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Sales and Marketing

Why Would You Stop Selling a Lucrative Product?

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As I contemplated the strong response last week’s issue generated, I explored more of Simon Sinek‘s work.


Here’s a story of CVS, the big pharmacy company, eliminating tobacco sales. The hit to revenue would be $4 billion per year. A smart move? The financial pundits didn’t think so. They look at monthly or quarterly numbers as finite outcomes.
Sinek suggests that business, and life, are infinite games.


CVS’ motto was, “Helping people on their path to better health.” How does that fit with selling cigarettes? Their leaders decided it didn’t!


CVS’ earnings per share dropped initially by almost 10%. A year later, EPS had increased by 70% from just before they announced their decision.


Business decisions that align with one’s purpose work! Business is an infinite game! What happens next month, next quarter, next year, matters less than what happens in the longer term.

All around us are examples of people or companies winning by making courageous decisions. Examples:

  • CVS’ decision to stop selling tobacco – 70% improvement in EPS.
  • Our colonial forefathers’ switch from communal production to an individual incentive system. The flagging economy came to life!
  • Chobani Yogurt’s immigrant CEO challenged established business rules. A failed yogurt producer saved! (Here’s that story).
  • W.L. Gore (maker of Gore-Tex) operates with no assigned managers (Read about that here).

Uncourageous short-sighted decisions, with disastrous results, are also legend:

  • VW doctoring emissions test results. Very expensive, CEO fired!
  • Boeing rushing the 737X to market, short cutting pilot training requirements. The jury’s still out on that one – it could kill the company.
  • Theranos’ “Ponzi” scheme (Here’s Wikipedia’s summary of that story – it did kill the company.)

My friend and mentor Brian Tracy says (paraphrased): “Following the leader may work out. Following the follower is usually disastrous! It’s best to be the leader”.

“What” Drives Us to Buy Something?

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Simon Sinek is an author, visionary thinker and “unshakable optimist”. 


My search for high performance teams and people brought me to this  wonderful TED Talk. Sinek explores what makes people or companies stand out among their peers. The talk is 18 minutes long, longer than I like to send you to. 


It’s entertaining.


It’s inspiring and unique in its “discovery”. (True visionaries among you may be less surprised.) 


I think it’s worth the time. I hope you agree.


He asks:

  • Why is Apple so creative and consistently a leader in the computer business? Others have access to the same resources Apple has. Except for one!
  • Why could Martin Luther King Jr. attract a quarter of a million people to listen to him? Others had equal or better speaking talents and ideas, access to marketing resources, etc. Except for one!
  • Why did the Wright Brothers succeed in powered controlled flight? Samuel Langley failed, working with better funding, better education, more resources of all sorts. Except for one!

Other similar examples abound. Mahatma Gandhi, Mustang vs. Edsel, The Beatles, come to mind.


In Sinek’s talk he suggests that, in your marketing, you should answer:

  1. WHY do you do what you do?
  2. HOW do you do what you do?
  3. WHAT do you do?

In that order. Many people get that exactly backwards. They explain what they do. They may then explain how they do it. Some may even explain why they do it. 


Simon discusses the biological processes in the human brain. How they correlate with his recommended strategy. Why they don’t correlate with much of the marketing out there.


Next he talks about the law of diffusion of innovation. Why and when innovators, early adopters, majorities, and “laggards” buy things. 


Along the way, he entertains you!


I leave it to Simon Sinek to entertain you! While he entertains you he’ll explain why and how  all this works.   Enjoy!

Like to Talk? Like for People to Listen to You?

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Relationships are fundamental to life. In fact, they define your life.


Solid relationships depend on real conversations. Two (or more) people, preferably face to face. Or at least in a live exchange by telephone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, or whatever real-time tool you prefer. 


Text or email messages are  data exchanges,  not conversations. 


A conversation means real persons exchanging ideas in real time. One person speaks, the other responds within a few seconds.


Glassdoor recently named Celeste Headlee as having the #1 must-watch TED talk for every recruiter and hiring manager. Here’s that talk. It  offers ten excellent tips for engaging in meaningful and enjoyable (for everyone!) conversations. The video runs just over 11 minutes.


