W.I.I.F.M. - The Secret to Successful Communication

My oldest daughter does not deal well with change. This is no secret. Sure, on the surface she may claim that everything is fine, but it always becomes evident when things are not - usually via that delightful pre-teen attitude. This bit of knowledge is necessary to understand the rest of the story.

So, we've had a bit of change in our lives as of late. In August, we moved from Indiana to Austin, Texas. This meant new home, friends, and school for the kids. To top it off, my eldest made the transition from elementary school to middle school - a very large middle school. So large, in fact, that the sixth grade is broken into several "teams" with each team having their own set of teachers and own section of the building. Prior to school starting, my daughter was placed on Team 1. We went to back-to-school night and met all of her Team 1 teachers; she got her schedule, was assigned a locker in the Team 1 section of the building, and began settling into her new routine.

On the 4th day of school, I got a call from the school counselor saying that my daughter and four other children were going to be pulled from Team 1 and placed on a different team to even out the number of students in the classes. She was going to be moved to Team 4, which met in a completely separate building. I knew this was not going to set well - too much change. She had just started to get to know her new classmates, she loved her teachers, and her locker was near one of the neighbor kids' locker.

Sure enough, when my daughter got home from school that night, she was devastated.

You would think this is a lesson in crisis communications - it's not. Instead, it's about knowing your audience. After allowing her to vent a little about her concerns, I went into "PR mode." Here's the summary of what I told her (names are changed to protect the innocent):

You're right - this really sucks. I know you had just started getting to know your schedule and you had some awesome teachers. Plus, you liked having Annie on your team. The school did this so that there wouldn't be as many kids in each class. You know, there could be an upside to this. Jenny (the next door neighbor girl) is on that team. So, you'll know somebody there. Plus, there are the other 4 kids from your team that will be moving with you. Jenny has said she loves her teachers, so maybe you will too. You'll have smaller classes, so in science you will get to spend more time actually doing stuff in the lab and less time waiting your turn. The counselor told me that Team 4 meets in the new building - yes, you'll have to walk out to it, but it has air conditioning everywhere, even in the halls.

The conversation went on from there, but in the end, she was willing to give it a chance and keep an open mind. A week later she is settled into Team 4 and loving it.

So, here it is...
Tip of the Day: Know Your Audience. (aka - It's not about you. It's about them.)

The key to successful communication is understanding what is important to your audience - the old W.I.I.F.M. (What's in it for me?) Say you're launching a new campaign to build brand loyalty. Do you know what your audience wants from your brand? If you're talking about all the latest technology that has gone into your products, but really your audience just cares about dependability, you've completely missed the boat and squandered an opportunity to engage your audience. In the above example, I spoke to my daughter about things that mattered to her. I acknowledged her concerns and addressed them to the best of my ability. As a parent, I saw value in improved teacher/student ratios - that would have meant nothing to my daughter. She was worried about fitting in, liking the new teachers, getting to do fun things and being comfortable (air conditioning is very important when it's 109 degrees outside and the halls in the old building weren't air conditioned!)

So, before you engage with your audience, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what matters most to them. You'll be a stronger communicator for doing it!