by Steve Adubato, PhD

When it comes to effective communication, one of the most important issues to consider is how RELEVANT your content is. What does the information you are communicating mean to the person receiving it? Does it matter to them? Does it impact their lives in any meaningful way? Can they use it? Or, is it simply information for information’s sake?

In his book, “The Contrarian Effect: Why It Pays (Big) to Take Typical Sales Advice and Do the Opposite”, Michael Port further examines the concept of being relevant in all your communication, which is especially important when it comes to sales. Port argues compellingly that traditional sales techniques of cold-calling and mass-marketing just don’t work any more.

Says Port; “Instead of constantly trying to close the sale, companies can adopt a valuable keep in touch strategy that provides timely and meaningful information designed to help their potential customers find solutions to their problems.”

Michael Port is absolutely right. Why is it that when we get a cold call from someone trying to sell us something, we often hang up within the first few seconds? How many e-mails do you get pitching a product or service from someone you may or may not know that you immediately delete as spam? How many of us actually use technology to block the ability of sales people to communicate with us directly?

It sounds so simple, but we need to be asking ourselves how relevant our communication is, because when we don’t, it often falls on deaf ears. As a result, we waste time, money and effort by communicating this way without any meaningful return on our investment. Yet, the vast majority of professionals communicate on a daily basis without ever considering the question of how relevant they are.

Consider the following questions and tips in this regard:

--Ask yourself; “Who exactly am I communicating with? What are their needs? What are their fears? What are they trying to accomplish and what obstacles stand in the way of that?” And finally, even if the person you are trying to communicate with wants to buy your product, can they afford it? These are critical questions that must be asked and answered before you start talking.

--What mode of communication are you using? Are you overusing e-mail and the Internet and underutilizing face-to-face communication? Of course you can reach more people by pressing a button on your computer, but what is the quality of that communication? How many people are actually opening up your e-mail, much less what percentage actually “click through” to get to your content? These are issues all of us struggle with in an effort to reach the greatest number of people in the most cost-effective fashion.

--How many of your competitors are communicating virtually the same message as you? If they are, what makes you and your message different? Even if you have great information to share but it sounds like everything else your audience is hearing, how relevant are you? Not very. Great communicators understand the marketplace conditions in which they communicate as opposed to doing it in isolation. If your audience is being bombarded with data dumps and a constant stream of information, what makes your stuff stand out? If you can’t answer these questions, then what exactly do you hope to accomplish?

So, how relevant is your communication, which is the same question as asking, how relevant are YOU to those you want to reach? They are tough questions to consider, but ignoring them only guarantees a bad outcome.