Some of Celeste’s suggestions debunk some common advice you’ve probably heard. She discusses ways to show you’re paying attention. She says: If you are paying attention, you don’t need to do anything else to show you’re paying attention!


Celeste says other hallmarks of good conversation include:

  • Honesty – If you don’t know for sure, skip it, or admit you’re not sure.
  • Brevity – Skip unimportant details. Nothing is more boring to your audience than dates, names, etc. that add nothing to your message.
  • Clarity – Think about what you’ll say, and how you’ll say it, so you make it crystal-clear.
  • Listening – Paying close attention to what others say – to learn, not to formulate a reply.
  • Prepare to be amazed!

You can learn more about Celeste here.


Enjoy Celeste’s lively presentation, and think about what you can do to improve your conversations. 


Better conversations will improve your relationships, and that will improve your life!

What Will Replace Facebook?

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Something we’ve sometimes discussed here is the value (or not) of “social” media.


Recently I listened to a fascinating interview on Alex Sanfelippo’s Creating A Brand blogsite. He was talking with Gina Bianchini, founder of  Mighty Networks. Gina believes that Facebook, Instagram, etc., connect people in a way that doesn’t stimulate them positively. Her take is that new users add no increased value to existing members. The network grows with diverse-interested and often negative elements.


At Gina’s  Mighty Networks,  a group of people with common interests can form an online community. This community will have a pinpoint focus. For example a group might be radio-controlled model aircraft enthusiasts. Such groups could also have a more serious purpose, such as investments, or strategies to retain employees.  Here’s the interview (about 30 minutes) where Gina fleshes out this idea. She also explains why these groups promote healthier chats than do social media.


In the pre-social-media world, people often got together, in person, in groups with like interests. There were gardening clubs, woodworking clubs, poetry clubs, etc. Often they were even more specialized than those examples. Some of them of course still exist. They’re the kinds of groups Gina promotes on Mighty Networks. 


By joining these groups on line, the members can communicate with others anywhere. It’s important though that the conversations remain focused on the group topic. Other conversations should be taken “off-line” – to a separate communication. They might even become the focus of a new group. A moderator should watch to see that things stay on track.


Gina believes that the best ideas come from people with similar interests stimulating their thinking in conversation and camaraderie. I agree.


The large diverse social media networks have often become platforms for spreading discontent and criticism. I recently had a disagreement with someone who was prone to making sarcastic comments in “reply all” emails or WhatsApp groups. This is the sort of thing that can often happen on social media sites. Gina points out that unpleasantness spreads much faster than positivity. It can become poisonous!


To me, it seems that Gina’s model provides a better way for positive people to communicate in like-minded groups. Some people will of course still prefer the broader platforms. They’re welcome to them!

An App to Aid Meditation – Sounds Easy!

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This is from an article posted in The Unity Community in October 2019.

During the past few years, I’ve worked with several coaches and other advisors. Among other things, I’ve been learning how to make use of the enormous power of the subconscious mind.


As we discussed a few weeks ago, the subconscious mind and the RAS* work together to control what we pay attention to.
*Reticular Activation System, described in this issue of The Unity Community.


Here’s a great article by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin describing the rocky journey of Michael Acton Smith. He’s the founder of the mobile application named “Calm”. This app and some related functions help people meditate, and to fall asleep. Good sleep and effective meditation are keys to a balanced mind and top personal performance.

 
In my own work I’ve been blown away by the effects of this truth. Some sense of the workings of the subconscious mind is important in applying this.


As Smith learned about marketing, selling, mobile app development, etc. he had many hard lessons. Among them, he learned: The value of an engaging story. The fickleness of markets, especially in the entertainment space. The difficulty of raising money. That users often turn a product developer’s aim on its head. They find other uses, which may be unrelated to what the developer intended.


Smith and his partner originally built the app to aid meditation. It quieted the mind to help reach the alpha state, so crucial to meditation.


Watching the usage of the app, they saw a spike in the open rate in the late evening. “Hmm”, they thought, “What’s that all about?” Well, it turned out people were using the app to settle down, so they would go to sleep at night.


With that new insight, they developed more functions and other apps to make the go-to-sleep aspect more effective.
Christine ably relates Acton Smith’s many-year saga (up to now) and the lessons he learned. It’s a fascinating story! I hope you’ll check it out.