Laura’s Winning Ideas

My notes from a column by Seth Godin, writing in Forbes Magazine, May 7, 2007:

“Bad news for control freaks everywhere: Your funnel is broken and you’re not in charge anymore. AMR, Verizon, Microsoft — you’ve all got problems, and you’re not the only ones. American Airlines might spend $1 million or more on a TV ad campaign and purchase only 100 new first-class customers as a result….”

–3 examples of companies suffering the consequences of good or bad service. Evangelists (thrilled customers) and customers with a megaphone for complaints {most often via internet / blogging/ YouTube}.

“The biggest mistake marketers make when they see the power of the consumer network is that they try to control it, own it or manipulate it. This always fails because the network doesn’t care about you and can’t be bought. The smartest marketers aim to inspire, not to control….”

–2 examples of companies trying to control public opinion rather than doing a great job.

“Great companies don’t push, they lead. The next time a p.r. firm’s experts offer to take your money in exchange for their help in dominating the network, show them the door. Hand the cash to your R&D, training and service people instead.”

Laura here: Some companies think they can win with a snazzy proposal. I’ve won plenty, and it’s never been a surprise.

The losers all think there is something going on in the background that thwarts their win. That is correct, but I don’t see it as a sneaky backroom operation.

Your clients have megaphones of their own and are talking inside their organizations about you, and all your competitors. Every day your reputation is being made, and a snazzy proposal won’t control nor change that.

I worked once with a firm that hired a PR firm and a lobbyist, thinking they could control the conversation about their firm in the months leading up to the RFP coming out.

What a disaster!

The megaphone in the agency was loud and clear, sounding an alarm about these slick “representatives” trying to “position” the firm.

IMHO, if they’d spent that money on beefing up their customer response, and having REAL engineers visiting the customer to understand their needs, they would have been ideally positioned. Then we would have had everything we needed to write a winning proposal.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery said: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

When the client longs for the greater good you propose, your proposal wins.