by Mattias Sjovall
Stockholm, 2018
The Cassiopeia Method is about how to communicate with the empowered customer, an individual under pressure of time and limited mental bandwidth, using a teaching style that is appreciated. This is one way and my primary suggestion on HOW to approach Refreshing The Customer Dialogue.
It’s conversational in the sense of an authority teaching with complete alignment to the customer and student.
It’s an optimal way of adding value while having a conversation face to face with the customer. One-on-one or one-to-many. You provide a new level of understanding.
And The Cassiopeia Method is the name of it and for many good reasons.
Obviously, Cassiopeia is a known star constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, and not only do I personally originate from the North but more important is the symbol value of the appearance of this star constellation. Since it circulates around the Northern star Polaris it’s appearance varies during the seasons. Primarily, I appreciate it when it looks like the letter “W”, because it’s the perfect picture of The Story Journey, like a process map with steps that are one big part of The Cassiopeia Method. Then the constellation also looks like the number “3” and that is corresponds with the parts The Cassiopeia Method consists of; The Content Basis, The Look and The Story Journey. And then as an extra bonus the star constellation sometimes looks like the letter “M”, as in my first name. And this might be the only time I am being a bit self-centric in this context, otherwise the most important point of the whole method is an extreme focus on the customer, the student, the situation, and how to constantly align in the moment through cognition and an individually customized didactic application, pedagogy, curriculum – because that is what is mostly missing in traditional teaching and that is what the modern customer expects and appreciates.
But the fact that Cassiopeia is a star constellation and the name of the method is also connected to the importance of perspectives in teaching. A big part of the teaching and communication technique I provide is about picking the right perspectives, aligned to the universe of the student. And the name Cassiopeia should be the obvious reminder to always consider various perspectives, more often than not a big perspective, a star perspective.
The Cassiopeia Method is built up from three parts, determinately because it should be easy to remember when you encounter a customer meeting or whatever contact you have with someone you want to have a value-driven communication with, in the context of a complex topic that you understand. And since the topic is fairly complicated a solid foundation is needed for this, and that is the content basis, the research, the acquirement of knowledge, and the current status in the area of interest. The Cassiopeia Method is ultimately supposed to build trust and in order to do that you need to leave the superficial fragmented one-minute-web search content world. This means that you need to do solid work to really understand the topic you are supposed to clarify to customers. Basically, you need to know it well enough to be able to explain the topic high-level to an eight-year old child, then you have probably learned the basics well enough.
Then you move to the next step, and that part might be a significant differentiator from all presentation skills and teaching styles we can find out there, you need to understand the student in extreme, you need to see, watch and enhance everything you can find out about the receiver of your communication. Not only by reading the generic marketing persona descriptions or treating a group as a group, but also by creeping inside the mind of the actual person you are talking to, and finding out as much as possible on what is going on mentally and physically. Because this is what mostly determines the starting point of the communication, and the way the journey moves forward.
The journey should be a story journey in clear steps, but it shouldn’t only be facts presented in a logical order, every part should make sense in building a mental picture of what you are trying to explain. You are actually painting a picture in the student’s mind. That is also one of the key parts of The Cassiopeia Method: to build up a mental picture while holding the student by the hand during the walk through the new landscape with stops for acknowledgement and reflection as well as crystal clear and potentially constant changes in perspectives – you paint the picture and finally receives the smile and student’s acknowledgement I get it!
How hard could that be?
Well, there are a number of ways you can make this practice work and it all depends on the context. I picture first and foremost the actual customer meeting, to encapsulate this into a natural conversation. To add value while talking to the customer, provide insights and educate, give value and gain trust. As stated, highly appreciated. But it could also be in other formats; whitepaper, video, webpages, in-classroom teaching, keynote, blog, podcast etc.
You need to carefully choose the right tools and the right approach. Coming from a balanced consideration between what communication techniques you are delivering with ease and in what channels the students are receiving.
Over the years, I have developed best practices for the teaching moment, how to really make sure that what I teach really resonates and stays with the student. Over ten years in various teaching formats for kids and youths, a fantastic challenge to lead them into a learning mode, make them become open to listening and learning and to use specific tools and techniques to reach all the way into their minds. Then, for fifteen years I have, almost all my time, been in moments of interaction with customers where I’ve been trying to explain and teach the complexities of software, business and digital transformation. How to connect Customer Experience all the way back down to legacy systems and databases.
Remember, this is about teaching something, making it stick with understanding, but there is also a commercial intent behind it. You are selling something but that just comes with the package, still the teaching/learning is at the center, you never want the customer to feel abused or deceived. Then the whole finesse of this as an appreciated version of Sales and Marketing falls apart.
Instead, see the student and tell a crystal-clear marketing story, crystal clear for the customer, not only for you, and make sure they learn something useful. And create a great Customer Experience, in a dialogue format, it’s a constant interaction.