Trusted at the Right Place and Time
Being at the right place at the right time builds trust and can be life-changing for your customers and teams.
Dutch visual artist Berndnaut Smilde is best known for creating perfect miniature clouds in unusual locations from coal mines to cathedrals. The sculptures last about 10 seconds, just enough time for it to be photographed before disappearing.
Donatella Versace collaboration with Berndnaut Smilde Harpers Bazaar 2013
His clouds are created using just two ingredients – smoke and water vapour. The right environment of cold and damp space with no air circulation is needed for the ‘clouds’ to form. He turns on fog machines that spout tiny particles and the vapour condenses around them.
Smilde then runs around, moulding the vapour into a shape. He then quickly steps back to take a photo. Once the air clears, he typically starts the process again and repeats until he gets the exact shot he’s happy with. For one shoot, he might create up to 100 clouds just to get the perfect image.
He says he only attempts new images when the setting offers him something fresh. To him, the takeaway is not the wonder of a fabricated cloud, but its transience that it exists only for a moment and then it’s gone forever.
He says each creation is about being in the right place at the right time. He says "if you’re seeing a photo of something – you’ve already missed it!".
One ‘photo’ is not enough to build trust
When building trust with our clients, customers and teams, we often make the mistake of believing one photo is enough and trust will magically appear. One blog post, one video, one presentation or one meeting. But, it takes numerous photo opportunities to create the biggest impact and influence.
Research tells us that it takes 10 pieces of content and 10 touchpoints for us to get a message through. In the next 5 to 10 years, it's expected it will take around 20 touch points to get a message to cut through.
In Patrick Lencioni’s two New York bestselling books, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage, he says that in order to create high-performing teams and cultures, we need to be the Chief Reminder Officers or CROs. It is our job to continually create clarity and keep reminding people of our purpose, vision, who we serve and what we’re trying to achieve.
Whether you’re a business owner, in an organisation or leading a team — to ensure that you’re in the right place at the right time, there are three effective strategies to get you there.
Over-communicate: You need to create more content, more touchpoints, more experiences and repeat your message more times than you think.
Use data and insights: Making use of the data and insights that you have in your business will create far more connected conversations with your teams and customers. When something is backed by actionable insights, it helps to build the confidence and trust in you as a leader.
Consistent communication across channels: Create an omnipresence with your messaging. This means when someone is experiencing a particular challenge, you will be there at the right place at the right time. This includes being across Electronic Direct Mail (EDM) or newsletters, social media (including Facebook Live), as well as offline experiences such as speaking at events.
Are you there at the right place and time for your people? Would love to hear your thoughts.