We were going through the self-appraisal forms of over 400 sales and marketing staff of a large company with nation-wide presence. Our area of interest was the section on “Training/Skills I need”. It was heartening to see that almost everybody had taken the trouble to fill up this part of the form, considering that only 36% of them had filled up the part on “My Areas of Improvement”.
Tabulating the requested skill and training requirements threw up some surprises. We random checked, and double checked. A full 78% of the sales and marketing staff of this well-known company wanted more “Product Training”. The request for understanding the technology platforms underlying the products scored another 70%.
Imagine this – an army of your people, trained to the hilt on all their products, features, and the beauty of the underlying technologies. Now, let them loose in your markets. Eager to show off all that they are trained on, it will always and only be a “Show & Tell” exercise. Parading the ‘bling-bling’ stuff, demonstrating the functionalities, extolling its virtues, placing them above anything mankind knows thus far, while the customer is left wondering, “So, ok…impressive….but, what does all this mean to me?” If you are all pumped up with product, features and technology information, then that is what you are likely to spew out. In fact, you may seek out and meet only those who appreciate such talk from you.
Harvey McKay, in one of his largely hilarious books, describes his attempts at buying world-famous carpets by visiting the markets in Morocco. He decides that the best way to get a best price is to be nonchalant and show disinterest, even as you surreptitiously study the shops, the vendors, the goods, and the conversations happening with all the other buyers in those crowded streets. He takes care to stay in the shadows, changes outfits, visits same places at different times, and different places at the same times. He finally decides on a carpet he wants to buy.
He lands at the shop in a rented cab, leaves the engine running, and rushes into the shop to ask for the carpet he has already chosen. Putting all his acquired knowledge to use, he demands the carpet at half the price, and the haggling begins. He points to the cab waiting, and threatens to leave without buying, as he is in a hurry to go to the airport, to catch his flight. The seller is nonplussed, and in resignation, Harvey agrees to a price that is a mere 15% lower than the rack rate. That is when the shop-owner blows him off his feet by asking, “So, should we send this to your room at the Inter Continental, sir?”
Harvey is stunned, but impressed enough to ask, “How did you know?” The shopkeeper says, “Sir, we know you. You are here in Morocco to buy a carpet. We know that you have been studying the market. We know your choice. My cousin works at the Inter Continental. We know that you are not going to the airport today.” Then the clincher, “Sir, in our business, we make it our job to know.”
It sounds strange to be saying this in 2016, but in business, what knowledge can matter more than that about your customer, their moves, preferences, habits and priorities? This should begin with the top, as Jeff Bezos points out. If you are a Senior Manager, BU Head or a CXO in your company, you can do this right away. Ask yourself: If you were to take a ‘dump’ of all that you, and each one of your team members is carrying as “business knowledge” in their heads, what percentage of that ‘dump’ will be knowledge about your customers, and what percentage about your product, your company, your technology and your competitors?
If you are honest in measuring these percentages, you will automatically navigate towards doing what is right. Like we say in Process improvement,
“You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”
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