Lies, Damn Lies and Marketing...

Eating Carrots helps you see in the Dark…

This well-known “fact” has become general knowledge – at least in the UK…

The justification is clear – you will never see a Rabbit wearing a pair of glasses so therefore it must be the eating of Carrots (thank you Bugs Bunny…) that is so good for eyesight…

So is it true that Carrots help you see in the dark…?

Probably not; unless you set fire to them of course...

So why do we think Carrots are good for night vision..?

On the 8^th January 1940 in the UK, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. Soon to follow was the rationing of meat, tea, dairy products biscuits and cereals – during World War Two German forces were targeting shipping delivering the imported commodities to the UK their intention was to effectively starve the population into submission.

Fresh vegetables and some fruits were not rationed – they could be “home grown” and so the Ministry of Food started to promote recipes and dishes made from the ingredients that were available – Carrots being one of them, from time to time there was even an oversupply of Carrots during the war.

To make the Carrot more appealing a “Carrot Competition” was announced on the 18^th December 1941 and apparently a Mrs Casey won the competition with her “Carrot Savoury Pudding” recipe. Carrots were promoted as being the “substitute ingredient” of choice with such delicacies as Carrot Jelly, Cakes, Lollies and even Carrot Jam.

To make the Carrot even more attractive, it was suggested that eating them would even help people see better in during the “blackouts” – when all exterior lights were extinguished during the threat of air raids. Furthermore, soldiers who ate them would be able to see the enemy bombers sooner and have a better chance of shooting them down. 

The Carrot was a patriotic and tasty vegetable…

As the British developed Radar, known as RDF – Range and Direction Finding, they became much better at the early detection of air attack. In order to disguise the deployment of these early RDF systems, the “fact” that our servicemen and women were eating Carrots that improved their night vision was actively promoted by the Government.

This is why we believe that Carrots help us see in the dark…

In business there are number of similar myths that for some reason have entered popular culture and become accepted as rules we have to follow – here are a few of them…

1.  I need a Business Plan – no you don’t, you need a purpose and passion with a great product or service. To get bank funding you will need a business plan - which may be read by someone who gets a Salary and has never risked anything so don’t depend on them; and you will never read it again anyway.  
2. People buy on Price – no they don’t, unless we let them. People buy emotionally and justify the decision logically; your marketing and delivery should reflect this. No one buys a Ferrari because of its lack of depreciation, it’s all about speed noise and the law of attraction – unless you’re the Banker in point one above.
3. I'm too Old/Young/Not Ready yet – in Business – the perfect time is always now. In the words of Green Day – “I hope you had the time of your life…” Achievement may be risky, but regret is guaranteed if at first the risk is not taken. 
4.  Marrketing people tell the Truth – not necessarily. Remember it was the Marketers that brought us Margarine, Economy “Beef” Burgers and Sub-Prime mortgages J. If Marketing people were truthful we wouldn’t need advertising – we would need rationing.
5. I don’t know about Sales/Distribution/Accounting/Marketing – no one does; sometimes even those that say they do actually don’t, we all have to learn, so keep reading and watching. Remember it was the “experts” who decided that Fractional Reserve Banking was a good idea and that “there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home” – Ken Olsen 1977.

So don’t believe all your read, hear, see or get told – in order to achieve something amazing you will have to do something amazing first, and if we believe all the myths we are told we may just do nothing instead..

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Clients don't WANT you anymore...

Wisdom teeth can be a real pain – and I mean a REAL pain. If you have ever had toothache then you’ll know what I mean...

Waking up in the recovery room following my operation to have four wisdom teeth removed, I wasn’t sure whether I preferred the pain of toothache to what I was experiencing. The nurse gave me some pain killers and I drifted off into sleep.

On the ward when Lynn came to visit she said that I looked as if I’d been 5 rounds with Ali (it was a few years ago…) As the pain killers wore off, and I took a look in the mirror I saw that my forehead was red, my neck was heavily bruised and so was my chest. Apparently there had been some concern that I had a couple of broken ribs.

This all seemed a little odd – I had gone in to have four teeth extracted and come out looking like I had been in a fight. So I asked the Nurse what had happened...

She looked a little nervous but told me that she would come back and explain after visiting hours had ended and there was no one around – I was intrigued…

At 21.30 she returned with a trolley of tools and implements – to explain what actually happened during the operation, and why I was in such a state. The tools included a leather strap, mallet, a pair of pliers and what looked like an adjustable wrench.

Apparently, as soon as I was under the effect of the anaesthetic, my head was strapped to the bed with the leather strap across my forehead, my jaw was dislocated using the mallet and the surgeon pulled my teeth out using the wrench by kneeling on my chest and twisting the impacted roots from around my jaw bone.

Whilst this explained the “injuries” I was not sure I felt better for knowing…

What was certain is that if they had told me that before the operation I may not have gone through with it - sometimes we do this in business with our clients too, we tell them all about our product and service becasue it suits our ego and validates our experience and qualifications in our chosen field - we just scare them off...

The moral to the story is to remember that in business very few people actually want the service we offer – what they want is the RESULT that we enable them to achieve as a consequence. 

We all have a responsibility to make people aware of the possibility that they can be better off in the future when they work with us in the present; this is simply WHAT we do – HOW we do it may be Coaching, Consulting, Warehousing or Manufacturing but the clients don’t care what we do, only what the benefits will be to them.

