Getting people on board with being a thought leader is easier said than done. We’ve had to help our clients work through this a lot. Because let’s be honest, it can be overwhelming to say to people who are already busy, “Hey I need so and so, who’s the director of this thing, to sit down with me and talk to me about this idea. I need their specific take on it because it would make really valuable and interesting content that would actually stand out in the marketplace.”
The issue is getting time on that person’s calendar to talk, film content, and gain insights. As we mentioned, these experts within the company are very busy people. That means you have to work even harder to get their help.
We’ve had experience dealing with this with our own clients and their company experts. Here are our three best tips for getting them on board and getting that subject matter expertise out of their brains and into your content.
Show Them the Value
Our first tip is to show them the value. They need to understand the importance of quality thought leadership content for the company and how important their role is in creating it.
In order for them to want to spend their time doing interviews, answering questions, being a part of video recordings, or whatever it may be, you actually need to show those people the value of what they’re doing and how it’s going to fit the bigger picture of the company. Really communicate and show them why spending their time doing this is going to move the business forward and help the marketing department create even better content.
Make Involvement as Easy as Possible
The people you’re asking to work with you on this are likely incredibly busy. As the main subject matter experts in your company, they’re probably being pulled in a thousand different directions all of the time.
So, you need to make this as simple and easy as possible for them by doing the following:
- Meet when they can meet
- Handle the calendar invites
- Give them all of the prep documents ahead of time
- Give them all the tips to do their best
- Don’t take too much of their time
Really hold their hand to make it as easy as possible for them. This is going to be imperative if you want a successful experience. They don’t want to do any extra work that they haven’t signed up for, so make it super easy and you’ll get a lot better buy-in.
Don’t Waste Their Time
The biggest mistake you could make is not showing up incredibly prepared and ready to go.
Do all the prep work beforehand. This means that you should…
- Know exactly what you’re going to do
- Know how to start your questions
- Know the direction the conversation’s going to go
- Leave questions open-ended at certain points
- Direct them at other times
- Know the exact setup if you’re recording
- Come ready to organize your notes
- Come ready and prepared to record
- Stick to the time that you already told them
- Never go over time
These tips might feel tedious but trust us, showing up with all of this already prepared is going to put you in a much better mindspace and will leave you with a much more productive conversation.
Just think, if you finally get some time on their calendar and then you mess it up by not being prepared, they’re probably not going to sit down with you again. Come prepared and don’t waste their time.
