavior (handwashing after performing autopsies, before attending to living patients) could sharply reduce maternal mortality. Do you see the framing problem? In order to get doctors to stop killing mothers, they would have to admit to themselves that their past actions had been killing mothers. The frame generated a headwind of cognitive dissonance.
Pasteur was not necessarily a more gifted clinician. But he was certainly a more gifted framer. He recast the narrative of infection, shifting attention from the practices of the doctor to the “infectious agent” – the pathogen or “germ.” Semmelwies invented infection control. Pasteur invented a signifier to represent a signified that was already, but only, implicit in Semmelweis’s clinical innovation.
From the standpoint of clinical procedures, there’s nothing in the germ theory of disease that would cause Semmelweis to act any differently in his own clinic; nothing that would improve upon the results he obtained. But from the standpoint of convincing other doctors to change their practices, the germ theory of disease was far more effective than Semmelweis’s call for doctors to change their practices.
We can draw a lesson from comparing the accomplishments of these two men. We may draw a contrast in our mind between the “real” work of innovation and the “fluff” of representation, but to do so is to mis-recognize the way people respond to change.
Inventors who wish to gain attention for tangible innovation should not ignore the need for a new frame to go with it.
Scott had the pleasure of sitting down with author Carlos Hidalgo to discuss his new book, The UnAmerican Dream. The book talks about Carlos’ “journey to entrepreneurial triumph, and the simultaneous path to rock bottom.”
Carlos describes the book as being more than just business, but a book for those that want to reassess personal and professional relationships in today’s always connected, always ‘too busy’ world.
When asked who the book was written for, Carlos stated, “I wrote it from the perspective of an entrepreneur and a business owner and a professional. But it’s really a book to say, stop. What is the frenzy for and reassess your personal and professional relationships and define success on your terms.”
In the interview clip, Scott and Carlos talk about his journey from being on the cusp of a divorce and hitting rock bottom, to his inspiration for the book when a LinkedIn post about why he was leaving his first agency helped him realize he wasn’t alone in his desire to get back to his true self. Carlos also talks very candidly about asking his wife to write a chapter in the book, sharing her story of the impact his ‘unhinged business pursuit’ had on their family.
https://vimeo.com/347584670
Want to watch the full interview with Carlos Hidalgo? Click here.
To hear the discussion with Carlos, listen or download here:
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Large companies have long recognized the opportunity to address the needs of small business (26 million firms <99 FTE’s). Over the years, companies like IBM, American Express and Google have spent millions to try to understand the segment and convince business owners that they have the products and services they need.
Yet, they still struggle to capture of the opportunity in this segment, for a number of reasons. Despite their best efforts, they often fall back into their “big company” ways. They speak the wrong language, have a hard time creating compelling offers, and/or reinforce perception that they’re too big to serve small businesses.
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or an INC 500 firm, here are 10 key points to keep in mind when selling to the Small Business segment. All Insights below are taken from various research reports produced by the Executive Council on Small Business.
1. Don’t call them Small Businesses – despite this becoming common knowledge for many selling to this segment, companies still make the mistake. Despite the fact that 60% of small businesses, as defined by the U.S Census Bureau 2008, have less than 5 employees, don’t call them a small business.
2. There are 2 different types of business owners – one type of owner is focused on growing their business, the other surprisingly, is not. Know the difference when targeting this segment. “Satisfaction owners” know also as “lifestyle owners” are older (>46) and more likely to have higher revenue businesses. They are in it because they love what they do and enjoy the work-life balance ownership present. “Growth” owners are more likely to be in retail, and more likely to have owned or own more than one business (serial entrepreneurs).
3. They are in the Service Business – for the most part small businesses are focused on providing services. 60% of small business are; professional services or other services (dry-cleaning, florist, cleaning service, etc.).
