Food Business Success® with Sari Kimbell

Ep #236 Everyday Communication Made Easier to Get What You Want

• Sari Kimbell

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Ever wonder why your email to a buyer, influencer, or supplier fell flat? Or why customers aren't responding to your carefully crafted message at events or in their inbox?

The secret lies in understanding that communication isn't just what you say—it's a four-part cycle that has a huge influence on whether you'll get the results you want (and we always want a results - that's the whole purpose of communication!)

In this podcast episode, I break down the four parts of communication from your initial intention to the listener's interpretation, revealing why so many of us struggle in business and in life. 

I will share some practical strategies to close the communication gap with retail buyers, customers, suppliers, and more.

You'll learn how to ensure your intended message actually reaches its destination intact, transforming conversations into conversions. Whether you're struggling with wholesale accounts or customer engagement, mastering this four-part communication framework will give you the tools to get more of what you want in your business without the frustration of being misunderstood.


Market season is around the corner (for our winter friends) and it's time to get into the markets you want and make WAY more money every minute you are there. Get the Up Level Workshop for just $97 and increase your sales - guaranteed.

Get the bundle offer and save big already ($171), plus use code SELLPOD50 for an additional $50 off the full course.

Purchase either offer here.

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Pick up your copy of "Key Ingredients" on Amazon here.

Check out my YouTube channel at www.foodbiz.tube for how to videos to start and grow a packaged food busin...

Sari  0:00  
Welcome to your Food Business Success. This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the packaged food industry ready to finally turn that delicious idea into reality. I'm your host, Sari Kimbell. I have guided hundreds of food brand founders to success as an industry expert and business coach, and it's got to be fun. In this podcast, I share with you mindset tools to become a true entrepreneur and run your business like a boss, interviews with industry experts to help you understand the business you are actually in, and food founder journey so you can learn what worked and didn't work, and not feel so alone in your own journey. Now let's jump in.

Sari  0:48  
Hello and welcome back to the podcast. So good to have you here. Pura Vida! When you are listening to this, it'll be my last week in Costa Rica. I'll be flying back that weekend when this podcast comes out. And it's been an incredible trip, an amazing journey. It's had its ups and downs. A lot more ups than downs, but as I like to say in coaching, life is 50-50, and you can come to paradise and you still have problems, but I'm so grateful for my past self for hooking me up, for allowing me to have this adventure. And the adventure continues in my life, because I'm on a full year of adventure. And so the next place I go, I'll be in Denver for a little bit, and then I go to Seattle. So I'll be in Seattle for six, seven weeks, something like that. It's a little still in flux. I'm going with the flow, but I'm very excited. I think I'm going to be ready to come home, to come back to the States. And there's going to be things I miss here, eating mango every single day. I literally think I've had a half a mango every day I've been here. They're amazing. There's definitely going to be some things that I'm like, oh, that was so amazing. I miss the warmth. I miss jumping in the salt water pool almost every day. You know, there'll definitely be things I miss, and then there's going to be things I'm really grateful for as I come back to the States. All right, today we are going to talk about something that gets overlooked, something that you probably hear a lot about, but you've never really like dug in and thought about it in this way. We're going to talk about communication. And if you think about it as a business owner, you are communicating every day. You're communicating through email to suppliers or to influencers or to other vendors, to other coaches, to markets. You're communicating, maybe in person, with customers or other people around your business, maybe even employees. You are communicating digitally, maybe social media or emails directly to your customers. You're communicating through writing. You're communicating verbally. You are communicating, communicating, communicating all the time. In fact, I've been thinking about it because I've been coaching people around this lately is like, this is the thing. It doesn't matter what your business is, it doesn't matter what your model is, what your sales channels are, what your product is. This is what you do every day, and we all need to get better at it. And to be clear, I am not talking about negotiation. I'm not talking about intense communication, like when something goes wrong. I'm just talking about every day, regular old communication. That's what we're going to talk about today. Is just normal, regular old communication, and how you can get better at it, so that you get the results that you want. Have you ever sent an email, maybe to a vendor like packaging or ingredients, or it could be to a market, or to maybe somebody you want to do a partnership with, and you think that you've communicated clearly, and then you proceed and down the road, you're like, whoa. Like we did not communicate well, they are off doing something completely different than what I thought, and I thought we were on the same page. And this happens over and over again in business, and so I want to help you today by understanding the four parts to communicate. When you understand these four parts, which I had never heard of. I don't even know where I heard this, but several years ago, I heard it on a podcast, and I was like, my mind is blown. So I'm going to share them with you, because once you know them, then you can get better at it. You can understand where the pitfalls are and where it breaks down, and you can kind of head that off at the past, and it's going to free up so much of your time and be less frustrating when you learn to be a better communicator. Okay, so here's the four parts. Number one, what do you want to communicate? What is your intention? So inside you have thought about, I need packaging, or I want to do this partnership, or I don't like my placement at the farmer's market. Or buyer, you should put me on your shelf. Or influencer, I'd love to send you product, and would you post about it, like on and on and on and on, right? All the ways you communicate. This is the impetus for even writing that email or using your voice to communicate, right? You have internal thoughts, goals, desires that are driving the communication and as I've taught in the model episode, I'll reference that in the show notes if you want to go back and listen to that. But we have thoughts, but before we ever start communicating, the thoughts are also creating feelings. So we are communicating with both our thoughts and our feelings. They get woven in there, by word choice, by body language, by tone of voice, especially if it's over the phone or in person. So the first part is, what do you want to say? What is your intention? And I think even just pausing here to say, one of the things that you can do to improve communication is to really think through, no, I'm not talking about 30 minutes of thinking. I'm talking about a 15 second pause that says, what is the result that I'm trying to create by this communication? Clearly defining what is the outcome that you actually want. I mean, that is half the battle, is you actually knowing what you're trying to create. So is it to get packaging printed by a certain date at a certain price? Is it to create a partnership that drives sales for both of you and increases your email list? Like you just get to decide, but know ahead of time, why are you using the energy to type this email, pick up the phone, get with them in person?

