Episode 581 - the real reason why you should send people messages - show notes and summaries

In the previous episode we discussed how digital quotient; being digital and tech savvy can help with effective business presentations.

We capped off the episode by saying that messages should include CTAs (call to actions) or else the potential customer might say something like "thanks for a wonderful presentation, let me think about it" or "let me discuss with my partner/ husband/ wife, etc".

The reason why this happens is because when there's no clear "ask" at the end of the interaction, the most logical thing for the other person to do is to say some versions of "thanks let me think about it", "that was wonderful", "let's see how it goes", "I like you because you have a really professional demeanour" etc.

That is what a CTA is. The CTA is the "ask", “feedback” or “request” that you make at the end of communications with customers, potential clients, or other stakeholders in business.

CTA is an acronym standing for “Call To Action” and means what you'd like the potential customer to DO now that they have heard your presentation.

The real reason why we communicate with people is to get them to do something.

The pastor communicates because he wants you to repent.

Parents communicate because they want the kids to grow up self-sufficient.

Politicians communicate because they want to get votes, or because they want support for some political initiatives.

Business people communicate because we're either trying to build the relationship, or to close the deal.

CTAs are not absolute and depend upon the state of the relationship or level of the transaction that you're at.

Once you're done with the presentation, a reasonable ask to make is for the payment of a deposit to move things along, or at the very least to ask if there's anything else standing in the way of executing the deal.

If you're meeting the potential customer for the first time, a reasonable CTA is to ask for a meeting or phone call next week so that you can go over the idea in more detail, or see if it'd make sense for you guys to talk about doing business together.

There's no ideal CTA and so it depends on where you're at with the potential client, customer, stakeholder, or investor.

Either way, every presentation must have a CTA or "ask", or some sort of feedback because the real reason why we communicate is because we're trying to get someone to do something.

We communicate not just for talking sake, but because we’re trying to make “progress” with something.

If there's no CTA, the potential client will say "let me think about it" because they really have to think, "after all this information what do they want to hear from me about? What is the next step supposed to be? Is there any other important information I'm missing before we make a decision? If my wife were here now would she think this is a good deal or not?"

The uncertain mind will make no decision, so do both of you a favour and ask!

What happens if the potential customer says "no we won't be going ahead?", that's a subject for a future episode.


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