How Communication Shapes Your Business with Leesa Shannon

Communication is the absolute silver bullet in business, and in this episode I have Leesa Shannon, to tell you why.

We're going to chat through the critical role that clear messaging and a strong vision plays in growth, especially in marketing and sales.

Grab a pen and get ready to jot down insights from Leesa's extensive experience, helping you refine your communication skills whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out.

Discover the foundational importance of presenting yourself effectively and building relationships that are essential for business success.

We'll also explore practical strategies for improving your communication to enhance sales and marketing outcomes.

Learn how to understand your client's pain points better and approach outreach as genuine connection opportunities rather than mere sales pitches.

Leesa shares tips on overcoming the discomfort of following up with old clients, and the power of curiosity and asking the right questions.

Leesa has spent the last 15 years consulting to a vast array of organisations, including blue chip multinationals, start-ups, not for profit and high-profile individuals. She focuses on the vision and messaging within organisations who want to grow or change direction, need to lobby Government bodies or change market perception, or reinvent their approach. She has facilitated strategy development and planning sessions, coached senior leaders and designed strategic communications and execution plans.

Find out more about Leesa's program Vision to Voice and how to work with her via her website.

Connect with Leesa on
LinkedIn
Instagram

DOWNLOAD MY CONTENT PLANNER - https://becchappell.com.au/content-planner/

Instagram @bec_chappell
LinkedIn – Bec Chappell
If you're ready to work together, I'm ready to work with you and your team.

How to work with me:
1. Marketing foundations and strategy consultation
2. Marketing Coaching/ Whispering for you a marketing leader or your team who you want to develop into marketing leaders
3. Book me as a speaker or advisor for your organisation
4. Get me on your podcast

This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Thank you for joining me for another episode of Marketing Espresso. So grateful you folks have decided to join me and listen to this podcast. As always, there's only a few little things I ask from you, and that is for a review, or to refer this podcast to a business owner that you know needs to hear it. Or, if you're a CMO or in marketing and developing your marketing career, send it on to another marketer that you think it would help. Or, you know, reach out and ask if you want to be on the podcast. If you're a marketer, always love getting marketing brains together to discuss all things marketing for this podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Now, today it's a Tuesday. I'm excited. I always bring you a very good guest and today is absolutely no different. I have got Lisa Shannon on the potty for you guys today. Now Lisa and I are going to be talking all things communications, because she is a communication specialist. Communication is absolute key for marketing, so if you're not getting yours right, it comes down to your message, your clarity and all of those things. That's the sort of world that Lisa works in, helping people get that.

Speaker 1: 1:15

She spent 15 years consulting to a vast array of organizations, including blue chip multinational startups, not-for-profits and high-profile individuals. She focuses on the vision and messaging within organizations who want to grow or change direction, need to lobby government bodies or change market perception to reinvent their approach. She has facilitated strategic development and planning sessions, coached senior leaders and designed strategic comms and execution plans. She's had over 10 years in a range of internal and external communications roles. She's often asked to consult around message development issues, crisis management, speech writing and communication coaching, which has worked for led to her working with many international C-level executives and well-recognized figures one-on-one. You would probably know some of the people that she has worked with, as she has worked with many Australian of the Year award finalists and recipients, so I'm not going to go through the ones that she's worked with. You can definitely find out by finding out more about Lisa and reaching out to her. I'll put all her details in the show notes, but I really hope that you love this episode, lisa. Thank you so much for joining me.

Speaker 2: 2:22

So good to chat on a podcast this time. I know we chat too much.

Speaker 1: 2:26

We chat too much and I feel like people don't need to know what else we chat about. It's always random stuff. I mean, we just sorted out road rules before, so yes, I know we're saving the world.

Speaker 2: 2:35

one conversation at a time.

Speaker 1: 2:36

One conversation at a time. I'm excited to have you on today because obviously I get to know a lot of the work that you do. I'm a big advocate for all things communication because I think that you and I have this conversation a lot. We all think we're all good, we all think we're amazing communicators and then we're kind of there's always work we can do right.

