Let's demand it. From ourselves, the companies we do business with, our elected officials, and each other. Downturns in the economy are cyclical and we may have had one right now anyway but would it have deepened into the chaotic mess we see before us had we exercised a bit more integrity in our business dealings over the last 20 years?

Late Friday day night I was cold called by a salesman from the Better Business Bureau. We were in the midst of preliminary staging steps for a furniture delivery on Monday and I, the business owner, was left unguarded for the smallest of moments. His pitch, successful businesses, like presumably the one we have, should join the BBB so that other businesses seeking partners with integrity can find us.

We had moved all of our furniture out pending delivery of new office furniture. I was sitting at a card table. The place couldn't have looked more like a sweatshop if we were one. All day I kept remarking to the rest of the company that I felt like I should be calling people at home selling magazine subscriptions. Into this hovel walks the dapper salesman from the BBB. He had called on us once before. I recognized his face but wasn't confident enough to answer correctly when he asked if I remembered him. He launched immediately into his pitch. No questions, no confirmation that he knew what we did, no inquires as to our business philosophies, despite the aforementioned sweatshop appearance.  He wants me to join the BBB because they need companies like us. Does he know what we do? Does he know we are honest? Does he know that we have integrity? He does not. Had I signed up for the less than $400 per year, DIG would be able to proudly wear the colors of the Better Business Bureau whether we deserved to or not.

 

Much Maligned

We need a new title for sales people. This title will need to differentiate what a sales professional does from what those others, the Herb Tarlek, Jr. types (venerable sales rep from the 1980's sitcom WRKP in Cincinnati) do when they come to work.

 A survey conducted by Harvard, the Gallup organization and HR Chally stated that 4% of the country's sales people are responsible for the sales of 94% of the goods and services. This may sound unbelievable to you but, based on what I see as an entrepreneur, it's pretty accurate. Calls come into my office almost daily from sales reps seeking an audience with me, the business owner. They know nothing about my business and have no idea how they might help my business. They want an appointment...they want it bad. Unfortunately however, they have decided to worry about if and how they might help me after they secure the appointment. We get at least three calls a week from sales people trying to get an appointment to discuss our "marketing needs." We are a marketing company for gosh sakes. That is what we do and had they taken just a moment to research our website they would have seen it right there on the first page.

What Are We Missing?
I met with a group of thought leaders in the digital marketing services industry this weekend. One of the businesses represented in the group has been particularly hard hit by the recession. Their plight was weighing heavy on my mind during the long flight home. Unfortunately, I wasn’t coming up with any particular strategies to help him out of his predicament. After a few hours of frustration, I decided to finish my new book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Just like his other books The Tipping Point and Blink, I was hooked. His ideas are not just interesting, they make you think. I got up this morning still considering the points he makes about how we look at success and those who achieve it. And then it happened. After dropping my kids off at school a great idea - one that can really help my client - just popped into my head. I had a full evening with my two daughters and the normal Monday morning chaos of getting off to school after a two day lull in the action. I hadn’t had time to ponder my client’s situation for more than eighteen hours. But there it was …a darn good idea. I shared it with my client later in the day and he thought so too. So here’s the point: The problems we are dealing with today are significant. Many of us haven’t seen economic conditions like this since the 70s and some of us have never seen them. If you spend your days looking at the same surroundings, talking about the same dismal economic prognostications, hearing the same problems over and over, your mind is going to be in a rut. So change the scenery, change the conversation, read something you wouldn’t normally read. Get the motor on the old brain running again and a great idea might just pop out. What have you done lately to shake your brain up?

I just got back from a conference. There were a lot of reasons I didn’t want to go before I got on the plane:
• I had too much work to do here
• I didn’t want to spend the money
• I didn’t want to get on another plane
Obviously a lot of other people felt the same way because this conference which is usually attended by approximately 600 people had only 300 for this event.
But here are the reasons I’m glad I went:
• I learned a ton and it wasn’t just pie in the sky stuff it was things I could use immediately upon my return to make my business stronger and help it survive the recession.
• I interacted with other business owners who, while scared of the current economy, are not paralyzed by it. I felt energized by their visions and determination to not only survive but thrive.
• I was reminded that as the owner of my company, I am the primary keeper of the vision. If I see it, my company will too. If I am paralyzed, my company will be too. It is my number one job to learn, to think and to plan.
A conference with other thought leaders is just what I needed…even if I didn’t realize it when I got on the plane.