{"id":10669,"date":"2018-05-14T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/article\/\/"},"modified":"2018-05-14T08:00:57","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T13:00:57","slug":"techno-phobic-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/techno-phobic-bosses\/","title":{"rendered":"How to convince your boss that technology is useful"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My supervisor once<\/span> <\/span>asked me to <\/span>work on increasing customer <\/span>engagement, so I spent a couple weeks putting together a<\/span> <\/span>social media plan<\/span>. After <\/span>all, <\/span>I figured, <\/span>what else could<\/span> he <\/span>have <\/span>mean<\/span>t<\/span>?<\/span> <\/span>Cold<\/span>–<\/span>calling? Direct mail? Nonsense. <\/span>E<\/span>xcept when I showed him<\/span> my plan<\/span>, he frowned, looked<\/span> at <\/span>me <\/span>like <\/span>I was the crazy one and asked <\/span>why<\/span>, as a<\/span> small business<\/span>, we<\/span> should care about <\/span>social media?<\/span><\/p>\n

I found this a challenging<\/span> question<\/span>. <\/span>Doesn\u2019t <\/span>everybody know that social media is A Thing<\/span>? <\/span>It seems so obvious, our workaday economy <\/span>transmuted into <\/span>an <\/span>intricate <\/span>web <\/span>of <\/span>clicks and conversions<\/span>, <\/span>likes and shares<\/span>. <\/span>Hadn\u2019t he heard <\/span>of <\/span>the <\/span>technologie<\/span> riche<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>this <\/span>new <\/span>monied class of Influencers and YouTubers\u00a0<\/span>\u2014 of <\/span>fortunes being made <\/span>by the unpackaging of small toys<\/span>, <\/span>NBA Twitter and travel Instagram, <\/span>people like <\/span>David Avocado Wolfe<\/span><\/a>\u00a0stocking their <\/span>ecologically friendly <\/span>crystal-powered <\/span>mansion<\/span>s<\/span> <\/span>entirely <\/span>with non-GMO artisanal kale? <\/span><\/p>\n

Had <\/span>he <\/span>never <\/span>heard of Nihilist Arby\u2019s<\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

No. <\/span>No<\/span>, h<\/span>e <\/span>had not. <\/span>And my first <\/span>strategy <\/span>would be to <\/span>avoid <\/span>responding with <\/span>\u201cwait, I thought everyone knew<\/span> that<\/span>?\u201d It will not go as well as you\u2019d think.<\/span><\/p>\n

But all hope is <\/span>not <\/span>lost<\/span>. <\/span>You\u2019ve just got to communicate <\/span>the importance of modern technologies <\/span>to<\/span> someone who\u2019s always done <\/span>business differently<\/span>. <\/span>It is, in other words, a matter of translation. <\/span>They don\u2019t speak your language. This doesn\u2019t <\/span>make <\/span>anyone <\/span>ignorant, obtuse or uninformed. <\/span>If they\u2019ve got <\/span>much to learn from you<\/span>r experience,<\/span> then<\/span>,<\/span> more likely than not, you could <\/span>also <\/span>learn <\/span>quite a bit <\/span>from the<\/span>irs<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

With that in mind, here<\/span> are<\/span> <\/span>four <\/span>strategies for <\/span>talking <\/span>technology <\/span>with <\/span>someone who just doesn\u2019t get it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Objection<\/span>: <\/span>T<\/span>hat\u2019s not how business gets done. <\/span><\/h3>\n

Frame it as a <\/span>new strategy <\/span>for achieving <\/span>familiar<\/span> ends<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/span>ocial media isn\u2019t so different from, say, walking into a giant room and trying to make a good impression<\/span> on 1,000 people at once. <\/span>It\u2019s simply a matter of scale. Business people historically have\u00a0<\/span>prioritized <\/span>individual, face-to-face interactions <\/span>and single, <\/span>large contributions<\/span>. T<\/span>echnologies like social media and crowdfunding inver<\/span>t <\/span>that philosophy. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Objection<\/span>: <\/span>It<\/span>\u2019s a <\/span>waste of time. <\/span><\/h3>\n

Stress that<\/span> technology <\/span>will <\/span>ultimately <\/span>lessen their workload. <\/span><\/p>\n

My supervisor <\/span>thought he had to be\u00a0<\/span>involved in <\/span>every post<\/span>, which made <\/span>the entire process <\/span>seem too <\/span>time-intensive to be useful. <\/span>But h<\/span>undreds of points of contact can be<\/span> established<\/span>, cultivated and maintained without management doing anything but approving the <\/span>campaign as a whole<\/span>. This <\/span>is <\/span>unusual and<\/span> requires explanation. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Objection<\/span>:<\/span> OK, <\/span>I\u2019m twittering, <\/span>why aren\u2019t we making money?<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

#<\/span>Trust<\/span>The<\/span>Process<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

After <\/span>a few posts<\/span>, each of which <\/span>we spent a fortune <\/span>promotin<\/span>g, we <\/span>got zero <\/span>additional donations<\/span>. The conclusion? Social media is garbage. Wrong! It just takes time. <\/span>Consider the party example. Show up once, <\/span>you won\u2019t get any <\/span>money. Repeatedly interact with <\/span>key party-goers <\/span>for a year, make a favorable impression, <\/span>they <\/span>might be inclined to support your cause. T<\/span>he long game of social media may seem obvious, but setting <\/span>realistic metrics for one, six and 12 months will make <\/span>it <\/span>much easier<\/span> to keep everyone on board<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Objection: They don\u2019t believe you. <\/span> <\/span><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t bring common sense to a data fight. <\/span><\/p>\n

It may seem <\/span>un<\/span>reasonable <\/span>to <\/span>resist <\/span>the future, but it\u2019s <\/span>simply a question of data. W<\/span>e all <\/span>have a lifetime of <\/span>experiential data <\/span>informing <\/span>our <\/span>view<\/span>s<\/span> on how business is <\/span>done.<\/span> To make a dent in that,<\/span> yo<\/span>u\u2019ll <\/span>need<\/span> numbers on your side<\/span>. That means researching similar<\/span> <\/span>companies, <\/span>presenting <\/span>numbers on <\/span>the effectiveness and popularity <\/span>of social media, and <\/span>running rough <\/span>cost-benefit analyses<\/span> on hypothetical campaigns<\/span>. As much as you\u2019d like it to, \u201c<\/span>c\u2019mooooon<\/span>\u201d <\/span>just <\/span>won\u2019t <\/span>cut it. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>If you do all this, will your supervisor immediately<\/span> embrace technology<\/span>, leaping headlong into <\/span>their <\/span>brave new digital world? P<\/span>robably not. <\/span>But t<\/span>hat\u2019s not the goal here. <\/span>By <\/span>encouraging <\/span>productive discussion about how traditional business models<\/span> can integrate new technologies<\/span>, you can help your <\/span>small business<\/span> <\/span>grow, and change, and adapt to the times. But that doesn\u2019t happen overnight, any more than<\/span> social media success does<\/span>. It takes time. <\/span>Keep <\/span>these points in mind as you navigate that path, <\/span>though, <\/span>and <\/span>you might just <\/span>find <\/span>management <\/span>your most useful ally in finding new, innovative, effective methods of <\/span>connecting with your <\/span>customers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My supervisor once asked me to work on increasing customer…<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}