Leveraging Your Touchpoints For Maximum Impact

The touchpoints you have with others help people become familiar with you. 

Taking it a step further, what if the touch points within a group help elevate your status and makes you and your work even stronger (and seen).

What I’m going to share with you in this article relates to:

— Touchpoints for you and your business

— Touchpoints when you feel a part of a group 

It’s a clinical word ‘touchpoint.’ Let’s swap it for these purposes to ‘interaction’ where you begin to progress from a stranger to a potential friend. It turns unawareness into opportunity.

No one ever wants to create and share work that drifts and no one gets the opportunity to see or come closer. 

This is why the work you create has to be from a place of expression, intimacy and the goal for meaningful moments with the right people. It’s important to recognise the messages you share have to count.

As an example, the continual touchpoint with you from my side are either digital, namely, the blog, weekly newsletter, social (LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram) or they can be direct, namely via live events. We’re ramping up the in-person side in 2023 with events in Poole and Bristol for YATM.

When you share your work and you are present, you want others to warm to you, so it becomes easier for them to commit/buy. When we bring ourselves to the table and not hide behind a logo, life starts to become easier, you become recognised for who you are and your values. This means the chances for others to come closer are heightened.

The form book says 7-11-4. This is Google’s research (called Zero Moment Of Truth) that someone else will spend 7 hours looking at your work, across 11 touch points and in 4 different locations before they are ready to step up.

Let me break this down:

— 7 hours such as time with your blog on topics you support, watching videos that put your stamp on it, listening to your podcast.

— 11 touch points such as your newsletter, the social posts people see in their feed or a thank you message when someone subscribes

— 4 different locations such as your offline interaction, your website or what other people are saying about you

It all represents ways to bring people closer to you and raise your reputation so people feel comfortable when they step up.

Taking it further what if you wanted to become ‘friends’ with the right people? According to ‘Dunbar’s number’ the optimum number of people to be comfortable with is 150.

This represents the meaningful contacts you can make. The idea is that people have a limited capacity for socialising, and therefore the relationships we form are limited to a certain extent. If you start to want to reach out to a much higher number, ego takes centre stage.

What if you could take the various touch points of reassurance and also the meaningful relationships made and find a way to mould them together. 

This is what I am trying to figure out at the moment where it’s the touch points within the connected group that helps to raise the profile and status of everyone.

Let me explain in this second section what is happening and ideas to think about.

Everything links when you are part of a team

— Familiarity and commonality within the group (Dunbar’s number)

— Decisions made by others based on experience and touch points created (Moment Of Truth)

Let me explain where the touch points within a group can elevate your awareness and drive your intentions. 

When you’re part of a group, people are more inclined to stand beside you and help you to be seen. For instance, we start every YATM week newsletter with someone from the community introducing themselves and sharing a recommendation to watch, read or listen to (it doesn’t have to be business related). The last two sentences say ‘connect with me’ and a link to their LinkedIn page and a ‘what I do’ and a link to their company page. It’s friendly promotion.

Being part of a group means you are famous in the family (the Dunbar number!). That means an initiative you are looking to progress is shared amongst friends. For instance, Jackie Goddard is launching her Speak Like A Speaker Club (16th March). Starting something new always comes with a sense of the unknown, no matter how much preparation you do. When people in the group know, recognise that it can be useful and the diary is ok, it feels easier to book. People are already booked on and the event is happening.

The 150 touch points (Dunbar v Moment Of Truth) do not have to be reserved for people who are physically close to you. A group can exist beyond a fixed space. For instance, YATM now has live, in-person events in Bristol. There is the digital space (YATM Club) to bring people together, but also the direct touch points for people from different areas to still be connected to the same initiative. This just widens the opportunity for the group to expand and for familiarity to be reverberated.

When people stick around and it becomes a part of their week, rather than a way to sell a product to whoever is listening. Companionship encourages interaction. For instance, every Thursday morning we have an accountability session in the online YATM Club. This is for people to work on their projects but chat with each other about what they’re up to when we have a break. This has meant people start to know each other better, as well as being productive.

Bringing people closer to you encourages them to find out more about you. Do it with people who are familiar with you, your presence and reputation can be taken to the next level. If Dunbar’s number is maintaining 150 relationships then the group raises the profile of each other with a sense of collected connectivity.

When you feel a part of something with others, it’s the connections and friendships you build that help elevate your efforts.

Whilst we need touch points around us, that are working to convince people that you are a trusted choice, it’s the people around you, whom you have a close connection, that can magnify your intentions and rally with you. 

Touch points matter. Having strong relationships is essential for achieving success. When you realise it doesn’t have to be with as many people as you perhaps thought you needed, it becomes empowering.