Lessons for communication excellence from our last family vacations …

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

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My new book is out now

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New book

Welcome back to

“Irresistible Communication”.

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Two minutes, twice a week.

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No nonsense advice on

leadership communication.

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During our latest family vacation,

we stayed at what must be the world

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champions of managed dissatisfaction.

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The resort managed to do slightly

less than you'd expect at every single

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interaction and they made sure to never

even accidentally exceed our expectations.

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To be sure it wasn't a

bad experience per se.

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Apparently their strategy of consistently

delivering just enough to avoid outright

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dissatisfaction, but never enough to truly

impress, maintains a steady stream of just

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okay service without the extra effort or

resources for exceptional experiences.

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That's what it was: An okay,

but not a great experience.

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Let's look at what this means for

communication, where there's a similarly

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stark contrast between doing just

enough to get your point across and

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making an effort to truly connect

enlighten, or engage with the audience.

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For instance, you can choose to

provide just enough information

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to avoid misunderstandings.

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Or you can make it easily

digestible and engaging.

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You can respond to questions when raised.

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Or you can proactively clarify

ambiguities and offer insights.

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You can make minor adjustments to

content for different audiences.

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Or you can tailor it specifically

to each audience's needs.

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You can engage with your audience

just enough so that they don't feel

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ignored or you can strive to make

interactions enjoyable and memorable.

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Both in customer service and

communication, there's a choice between

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doing the bare minimum and going the

extra mile to leave a lasting impression.

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While the strategy of managed

dissatisfaction might save effort

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in the short term, it misses the

opportunity to create meaningful

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connections and memorable experiences.

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How do you choose?

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Keep lighting the path and

share this with a friend.