Hundred

“The Rule of Seven is an old marketing adage. It says that a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action.”


I have a confession to make.  It is a little embarrassing.  There is a phrase I often use at the peak of my frustration.  Maybe it is one of your “go-to” expressions as well.

“I have already told you that a hundred times.”

It is always associated with my disappointment with things not happening as I expected.

Okay, so they say that people need to hear something three times before it resonates.  Marketing firms have long held that it takes seven times before a prospective client will take action.  (Maybe that is to make sure that you have a marketing spend seven times larger!)  But a recent study from Microsoft on retention of messages said that the magic number is somewhere between six and twenty iterations.

Regardless of whose axiom or research you believe, one hundred times is surely enough for someone to hear, understand, and respond.  Right?

One little problem.

When I recently found myself frustratingly saying, “I’ve already told you that one hundred times”, a wave of conviction came over me.  Had I really said that one hundred times?  Had I said it twenty?  Or seven?  Or six?  Or even three?

As I prayed for clarity, understanding, and the truth about the matter, it became painfully clear.

I may have thought that somewhere between a few dozen and a hundred times.

I have probably only said it a few.

But a few times should be enough, right?  I mean, I was saying it to people old enough to reason and understand things being told to them.  The research says it probably isn’t enough.  It is going to take more than once or twice or even a few.  And as noisy as things are with the thousands of other things they are hearing a day…

Here is the real problem.  My sentence didn’t fit the crime.  I gave them a hundred’s worth level of frustration for something that had only been expressed a few times.  Not only had I not taken the time to make sure they knew and understood my expectations, but I also inflicted a hundred-folds weight of anger on them.

Maybe this is you.  

Maybe you walk around in a constant state of frustration with kids or staff.

Maybe they are always wondering why you always seem so angry.  

Maybe they honestly don’t have any idea why.  

Maybe you just haven’t told them enough times for them to know.

All of this is really challenging for me.  I don’t like to say things more than once.  But if taking the time to say it a few more times means that I don’t have to live with my own frustration for the hundredth time, that is a trade I am willing to make.  


Consider

  • Are you frustrated with the execution of your employees? Your kids?

  • Do you feel like you’ve already told them to do things a hundred times that still aren’t happening?

  • Do you think you have really told them a hundred times or maybe just a few?

  • Would you be willing to trade a bunch of that frustration for a little more explanation and reiteration?