Thought Leaders Need Fewer Touches

Posted by Dana VanDen Heuvel
May 14, 2009

Those of you that know me well know that I’m a big fan of data, academics and the rigor that goes with being able to prove a good hypothesis. So, this post that I’m about to do flies in the face of all that because, frankly, I don’t have much data here, but after talking this over with a client the other day (he acutally brought this up…) I’m convinced that there’s some validity to this, we just have to put some time into research (or find someone who’s done it) to prove this theory.

Where do we begin?

It all starts with the old rule about how many impressions or ‘touches’ it takes between a buyer and a seller before some cash is finally exchanged.  There’s a lot of evidence to support that the number is around 5-7 exposures before a releatively substantial amount of ‘brand recall’ is evident and then a few more touches before a purchase can even take place.  In the old world of interruption marketing and advertising, this was acceptable and even planned for.  All of these exposures, however, cost a great deal of money (typically) and could very well be out of reach for a vast number of firms, especially startup firms.

Anyone for shorter sales cycles?

As we progress through our story, let me share a bit about how this came up. We were in a thought leadership review session the other day and we were working on pinning down the value of thought leadership marketing to this particular firm.  Suffice it to say, the value has been quite high and all things considered, things are going very well. However, being the ‘academic at heart’, I kept probing for more evidence of value.  During the discussion, we recalled some work done by David Meerman Scott which stated that [thought leadership] content (blogs, whitepapers, seminars, what have you) does a great job of shortening the sales cycle for an organization.  By that rationale, we could also conclude that marketers employing thought leadership are able to shatter the “5-7 touches rule” by a pretty wide margin.  While that’s not always the case, I speak from personal experience having won my fair share of business after minimal (one time) exposure of a prospective client to my own ‘thought leadership content’. That one instance kicked off a very short sales cycle and a checkmark in the win category for me.

Getting through the dip

What the heck does this all mean for you?  Well, here’s how it breaks down.  If you’re in the business of selling intangibles, touchy-feely clothing or industrial earth moving machines, there’s value in pursuing a thought leadership position in your industry, market or community – whatever is going to make you ‘world class’ in the eyes of your intended audience (as Seth Godin opined on in The Dip).  Thought leaders do not have to be the biggest company in the eyes of their intended target market, but they are often perceived as the best, most helpful, most knowledgeable and possessing high integrity.

Think more, touch less

That heading could be the, well, nevermind.  Thought leaders put more time and effort working ‘on the business’ and ‘on the problems’ that plague their target markets and sectors. They understand and the THINK of how they can help.  Once they’re done thinking, the share.  Recall that sharing is a two-way street.  In involves listening and telling.  Look ahead to that 5-part trade rag ad campaign you’re about to run that ask yourself “how could I get them to like me/listen to me after just one exposure to my idea (not my slick ad)”?  I’ll give you a hint…ask your customers what they want. Chances are, your prospects are looking for the same stuff.

In a thought leadership marketing webinar that I gave today, I talked a lot about how thought leaders have a sense of ‘confident curiousity’.  This simply means that they’re comforatable with their approach but are willing to be wrong for the sake of ultimately getting it right and doing well by their customer.  There’s simply no other agenda.  In times like these, people trust sincerity and they trust those who even get it wrong in the name of trying to get it and make it right.  That’s what your customers want, isn’t it?  Think about it…

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Related posts:

  1. Thought Leaders Should Violate Expectations
  2. Fewer choices lead to more sales
  3. Thought leaders as problem finders
  4. The Sincerity of Thought Leaders
  5. Real Thought Leaders Constantly Reinvent Themselves

Thought Leadership Marketing Theory

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  • http://www.weidert.com Greg Linnemanstons

    Good post, Dana, and directionally I agree with what you’re saying. Recent research conducted by a national sales consultancy concluded that on average, prospects wouldn’t let a sales contact person (rep or account exec) have meaningful face time until they had been touched, in one way or another, 12 times.

    Now, that’s an average, which doesn’t consider the difference a quality touch makes in shortening the cycle. But the point this researcher was making is that it takes a certain number before the prospect even starts recognizing from your touches that you’re something credible that they should look at or listen to.

    His punch line to the research is that most sales people quit after 6 touches, believing they had exhausted all possibilities and there was no chance of success. So most sales people fail!

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