Soul Business blog 8: Get in focus 2 – diffusion of innovations

22 Nov Soul Business blog 8: Get in focus 2 – diffusion of innovations

Soul Business is an ethos to inspire and enable people, business and organisations to communicate better by connecting deeper.

It is a given that we all need top line messaging to explain who we are, what we do and how we should promote our vision and values – things we believe.

But nuancing our message to appeal to different audiences is also key.

Clearly, there are many ways we can do this – but here’s one yardstick I’m putting out there as food for thought.

It is a theory called the Diffusion of Innovations, which was devised by American sociologist, Everett Rogers in 1962. His focus was business attitudes to innovation.

Rogers found that there are five main types of businesses, who each shared broadly similar characteristics in relation to innovation.

I think it is instructive how you may seek to approach businesses who may fit inside these categories.

At the most cutting edge are the 2.5 per cent of the overall businesses on Rogers’ scale who are genuine innovators – people or businesses who make and market new technology, products or services.

These are quickly followed by the ‘early adopters’ – businesses who are quick to see how they can use and adapt new technology devised by the innovators so they can inch ahead of their competition. These form some 12.5 per cent of businesses.

The majority (70 per cent) are split evenly between the ‘early majority’, who spot what the innovators have made and noted how the early adopters have got on with it, then start to use it themselves – and the ‘late majority’, who are cautious, maybe even sluggish, businesses who are slow to change but usually adapt in the end.

Finally, come the laggards (15 per cent). These are business naysayers who are reluctant to change and only adapt through force. These folks were the last to leave the caves. In business terms, they probably try to exist with a website and won’t even consider social media.

Now…you may recognise your own attitude to business innovation here – and you may even wish to ponder how others may see you.

But I’m thinking of how you may seek to go about creating messages so you can pitch effectively to different types of businesses so you can form valuable relationships.

If you can appeal to them and get on their radar you might be able to build your business and achieve a massive breakthrough.

Working with the innovators sounds great.

We’d all like to supply to Apple, Dyson or Virgin etc. – or ground-breaking businesses in your own locale. If you can get in early and build a rapport while they are growing you may find your dream client. But you’ll need to talk their lingo and appeal to their pioneering zeal.

The downside is there’s a high failure rate among these businesses. Innovators fail – often. Usually, in fact. And when they fail and lose money, guess who’s in the creditors queue? Doesn’t sound so good, does it? Putting all of your eggs in this one basket is risky business.

The early adopters may sound great too, but they tend to be proactive so will actively source their suppliers. The chance of rocking up with a product or service they haven’t considered procuring may be slim, but these are often successful companies who are going places and are usually high profile and good for the money.

Trouble is, they may not be loyal and will often search for the latest best supplier. If you’re a Steady Eddie business you could invest a lot of time and effort for little long term reward here. Guess what, these guys fail frequently too.

The early majority are fairly forward thinking but not overtly so. The good news is there are lots of them (35 per cent of the overall business cake), they tend to ‘get it’ but take time to adopt new things and are reasonably loyal, so reaching out to them could be key to growing your business.

By contrast, the late majority are cautious. You may have to do considerable courting to win their favour, but once you’ve got them they tend not to switch and place high value on loyalty without the constant demand for new ways of working or delivery or change. Arguably, we all need a fair portion of these in our client book, but too many might be hard work – winning them initially can take time and patience.

As for the laggards, well, as loving and loyal they are to time-honoured practices and however altruistic and empathetic you may feel towards age-old businesses so would like to see if you could change them – the chances are their intransigence will wear you down.

Take Pareto’s warning seriously here – these really are the 20 per cent of your client base who will take up 80 per cent of your time given half a chance – and they’ll moan like hell if or (most likely) when you can’t deliver for them.

There’s no right or wrong here. But focusing on your target market – and nuancing your over-arching message – isn’t just about creating one message for all types of businesses. It is about appreciating different businesses with differing attitudes and differing outlooks and features.

If you can focus your message precisely to the people who you seek to reach you can go a long way to building the sort of Soul Business rapport that will enable you to have a successful business.

Chris Green is an award-winning author and broadcaster – and managing partner of Chris Green Media – which inspires organisations to communicate better by connecting deeper.