When I was growing up my experience with the local storekeepers defined my ongoing relationships with them. Basically the nicer they were to me the more loyal I became. They conditioned me to like them with random acts of kindness.

Their behaviour eliminated any cognitive dissonance: they surprized and delighted me. So I got more than I expected. Then went back for more.

The plethora of fake performance certificates – including fake university certificates are a stark reminder of a phenomenon I’ve been talking about since I designed my 1^st commercial website: cognitive dissonance.

The cost of designing, launching and promoting a high quality website has dropped dramatically, making the virtual world as neat, clean and functional as the intergalactic starships that populate science fiction stories.

But what happens when you take the conversation “off-line” and meet the person or the brand face to face? All too often it’s a disappointing experience for one fundamental reason:

To get your attention, people and brands make promises that they cannot keep in the long run. Introductory offers are a great (simple) example.

Getting your attention is not the same as engaging you intellectually or emotionally. So all too often this is the point where cognitive dissonance kicks in.

You’re not like what you said you’d be like.

Your brand ambassadors and your guarantee is far more restrictive than your online presence.

Your brand promised me a lifetime of wonderful times, but my positive experience ended within months. And so it goes.

The solution is pretty simple: don’t promise more than you can consistently deliver over the long haul.

Q.     But Frank . . . if I promise “less” to reduce cognitive dissonance any my greedy competitors keep promising the moon + stars, how can I compete?

A.     Call me. For a fee I’ll assess your brand and tell you.

Enjoy your day + your journey!

The other day my friend told me how much she likes working in the Canadian field office of the American company she works for. She and others in the field office dream of the call that asks them to report to work in the American head office; not in one of the many America field offices.

I think she’s got the dream wrong for now and that her dream will evolve.

Field and head office people and the required skill sets are quite different. Fundamentally, the head office initiates and orchestrates programs while field the offices execute them. If you’re lucky you'll get a bit of execution leeway because of culture, language or some other barrier that affect average (middle of the bell curve) performance metrics.

Field service people should know and play to their career strengths which are based around (operation or market) program roll-out.

Good field service people will be called upon to manage larger and larger regions.

Great field service people may work out of the Head Office because their field work insights are invaluable to those asked to design effective new programs. In that sense great field service people can save corporations billions of dollars.

They know because they live on the road.

By the time my friend is invited to work out of the head office, odds are that she’ll decline the offer because the routine of going to the same office and desk each day will be too limiting and claustrophobic.

My bet is that she’ll do as my mentor encouraged me to do.

“Stay out on the thin ice.”  

Last week I arranged a mock-interview with a colleague of mine to help my client know what he doesn’t know. I’m posting some of my colleague’s post meeting e-mail comments to my client because the advice she offered him applies to anyone preparing to enter a professional practice today. It’s the same advice I got 35 years ago when I started looking for my first career position.

Enjoy!

“I have taken the liberty of making some notes about what I might consider for a cover letter, were I in your position. However, these letters are personal to the author – but I would like to emphasize that it is a sales job when you apply for a job – you are trying to sell yourself as an asset to a firm. It should never be (a) “to whom it may concern” letter– it makes it look as though this is a mass mailing, not a specific application. It will be ignored. Address each letter individually to someone in the firm (preferably the principal, or someone identified as the managing or hiring partner).

You indicate willingness to relocate in Ontario. The profession is seriously worried about the aging of professionals in the smaller communities where there is a shortage of available new blood coming up in the firms. I hear this complaint from Midland, Belleville, and other towns of that size and smaller: and even more acutely in more distant and smaller locations. Where there is only one professional in town, the community is seriously compromised for all matters that require independent representation. Everyone wants to work in Toronto and Hamilton, in particular. They do not seem to anticipate the rewards of being a significant community member, and a resource, in a smaller community. These communities are wonderful locations to gain experience, jumping off platforms, although I think once in such a community, the benefits become alluringly apparent.

If you belong to their professional association, you have access to not only the job opportunities posted from time to time, but also to the membership directory, which would provide access to the contact information for firms outside Toronto. Those firms on the membership list are those who are on the whole practitioners who wish to contribute; be connected to their colleagues and educational resources; and to keep in touch with legislative change and professional developments.

Lastly, I am disappointed: I trust you will remember to send a brief email to each interviewer, to thank them for their time, and to say just one thing that you appreciated from the experience, and, as appropriate – that you would really appreciate the opportunity to contribute to their firm. This really should be sent out within 24 hours of the interview.”

This is very smart and very cool. My friends at 6P Marketing in Winnipeg are now offering websites (designed by me) that are optimized for use with the new Apple Smart-Watch launching April 24th across Canada. Learn more at 6pmarketing.com