Sari  7:55  
Okay, part two is what you actually say. It's the expression of your intention. Now, some of us, many, okay, let's just say all of us have had moments where we have a clear intention, but what comes out, the words that come out do not match, and there is a gap between intention and expression, and certainly word choice, tone of voice, body language, all of that becomes part of our expression. And I'm convinced that your body language and your emotions, even in an email, come through. I know for me, like when I type emails for you all who are on my email list, that it matters the intention that I'm going in with and my thoughts and my feelings about the email, if I'm like, oh, I really don't want to do this, it comes out in the email. So don't think that it doesn't. I really think that there's, like, this energetic exchange, even if you can't see my body language, and a lot of times, what happens is that we are so worried about what the other person might think or feel or do, and we're trying to be pleasers, right? We're trying to be a little soft about it. We don't want to upset anybody. And I do find that most people are not clear enough. We're too vague in our requests. We use words like just or we should instead of this is what I'm requesting. I know for me in emails, I use just a lot. It's getting a lot better, I have to say. But I will write the email, and then I will go back through and I will remove the just. I mean, I was just reaching out to see if you would be interested in doing this, or I just thought, and I just take that word out. It doesn't serve anything. And in fact, it's kind of deferential. It's like, it's kind of very passive word that doesn't add anything to my confidence, and ultimately, what the other person thinks, which is where we're going next, also being really aware of, like, how much are we adding fluff and filler words and kind of skirting around the point of the email. When we're in business, most of our emails need to be fairly to the point. And I'm just going to pause here and give my friend and coach an amazing colleague, Kristen Graham, a little shout out. She has come into our membership. She came in last fall, I think, or last late summer, and she's also has done a podcast with me as well. But Kristen is incredible. She helps people to communicate. And a lot of what I have learned about communication, especially through email and kind of those sales things have come from her. And she has this amazing I don't think it's hers, but she uses it a lot. It's called the blot. So when you're writing an email, or you can think about direct communication as well. It stands for the bottom line on top. So what if every email that you started, you may not send it exactly this way, but it's like putting in your intention in the email. And you're getting to the point, usually we like write this long email, and then we save the actual thing that we're asking the whole purpose for the email, and we put it at the end. So this idea of the bottom line on top, the blot. And what if you actually wrote that ahead of time in your email as you're typing this out? And you're like, and maybe it's just for you and your reference, but it helps you to remember why you're doing this. What is the intention? And you're not going to over dilute the message. You're not going to, like, add too much information. You're going to keep coming back to bottom line on top, so that it's always being communicated in a short and sweet way of like, what needs to happen next? Why are you even taking the time to vocalize this, to put it in an email, etc?