Speaker 2: 2:54

Yeah, and look fair point, Bec, you are an amazing communicator, but being a great communicator doesn't mean that there's other ways of doing things and things that we can improve on.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Yeah, Love that Continuous improvement right. So today we're going to talk about why communication is actually important in business, because it's one of those things I think you get into it. A lot of people I think probably get into it winging it. They don't think about all these skill sets that are actually super vital to the success of their business. One of them that we probably really gloss over is our communication. So I'm going to pass the ball to you and say carry on, Tell us why is communication important?

Speaker 2: 3:32

Well, you know, I think we're at a stage now, particularly in Australia, where people get that communication is important, at least in their head. You know, if I go and speak to people, they will say, absolutely the way I communicate is so important. But then something happens when they actually go to communicate in person, where we don't think about it as much as we think of a lot of other things. It's almost like we're separate people when we're having these conversations. The only people that really focus on their communication a lot are the ones that absolutely hate it or are petrified or really nervous. They try and avoid it. So obviously they're thinking about communication out of fear. Or those that get really good feedback constantly and think that it's you know, it's very, very much an everyday part of the job. And then there's this group in the middle and this is a group that I love working with which are people who are technically brilliant at what they do.

Speaker 2: 4:26

So whether when we say technically brilliant, I mean, you know, technically great at being a marketer or they're an accountant, or they're a hairdresser, whatever their expertise is, but communicating is not the thing that they are selling directly, and what we find, though, is that there is actually this other product in inverted commas that we are selling, which is us, and the way that we sell us is through the way that we communicate, and I think sometimes we actually forget that we have to put as much effort into that as we do in improving and putting out whatever our product or services together.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Yeah, I love that Cause I know people sort of think, oh, it's just my marketing or I just have to get out there. But there's that second stage. I think people kind of drop off a bit and that's that like well, what's actually the follow-up, what are the conversations you're going to be having? And then people think about the word sales, right, and they just freak out because they think of it as this terrifying thing or business development. It's like all of us, especially as business owners, you have to have some understanding around sales, the ickiness that is sales, but actually that, broken down, is just really good communication, is it not?

Speaker 2: 5:35

Absolutely. It's really good communication and really good relationship building. And hey, guess what's the absolute core of relationship building? Communication. Funny that. And you know this is anything from communication with your best mates to your partner, to your mom, to your business partner, to your clients.

Speaker 2: 5:54

And I remember one of my coaches used to say to me there's two kinds of people in the world those that are really good at sales and those that think that sales isn't part of their life. But it really is, because we are. We're constantly selling, but what we're selling is just communicating who we are all the time, and the sooner we get comfortable with that, the better it is. The funny thing that I notice is how people will say communication is so important, but when they're preparing for a meeting or a sales pitch or a presentation or whatever it is that they do guess where all the planning is.

Speaker 2: 6:30

It's in. What am I going to say? What information do I have? Am I ready with my product? Have I got the evidence, All of that stuff, and how many people actually sit down and plan how they want to communicate and how they want to come across and the way in which they're going to sell the words. It's a much lower percentage, and so this is where I think it's so important, particularly for small business owners, to recognize that, for us to be really successful, it's so often in the way we communicate ourselves, not just the product or service that we're actually trying to sell.

Speaker 1: 7:05

Yeah, not the what, because I think you're right and like even hearing you say that I think to myself okay, well then, what should I be planning or practicing? Or if it's not the product that I'm trying to influence them to buy, or so it's that? Well, how do you actually practice good relationship building or like good comms?

Speaker 2: 7:22

Yeah, and sometimes people will come to me and say you know what does that actually look like?

Speaker 2: 7:26

And I'll say it out loud the worst thing to do is for me to teach you what the perfect style is, because there isn't a perfect style and I definitely God forbid, I definitely don't want thousands of Lisa Shannons walking around the world or thousands of whoever you think the best salesperson is walking around, but every single person has had a conversation that they think went really well, or that you know a sales pitch that they felt really comfortable and think they did a great job, and one that went really badly, and the best thing that you could do is try and replicate the ones that go really well, but in the situations that are hardest, and what we tend to do is the ones that go really well, but in the situations that are hardest, and what we tend to do is the ones that are really hard normally the conversations start to go off topic or start to go a little bit, you know, haywire, because the rapport and the relationship isn't flowing like we would.

