Ignore it and fail.
Be unaware of it and be constantly confused.
What is it?
It’s this;
We assume a customer is going to opt for one of two choices when we finish our pitch.
Option 1 – buy
Option 2 – don’t buy
But the killer is Option 3.
They do nothing.
That’s the one you have to crack.
We were looking for new people to join our team recently.
The results were astounding.
Not because we were overrun with applications but because of the approach some people made.
Here’s the classic mistakes that sank their ship before it left the harbour;
1. They missed the words ‘hospitality industry’ and fired aimlessly anyway
2. They asked us to do the work “Please tell me what….”
3. They can’t write
4. They couldn’t spell
5. They said they were professional (in spite of the above)
6. Their track record had missing years.
Here’s how a potential employer might respond to these 6 deadly sins but just won’t say it;
1. Desperate. Shoot enough fish you might get one good one.
2. Sorry, I’m busy and I can see why you are not.
3. That matters
4. They can’t represent us if they can’t represent themselves
5. They are not
6. Were they ‘away’?
It’s very easy to send your people into the fray with expectations.
It puts pressure on them and even on you.
If they succeed, it’s a bit of an anti climax, a box ticked, no more.
If they don’t, it’s doom and gloom for all concerned.
You trust your people don’t you?
You know they have integrity and work hard?
You know they are loyal?
If so, then stop setting artificial goals.
Instead, have no expectation.
Have no opinion.
Let them go out and work.
Let them do their best.
The results will follow naturally and you will be stress free.
The Boss asks the Salesman “How did it go?”
The Salesman says “Really good”
The expectation is heightened, it’s a false parade.
Sales meetings don’t go really well or really badly.
They simply meet their objective or they don’t.
But that’s not the important point.
It’s this;
“How did it go?” means there are nervous rumblings.
It means anxiety, will we win? Will we survive?
Better strategy is this.
Do your best.
Have many appointments.
Forget being like a bookie and looking for odds.
Cover lots of ground.
Results will follow.
“How did it go?” means none of the above are happening.
You don’t meet a brand, you only ever meet its people.
Sounds obvious but often people forget that their behaviour is not ‘their’ behaviour but an expression of their brand.
Imagine being at a seminar.
At the seminar there is a delegate from a famous brand.
You never engaged with that brand or company before but you had heard of them.
More, you admired them. You were keen to learn from Mr. Brand, meet him and rub shoulders.
But sometimes Mr. Brand can forget who he represents.
Worse still, he can forget that all eyes are watching.
It’s no longer about him, it’s about his company.
The 2 collide and one becomes the other.
If the big brand is arrogant, rude or disrespectful, it’s how I’ll see your brand.
It’s also how I will talk about you.
If Mr. Brand is polite, respectful, humble and sharing then I’ll admire you even more.
Thing is, when you are an away day delegate no longer have personal choice.
Your performance will either win new admirers or consign you elsewhere.
Worth remembering that you are on show.
Better to avoid making a Holy show.
I rebel against them and I’m a little cynical.
I’m not talking about Boards who do good work, I’m talking about committees who don’t.
If you want to strangle a good idea, take it to a committee.
Think of your club now think of the committee.
Who populates it?
What’s the agenda?
How often do they agree?
How often do they avoid compromise?
If, like me, freedom and testing yourself are important, avoid playing the committee game.
If you don’t, here’s what happens.
Your idea will be carved up and reassembled badly.
You will have to agree things for politics sake.
You will experience weird logic.
Common sense will go out the window.
Good ideas will die.
Safety will prevail.
Some people will become a nuisance.
Talk will be cheap.
Nothing will happen (that’s worth happening)
My advice?
If all of the above bug you, fly solo.
There’s no such thing as the perfect person or perfect anything.
Nobody is yet the perfect Dentist, Doctor or Salesperson.
We have strengths and skills but we have faults too.
That’s what makes us unique.
Managing and leading a team effectively means understanding these traits.
If you do that, you will avoid frustration and trying to push square pegs into round holes.
I was explaining this to someone recently.
We came up with a new term. If you like, a new ‘type’ of worker.
It’s The Liquidiser.
They take everything you throw at them.
They pull the work in, liquidize it and push it out the other end.
They work hard, fast and furiously.
But when you stop putting the work in, they stop pushing it out.
Pour in work, they will process it.
Stop pouring, they’ll stop working.
Neither right nor wrong, just their way.
If you have a Liquidiser in your organisation it’s very simple.
Keep pouring work in and never expect initiative.
That way, both will be happy.
Sounds strange?
It’s not.
Out of the blue, a dose of real (yes ‘real’ flu – I checked) attacked my system.
6 days of struggling out of bed to deliver client commitments and then ungraciously falling back into my unpleasant heap.
It was time, like it or not, to pause.
My body said so, my body was in charge.
The little things we take for granted suddenly become quite big.
I can’t run, I can’t race.
I can’t get up and feel refreshed.
I can’t even get up.
I can’t meet my family or friends
I can’t walk the park.
I can’t drive or even have coffee.
The list goes on.
I’m not complaining – honestly.
I’m glad I got sick.
It has stopped me taking all the little things for granted.
It has reminded me of the value of simple little things.
More importantly, it has made me realise what it must be like to be really sick – long-term.
Being ill isn’t much fun.
But, if you listen to the lessons it teaches us, it restores what’s important.
Being sick is good for you.
This guy overdosed on giving out.
He would go red at the failure of his colleagues.
He would scream, rant and rave.
Failure wrecked his head.
It wastes time, energy and effort.
Failure is past, it’s historic, it’s over.
Much better to seal the hatch and focus on success.
I once worked in a company where Mr. Peace Maker was forever saying “I can see where you are coming from”
If there were two directly opposite views, guess what he said?
He straddled the fence which was mounted on the thick cut floorboards.
Eventually he fell off and fell in.
Thing is, nobody missed him.
»