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Years ago, during a consulting session with a hotel GM, I had a “lightbulb moment” about why change is so hard for people. And even though you might not face the exact same situation that was discussed, there’s a good chance his reaction will feel familiar to you.
He wanted my advice on how to increase the success of the hotel’s email newsletter, which had a lot of subscribers but yielded few results. However, the discussion that followed felt more like a “Who’s on First” comedy sketch than a consulting session.
It went like this:
Me: Do you notice any patterns in particular types of subject lines that lead to a higher open rate?
GM: We only put the hotel name and the date of the newsletter in the subject line.
Me: Oh! So that’s one simple place to start. Getting people to open the email is the first step toward getting them to read the content. Let’s look at creating a turnkey way to make each subject line more enticing.
GM: Actually, we think people would prefer to have the name/date in the subject line, so they can save and sort as needed.
Me: But if they’re not even opening them, they never get to the point where they’re saving and sorting. Perhaps you can test things by adding a tiny bit of color and substance to a few subject lines and see what happens? You can still keep the date in there if you wish.
GM: Well, we’ve always done it this way, so it doesn’t make sense to change that format now. People are used to it.
Me: Based on what you’re telling me, it seems like they’re just used to deleting the emails unopened. If you’d like to get them to open and read the newsletters, you’ll need to make some changes to the way they receive them.
GM: What if we change the layout inside and put the events calendar on the right, and add more photos at the top?
Me: That would be wonderful, but you’ll still need to change the subject line to inspire them to OPEN the emails and see all those fabulous changes.
GM: But then someone’s going to have to come up with a new subject line each time, and the way it works now, it’s much easier for us to manage. We just have a template, and my assistant plugs in all the information.
AND THERE IT IS…THE ROOT OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.
In this case, as so often happens, the GM wanted the RESULTS that come with change, but he didn’t want to actually MAKE the change required to bring about the result. It was “too hard,” and didn’t fit the patterns, habits, and procedures already in place.
Look, I get it. Changing patterns, habits, and procedures feels uncomfortable. Of course it does, and especially in business environments. You set things up into a routine based on many parameters – budget, staffing, skill set, capabilities, timing, and more. Making change means having to rethink (and reorganize) all those parameters again. THAT’s the part that’s hard.
In the case of the GM above, his resistance came from these thoughts that flooded his head:
- I don’t have the time to think up new subject lines for every newsletter.
- I don’t have the qualified staff to devote to it either.
- I don’t have the budget to hire someone else to do this.
- It’s hard enough to gather up all the content to put IN the newsletter…adding this additional element (which requires creativity, not just gathering) would take too much time on top of an already-big time suck that doesn’t get a good ROI anyway.
Seems crazy when you read this, right? Like, seriously? Is it really that hard and does it really take that much time to come up with a compelling subject line for a newsletter? It’s such a small thing. It shouldn’t send someone spiraling with this intense level of multi-layered resistance.
But as we went on to unpack his concerns in the session, it became clear that these were the issues that subconsciously made him throw up the brick wall to a seemingly small suggestion for change.
Y’all…this is normal. And it happens to some degree in every organization (even yours, even mine), all the time. That fear of change usually stems from two places: 1) your own habits/circumstances (most commonly, “I’m already so busy I don’t have time to deal with this one more thing”); or 2) dreading the thought of getting all your stakeholders (bosses, colleagues, owners, whatever) on board with whatever’s required to MAKE the change that will GET the new results.
Either way, somehow, “doing the same thing and just hoping for a different result” feels like the lesser of two evils.
So in the end, it all comes down to a choice. What do you want more… to comfortably keep your patterns intact or to get a different result? There’s no shame in saying, “I want a different result, but right now, I’m not in a position to change the existing circumstances. So change will have to wait and I’ll live with the same results until then.”
Then…don’t give up. Keep an eye on the circumstances and look for opportunities that make it possible to introduce a change that would have an impact on results. In that GM’s case…can his assistant get some training? Can a budget be repurposed or added to hire someone with marketing experience? Can newsletters be done less frequently, in order to have more time to do each one justice? Can they farm out newsletters to a writer, and get a way better ROI even with the increase in expenses? The list of options to consider is lengthy. But the point is…just because you can’t do something NOW doesn’t mean you can’t do it EVER. Bide your time and find your solution.
But please, whatever you do, don’t just keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. That path makes you a “marketing contradictionist” and I guarantee you… it will bring you nothing but frustration and misery.
