Because so many companies have been burned by spreading a false or stealth message, WOMMA and other WOM experts advise being completely transparent with your consumer interactions. What does this mean, and why is there so much confusion about just posting some cool info?
It’s kind of like that uptight guy in your office who worries about every little thing. After a meeting he asks you, “Did I come across as too bossy?” “Was that guy trying to upstage me?” “Why did Mr. Nelson sit in a different chair than usual?” The thing is, he worries so much because he can’t find the easy blend of transparent and cool. Fortunately, we fired him, so now everyone at MGH is completely cool, hip and perfectly transparent.
The moral of this story is quite simply, you don’t have to lug your baggage into the conference room and dump it on the table for everyone to know you, like you and trust you. You just have to play it cool. Be who you are, don’t hide behind masks or make up elaborate stories to get in with the crowd, just chill.
BEING TRANSPARENT IN WOM CONVERSATIONS
- Don’t create an alternate personality for yourself.
- Don’t get into a conversation that forces you to lie.
- Play it cool, say what you came to contribute and don’t try to control the conversation
- Give yourself a crash course in life outside of work… don’t remove yourself too much from your consumer/human side.
- Don’t enter the conversation if all you can bring is a corporate mouthpiece; we see that enough in ads.
- Use a genuine, honest identity when talking to consumers in any context… pretend every discussion is one you would have at the grocery store with a neighbor.
- Don’t put pressure on yourself to disclose everything about you. No one cares.
- Don’t let your boss control every word you say; you may as well keep quiet if you can’t be real.
BEING COOL IN WOM CONVERSATIONS
- Don’t pretend to know about things you don’t, you’ll get eaten up alive.
- Don’t ask questions just to solicit answers.
- Go with the thread. Online or offline, don’t be a social ninny.
- Know what you have to contribute and lay it out there.
- Nobody likes a brown-noser, don’t compliment the heck out of everyone.
- Be yourself.
- Benefit by using your own personality.
If you want more, visit a high school. I think this “cool cat” is pretty much the clichéd popular senior everyone tries to hang out with on Friday night. I always said hormones make you savvy.