Sari  12:41  
Something I used to teach when I taught Junior High was I statements, and I was talking with somebody, and she was telling me about her partner, and what she was telling me, I was like, does he know about I statements? And she was like, what? I was like, oh, I thought everybody has heard of I statements, because I literally had to teach it to every junior higher that came in, right? But instead of you did this and you created that, and you, you, you. You turn it into an I statement, right? So it's not about especially when it starts to get a little bit of a critical, you know might you might need to give some feedback. You might be a little bit upset that using I statements are such a more powerful way to go, and it doesn't put the other person on the defense. So maybe checking your email again for are you using a lot of you's versus I's, and I will say, depending on the context, like, if it's a sales email, you maybe don't want to use a lot of I's, but if it's a direct communication to a vendor or something like that, really think about using I statements and then again, be specific. Put in bold, you know, at asking for requests, what exactly are you requesting? What is the deadline? What do you need? Let's not bury the lead. And Kristen, when she presented to our group, she said that the ideal number of words in an email is 111.

Sari  14:23  
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Sari  16:07  
That's not that much. That means your email will actually get read. And we want to also include, like, white space in there. And I know I'm talking about email here, but I think you could, you know, extrapolate and use that verbally as well, to say, how do I make this a little punchier? How do I get to the point faster, or not fill it in with all this extra stuff, and then, like, pull out the key points using bullets, giving the I white space to be able to process. 

Sari  16:41  
So part three is that someone else is going to hear this message. They're going to receive it. I think that's inherent in communication, is that somebody is on the other end and remembering that people are going to filter information through their own experiences and their biases, and they're going to have different priorities. And how can you increase your chances of the message being heard, both your intention and your expression being heard? So it might be choosing the right communication medium. I cannot tell you how many times that if you just pick up the phone and have a quick call with me, how much faster it will go. I get bogged down in so much email, so some of my team, I'm just like, can we just do a phone call? This will be so much faster instead of, like, you know, going through the rigmarole of the email. So choosing the right kind of communication, email, phone, in person, etc. Timing your communication as much as possible, right? Maybe, if it's after a large trade show, maybe you don't send that email on the very first, you know, Monday, right after, or you're just aware of, like, what's going on in the world, that might be slowing down their reception of your message. And creating an environment where it's easy to listen and just really understanding what their priorities are. So if it's somebody at a farmer's market, for instance, you probably want to be sure you are speaking loud enough that you have some tone and inflection in your voice, that you're smiling, that you are welcoming them in so that you can have the sales conversation with them, and that they are in the best place to be able to receive it. Okay? 

