Salesmanship as an Art and a Science
My Values
Writing a values statement is the other part of the mission and values writing assignment most companies have asked their public relations departments to do.
Giving short shrift or inadequate attention to your mission and values statements is not always the wisest course of action, because many times what you get is a lot of mamby-pamby nonsense prettily displayed in a nice little frame.
This is how many combined mission and value statements prepared by public relations departments appear to me:
Two-Timing Tommy's Toxic Waste Disposal:
Mission Statement
Our mission is to maximize our profits and increase the dividends of our shareholders by disposing of toxic waste in a way that makes the very best of state and federal loopholes,
while constantly consulting our excellent team of corporate negligence lawyers. Even in the face of outrageous demands from a meddling and self-righteous public, we will continue to put our shareholders first, and to dump our toxic waste when and where we want to, unless irreversible Supreme Court decisions force us to stop.
Two-Timing Tommy's Values
Integrity
Compassion
Commitment to Excellence
Loyalty
Quality
Dedication
I think you get the point. Many times, when we read the values statements of companies we wish they hadn't bothered to write them at all because we can't think of a single person in those companies who seems to reflect those values.
When management gurus first brought the importance of writing values statements into play, I think they hoped that executives in the corporation would actually sit down with one another and talk about the values that really mattered to them-the ideas that made them strong-and then compare notes to see what values they had
in common.
That is still what management gurus would like companies to do-to get their executives to actually define the values that make them strong and then write a list of shared values.
I don't think this exercise is being done as often as it should, so organizational development directors tend to get excited when anyone shows the slightest interest in improving the company's mission and values statements.
I heard a good story about a consultant who was doing business with a corporation that will remain anonymous. This story will give you an idea of the general state of the union as far as corporate values statements are concerned.
The head of organizational development of a major corporation reported that she had been asking one of the corporation's top executives to give some thought to mission and values for the past year. After putting her off many times he had finally come through.
The management executive handed the consultant a dirty, wadded paper napkin. The consultant unwadded the napkin. Written in nearly undecipherable handwriting on this crumpled piece of paper was the following collection of words: "integrity? profit, stakeholder happiness, quality, vision? excellence?"
Apparently the executive had scribbled these words in haste during lunch in order to complete his thinking assignment about values. It was my impression that he did it as quickly as possible just so the organizational development executive would shut up and leave him alone.
But this crumpled napkin is now a highly prized possession of the organizational development executive. "It's wonderful," she is reported to have said of her napkin, in a quavering, emotional voice. "They're finally thinking about it! This company is headed for the future at last, and the evidence is right there on that napkin."
But, if you want to be a great salesperson, you have to give a little more thought to your values than the executive who composed that little cocktail napkin. Why? Because your values-and everything else on your Marketing Identity Worksheet-constitutes your psychological armor when you go on to the battlefield of business.
They also come in very handy on the battlefield of life.
The Struggle of Staying True to Yourself
I don't think the hardest part about business is the work, after all. I think it's the grueling process of sticking to your mission and values and not letting anyone undermine your convictions or your belief in yourself.
Sad Fact: The moment you decide to be successful and focused and happy and emotionally independent, letting all potential critics know that their superficial opinions of you don't bother you one bit, you will have made enemies of many members of the human race, including not a small number of people who used to be your friends.
Why? Because some people who used to be nice to you as long as you didn't show them up will be jealous of your success. That's just one of those sad and pitiful facts of life, I'm afraid. The more selfcontained, independent, and happy you become, the more hidden enemies you will create.
That raises a tricky issue because most successful and happy people are also nice, sensitive people. That's why they're happy. Because they have a heart. But, if you have a heart, you're also vulnerable to the envy of those people who don't have the courage to do what you do.
This gives you two options:
You can pay attention to the mad lunatic ravings of all the people who will be jealous of you for trying to be successful and happy; you can get confused about your values and mission in life and learn to lose confidence in yourself. If you do this, you will quickly turn into a neurotic and then help your psychiatrist build a really nice summer
home to which you will never be invited.
Or, you can sit down once and for all and give some serious thought to every single line on the Marketing IdentityWorksheet. Decide once and for all what you want to do (your mission). Write down, on the same sheet of paper, what it is that makes you great. Write down the values that you really believe in-the ones that give you strength in the face of adversity. Decide why people would want to buy what you have to offer the world, considering your knowledge and intelligence and the quality you have to offer. Commit all of this to memory. Carry it forth like a banner. Recite it in the shower when
you get up in the morning. Surround yourself with brilliant, honest, and cheerful people. Make sure all of your friends and significant others understand your values and mission and are completely supportive of them. If your friends or significant others do not support
or understand, immediately dissociate yourself from them and find new friends and significant others who do. Stick to your guns and follow this game plan until you achieve everything you want. Do not allow anyone to undermine your confidence in yourself in any shape, form, or fashion. Only share your vision with people who respect you. In this way you will save yourself a lot of money in psychiatry bills and live a long and happy life.
This is, in essence, what the importance of values is all about-getting to know yourself and being proud of who you are. This, in fact, is the most powerful psychological advantage you have as a businessperson and salesperson.
It will also give you a sense of peace beyond Zen.
In order to keep from getting overwhelmed with introspection too early in the book, we will leave our Marketing Identity Worksheet behind for a moment so the concepts we just discussed have time to sink in. But we will keep returning to this worksheet throughout the course of the book because one of your goals as a reader will be to completely think through the answers and meaning to every line on the Sales Strategy Worksheet and the Marketing Identity Worksheet.
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