Happy Christmas

Wishing you all a great time over the holiday
Enjoy

Now I’m Not One To Complain...

No, seriously.
That’s not the lead-in to a joke.
I’m not a complainer.
But there are a lot of people out there who are.
When the business is quiet, they complain that it’s all doom and gloom.
The sky is falling so buy a big hat.
Then things get better and business picks up.
Suddenly, we’re too busy, there’s too much pressure and we’re going to have to turn work down.
And when we finally get the balance right, people complain that they’re bored.
They’re actually moaning about the fact that there’s nothing to moan about.
I was watching Jerry Maguire on TV the other night and noticed a poster on the wall of the Arizona Cardinals’ locker room.
It said “A positive anything is better than a negative nothing.”
I struggled to define its meaning but now I get it
Stop moaning.

You Are My Sunshine

During his lifetime, Mao Zedong aka Chairman Mao gave many inspirational speeches.

Mao’s speeches were crammed with more bon mots than a warehouse full of Christmas crackers.

Someone rather cleverly decided to capture his smartest epithets and published them as his Little Red Book, which now lines many a well stocked library shelf.

Particularly apt, after the year we’ve had, is “Wish for the sunshine, but build dykes anyway.”

It’s easy to allow fatigue and a few bad experiences to colour your perspective on the world.

But it’s more important that you turn those experiences into learnings so that you’re better prepared next time around.

That way, you can focus all your energy on being upbeat and optimistic, safe in the knowledge that you’re ready for anything.

Ticking Boxes

One of the most troubling side effects of this economic depression is the increased focus on corporate governance.
More reports, more layers, more protocol.
Now I’m not advocating a mass outbreak of maverick behaviour.
But I would implore people to think twice before adding even more layers of complexity to an existing process.
Think of the Police.
Not the band – no-one thinks about them anymore.
I mean the Bobbies on the beat.
At least, they would be on the beat if it weren’t for the mountains of paperwork they have to complete every time they stop, caution or arrest someone.
It’s the same in our world.
The more time we spend addressing those checks and balances, the less time we get to spend solving our clients’ problems.
A company that spends all its time jumping through hoops has no energy left to run the race.

Waste Not Want Not

We pitch a lot.

Sometimes, even though we do a great job, we’re not always successful.

So the question is, what do we do with all that knowledge and insight that we’ve built up?

What about the ideas you’ve generated.

Well you could target related industries.

Without breaking any confidences (of course)

My favourite is to take all those great, but unsold ideas to other brainstorms or ideation sessions

They make fantastic stimulus material

They are new fresh and different

And make a great new jumping off point to create new thinking

Creativity is an asset so it’d be a waste not to use it.

Sit Down, I Have Some Good News

We’ve got to know each other a bit over the last year.

I know some of you get upset when I write on certain topics

You know that I try and look at things positively

I believe there is way of framing most things in a positive way, in a “sales way”.

Now, I want to imagine you’re in hospital.

You’re wearing one of those flappy gowns that flies open at the merest hint of a draft.

The consultant comes in with a grave face, and tells you that you have to undergo serious surgery.

He goes on; the good news is that of the last 100 people to have the surgery, 90 are still alive after five years.

You feel pretty confident about that and opt for the surgery.

Imagine how you might have felt if he had informed you that of the last 100 people to have the surgery, 10 of them were dead within five years.

Let me assure you, you would have felt less likely to risk the operation.

Same facts , different delivery style.

Sometimes we have to confront some difficult truths with our clients.

But there is usually a way to tell our stories in a positive way.

Let me be clear.

It’s not about lying or fudging the truth.

It’s about having the confidence to remain upbeat and constructive.

Remember it’s the way you tell it.

A Little Secret

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but there’s been a real explosion in the number of big TV dramas focusing on non-verbal communication.

Psych, The Mentalist, Lie To Me.

The shows may differ slightly, but they all show experts at body language attempting to get to the heart of a mystery by focusing on the things that people don’t say.

There are two things at work here

First the body language itself.

These reactions come from a part of the brain that we can’t control.

They are involuntary, we can’t stop them.

Secondly, the observational skills

The expertise comes from the fact that the characters notice minute details.

They look at people very, very closely.

Observe behaviours and draw conclusions.

Now, I’m no Patrick Jane or Shawn Spencer but I thought I’d share a little body language insight.

If you ask someone a question and they shut their eyes, they’re uncomfortable and don’t want to address the answer.

It works the same whether the question is “Have I got the job?” or “Did we win the pitch?”

Importantly, you can’t assume that the answer will be a lie but you can know that they don’t want to give it.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work quite so well over the phone.

You Gotta Love 'Em

We’ve all done it.
The brief comes in for a brand, product or service and we turn our noses up.
Not at the opportunity.
At the thing we’re supposed to be promoting.
If we’re going to encourage other people to buy into a brand, we have to be willing to do the same.
You’ve got to love your client’s brands
You’ve got to buy them and encourage everyone in the agency to do the same.
Leave your preconceptions at the door and learn to love it, rather than being happy to simply take the money and run.
It's a bit of Karma, they are buying your "stuff", so you should be buying theirs
Also the more you understand how it works and what people like, the better job you’ll do.
Dietary requirements and allergies permitting of course.

Good With Names?

I get frustrated when I hear people say that they’re not good with names.

It makes me wonder whether the problem is the fact that they’re not very good with people.

Are names really the issue?

Do you forget the names of friends and family?

Of course not.

You’re not expected to have instant recall of every name you encounter at a party or business meeting.

But if you’re struggling to remember someone’s name, don’t say you’re not good with names.

It’s OK to simply ask someone for their name again – they won’t mind.

They may well be thinking the same thing about you.

So go first, re-introduce yourself, and keep using their name until it sticks.

Because that’s the thing most people love to hear.