A quick rant. To all those who enjoy keeping their head in the sand.In no particular order:
- Everything is currently entitled 'Credit Crunch' or 'Recession Beating' or 'two for the price of one' etc. This is simply chasing volumes (but not profits). Remember you get known for what you do and will clients want to pay full price when the recession is over?
- Everyone says that they can't afford anything - especially marketing, consultancy, seminars!!!!!
- People are saying that they don't want to attend a seminar/buy consultancy etc etc because they are tightening their belts.
- But attending a seminar/buying consultancy (of any great value/quality) will guarantee to increase sales/profit/cash and reduce costs/pain/stress/discomfort (don't forget the money-back guarantee). [Thought Bubble: Who wouldn't want that?]
- It was easy to make money in the good times. It is not so easy now. Now you need to be good if you want to survive. Mediocre is not good enough - you will not survive. Mediocre = death. [Thought Bubble: so what are you going to do about it?]
- Question: "Surely now is the time to seek help?"??
- Their Answer: "NO..."!!!!!
- Go back and repeat Numbers 3/4/5/6/7 ad infinitum...
A dumb vicious loop.
This is bonkers.
RELEVANT LINKS
- Let's Talk... workshops for businesses less than 10 employees
- Consultancy, Masterclasses and Business Surgeries from The Directors' Centre
- Beating The Credit Crunch book
12 comments:
This argument boils down to one thing and, although common, sounds quite weak coning from a seasoned veteran. If this is your experience, it doesn't sound like you are selling in the right way, or via the right talent.
Try talking about the clear financial gain they will attain - providing they follow some simple instructions and have the staying power. Then, give them some proof, give them an immediate result to see. However small, it has an enormous effect on the buyer and the buying cycle.
People need to have clear-cut strategic advantages, and want instant gratification "Show Me the Money."
If the solutions were so easy for them to grasp, they wouldn't need to consult you/come to an event in the first place. Plus, even though you have clear credibility/track record, people still need to be lead from their despondency before they "see the light."
Your rant, sounds rather like you are stuck in their world, not your own, infinitely more resourceful one. Understandable, as no-one is infallible, but the fact that you are is the last thing your prospects want to hear/read. They want magic, and they want it now. Show them a trick or two, and they'll buy tickets for themselves and their friends.
Andy
While a lot of my blogs are semi-autobiographical, it doesn't mean that they are all based on my business. This one is largely me playing devil's advocate.
BUT.. in the last week or so I have seen a lot of people 'stuck' in the gloom.
Magic we do...! a trick or two we give them! Proofs, stories amd testimonials they love! Evidence of financial they love even more!
Cheers
RC
Apologies Robert, went completely over my head, the first pass. I'm sure that you cover those bases well.
The impact of what you mention, is an interesting concept - state of mind. Most people find the remedies to be a bit "treehugger," and so continue to move around like proverbial "Darleks" - automatons locked inside of their own, often resourceful world.
This all clearly negates success, as who wants to buy products/services from an apparently uninspired, miserable person? So a regular, practiced, positive change in state/attitude is very important, however dire the problems are.
This brings me to my next point. However superior the advice, tools and metrics gleaned from one of your seminars, people always return to the same environment and the same associated mindsets that they had before hearing your solutions, including the negativity of peers.
Therefore, it is critical that they move to the next level and immediately have an expert in those solutions come in to coach them and help facilitate change. They must follow through.
The impact otherwise, is often that the book with all of the answers goes unread, the advice is forgotten and the same problems return. Later, of course, the doors close for the last time as unemployment beckons. All because the leader could not follow through.
As you infer in previous post, you can't do it alone.
Spot on!
RC
Robert
I attended a seminar of yours 3 years ago and it was the best investment. I wish you could speak at our seminar
Susie
The LinkedIn.com Institute of Directors gorup has gotten a hold of this blog entry and is commenting furiously.
An example of the comments...
When people really need help:-
They don't know they need help or
They won't admit they need help or
They cannot afford to admit they need help or
They don't know the kind of help they need or
They don't know who can help them or
They don't know where to find the people that can help them or
They don't trust people who say they can help them or
They don't know how to select from the people that offer to help them or
They don't know how to distinguish the good offers of help from the "others"
The people that buy true consultancy expertise are capable of making a decision without a committee and have the authority to buy.
Talking to people one to one works. The people we want to talk to and influence send their juniors to seminars.
Interesting re the IoD interest. One to one is indeed effective - providing the client is willing to invest honesty into the equation.
The problem most of the time is that, leaders invariably have degrees of "impostor syndrome" which results in them acting as in items 2,3 or 7 of Robert's IoD list, or worse, the Ostrich pictured. They have developed a deep fear of failure, and this becomes a selfish will to bury their head in the sand, until the nasty monsters have all gone away.
The veterans who know that almost everyone feels an impostor at some time or another, are the ones that benefit exponentially from the sharing of information with carefully selected professionals like RC. A true professional can certainly be located, can prove things in incremental stages if it suits, and will undoubtedly care only about results, not whether you wear nylons under your suit trousers.
Ironically, the very fear of being an impostor, and so not taking counsel from those better equipped to advise, will lead to more devastation than most things, save corporate dishonesty. Fear tells you to freeze and do nothing, or to run away. Courage tells you to push through and overcome.
Never Take Counsel of Your Fears.
Interesting re the IoD interest. One to one is indeed effective - providing the client is willing to invest honesty into the equation.
The problem most of the time is that, leaders invariably have degrees of "impostor syndrome" which results in them acting as in items 2,3 or 7 of Robert's IoD list, or worse, the Ostrich pictured. They have developed a deep fear of failure, and this becomes a selfish will to bury their head in the sand, until the nasty monsters have all gone away.
The veterans who know that almost everyone feels an impostor at some time or another, are the ones that benefit exponentially from the sharing of information with carefully selected professionals like RC. A true professional can certainly be located, can prove things in incremental stages if it suits, and will undoubtedly care only about results, not whether you wear nylons under your suit trousers.
Ironically, the very fear of being an impostor, and so not taking counsel from those better equipped to advise, will lead to more devastation than most things, save corporate dishonesty. Fear tells you to freeze and do nothing, or to run away. Courage tells you to push through and overcome.
Never Take Counsel of Your Fears.
Robert
I attended a seminar of yours 3 years ago and it was the best investment. I wish you could speak at our seminar
Susie
Andy
While a lot of my blogs are semi-autobiographical, it doesn't mean that they are all based on my business. This one is largely me playing devil's advocate.
BUT.. in the last week or so I have seen a lot of people 'stuck' in the gloom.
Magic we do...! a trick or two we give them! Proofs, stories amd testimonials they love! Evidence of financial they love even more!
Cheers
RC
This argument boils down to one thing and, although common, sounds quite weak coning from a seasoned veteran. If this is your experience, it doesn't sound like you are selling in the right way, or via the right talent.
Try talking about the clear financial gain they will attain - providing they follow some simple instructions and have the staying power. Then, give them some proof, give them an immediate result to see. However small, it has an enormous effect on the buyer and the buying cycle.
People need to have clear-cut strategic advantages, and want instant gratification "Show Me the Money."
If the solutions were so easy for them to grasp, they wouldn't need to consult you/come to an event in the first place. Plus, even though you have clear credibility/track record, people still need to be lead from their despondency before they "see the light."
Your rant, sounds rather like you are stuck in their world, not your own, infinitely more resourceful one. Understandable, as no-one is infallible, but the fact that you are is the last thing your prospects want to hear/read. They want magic, and they want it now. Show them a trick or two, and they'll buy tickets for themselves and their friends.
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