Tag Archives: upland

I recently published a post that asked three questions:

• Isn’t it wonderful when a man loves a woman?
• And isn’t it great to be born in the U.S.A.?
• And didn’t the devil get what he deserved when he went down to Georgia?

I answered those three questions as follows:

• No.
• No.
• No.

Apparently we weren’t paying attention to what these three songs actually SAID.

But what happens when we DO pay attention to the message, but there’s a “metamessage” that is also conveyed that says something COMPLETELY different?

Gracious city livers of Upland (and others in other cities), read on. This post talks about:

• Metamessages.
• When metamessages and messages agree.
• How case studies help.

Let’s talk about metamessages

There is a popular practice in which people ARE well aware of the original message, but only some of them discern the hidden message, or metamessage, behind those words.

And you don’t have to look to business communication to find examples of this. Take the romantic world, in which the statement “If you go out with me I’ll treat you like the princess you are!” conveys the metamessage of predatory desperation. In the business world, “Let me take that under consideration” means that the speaker is not considering the proposal for a nanosecond.

Sometimes many of us can’t discern the metamessage until long after the message is stated.

• Remember the message that Whitney Houston gave to Diane Sawyer?

• Or remember Enron’s message about its values, from its Statement of Human Rights Principles?

Respect: We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don’t belong here.

Integrity: We work with customers and prospects openly, honestly and sincerely. When we say we will do something, we will do it; when we say we cannot or will not do something, then we won’t do it.

Communication: We have an obligation to communicate. Here, we take the time to talk with one another…and to listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves people.

Excellence: We are satisfied with nothing less than the very best in everything we do. We will continue to raise the bar for everyone. The great fun here will be for all of us to discover just how good we can really be.

From Enron’s Statement of Human Rights Principles.

Now to be fair to Houston, the cocaine detected in her toxicology report may not have been CRACK cocaine, and cocaine was not the only substance detected. But now we know that while crack may have been “wack,” cocaine was OK, and marijuana, Xanax, and other things were OK too.

I have no desire to be fair to Enron, but I guess we can say that “the very best in everything we do” can be defined as “maximizing personal value,” that there isn’t an “obligation to communicate” EVERYTHING, and that falsifying records does not necessarily mean ruthlessness or arrogance.

When the metamessage agrees with the message

How often do you roll your eyes in amusement when a business says something?

Conversely, how often do you nod your head in agreement when a business says something?

Now I’ll grant that there’s not universal agreement on whether Company X is truthful in its messaging. For every person who thinks that Apple is the last guardian of privacy on ths planet, there is someone else who is convinced that Apple is an evil corporation who has (and I quote an anonymous source) “become what they accused Microsoft of.”

But it doesn’t matter what the world thinks.

What matters is what your prospect thinks.

• Does your prospect think your company is telling the truth?
• Does your prospect think your company is lying?
• Does your prospect need more information to make a decision?

How case studies help you reach message-metamessage agreement

One powerful way to convince a doubting prospect is via a case study.

It always helps when someone else is singing your company’s praises. Especially when the subject of the case study backs up what you’ve been claiming all along.

If your Inland Empire firm needs a case study, Bredemarket can create it for you. After I ask you some questions, I can craft a case study (with your approval and the approval of the case study subject) that emphasizes WHY your company serves your customers, and HOW the case study demonstrates this.

Let’s talk. Click on the image below.