It’s like when someone has toothache – they don’t WANT a dentist; they want the pain to stop. What they NEED, however, is a dentist – a dentist that sells “freedom from pain” will be more successful than a dentist that sells “drilling and injections”

Our marketing should concentrate on what our clients WANT and our services should concentrate on what they NEED – clients are attracted to WANTS but they may have to endure what they NEED in order to get them…

What does your website say about you…?

When you are asked “what do you do..?” – What do you say…?

What is your Job Title on your business card – does it focus on the WANT or NEED of your clients…? 

Does it say Chartered Accountant or Managing Director – or does it say Tax Reduction Magician or Profit Maximiser…?

When we sell the outcomes that our Clients WANT by delivering the products and services that they NEED we become more attractive to prospects, our conversion rate will improve and sales and profits will climb.

Don't sell people what you do - sell them the Result they Want.

 

After all - Results Rules OK...

Check out our FREE articles on our resources page - www.resultsrulesok.com/sign-up.php

You've got the Wrong GPS...!!

“What is this Business Coaching stuff all about then…?”

The guy at the back of the room had sat with his arms folded throughout the Workshop and when it came time to ask questions – this was the best he could do…

Like any professional I am not too keen on having what I do refer to as “stuff” but I thought I’d give him a response…

“Having a Coach is like having a GPS for yourself and your Business - once we decide where you would like to go, how we are going to get there, and what our real starting point is; my role is to guide you and enable you to steer your way to achieve the Results…”

He nodded and thankfully went quiet, satisfied with my response.

 
This got me thinking…

Imagine you had a GPS in your car and you programmed in a Post or Zip Code, waited for the route to calculate and then the voice in the GPS chirps out;

“That’s a long way; do you really want to go there, are you sure..?”

“Are you sure you can afford the fuel for this, it’s a lot of money…?”

“You are OK where you are, you don’t want to go there, you may not make it…”

What would you think…?

You would probably press reset a couple of times and when the machine reminds you that “Would you like to think about it or sleep on it for a while…?” or “You know all there is to know, you really don’t need any help from me…” you would throw it out of the window in frustration…

So, how come when it comes to achieving our objectives, or daring to think and dream big, we allow our internal GPS to give us the same messages, only we don’t throw it out of the window we instead choose to agree with it and comply with it's instructions..?

The internal GPS is the voice inside your head that talks you out of changing, taking a risk, daring to be different or fulfilling your dream – the fuel it runs on is Fear combined with Scarcity and it can rule your life if you let it…

You wouldn’t tolerate your car talking to you like that. A GPS in your car doing that would be useless and redundant; so why would you let yourself be talked out of going anywhere by a voice inside your head…?

It becomes your Global Procrastination System – it’s really effective and is guaranteed to prevent you achieving just about anything…

So the next time you have the opportunity to go somewhere new, experience something different or even hire a Coach to guide you, throw out your old internal Global Procrastination System and choose a new route and direction.

Take a look at our website at http://www.resultsrulesok.com/ to find out more about how working with David as your Coach can transform your results…

The Mosquito Effect...

I remember my dad sharing a 1950’s comic book story with me…

Not sure where it came from or when it was first published, but the outline of the story stayed with me and got me to thinking about everything that is new in technology…

The story goes that at some point in the future a tyrannical regime had overtaken the world and had such amazing technology and weapons that they were believed to be invincible.

The good guys – I will call them the Allies – were trying everything to overcome the regime but their planes and weapons simply could not get through their advanced defences – they were slowly and surely being wiped out.

One of the most devastating weapons operated by the Regime was a radar guided death ray – well it would be wouldn’t it – this death ray was capable of taking out missiles and aircraft in mid-air before they had any chance of hitting the target.

One RAF veteran had a bright idea. He had flown Mosquito aircraft during WW2, and he thought that they could be used again against this modern weapon system – these planes were now out of date, slow and cumbersome compared to the supersonic jets that were currently being used – he was laughed out of the room when he suggested that he lead a squadron of Mosquitoes to destroy the death ray.

As time went on and the Allies lost more men and planes – they had no choice by to turn to the Mosquito pilot for help. They salvaged 12 Mosquito aircraft, trained pilots how to fly them and each one of them was modified to carry a single bomb that could take out the death ray – if they could get through.

The Mosquito was built of wood, it was light, and with two Merlin Engines was in its day the fastest aircraft in the world. It had the ability to fly slowly, and very low leaving a small heat signature.

These planes flew so low and slow that the defences didn’t see them – they were, in effect, in stealth mode. The regime couldn’t see them coming. The mission of course was a success, the good guys won and all was well with the world.

The lesson for me is that sometimes the traditional ways of doing things are more effective than the new ways – for a variety of reasons.

• Being unique – no one else is doing it so you will stand out
• Unexpected – there is the benefit of surprise
• Stealth – no one will see you coming.
• Crazy – people will think you are nuts – in a good way.

How can we add the Mosquito Effect to life and business…?

• Stay married to the same person – there is a novelty… 
•  Meet people face to face not on a Webinar…
•  Keep your promises and be on time…
• Turn you mobile ‘phone off in a meeting…
•  Write a letter to someone – not an email…
•  Stop posting other peoples motivational slogans on Facebook… 
•  Read books printed on paper…
• Drive a 20 year old car – not a BMW or Mercedes…
• Stop chasing the money…
• Learn a skill that involves making something physical
•  Get rid of the TV – completely, no excuses – bin it…

     

     Of course, keep some of the new technology, but don’t discard the old ways completely – they will give you an edge…