Look, I know my writing is sometimes as indigestible as a 10-day old rusk. But, a bit of sympathy for me would be in order – you only have to spend 5 minutes with it once in a while. I have to spend every day with it. But, today, I just needed to clear my head of all this ‘End of Days’ stuff and make some kind of sense of it all, so bear with me.
To this end, I’ve enlisted the help of French novelist Marcel Proust. I know his writing is more palatable and refined. So, check it out and take some time out of your noisy schedule to pause because it might just be the cataclysm that ends your life as you know it today and allows you to live the life you were meant to live.
The end of the world didn’t arrive on 21 May as predicted by American TV evangelist Harold Camping.
The end of days question has been asked (and predicted) many times. So, it was with interest that I read French novelist, Marcel Proust’s letter to a paper in Paris called L’Intransigeant.
The paper posed the following question: An American scientist announces that the world will end, or at least that such a huge part of the continent will be destroyed, and in such a sudden way, that death will be the certain fate of hundreds of millions of people. If this prediction were confirmed, what do you think would e its effects on people between the time when they acquired the aforementioned certainty and the moment of cataclysm? Finally, as far as you’re concerned, what would you do in this last hour?
L’Intransigeant got some interesting responses. A Henri Bordeaux, suggested that it would drive the mass of the population directly into either the nearest church or the nearest bedroom. Writer, Henri Robert said that he would devote himself to a final game of bridge, tennis and golf. And, in South Africa, Jonannes Coetzee and 80 followers would book into the Devonshire Hotel in Braamfontein and wait for the cataclysm.
Proust’s response was more profound and considered. I’d suggest we read it and re-read it. Then, get away from the noise that fills our heads and find some calmness and reread it again. This letter has resonated with me and highlighted just how off-track I am sometimes. Paraphrasing, professional speaker, Callie Roos, “In Africa we have two choices … we either sit under a tree and wait or we move. Most Africans will wait, I choose to move.”
Maybe, just maybe Marcel Proust can help us move.
I think that life would suddenly seem wonderful to us if we were threatened to die as you say. Just think of how many projects, travels, love affairs, studies it – our life – hides from us, made invisible by our laziness which, certain of a future, delays them incessantly.
But let all this threaten to become impossible for ever, how beautiful it would become again! Ah! if only the cataclysm doesn’t happen this time, we won’t miss visiting the new galleries of the Louvre, throwing ourselves at the feet of Miss X., making a trip to India.
The cataclysm doesn’t happen, we don’t do any of it, because we find ourselves back in the heart of normal life, where negligence deadens desire. And yet we shouldn’t have needed the cataclysm to love life today. It would have been enough to think that we are humans, and that death may come this evening.
Source: How Proust Can Change Your Life – Alain de Botton
Mediocrity has been on my mind lately. I’ve never thought about the “so-so” sirens song of mediocrity much. She lay dormant like a seed waiting for the first rain. The rain has come and the thing has sprouted into a hardy desert shrub that just won’t let go and won’t let me rest.
So-so reared her head, first as a prickle of conscience when I started asking myself if I was bringing my A-game to the party. Was my writing up to par (or should I say, above par), did my training cut the mustard and was my consulting flawless? Sadly, if I’m brutally honest, some of my work is middling at best and downright sh$& at worst.
So, I did what all mediocre people do, I compared myself with others, hoping against hope that they were doing a worse job than me so that I could at least salvage some self-respect and rationalise my inadequacies.
To my surprise, I realised I wasn’t alone in floundering around in my own mediocrity and inadequacy. Mediocrity is a disease. It’s evident everywhere. From some of the books I review – lifeless, listless and a two-dimensional version of the author’s true genius to the illegibility that has crept into newspapers (and, fully endorsed by the sub-editors). And, let’s not get started on the barely tolerable service we have to endure every day in both the public and private sector.
Who is to blame? Let me add the fuel that helps mediocrity thrive … pointing fingers.
Did Microsoft start mediocrity?
I put the blame squarely on Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Paul Allen. On November 20, 1985 Windows 1.0 was shipped. Although it was revolutionary at the time, it wasn’t a fully formed Field of Dreams … “build it an they’ll come”. It was more like “… kinda build it and they will come”. It was a “let’s just get it out there and fix it as we go along” strategy. Not a bad strategy considering that most folks will accept anything dished up to them that is dressed up by clever marketing. [If you think marketing doesn't work, consider this question: "What is the difference between a rat and a squirrel?" Go to the end of this article for the answer.] And, it appears to be the strategy that has won the day. Let’s produce so-so, get it out there and fix it as we go along. To be fair, I can hardly blame Microsoft for mediocrity. This question has probably been pondered since time immemorial. In 1899, Elbert Hubbard pondered this question in his now-famous, A Message to Garcia (sold 40-million copies, translated into 37 languages and adapted for a couple of movies).
