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28 January 2017

Best Practices With Thought Leadership Illinois

By Anthony Ellis


Today, when the market is "noisier" than it has ever been, companies and corporate are depending on thought leadership for their success. One might think of this as a new term coined out for the usual stuff leaders do at their desks, but this concept, as a business process, has been there for several centuries now. The best approach to explain "thought leadership Illinois" is understanding that buyers aren't actually paying for your product but for your approach to problem solving.

The problem is that most of us are tired of being sold to or marketed to in this way. Many of us question the validity and authenticity of company/product-centric messages. We know we are being 'sold to' and it is turning us off.

Now, what would be the best way to propagate your thought leadership? Well, it is content again that will be able to capture the buyer's attention. Thought leadership seems to be the only way to explore issues and give answers. Forward leaning and provocative points will not just help gain attention but more importantly, help start a healthy interaction. The practice of Thought leadership essentially requires businesses to:

Look back at the past and be ready for the future. Mark Twain rightly said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but rhymes", business processes and market trends seem to be in the habit of repeating. Looking back, businesses can get a fair idea of how brands evolved. In the 20th century, Mr. Thomas Edison gave us the electric car concept. In present day, we are still working in the same lines, but with more sophisticated and capable batteries and other technologies.

It's the customer that matters not your product or service. Thought leadership is not about you and it is not self-serving gumph about your product or service - rather it is about your customer and their issues. The content you make available to your customers and prospects should facilitate their thinking around how they can transform their business/personal lives and overcome their challenges and issues. By illuminating trends and insights that will impact or inform these issues you are saying that you are the expert in that field and that you can help them get there. In the process you should be looking to shift your sales culture from 'Hunter' to 'Trusted Advisor'.

If you want to learn about what is going on around the world in politics and how the prices of the oil are directly related with the geopolitics. What would you do? You would obviously visit an authority website on geopolitics or read a magazine on the subject. In this case, your leader is a print product and not the person. He/she leader not only gives you the nudge to enhance your level of motivation for a certain task but also it develops confidence in you to achieve your goals without any sinking feeling. The authoritative guidance keeps your will unwavering while securing an objective.

Allow some time. It's true that things can get changed overnight. However, when it comes to your thought leadership content, it will take some time to be accessed, understood and appreciated. It won't be surprising if a great piece of blog pops up in the blogosphere after a month it has been published.

In conclusion, thought leadership is the new way to charter the path to the sale. If done well it distinctly differentiates you from the competition, Vests your prospects psychologically in the brand before they purchase, creates less resistance to price and helps them vindicate their purchasing decision.




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