As a young D.C. I found myself sitting in a breakout room at a very prestigious seminar program drinking in the wisdom from the “expert” on stage who was passionately telling us how to attract new clients to our offices.
I was taking copious notes and sitting on the edge of my seat as I felt this person must have the keys to the hallowed kingdom of volumes of new clients. Afterall, they were at the front of the room, they were very passionate about what they were saying, and they were wearing a nice suit. 🙂
I remember very distinctly some of the final words he spoke as he regaled us with parting words of wisdom. “And remember” he bellowed “when in doubt FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT because no one is going to know the difference anyway.”
WOW …… REALLY …… FAKE IT UNTIL I MAKE IT!
That sounds easy I thought. I don’t have to learn anything else, I can just fake it.
Wait a second ……. is that what he meant?
What the hell does that really mean?
Fake that I knew what I was doing?
Fake my ability to adjust L5 …… which was always the toughest area for me to adjust at that stage of my career?
Fake that I knew how to communicate my message to my clients?
Fake my intention behind why I wanted to see and serve more people? Fake my way through doctors reports and health care classes?
Fake my way through community presentations?
Fake my leadership with my team?
So not being 100% clear on which aspects that comment applied to or implied, I proceeded to fake my way through all kinds of reports and talks and experiences in my office expecting to see mountains of growth just like the “expert” in the nice suit had said. You know what my experience was?
HE WAS WRONG ….. DEAD WRONG!
Not only did my practice not grow but it stayed stuck like a Doberman on a post person’s leg for months and months. WHY I asked? He seemed really passionate and he must have known what he was talking about because he was at the front of the room and after all …… he had such a nice suit ……. ahhhhh that damn blue Armani suit!
IT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE THE WORST MARKETING ADVICE I HAVE EVER RECEIVED!
As the years have passed I have come to realize just how DEAD WRONG that speaker was and how glad I am that I realized it quickly enough to do something about it. I want to shed some light on this fallacy so that you never have to fall victim to it’s untruth.
To understand this completely we have to create some context. Human communication expert Dr. Albert Mehrabian from UCLA found in his studies that the nonverbal components of human communication were far more important than the verbal words used in the communication. He is often cited for his 7% – 38% – 55% (verbal words – tone of voice – body language) rule in human communication.
What this translates to in the context of this discussion is that YOU CANNOT FAKE IT …… people have a built in B.S. meter called their interpretation of your communication and it is NOT built on the things you say, but rather what is behind the things you say (your tone and body language).
In other words, you and I Innately know when someone is shooting us a line of B.S. or faking it. We don’t need a PhD in language or psychology, it is just how people communicate and it largely happens at a subconscious/Innate level.
That is why you CANNOT fake it until you make it. It is impossible. What you can do is be authentic and honest. If you don’t know how to do something then invest the time, energy and money and learn how to do it.
If you don’t know the answer, be honest and tell people that and then go and find the answer. If you don’t know about marketing go and take a course, read a book, hire a coach, or use the school of hard knocks. Even the slight advantage of power poses as explained in Amy Cuddy’s infamous TED talk can create a more real connection. But whatever you do, please do not buy into being able to fake it until you make it.
Relationships are built on trust, and trust is built on honesty and authenticity. Do the work, learn the skills, become certain in your products, services and ideas, be honest and authentic …… THAT IS THE GREATEST MARKETING STRATEGY THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN and why almost every great business is built from the inside out on word of mouth referral.
Before you can create successful results from ANY marketing campaign, you need to first remove the mental subluxations that are inhibiting your ability to manifest the results you deserve.
After almost 20 years of coaching and thousands of clients, we’ve found that certainty in yourself and your services are among the biggest subluxations inhibiting success. Review this certainty exercise and watch your certainty and your marketing skyrocket.