A Message to Garcia
No man, who has endeavoured to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man – the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a tying and do it. Slipshod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, and half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him. I’ve no doubt that this is essential reading for anyone who is involved in a business enterprise.
Was Wedgewood too perfect?
Let’s take another view. On May 1, 1759 when the pottery firm Wedgewood was founded by Josiah Wedgewood. Credited with the industrialisation of pottery, Wedgewood was a stickler for excellence. If his factory produced anything that had even the tiniest flaw, he would have it destroyed. Only the very best was allowed to bear his distinctive signature and adorn someone’s table. He was probably one of the first to put his signature on anything and the forefather of “personal branding”.
So, what do we do? Wait for perfection before shipping anything out? If that were the case, this article would never have seen the light of day. Not much would be done. That’s probably not an option, is it? Maybe we should take a moment to pause. Even if we can’t put out the absolute best work can we not put out the very best work we can do to the maximum of our given ability? Let’s bring our A-game, as good as it is to everything we do.
Does a horror writer have the answer?
And, maybe it is as simple as following Stephen King’s advice in his book On Writing. He claims that after he has written a story, he takes out 10% of the content before he is satisfied with it. He tightens it up so it is more effective. Not a bad idea. Imagine if we spent just 10% more time on a project, book, proposal, training document, sales call, marketing message, nuclear power station, safety manual, prospecting for business and so on … just to check that it is the very best work we can deliver with the talents we have been given. Wouldn’t things just work a little better than they are now?
Amateurs help fuel mediocrity
To help rid us of the disease called mediocrity, I lean towards a book called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. You may know him better as the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance. He makes a case for being a professional as an ideal in every endeavour we undertake and he shuns the amateur.
Here’s his take:
- The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps. • To the amateur, the game is his avocation. To the pro it’s his vocation.
- The amateur plays part-time, the professional full-time.
- The amateur is a weekend warrior. The professional is there seven days a week.
He says that the conventional interpretation is that the amateur pursues his calling out of love, while the pro does it for money. In his view, the amateur does not love the game enough. if he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his “real” vocation. The professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He commits full-time. Maybe that’s all that it will take. Commit now to turning pro, turn every endeavour into a vocation and shun mediocrity.
Question: What’s the difference between a rat and a squirrel? Answer: Marketing
By now the Jimmy Manyi faux pas on the coloured people in the Western Cape and the resultant broadside from senior minister, Trevor Manual are well-documented.
Not that I want to put the boot in whilst someone is down, but the government does set itself up for ridicule. Here it is – An unnamed member of the provincial executive committee (PEC) made this statement (from Sunday Times, 27 February – Blast from ANC led to Manyi apology): “Whoever is doing this is exploiting the fears of the coloured voters, but we know that coloured voters are not that unsophisticated and will see right through this thing.”
Maybe I’m being to picky, but what does “not that unsophisticated mean? Is the coloured voter a little bit unsophisticated, quite a bit unsophisticated, a lot unsophisticated? Those three words give the impression that the PEC member believes that there is a level of unsophistication in the coloured voter. All he/she had to say was that ” … coloured voters are sophisticated and will …”
That would have scored more points.
God and the devil is in the detail. Thus, government officials, business executives and all of us should take a bit more time with to improve our communication skills.
In almost every company I consult to, I see that the sales manager has a personal target to meet over and above that of her team. This means that she has to personally go out and sell the companies goods and services.
I believe that this weak strategy is the Achilles’s heel that can incapacitate and destroy a sales team.
It leaves the rest of the sales team with the impression that they’re not getting a fair shake.
Here’s how it looks:
- The sales manager is competing against the sales team. She has to walk her talk and be the top fox and therefore will viciously compete against the chickens in her team, breaking them in the process.
- The sales manager gets the best leads and doles out the anorexic ones; if at all.
- The sales manager is more worried about looking good to her directors and feathering her nest than motivating the sales team to perform.
In my opinion, a sales manager should not get commissions on sales that she brings in. She should be getting incentives as a result of the team selling. This means that she’ll pass on the best leads to the ‘closers’. Her only job is to serve the sales team, to make sure that it has the best training, the best resources, the best marketing and the best opportunities to sell. Her mission is to create the kind of environment that motivates and inspires the sales team to do great things.
Why does the company expect the sales manager to sell as well?
Typically, a sales manager is ‘promoted’ from the ranks. In other words, she’s a sales person herself, normally the best sales person in the team. She obviously doesn’t want to lose her clients and the resultant commission. So the company agrees that she can keep her clients to keep her sweet.
Clearly this is a flawed strategy on two fronts.
First, the sales manager becomes a competitor and not a collaborator in the team.
