Whitney and I are planning in earnest for another trip to Australia for client work, in 2015. We’re finalizing dates, logistics, content, etc. And when we are getting ready for a big trip with lots of client time, we always make sure to spend some time getting (or remaining) familiar with the client’s situation.
We always preach “know your audience.” and it’s important on several levels. Whenever possible or practical, it’s important to try to get to know some specifics about the key individuals you will be working with. But as your group you are working with gets bigger, that gets harder to achieve for all of them. Whenever possible, we try to know our audience on an individual level. But at a minimum, we always try to know our audience on an organizational level. What does that mean? Here are a few things we commonly do:
1. Make sure you are familiar with the company mission, goals, key clients, description of what they do… sounds obvious? You would be surprised how many people miss that.
2. Are they publicly traded? Look up the stock price and the recent trends. The shape of the curve of the stock price is as good a proxy for how a company feels about itself as anything else.
3. How about a search for the last six months of news or alerts? Did anything bad or good happen? What is the chatter about the company in the business news?
4. And finally, how about the key executives. What do you know about them? How long have they been there? Where were they before? Can you make any assumptions on how decisions get made? Do you know anyone who knows him/her?
Knowing your audience well helps you communicate at a higher, more efficient level. Knowing your audience creates competitive advantage. And even if you are not directly selling anything to that audience, knowing something about them is a sign of respect that can bring only upside to your work, to your reputation and to your brand.
Good luck!
Dean
At The Latimer Group, our individual Coaching services are highly customized and designed to help you achieve your specific goals. Typical engagements focus on developing skill sets in Leadership Communications, Public Speaking, and Executive-Level Business Presentations. To learn more, e-mail us at info@TheLatimerGroup.com
[…] point here is that we always preach “know your audience” here at The Latimer Group. And we also preach “knowing your own message and […]