Understanding The Road To The Client
Communications 101
Rob Robinson | wrrobinson@gmail.com

Understanding The Road To The Client
Communication 101 Considerations:
Considerations:
How does one change/maintain behavior?
•
How many contacts are typically required to “close a deal”?
•
How do clients best receive information?
•
How do clients best retain information?
•
How do our minds work?
•
How does order of entry effect market share?
•
Where are clients on the innovation adoption curve?
•
In describing today's accelerating changes, the media fire
blips of unrelated information at us. Experts bury us under
mountains of narrowly specialized monographs. Popular
forecasters present lists of unrelated trends, without
any model to show us their interconnections or the
forces likely to reverse them. As a result, change
itself comes to be seen as anarchic, even
lunatic. Alvin Toffler
2

How does one change and maintain
change in client behavior ?*
Low
Change And Maintain Behavior Curve
Emotional Impetus Additional Emotional Stimulus Can
Stimulates Consideration Prevent Change In Behavior If
Motivation To Change
Of Behavior Change Logic No Longer Sufficient
Emotions
Logic
Logic Translates Emotional Logic Continues To Provide
Stimulus Into Actual Decision Basis For Continued
For Change In Behavior Change In Behavior
Decision To Change Made
Change Maintain (Example: Make A Purchase)
High
Late
Behavior Over Time
Early
* Dr. Ashtook Jain and W.R. Robinson, Houston, TX, 1995.
3

How many contacts are required to close a deal?*
Calls To Close Sales
81%
10%
4%
3%
2%
1st Call 2nd Call 5th Call
3rd Call 4th Call
Or Later
* Levinson, Jay Conrad. Guerilla Marketing. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
4

How do clients best receive information?*
Reception Of Information – Total Reception By Sense (In Percent)
82%
12%
6%
Eyes Ears Other
(Tactile)
* Phase I Learning Systems – Selling Skills, New York, NY: Pfizer, Inc. 1993.
5

How do clients best retain information?*
Retention Of Information Over Time
(% Information Retained)
After 3 Hours After 3 Days
85%
72%
70%
65%
20%
10%
Hear See Hear
Hear See Hear
Only Only And See
Only Only And See
* Phase I Learning Systems – Selling Skills, New York, NY: Pfizer, Inc. 1993.
6

How do our minds work?*
Mental Activity Overview (% Of Mental Activity)
90%
10%
Conscious Subconscious
* Murphy, Joseph; The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind, 1963; Prentice Hall, Inc.; Englewood, NJ.
7

How does order of entry effect market share?*
Market Share Percentage By Order Of Entry
37%
17%
14%
6%
4%
2%
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
* Adrian Slywotsky, Value Migration; Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA; 1996.
8

Where are potential clients on
the innovation adoption curve?*
Rogers Adoption / Innovation Curve
34% 34%
16%
13.5%
2.5%
Early Early Late
Innovators Adopters Majority Majority Laggards
* Rogers Adoption/Innovation Curve, Everett Rogers, 1995.
9

Applying Understanding: Building The Road
1. Identify client “Pain” points and ask if your solution is truly worthy of consideration to solve the “Pain” problem.
2. Determine the client’s emotional and logical manifestation of having the “Pain” as well as the emotional and logical
reasons why your solution is worthy of consideration. (Slide #3)
3. Understand that you will need to work to get at least five contacts sharing emotional/logical benefits of solution with
clients as soon as possible without being intrusive – using all available tools/tactics (print/digital, live/recorded). (Slide
#4)
4. Develop messaging, tools, and tactics that address client information reception and retention characteristics. (Slides
#5-6)
5. Realize that if message sequencing (five contacts over time) and messaging delivery (tools) are optimized, influencing
the conscious and subconscious thought/decision making process of the client will be optimized. (Slide #7)
6. Understand where your solution is in relation to market entry and set revenue expectations accordingly. (Slide #8)
7. Understand where your client is in innovation adoption and use that information to set initial time to revenue
expectations. (Slide #9)
10
8. Continue to consistently cycle through these steps to help “maintain the road” you have built to the client.

Rob Robinson
www.infogovernance.blogspot.com