Second, the sales manager’s DNA is not mapped out to be a team player (the best sales people aren’t team players, they’re egocentric hunters that look out for # 1). Therefore, she’ll revert to type and default to looking out for # 1. Also, she’s probably not extremely systems driven or detail focused and finds it hard to adapt to this constrictive environment. She’ll try and avoid this python around her neck and go out and sell, rather than commit to the role of a leader and manager. Where you put your focus is where you’ll get the results.
I suppose a sales manager that is snatched from the pool of sales people ends up like an eel trying to herd other eels (for those of you that do manage sales teams, you’ll know what I’m talking about, trying to keep a sales team on the same page is sometimes like trying to keep track of an attention deficit disordered eel).
I’ve no easy answer as to how to find sales managers that are team players and that know how to lead, motivate and inspire and that put the team first before ego.
First, nobody I know woke up in high school and said, ‘I want to be a sales manager.’ (If they did, I say think again. Being a sales manager is one of the most stressful jobs around. You’re the ham between the sandwich, you have 80% of the sales team that just wants to have fun and sees you as a killjoy and you have a board or managing director looking over your shoulder shouting, “Where are the sales, where are the sales?” And, like a coach of a sports team, if your team doesn’t perform, you’re the first one bulleted, aren’t you?) Bit of a mugs game, I’d say 
Second, nobody is going to hire a sales manager that hasn’t blooded herself with a sale. So, a sales manager typically comes from the sales trenches. This leads to the old adage of ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. First the sales manager is one of the sales team ‘a mate’ and then suddenly she’s a sales manager giving orders. It is difficult for her to get her new subordinates on point so that they’ll support her. She’s waging a battle on many fronts.
What’s the answer? I’d put sales managers on serious leadership training, human relations training and ‘thick skin (resilience)’ training and trust that an artist will emerge that can take the team forward. A sort of train em and hope for the best approach – not a satisfying answer. That’s because great sales managers are artists and seem to have the gift. They don’t know how to articulate that gift and certainly don’t seem to have a blueprint for success. Or do they? If you’re a sales manager, you’re welcome to comment (click on comment) on how you achieve success with your team. Here’s a guideline … if 80% of your sales team is not reaching its target, then it is not a successful team.
So, no, I don’t have the easy answer. But I do know this, if you make your sales manager a competitor, your team is heading for disaster.
In The Star (26 June 2008) I read the article “Selebi’s job safe for 12 more months”
In the body of the article, the following appeared: While leaked documents have suggested that the Scorpions’ investigation was being stymied by acting police chief Tim Williams refusal to hand over evidence, Williams has vehemently denied these claims. “Police never obstruct justice – that’s part of our training”.
Do you think that Tim Williams is being honest or is he being evasive?
According to persuasion psychologists, it could be the latter.
Research has shown that people who are hiding the truth tend to depersonalise their answers. They avoid “I” and “we”. When questioned about the Watergate scandal, Nixon didn’t say “I did not do that …” he said, “The President would not do such a thing”.
Tim Williams said, “Police never obstruct justice …”
Other depersonalising statements include, this office, the presidency wouldn’t …, the industry standard is …,
If you make the following mistakes in sales, you could be considered a liar:
- Liars avoid making factual statements – they use generalisations instead of specific statements
- Liars circumvent the question, never give direct answers
- Liars add phrases – to be perfectly honest and to tell you the truth
- Liars exaggerate
- When using numbers they use round numbers and all the numbers they use appear to be multiples of each other
- Liars can sound too good to be true
- Liars give more information than necessary
- Liars, to cover up their deceit, oversell
If you are guilty of some of the above, I’m not sure a sales training course will help. Maybe, just a relook at the values and principles your grandparents and parents instilled in you will be more helpful.
10h30: I was looking for some inspiration for a sales training session I’m holding. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson always gives me something to work with.
12h30: Nada on sales … will probably have to go to Og Mandino for that. I can’t believe I spent 2 hours looking for something and I came up with nothing. Well, not really, I found this little gem on change.
On Extinction (pg. 302 – 303)
The earth has seen five major extinction episodes in its time – the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Tiassic and Cretaceous. The Ordovician (440 million years ago) and the Devonian (365 million) each wiped out about 80 – 85 % of species. The Triassic (210 million years ago) and the Cretaceous (65 million years) each wiped out 70-75 % of species. But the real whopper was the Permian extinction of about 245 million years ago, which raised the curtain on the long age of the dinosaurs. In the Permian, at least 95 % of animals known from the fossil record checked out, never to return.
Extinction is always bad news for the victims, of course, but it appears to be a good thing for a dynamic planet. Crises in the Earth’s history are invariably associated with dramatic leaps afterwards.
So what? According to Ian Tattersal of the American Museum of Natural History, “The alternative to extinction is stagnation and stagnation is seldom a good thing in any realm.”
