Soft Leadership

Some might wonder why business is slow? Why are sales lagging? How come no one responds to the ads in the paper anymore? Marketing is a waste, right?

I remember this quote from somewhere:

"I'm absolutely sure at least half go my marketing budget is wasted...I'm just not sure which half."

This is what I understand about why marketing to the masses is a complete waste of time and money:

Over time, we as consumers have become so inundated with Choices that we don't have the Time to pay attention to everything. There is not enough time in the day to pay attention to all the mass ads vying for my attention. They are everywhere and they are generic so I tune out, everyone else does too...that is, unless they don't have enough going on in their lives.

If you want people to pay attention to what you have to offer then you need to be remarkable...OR get their permission. Instead of marketing by interrupting people, try marketing to people who are listening.

Recently, a company called Neenah Paper, a high-end paper manufacturer, discovered it was becoming increasingly difficult to attract new customers. Marketers at the company realized that conventional mediums like face-to-face meetings and phone conversations were not as prosperous as they used to be and they felt like potential customers were ignoring their efforts to attract new business. Sound familiar?

In this case, the marketing manager at Neenah decided to engage customers through social media. This was a good path to follow since it was observed that a majority of the company’s prospects were spending most of their day in front of a computer. Under his direction, the marketing department at Neenah began finding prospects by searching for keywords in Twitter and joining in on the conversations. They learned that social media is simply a more effective way of engaging with their prospects and one sales person expressed, “It’s an invitation to have a conversation. You’re getting permission to have a conversation—a conversation that used to only happen in person.”    

Some of the best advice I ever read about public speaking is PEP and EPE, but treats are another concept I've found to be helpful too. 

Last month I spoke about "Image Matters" (get the pun?) in front of my bosses and 30+ new colleagues who'd been doing their jobs longer than I've been alive. 

I wanted my ideas to stick so I told stories and made cinnamon roasted almonds to share with them. It's a good idea to tie the treat into what you are teaching and to make the packaging cute - women appreciate thoughtful stuff like that. 

It was my first impression to people I plan on working with for many years and the feedback I received at the lunch following seemed positive. Even if no one agreed with that I was presenting, at least they laughed at a few jokes and enjoyed the treat. 

I recently read this Businessweek article, God's MBAs: Why Mormon Missions Produce Leaders. So here's my opinion as a former missionary and recent MBA grad:

First off, it would be important to note that there is a disproportionately large number of non-religious people among the educated and wealthy in our society. Serving a Mormon mission does not guarantee success in business or politics, but it can sure help. Nevertheless, it was nice to read such a positive piece about missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a major news publication. I'm still rather surprised they would write about such a topic.

The missionary experience is a truly incredible opportunity. From a business angle, you develop keen leadership traits as well as perfect your skills in sales and marketing. You learn how to really care about people and build sincere relationships of trust. You work 16+ hours a day, seven days a week. You study your guts out because you have to know the entire Bible and Book of Mormon as well as other religious scripts and dialogs like the back of your hand. Some lucky missionaries even get to learn Spanish, Russian, Japanese or Mandarin on top of everything else. The best experience of all comes in dealing with and handling objections because you develop the moxie to persist in making that call or knocking on that door after hundreds rejections. 

In my opinion, I believe that no matter what religion you subscribe to, when a young man hits the age of 19, he needs to leave home, move far away (a third world country if at all possible), wear a uniform every day, get a short hair cut, give up girls, cars, music, television, movies, concerts, cell phones, facebook and the pursuit of money to live on a very small budget and just serve people - in other words, actually step outside oneself for once and learn some charity. Just imagine what this would do for the world we live in.