“You can transform your communications group to a marketing powerhouse in 18 months!”

Mendenhall's Rock

By Dave Swanson, Principal, SwanDog Marketing

Every day, the late Southern Illinois University Journalism professor Harlan H. Mendenhall hauled the good-sized rock along with his notes across campus and into his investigative journalism class. And every day, before starting his lecture, he methodically set the rock at the edge of his desk with a deft twist. 

From where I sat, near the back of the room with the other “overachievers,“  there was nothing special about the giant mineral—other than that it was painted green.

This dude’s nuts, I thought.

Nearly 2 weeks went by before someone finally asked Mendenhall the question he no doubt awaited.
“What’s the rock for?”
“Exactly,” came Mendenhall’s response with an excited wave of his hand.

“Exactly?”

We all looked at each other for a second before the pilot light ignited. Aha! The rock was nothing more than a prop—a none-too-subtle object lesson designed to stoke our curiosity.

Ask questions, was the message—ask lots and lots of questions if you want to get to the bottom of things.

Well, don’t look now, but your marketing organization may have become that journalism class (or worse yet, the rock). They may be taking tactical orders without asking the key question---WHAT’S IT FOR?

As marketing, particularly business marketing, continues to primarily play the role of sales support, maybe it’s time to stop and reconsider the process. Companies simply can’t afford to have marketers who aren’t engaged in the business.

I’ve always said, “don’t tell me what to do, tell me what you are trying to do.” Only then can I really bring my marketing experience to bear, helping determine the most effective way to meet your goal. Maybe it’s not a sales brochure that best moves the needle, maybe the answer is a smarter way to segment the client base, maybe it’s a meeting, maybe a calling campaign.

Remember, it’s not about asking the smart question, it’s about being smart and asking questions. That’s why we call the process we teach our clients “Intelligent InterrogationTM.” If it’s true that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, asking a series of questions could be downright genius.

The Intelligent Interrogation Series

What is the business problem we’re trying to solve?
How do you measure that?
Where are we today?
Why do you think it will work?
How will the competition react?

The Intelligent Interrogation process sends a strong message to your clients, your colleagues, your direct reports and your management: I am interested in your---our---business. At least as interested as you are, so let’s get to work and figure it out!

Next time you’re asked to “do something,” get “rockin’” like Mendenhall and employ the Intelligent Interrogation model.

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Want SwanDog to train your marketers and business people on the art of Intelligent Interrogation? Contact us …or call SwanDog at 630-717-2762. We can work with you to create a customized Marketing Fuel tm  workshop.