So perhaps we need to do a mental health check and ‘make extinct’ those behaviours and habits that are holding us back from true success.
And we have to do it at the speed of light (300 000 km per second) because everything is changing rapidly.
Remember that change is not a choice.
Or as W Edwards Deming put it – “Change is not mandatory; neither is survival.”
Do you remember the movie, Enemy at the Gate about the Stalingrad siege? The lesson I got from the movie is that we should offer people hope. Since my game is marketing and sales training, I would say we should offer our sales people hope.
In the movie, every dissenting voice is punished and every failure is punished by death. This is not a great recipe for success to save Stalingrad, is it? Things start turning around for the besieged people of Stalingrad when a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) says to Krushev (Bob Hoskins), “Give them hope”. He then turns a brilliant sniper, Vassili Zaitsev into a hero through a massive public relations effort. Through this PR effort and of course Vassili’s own brilliant aim – the German occupiers are soon shaking in their boots and the Stalingraders are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and galvanising themselves for a famous victory.
Let’s be honest, sometime our sales teams feel as if they’re beseiged and fighting pitched battles wherever they turn. If things aren’t going our way the first person we execute is the sales manager and then the second to be sent to his grave is the one with the worst figures on the board.
Perhaps its time to do things differently. Let’s find a hero in our sales team and start believing again. Remember, if our hero can sell like crazy … with the right ingredients and motivation, so can our worst performing sales person.
Sit with the hero and find out what she’s doing right. All you then have to do is document her winning traits, document it and pass it on to the rest of the team so that they can model those traits and also win.
So, before reaching for your AK47, find yourself a hero in your organisation and feed off her success.
Here's an interesting take on the Web that I found this in David Meerman Scott's book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR. It may help you target and tailor your Internet Marketing message a little differently.
Corporate sites are the storefronts on Main Street peddling wares. Craigslist is like the bulletin board at the entrance of the corner store; eBay, a garage sale; Amazon, a bookstore replete with patrons anxious to give you their two cents.
Mainstream media sites like the New York Times online are the newspapers of the city. Chat rooms and forums are the pubs and saloons of the online world.
You've even got the wrong-side-of-the-tracks spots: the Web's adult-entertainment and spam underbelly.
If all the books in your favourite bookshop had white covers with the title 'Book', how would you know which one to pick up?
It's the same with your proposals. You want your customer to consider your proposal first because he will read it more thoroughly and will compare all other proposals to it. The way to entice him to pick it up is to choose a strong title.
"Proposal" doesn't say anything clients can't figure out themselves. Instead write a title that states a benefit to the client. For example, "Increase Network Reliability" or "Cut Legal Costs". Your subtitle can emphasize how your offering is unique. For example, "Unbeatable Service Levels" or "Faster Turnaround". If you also co-brand the cover of your proposal with your customer’s logo and mention the decision-maker’s name, then you’re well on your way to being the first proposal he will pick up.
Information from nFold and Tom Sant to help you with your marketing and sales effectiveness.
Useful Links: www.santcorp.com www.apmp.org.za www.nfold.com
Public relations disaster imminent for the Taxi Industry.
Taxi drivers withdrew their services today because they weren't consulted on the roll-out of the latest phase of Johannesburg's Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT). (Like there hasn't been enough consultation? How long must the government kiss up to the taxi industry)?
This left thousands of commuters stranded.
It is becoming a public relations disaster for the taxi industry. They're making enemies left right and centre – customers, government and the police. It is just a matter of time before the whip is going to be cracked and the taxi industry is going to come off second best – even if it is through rubber bullets and jack boots. And, of course, a mass exodus of their traditional and can I add, reluctant customers.
Taxi drivers are becoming their own worst enemies because they're alienating their customers. Before BRT they could do what they wanted because there wasn't a viable alternative. So, customers had to put up with rude taxi drivers, unsafe taxis and long queues.
BRT has eroded that advantage. (This is probably why the taxi operators are resorting to delaying tactics). It is inevitable that BRT will become a serious player in the transport of commuters. The quicker the taxi industry realises this and embraces the change, the better it will be for it. Rather become a partner than an enemy.
The way it's carrying on now is only going to cost the taxi industry the hearts and minds of its customers. Many of its traditional customers are waiting for any opportunity to jump ship (or taxi) to a safer, cheaper and more viable option.
The taxi industry is giving its customers plenty of reasons to move. The primary reason is that it is affecting their back pockets. If workers don't pitch for work, they don't get paid in many instances. This has got to hurt.
If cool heads don't prevail and the taxi industry doesn't come to the party and participate, it could be the death knell for it. Because customers only stand for so much and will move if they're given a better alternative.
Taxi owners take note: Get on the bus or get ready to face extinction.
Business Generator, Jacques de Villiers is a motivational speaker specialising in sales, marketing and public relations.
Connect with Jacques
Recent Comments