Today, I spoke to Frances Cole Jones, who is the author of The Wow Factor: The 33 Things You Must (and Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today’s Business World and and founder of Cole Media Management. In this interview, Frances goes over controlling your reputation, how to sell yourself in any given situation, how do communicate what you do, first impressions and more.
What do you mean when you say “My Name is My Bond”?
What I mean by “My Name is My Bond,” is that in this economy—where currencies around the world are fluctuating wildly—one of the things you do have control over is your reputation. No matter the size of your company, worldwide or you working in your kitchen, you make choices about the integrity, courtesy and punctuality with which you and your employees respond to the outside world. If you are someone who unfailingly follows through on your promises, you have the opportunity to dramatically increase your value in the eyes of the world—regardless of the size of your bank balance.
Name three strategies that anyone can use to sell themselves in any given situation.
- Remember that “you” is the most persuasive word in the English language. (Yale University Study) Use it often.
- The use of the word “because” increases the possibility of cooperation from 60 to 94% (From a study by social psychologist Ellen Langer)
- Make it clear how your success is going to contribute to the success of the people with whom you’re speaking: by increasing their reputation, their bank balance, their mission or passion—always make it clear what’s in it for them.
So, for example, if you were sitting down with a venture capital company that was known for their success in picking unlikely future tech companies, instead of saying, “Our product, X, is great and here’s why,” you would say, “We wanted to talk to YOU today BECAUSE you were the visionaries behind bringing x, y, z companies to the attention of the world, and I think our offering will add to your stellar track record.”
How does one articulate what they do for a living without coming off like a jerk?
It’s critical to present how what you do has the potential to enhance the life, reputation, or bottom line of the person with whom you’re speaking. So rather than saying, “Yes, my company was the originator of X product, which has outperformed every other item in the sector,” you might say, “I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to use X product—have you? I bring it up because it’s one of our best sellers and I think it might be something that would work for you.”
Why are first impressions so important and how can you create a positive one?
First impressions are important because we all like to think of ourselves as intuitive, discerning, thoughtful people. If you make a poor first impression, it’s very difficult to amend that in your later encounters—those whom you failed to impress will 
always be waiting for the other shoe to drop. You can create a positive first impression by being punctual, being appropriately attired, being courteous to any receptionists/wait staff/assistants with whom you interact in addition to your interaction with the “principals,” by responding to requests in a timely fashion—even if it’s only to say you don’t yet have an answer to their question/request—by taking notes in meetings, and by following up with a thank you note within 24 hours of an interview, or pitch meeting—regardless of the outcome.
You’ve gotten your clients all over mainstream media. What’s your secret to success?
I worked as an editor for a long time before working in the media; this trained me to quickly assimilate people’s speech patterns and vocabulary. The result of this is that my clients don’t end up sounding like they’ve memorized a pre-packaged sound bite. They sound like themselves—themselves on their best day.
——
Frances Cole Jones is the author of The Wow Factor: The 33 Things You Must (and Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today’s Business World and founded Cole Media Management in 1997. From the beginning, the company’s focus has been on cultivating clients’ inherent strengths to develop the communication skills that will enhance their professional and personal performance. The scope of Jones’s work includes preparation for television and print interviews, IPO road shows, meetings with potential investors, and internal meetings with partners, sales staff, and in-house personnel. She also provides presentation skills seminars and speechwriting. The author of How to Wow, Frances Cole Jones lives in New York City. Prior to founding Cole Media Management, Frances worked at St. Martin’s Press, Viking Penguin, Doubleday, and Broadway Books as an editor of commercial nonfiction.
