Oh so matchy matchy

I had the good fortune to experience “Shop Your Closet” consultation with Sasha Westin of Fabuliss. She suggested I pair certain clothing items with others to make new outfits. In some cases there were things I had never thought about combining. Sasha took one look at several business suits I owned and advised me to stop being “too matchy matchy”.

Now this was tough order for me – the woman who wants all my place setting and silverware to match, and everything to be “just so”.

Following Sasha’a wisdom – I’ve paired my black and white houndstooth jacket with jeans and a sweater, and my red bandana print shirt has new life under a khaki blazer. I can more fully appreciate the art of unusual pairings (a topic I’ll cover in a future blog.)

While Sasha’s advice holds a great deal of wisdom for style.  I strongly believe that business’ communication should be “matchy matchy”. Consistent, integrated messaging is critical to communicate your value proposition clearly and effectively. Being “matchy matchy” means that no matter what communication touchpoint your prospects or clients might see, they “get it” and they remember your brand. This consistency should carry through your e-newsletters, your website, your presentation materials, your social media interactions, advertising and more.

The moral of the story – as your business grows, your communication may unknowingly become more fragmented – a directory listing here, a landing page there. A Communication Focus session serves as a great start for alignment. During a recent communication focus session, a client had an ah-ha moment – as her business had grown, the communication about her brand had become fragmented and less effective – and frankly, a bit confusing for customers and prospects.

When All Else Fails Pump Up The VOLUME?

My other “job” is being a mom to a usually adorable 6 year old. As bedtime approached one evening, dear daughter seemed to tune out, becoming increasingly inattentive. I was trying to wrap up the tuck in routine quickly for her benefit. I’ve learned that a tired girl in the morning = a crabby girl = stress for everyone on the way to school. So I did what seemed logical . . . turned up the volume. Think about it – if you can’t hear something on the radio or TV you reach for the dial (or remote) and turn it up.

It didn’t work so well with daughter. Which got me to thinking, how often do we create messages for our clients and prospects and when we don’t get a reaction (or the reaction we imagine) we just shout louder. Is that really working for you?

Think back to high school speech class – it was required wasn’t it? The communication model includes sender, receiver, message, channel, interference and feedback – lots of part working together. The evolution of technology has made it a great deal easier to collect feedback, to create conversations rather than the one-way messaging that dominated marketing, advertising and public relations for so long.

The moral of the story – rather than shouting louder, investing more time and money in attempting to attract your audience’s attention, perhaps it’s time to change up your message, solicit more feedback, engage your clients and prospects in meaningful discussions that inspire action.