Mediation in the mainstream: 5 successful strategies for spreading innovation

In my last article, Mediation in the mainstream: how to make it a successful innovation, I discussed ways to increase the rate at which innovation — like mediation or conflict coaching — gets adopted by the mainstream.

Now I’m going to discuss the five critical characteristics for innovation diffusion and the implications for ADR marketing. They apply to those of you who are marketing your own ADR firms and services, and to those of you who may be considering how your state, regional or national ADR association can contribute to public education about ADR.

1: Relative advantage
An innovation will spread more quickly if it’s perceived as better than the status quo – that is, its advantage relative to the status quo is quite clear.

I see a lot of mediation marketing that makes the case for mediation by contrasting it to litigation and the accompanying financial and emotional tolls. Frankly, I don’t think that approach works very well because it’s not yielded results that move ADR into the mainstream.

Why? I suspect it’s because the status quo isn’t litigation for most conflict and disputes. That’s the extreme option, and there are a whole lot of others before then. Until mediation and other ADR options can do a better job of contrasting its relative advantage over those other options, adoption rate will continue to rise slowly.

For a sense about those other options, take a wander over to another article I wrote recently: Your single biggest competitor isn’t who you think.

2: Compatibility
To spread well, an innovation needs to fit well with people’s existing values, past experiences and present needs.

I think much mediation may be well positioned on this one, but I’m not clear that the public knows that yet. For instance, people understand the idea of talking through problems at work and home. But do they understand that many mediators build safe space for effective and productive dialogue? Or do they assume that all mediators put people in separate rooms, effectively stopping any chance at real dialogue? I fear the latter because that’s the kind of mediation that gets media attention.

If you want to increase your ADR marketing success, you need to figure out what your target market values, what they already know and appreciate about problem solving, and connect what you discover with how you work.

3: Complexity
The easier it is for people to understand and use the innovation, the faster the adoption rate.

I think the ADR field is largely failing on this front. Our use of the term “mediation” is muddy and obtuse and usually jargon-laden. I don’t think people really know what it is, what it looks like or feels like at the mediation table. I don’t think they know how to find the kind of mediator who will be a good fit for their particular situation and needs and may assume that one size fits all. I think they are coming to believe that mediation is adjunct to the law, a sad situation.

How do mediators reduce the complexity factor? Take a look at the process you require people to use from the moment they first arrive at your doorstep (by phone, by the ‘net, or in person) through to the moment they agree to sit down at the mediation table. Have you made it unnecessarily complex for them? What can you change or cut to make adoption of your services simpler?

4: Trialability
If people can try out an innovation in some form, without first having to commit to it all at once, the adoption rate will increase. Also called sampling, it’s not an unfamiliar idea if you’ve ever walked by the product sample lady in the supermarket.

The challenge for ADR, of course, is that its confidential nature makes sampling a bit of a challenge. Videos of roleplays (even unscripted ones), while informative, don’t achieve trialability in the true sense because the viewer knows what they’re watching isn’t fully real. And they’re not really sampling, they’re watching someone else sampling. I’m not splitting hairs – the difference matters.

So how can you help prospective clients and members of your target market sample what you have to offer? One key way is to allow them to sample who you are instead of trying to create samples of what you do. One of the reasons blogs can be such helpful parts of an integrated marketing strategy is that, done well, they help you show how you think, what you believe, and who you are as both a human and a mediator. Think about other ways you can connect with people, live and online, in ways that go beyond a few moments of schmoozing.

5: Observability
If people use an innovation and the good results are visible by others, the innovation will spread more rapidly.

I need a bit more space to tell a story that brings this one to life, so that’ll be my next and last post on the subject for now.

Happy weekend,