RetailNOW 2015: Why It's Important To Be Strategic About Presence

By Bernadette Wilson

With the proliferation of smartphones and other devices that keep us connected, Dr. Jeanine Turner of Georgetown University says the most strategic decisions you can make are where you focus your attention. Turner presented the session Choosing Presence: The Most Important Executive Decision We Make Without Ever Thinking About It during the W2W (Women in Retail) Community event at RetailNOW 2015 on Aug. 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Turner points out communication technology doesn’t have to be negative; technology facilitates some types of engagement that would otherwise not be possible — or at least not possible in a timely and cost-effective manner. She says, however, technology does impact how we communicate, making it easier to have “tunnel vision” and focusing more on the needs of ourselves rather than our audience.

During her presentation, Turner introduced four types of “presence” and discussed their impacts on communication:

1. Budgeted Presence: In this type of communication, you view your audience as expendable. Your goal is to efficiently manage messages and accomplish tasks. Turner comments that this type of communication doesn’t do much to foster relationships.
2. Entitled Presence: In this scenario, you are putting your audience in a “container,” demanding their undivided attention. Examples are a parent telling a child to turn off devices and listen to what they are saying or a boss that demands your undivided attention during a meeting. Turner warns that this is dangerous to try under the wrong circumstances — if  you remove your listener’s ability to stay connected, implying your message is the most important they need to hear, you need to be sure you deliver.
3. Competitive Presence: This is common among salespeople and executives as they communicate. You are trying to persuade your audience to listen to your message, just as orators have done for centuries, often focusing on ethos, pathos, and logos.
4. Invitational Presence: In this case, you see your audience as partners, and your goal is to engage in dialogue to gain a fuller understanding of a situation. Benefits are relationship development and facilitating creativity and new ideas — but it is becoming a less common way to communicate because it requires an investment in time.

Taking time to examine —and perhaps alter — the way you communicate can have benefits in your personal relationships, but taking a closer look at how “present” you are in business communication may show room for improvement there as well. Be advised: the answer isn’t getting everyone to join you as you turn off your phone. The increasingly connected world demands we stay connected, at least to some degree when at work, and trying to remove all technology isn’t practical.

Turner says one key to improving communication and engagement is to consider your audience. To engage people (including customers and prospects) in communication, you need to be more relevant that what they can find on their phones. This means understanding their perspectives, challenges they might be facing, and what is important to them.

You also need to find ways to get them to talk to you. This could depend on more than just your message. For example if you have your smartphone in your hand, checking it as a customer speaks, you could be undermining a productive conversation.

Turner provided her audience at the W2W event with exercises designed to help them determine how much of their time in spent in each type of presence, questions such as whether you are reluctant to turn your phone off so you don’t miss an important message or whether you are aware you can win people’s attention with the message you deliver.

The next time you meet with a client, a prospect, or a business associate, remember that approaching that opportunity strategically and giving it the proper degree of your attention could mean the difference between a successful exchange and one that seems like you weren’t there at all.

For more articles on RetailNOW 2015, August 2 to 5, 2015, at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, and the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA), go to www.BSMinfo.com/solution/InsideRSPA.