SAXTON | people | connecting and communicating

Have you ever heard someone annoyingly whistle a non-existent tune, or a known melody that they then deform until it makes you wish that you were deaf? This is the kind of awful experience that customers and prospects go through when they listen to sales people who have become the message that their companies deliver to market. It is very important then to get straight the critical difference between ‘the message’ and ‘the messenger’, and the importance of combining the two related factors to achieve one positive result. Here are the choices available to companies...

Memo to Managers: "You can have your backside in the office now and then, but your mind and heart must always be in the market!"
- John Lees

In 1975, the city of New York was on the verge of bankruptcy, and due to this precarious position the main bank partner was in danger of going under too. In an effort to correct the situation, the president of the bank left the bank to join a group of financial experts, whose joint task was to steer the city out of trouble... which they eventually did. This is just about the most extreme case imaginable when it comes to defining the role of management: the president had to leave the bank to save the bank!

Imagine that a general gives the following speech to his troops as they prepare to do battle with the enemy: "Men, I want you all to give your best in this encounter; to fight with a do or die attitude and a fervour that would make your loved ones proud. Now, as you prepare to put your lives on the line to ensure victory, are there any questions?" At that moment a solider puts his hand up and says: "Yes, just one quick question sir. Is it possible to have some weapons please?" Such a situation would be farcical in a war, but in business the fact is that most sales people are not armed to do serious battle and to be triumphant.