4. Speak THEIR language – As you might have already picked up, this will be a reoccurring theme in the post. 3X as many business owners find a sales person more trustworthy if he/she discusses savings in dollars rather than percentages. To be credible give them specific details, contact information and testimonials for other business owners (Top 3 Indicators of Credibility).
5. Small things are a BIG Deal – according to the research, a major purchase decision starts at $500. Cash flow is the lifeblood of small business don’t under estimate your need to prove value or ROI on what you would consider small transactions. If you’re talking about cost savings, express it in monthly terms rather than annual. 2X as many owners expressed seeing savings monthly rather than yearly.
6. Resources and Time are Tight – owners now make a purchase decision in less than a week for complex and simple products. 43% said that it now takes them less time to make a decision than it did 5 years ago. They search online, visit your website, and then call to confirm what they’ve learned. SEO is critical if you’re going to play in this segment, as you will see below.
7. They Love to Search – Business owners purchase patterns have changed, instead of contracting it’s now expanding. Rather than narrowing their list of vendors, 60% of owners now report expanding their consideration set through research.
8. And it’s Local – business owners search for a product or services by name, not a brand, and they include their local area (e.g. “internet providers in St Louis”). They don’t include “small business.”
9. Search is Important, but Social Isn’t – as you saw in the previous examples Search is critical for being considered, but interesting enough, Social Media is not. The reason – small business owners view social media as a channel to speak about their businesses, rather than hear what suppliers have to say.
10. If You’re Not Relevant…You’re Not Relevant. In today’s marketplace to resonate with audience content must be personalized. A recent Forrester report showed that most sales forces very capable of discussing products and solution, and even the industry issues, but when it came down understanding the buyer’s role or situation they failed.
Business owners in healthcare, construction and manufacturing want information specific to their industries. Owners of professional services or retail want information specific to them.
Satisfaction owners are looking for products and services that save them time savings and strengthen their relationship with customers. With Growth Oriented owners talk ROI, and time to payback.
Summary – it’s OK to categorize your services or products as small business solutions, but don’t call the buyers small business owners. Recognize that there are two different types business owners focused on two different goals – lifestyle vs. growth. Both groups are interested in hearing your value proposition in terms of real dollars on a monthly basis, not over the year.
Business owners are heavy users of search for researching vendors, and they use social media to promote their business, but not for buying from vendors. To be relevant your content must speak to their industry or similar size businesses.
If you talk to them like you know them, show them you are committed to building a lasting relationship this dynamic market can power your organizations growth.
CASE STUDY
It’s not unusual to find companies referring to their relationship with clients as “partnerships.” It’s common to find client logos on vendor websites. But how often do you see an agency or consulting firm’s logo on client websites? If you visit www.evepark.ca – that’s exactly what you’ll see.
Carbon Design, represented side by side with, a global architecture powerhouse, a world-class designer, and the project principal: the innovative green-tech engineering firm, S2E Technologies Inc. Under S2E’s leadership, these firms are inventing a new consumer category – one that integrates bold new ideas about housing and transportation – and radically resets the carbon footprint of both at the same time.
CASE STUDY
Did you know, that until recently restaurant owners only cared about the cleanliness of the food prep area? Most customers, and owners, assumed that if someone got sick after dining out it was because of food poisoning. That was until Carbon Design and Challenger Inc. helped “challenge” the norm by showing owners that half of the outbreaks in a restaurant were caused by people to people transmissions.
Now owners know where the “hotspots” are, and as a result, restaurant are cleaner than ever. Grab your face mask and enjoy a safe night out, but you may want to avoid the raw oysters 😉.
CASE STUDY
How do you do it? By giving clients and users what they want. Using the remaining budget that was to be used to update the site with the new branding we designed and built an entirely new site on a new platform. But audience needs are constantly evolving so the work never stops. Our team continues to audit performance and make improvements.
As a result, the two-year journey has paid off with the site being named #1 in the industry. Even more importantly, their key priority areas (site search, attorney profiles, etc.) were ranked in the outstanding category. Proving that excellence is a journey not just a destination.