Speaker 2: 8:22

We want it to, and what happens is it just starts getting worse and worse and worse, whereas you know that. You know those conversations that you have like you haven't seen a best mate for ages, and you catch up with them over a glass of wine and you can just talk on the same page and you feel your cup of energy being fulfilled.

Speaker 2: 8:39

You know those conversations we just need to figure out how to do that. But in the times when we don't think it's as easy because we all know how to be the best communicator it's just that we don't often do it when it matters the most, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 8:53

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I love that because everyone does have that flow state. But the actual idea that you can get into that when you're like panicking or nervous or you know like cause, like I often bring dating into this podcast too. But I got to say like sometimes I'll like and it is the same principle really if you're sitting down in front of a date or going for a job interview or sitting down in front of a prospective client or trying to influence someone, it's the same thing Like you're still always trying to like other kind of sell yourself or at least be yourself in that moment.

Speaker 1: 9:27

And it's terrifying and I always think, cause I actually, even though no one will believe this, I get quite nervous before a lot of times I have to communicate and to actually go back to, and I really feel like, even for me now I'm going to focus on, okay, well, one of those times when I really am in flow and it's generally when I'm talking about something I'm passionate about, and that's really interesting, because that's also, I guess, how you find the things that you love Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 9:53

So there's a couple of awesome things there that you're talking about. I mean, dating is a perfect example but you think about the times when you do get nervous, and it's usually when it's you know you really, really want to do a good job and you're putting all these expectations on. I think this is the one, or I think this is a great one. I really like him or her and I just have to put a good impression.

Speaker 2: 10:15

You know, when we put that expectation on ourselves and then we get really nervous. That's one and that happens in business as well where we think I've got to win this client because I don't have a client next month, or because this one's what I really want to work with and, of course, because we want it so much, we almost sabotage the way that we speak. Sometimes that happens and we get nervous about it, and it happens in business exactly the same way. So even just recognizing what makes us nervous or what steers us off track is a really great first start to being able to communicate better.

Speaker 2: 10:51

And then to your point, thinking about what gets you inflows. So, is it talking about something that you're really passionate about? Is it making it more casual or more formal, or is it having something that supports you? Whether it's slides, whether it's a piece of paper to write and scribble with in front of it, anything that makes you, whether it's slides, whether it's a piece of paper to write and scribble with in front of it, anything that makes you more comfortable. You know, make it easy for yourself to be the best version of yourself. I mean, these are little things that we can do without changing who we are.

Speaker 2: 11:17

We just want to access that best Beck version.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Yeah, I love that, and I think that comes back to my question around well, how do you prep? And I think that's the stuff that you're prepping, rather than the oh, I want to have the world's best proposal and the world's best slides or the world. It's actually that because and you say this a lot it's that thing that people are going to remember the feeling you gave them. And if you're nervous and you don't seem authentic because you're so desperately wanting something, you can't give someone a good feeling. They're going to feel that nervous energy and be like wow, this person is like really, they're either going to feel like you're unprepared or you're just, I don't know, you're outside of your comfort zone, but in a way, that's not. It's really bad.

Speaker 2: 11:59

Yeah, absolutely, and I think sometimes, before our communication, what we end up doing is we overload our brain with all of the stuff we want to say and all of the thoughts that's in our head, and that jumbled mess then comes across in the way that we speak. So to your question about how do we prepare, one of the first things that I would always say is actually think about how you want to come across, and, as simple as that sounds, having a word or two around how you want to come across gives you a bit of an anchor on. Everything has to lead to that point.

Speaker 2: 12:34

So going I want to come across as approachable or I want to come across as an expert, or I want to come across as really lighthearted and casual, or I want to come across as someone who's really disciplined and knows their stuff. Even just knowing what that is can give you a really great point to try and refine some of the thoughts that you have, because if people are anything like you, bec and I'm sure they are when we know our stuff and we're passionate, we're going to have millions of thoughts and that jumbled mess just all wants to come out at the same time.