Sari  18:39  
And then Part four is how they actually interpret the message. So you expressed it, and it's like telephone, right? Like you have an intention. Some of your intention is going to get lost in the expression. And then there's the other person receiving it, you know, all the way down the line, and then there's what they make it mean, how they interpret the message. Misinterpretation happens all the time. It could have been your word choices. There could be cultural differences. There could be a difference, you know, you are making assumptions about what they know or don't know. It's personal experience and biases, and then it's how they're feeling in that moment, right? If they're having a really bad day, which you don't know, you just sent the email, but their interpretation could be very different if they're having a great day versus a bad day, and then they're going to have a response back, and the whole cycle starts over again, right? And so many of us are not catching ourselves at any point in this cycle, this four part cycle, and be understanding that sometimes people are coming. Like, if you got some constructive feedback, for instance, like, you sent an email to a buyer and they wrote back something maybe very short, and they're like, you know, your label has some issues. You really should change the name. You should change the colors. Like, who knows, right? Buyers could have lots and lots of feedback for you. Now we don't know. Are they having a bad day? Did they just get some bad news from another client or their boss or a personal thing, like, was there some assumptions being made? And then they respond back, right? And then your, we go through the whole thing where you are receiving the message and then you're interpreting it, and this is why we have miscommunications. This is why we have misunderstandings. So one of the things you can do to help prevent some of this misinterpretation, or them making it mean something different than what you intended is to confirm understanding, right? So what I'm hearing is or asking them to say, tell me how you heard that. You know, give me your summary, because you will be surprised. I've been doing this more and more with my team, especially my market team, and I want to do it more with my Food Business Success team. I've been using Strategic Coach and creating kind of what's called an impact filter. It's almost like a project brief. And so it's so interesting because it forces me to really get down my intention, and then all the things in my brain about what success looks like for this project. So it's a really great tool. Instead of just verbally telling them and then hoping that they remember all the things that I emphasize, which they are not, I now have written it down, so I've used them using the proper format that's going to help them really understand what it is I want. And then they have to come back and give me all of their questions, all of their obstacles, all the things, and they have to summarize in their own words what they think that they heard or read from me about what this project is. What is the goal, what is the vision, and then give me all of their questions. And we just did this, I have to say, it was so great. And then we had a quick phone call about it, and I was like, oh my gosh. Why have I not done this sooner? Like we just headed off so many misunderstandings, me being frustrated, me feeling like they don't understand the importance of this, or the deadlines, etc, etc, right? We just cleared all that right up. So those are the four parts. And what I want to encourage you to do is really to start noticing one of those, or two of those, and saying, have I clarified my intention for myself before I even send this email, or before I pick up the phone, before I get on that call? Have I thought about my thoughts and feelings about this, and am I expressing it in the way that is in alignment, right? Am I having a bad day? And so the word choices that I'm using in this email to this unsuspecting person who is going to receive it, but it's going to come off super harsh. We can be more mindful of that. How do we neutralize some of that language? How do we maybe add in some kinder words? Or maybe we put the blot right the bottom line on top, and we're like, I know your time is busy. Let me get right to the point. Oh my gosh. As a buyer, thank you, I would really appreciate you just getting right to the point.

Sari  23:59  
Maybe it's an understanding that they are going to receive the message and how can we present it? How can we create an environment that's great for listening, for hearing it, and then remembering that they are going to interpret it through their own biases, through their own emotions, cultural differences. There's going to be a lot of things that are out of your control in a lot of ways, and understanding that your email might get lost, your email might not be a priority. Your email, they intended to respond and then they didn't. One of the things Kristen talked about with our membership is like all the things that are coming at us, right? I mean, I have people communicating with text, WhatsApp, in our Fuel membership, on Facebook, on Instagram, we use Voxer, we use Asana, email, like think about all the ways ,the information is bombarding you, coming at you, and there are so many times that you get something and you're in the middle of doing something else, you're in the checkout line for the grocery store, or you're getting gas, or, you know, XYZ, right? You have a little time, you check your text, or you check your emails, and you're like, oh, I'm going to come back to that. And then you forget, and we need to remember that this is the circumstance of what everybody's in, and you're trying to get something from that buyer, from that supplier, that influencer, that customer, and just remembering that we got to break through that noise, and working through each of those four parts of communication will be so helpful for you getting what you want and getting it a lot faster without all the back and forth and back and forth and back and forth that exhausts us and delays everything. All right, that's what I have for you today. I would love for you to start noticing these four parts of communication. Start with something small, start noticing it in email, start noticing it in short conversations, and pretty soon, this is going to make a huge impact on your daily communications and help you get so much more done and get what you really want. Until next time, have an amazing week. 

Sari  26:29  
The smartest thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to invest in a who to help you with the how to speed up your journey and help you skip the line. When you are ready for more support and accountability to finally get this thing done, you can work with me in two ways. Get me all to yourself with one on one business coaching, or join Food Business Success, which includes membership inside Fuel, our community of food business founders that includes monthly live group coaching calls and so much more. It's one of my favorite places to hang out, and I would love to see you there. Go to foodbizsuccess.com to start your journey towards your own food business success.