Tough Marketing for Tough Times:
William H. Thompson's Pep Talk and Marketing Tips for Technical Communicators

By Brodie Hilp

William H. Thompson is the founder and owner of the Thompson Group, an 11-year-old marketing company in Walnut Creek. He spoke at the December 13, 2001 meeting of EBSTC.

What significance does the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center have for technical communicators? The analogy began as a stretch of the imagination, but marketer William H. Thompson of the Thompson Group successfully interwove current national crises, his experience in the military, and his marketing savvy in a pep talk. With captivating stories, William illustrated certain "life lessons" to motivate us in marketing our businesses and ourselves.

William asked the audience to remember where they were when they heard about the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, and to remember how they reacted. He shared that he was with his son, a Marine, on a military ship off the coast of California. The Marines immediately perceived that our nation was under attack, and acted. They knew the basics even in a crisis situation.

Lessons Learned

What lessons can we learn from the military and the September 11th attack?

Lesson 1: Know the basics so that when an emergency occurs, you will be prepared. If you don't know the basics, the problems you already have will accelerate.

The Marines knew the basics and were able to react immediately to the crisis.

Lesson 2: Prepare yourself for difficult situations by practicing repeatedly, so you will immediately know how to respond and respond well.

When William trained to be a Navy SEAL, he "learned" to swim by trying to swim with his hands and feet tied! He urged us to deliberately and repeatedly place ourselves in difficult situations, until those situations become "comfortable."

Lesson 3: After you have identified your special skills, get training and experience; increase your confidence and perseverance to succeed.

William described how 70% of the SEAL trainees could not endure the training and gave up. Only those who persevered completed the training, and as a result, their self-confidence increased to prepare them for the next challenge.

Marketing Basics

After demonstrating these life lessons and their parallels with our profession, William changed tactics and outlined the basics of marketing and how we can use it to our advantage:

• Strategy & Marketing Planning: Understand your clients or business
• Solutions Management: Meet the client's needs
• Internal and External Communication: Build relationships with clients
• Relationship Management: Manage client relationships

The key to understanding and relating to clients is to learn to perceive yourself from the eyes of your clients. One way to begin is to research facts and not act on emotions.

William presented some data from a survey of East Bay businesses with more than 100 employees. RHI Consulting Services asked CIOs (Chief Investment Officers) if they were in a hiring slump. The results were:

• 78% no change in hiring
• 4% will decrease hiring
• 3% don't know
• 15% will increase hiring

Marketing Yourself

William's suggestions to market yourself:

• Critique your accomplishments and experience
• Discover your unique selling points
• Position yourself effectively in your industry
• Become active in your industry
• Target markets best suited to your interests and experience
• Develop outstanding communication materials (craft a 15-second "sound bite" of your professional goals, i.e., "the elevator speech")
• Identify and optimize the resources you have (contact family members, friends, co-workers)
• Overcome blocks to promoting yourself
• Document your success and learn from your mistakes

His final suggestion was to look at how the market is changing and see what can work to your advantage. He emphasized that all the news is not bad; there are great opportunities.

The Devil Mountain Views -- Jan/Feb 2002
(ebstc.org/newsletter/front.html)
For  suggestions, complaints, or (especially) compliments, contact dmvashwini@yahoo.com