Speaker 1: 13:05

Yeah, I'm definitely one for doing that because I get so excited, I'll be like, oh, that's so much to say. So I think that's a really good point as well. Like, well, what are the key things that you actually, when you are so excited, what are the things that you know they kind of need to hear too right, which comes back to the marketing side of stuff. Like, well, what are their pain points, what is this, what is that? So you're sitting in front of someone. You already know why they're there, so talk to that. But I love that. I think that's really really helpful.

Speaker 1: 13:31

And if I'm someone that's like, oh, I'm all right at this communication thing, what would you say to someone that is kind of like, oh, I don't like, you know, I'm good at this, I win sales, I get, you know, I get leads like and they're kind of in that boat, that middle boat, like not the person that's like completely like hates communication Maybe they're like painfully introvert, they're like I just don't want to have to do that. They're that mid ground probably. Like I am, to be honest, like a little bit, like, yeah, it's all right.

Speaker 2: 13:56

It's gone.

Speaker 1: 13:56

All right for me. What are the key signs you think that you should really invest in something like this?

Speaker 2: 14:02

like you know, working on your communication, so I would often go to something like the results that you're getting and even if you're getting amazing results, asking yourself the question is it possible for me to get more of something that I'm interested in? Now I'm not suggesting that we're pushing and pushing and pushing even more, but do you think it's possible to get even better results?

Speaker 2: 14:24

And if so if I was to improve my communication or do things differently, how would that directly link? And I think sometimes you know, and I've been in this position where I'm going, wow, my results are better than last year, I must be doing really, really well, but then saying, could I even do more? And how does my communication help that? Or how would my communication help that if I was to think about it differently and starting to make the connection?

Speaker 1: 14:51

there.

Speaker 2: 14:51

Sometimes it might not be getting more sales, it might be getting sales faster, or it might be making more connections, or it might be just making faster, or it might be making more connections or it might be just making it easier to explain what I'm trying to get across. Think, like those sorts of things is what communication can help as well. And I would probably say to that middle ground you know there's always a different way of communicating and sometimes testing it might mean that you get the results faster, quicker, easier or bigger.

Speaker 1: 15:22

Yeah, I also think it could take away that ick of that ick, that kind of comes with oh, I've got to do some outreach because I know pretty much everyone I talk to whenever I'm like hey, have you thought about actually following up your old clients? They're like oh, that's icky.

Speaker 2: 15:39

I'm like no, it's not, it is, and at the moment, especially with the market being uncertain or a little bit of a lack of confidence, just that, staying in touch and being a little bit warm with your clients is really, really important, and so one of the things that I would say there is stop thinking of it as sales, just think of it as having a connection, just connect. That's all you need to do is have a connection. Ask them a question, see how they are, figure out what's going on in their world, hear the challenges that they're having. Sometimes that's all you need to do to make it a little bit warmer and, as you get to know them, just have more conversations. Most people I know will be happy to have a one-on-one conversation for a short period of time if you're genuinely showing curiosity for their world. People love talking about themselves. Even the introverts and the people that say they don't, they love it.

Speaker 1: 16:37

Yeah, we all do we all, whether we like it or not, there's all of us like to talk about ourselves and we especially like being asked. Yeah, they're great tips.

Speaker 2: 16:45

Lisa, it is, it's. Yeah, just keep on talking, keep on asking questions. Questions are like this tool that we just don't use enough. Yeah, I love that, I love that.

Speaker 1: 16:55

Thank you so much for joining me today. So I know for a fact you have got a program coming out, so we'll put details for that in the show notes. I'm excited for that myself. Yes, yeah, so we'll put that in there. But how else can people find you?

Speaker 2: 17:08

So the easiest way to find me is on my website, comeonlineco. No M just CO. We're going short for this one. And no m just co where we're going short for this one. And I'm on all the social media platforms that becca's told me I have to be on, so linkedin well, actually, some of them right linkedin instagram, facebook. You can find me either lisa shannon or come online consulting amazing.

Speaker 1: 17:32

We'll put those details in the show notes, thank you for joining me, thanks, talk soon.