I first learned this lesson when I was launching a local paper in Dallas.  During the launch we conducted community meetings to explain the product, which was unique in the access that consumers would have to getting articles published. We thought consumers would embrace it since they actually controlled the conversation in the newspaper, rather than the other way around.

For one of our first meetings, we went to a place that was cheap and convenient for us, on our schedule.  We sent out invitations to the busy community leaders.  When the time came for the meeting, few attended, and those that did weren’t all that excited.  They were more concerned with a perception that they would be losing professional coverage rather than gaining a paper of their own.

The next meeting was quite a bit different.  We went to them on their schedule.  We held it in their community in a place that was easy to attend.  Our message was about the additional coverage, and access to get the items they were proud of printed in the paper.  We respected the consumer and understood their concerns.  The meeting was strongly attended, and most of the people that had anything negative to say were concerned they wouldn’t be getting the product.

The first meeting was all about what we were going to do, on our terms.

The second was about listening and becoming a new voice for the community.  It was about THEM.