Archive for April 2011
‘Why’ we do what we do is more important than ‘what or ‘how’ we do it.
Do you know ‘why’ you do what you do in business?
Most people know ‘what’ they do in business (at least I hope so)
Fewer people know ‘how’ they do it. (Most really great sales people don’t know ‘how’ – they just know they do)
Even fewer know ‘why’ they do it, yet this is the most powerful.
Why? Why is that the case?
Because, when we understand our own motivation, when we know that we believe 100% in what we do, it’s easy for other people to connect with us, engage with us and makes selling a product or service that much easier.
Marketing has always been about getting people emotionally involved with a brand, product or service but however big your budget is, old style marketing is finding it harder and harder to make an impression. Everyone is sceptical, everyone is cynical. Advertising and PR only go so far now because consumers now expect exceptional products, value and service but they also want to be involved, engaged and listened to. They are no longer passive receivers of marketing messages, they are active in finding what they need and that includes wanting to feel connected to the brand.
We’ve always been curious about the people behind exceptional brands
We like to know their stories, what makes them tick, their views and values but now it’s not just the exceptional brands that get this attention. We want to know this about pretty much everyone we do business with.
Take Sean:
Sean’s company produces great video for business
“So do thousands of others. So what?”
Sean is *passionate* about what he does.
“Yawn. So is everybody else (or at least they say they are). So what?”
Sean’s company uses cutting edge technology to produce high quality products at very reasonable costs.
“So do many others. So what?”
Sean jumps out of bed in the morning for sheer excitement, adventure and a sense of wonderment. He believes there is nothing quite so fulfilling as working with others to transform an idea into a vibrant, profit generating business – a business where the customers, employees and investors all share in the benefits.
When you meet Sean, he doesn’t tell you this last bit of course but as you talk to him you soon start to feel his enthusiasm, his excitement, his wonder. You quickly get a sense of his values, his integrity, his sincerity. If you share these attributes you’ll be very comfortable with Sean. Even if you don’t need his services you’ll always be happy to see him and get to know him better and before long you’ll be talking about him and introducing him to people you know.
Why? Because Sean is 100% comfortable with who he is, what he does and why he does it. He’s not putting on an act. He’s not afraid of being found out. He’s not holding a position. He’s allowing you to see the real person. He’s exposing the real ‘him’ and because he’s relaxed about this, you will be too. Perhaps most importantly, Sean is not about to start pretending to be something he’s not, just to get a contract or please a customer.
The advent of the ‘social human’
As I was writing this I got an update from a favourite blogger, Jon Holloway*, who says: (my paraphrasing) We are all now looking for more from the brands we engage with, we want to know more about the reason they exist, who the people are and why we should care. We also want to know how we can get involved.
Jon explains that as brands are trying to move from push to pull marketing, consumers have moved to yet another stage and are now looking for a ‘value exchange’.
The advent of the ‘social human’ (Jon’s phrase) via the explosion of the use of social networking in marketing makes this easy for people like Sean who are happy to be their brand and to be themselves at the same time but it makes it hard for anyone to hide behind a brand. It’s not enough to be the ‘face’ of a brand, we need to be the heart and soul of our brands too.
For some of us, this may involve an uncomfortable amount of navel gazing.
The Ancient Greek aphorism “Know thyself”, was apparently inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and has been attributed to many Greek philosophers and sages.
If mankind has been struggling with this concept since the days of Plato and Socrates it is hardly surprising that the question “Why do you do what you do in business?” proved a hard one to answer.
There are some fascinating insights amongst the 70 or so comments on the LinkedIn discussion http://lnkd.in/i4iGxV.
There are many tools and techniques that help us to get to grips with who we are and why we do what we do. At our April TIG event, we heard about Motivational Maps supplied by Nick Ratcliffe of http://www.partnersinmotivation.co.uk ; Myers Brigs personality questionnaires from Sue Parsons of http://www.vamonostraining.co.uk/ and Belbin Team Roles, Transactional Analysis, NLP and more from Steve Hoare of http://www.legacyinterim.co.uk/. Steve’s blog is http://mbrfan.wordpress.com/
All of these people are experts in helping people to discover why they do what they do and how to apply this knowledge to business and would be happy to answer any questions.
*Jon Holloway blogs for http://www.bethehurricane.com/ and is on Twitter as @socialvation You can read the full text of what Jon says here: http://www.bethehurricane.com/2011/04/forget-push-pull-marketing-exchange/
Would you like to share your ‘why’ or add to the discussion? We’d be delighted to hear from you either here on the LinkedIn group.
Networking Revolution
Its time for a revolution in networking.
Life has always been, and will always be, more about who you know than what you know.
People have always collected and shared useful contacts and always will.
In recent years, business networking has followed a set pattern: join a group, deliver a quick sales pitch, ‘work’ the room, follow up. Keep doing this (known as a slow burn) until people get to know you and trust you and maybe they’ll do business with you or refer you to their contacts.
I’ve always been puzzled by the dichotomy of the ‘quick sales pitch’ and the ‘slow burn’ of the ‘know and trust’ process.
If a quick sales pitch is so effective why do you have to wait for people to get to know you and trust you before they’ll do business with you?
On the other hand if the know and trust stuff is important (and it obviously is) why bother to introduce yourself with a sales pitch?
Many business people have embraced social networking as a way to enhance their business networking and those who do it best have realised that they need to be fully rounded people, not just business people. Instead of spouting sales pitches, they engage and have conversations (just like networking has always been outside of the business community and why it is called ‘social’)
Clever folk use social networks to figure out who they want to meet before they turn up to a face to face event.
Time is precious and petrol is expensive so why would anyone pitch up to an event on the offchance that there will be someone worth meeting? Why not research attendees on-line then break the ice so that you never need to walk into a room full or strangers or ask “what do you do?”
We can find people who share our interests, values and beliefs and who therefore don’t need to be ‘sold’ to. The ‘slow burn’ is much faster and often takes place before people meet face to face and geographical barriers are no longer an issue.
Networking is returning to its roots. Its about creating contacts for life, not just for business.
Wherever you are in the world, you can join The Inspired Group (no membership fee). Join in the discussion on the A-Z of Business Success on LinkedIn to exchange experiences with other business owners and make great connections.
Whether or not you choose to attend our events, you can engage with the speakers and other participants both before and after the event.
You can carry on the conversations on our Facebook page and enlarge your network even further on Twitter by following the hashtag #binspired.
Participate! Inspire and be inspired!
Posted in Networking | 
Tags: Attendees, Business Community, Business Networking, Business Owners, Business Success, Clever Folk, Conversations, Dichotomy, Exchange Experiences, Geographical Barriers, Linkedin, Membership Fee, Networking Revolution, Participants, Roots, Sales Pitches, Slow Burn, Social Networking, Social Networks, Speakers, Values And Beliefs | 
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Don’t talk tosh
I find my self shouting this at various folk from time to time. Today’s recipient is Nick Clegg for suggesting that we should ignore “who we know” when we’re trying to get ahead.
I’m sure that’s what the members of the cabinet did when they were trying to get elected.
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Members Of The Cabinet, Nick Clegg, Recipient, Time Today | No Comments »
