Category: Uncategorized

Marketing experts love to say that it takes years to build a brand and seconds to lose it.

Gerald Ratner is often the go-to example of this. When he compared the longevity of his jewellery to that of a prawn sandwich, he was just repeating a joke he’d told before.

The first time he said it nobody noticed. We can all use humour to lighten the mood. However, the second time he said it, it was a slow news day and the press minced him.

I interviewed him a few years back for Future Radio and I must say that he was a thoroughly decent person. Polite and warm and easy to talk to.

With hindsight it probably wasn’t the best move of his to compare jewellery with shell fish and yet it’s easy to be wise after the event.

However, we do need to think about how our own brand is affected by the choices we make. Also how our brand is affected by the company we keep too.

It would be easy to wear a smart suit and think we were presenting an up-market image, when being photographed at a business event …whilst shaking hands with someone, well known for their dishonest trading practices.

What would that say about us?

Likewise, if a competitor-colleague asks us to work with them on a project, we have to be clear about our branding. Are we helping them, or are they detracting from us? If they make a hash of the project how could that affect our reputation? Why do they need us? Are we being flattered into something that’s going to cause us heartache?

All useful questions and all are good to ask.

We do need to think about how our brand is shaped by the company we keep, the image we project and the comments we make.

That extends to social media too. I wonder that Facebook would be a very different place if user generated content was linked directly to their business brand image. It might make people think twice about some of the things they choose to share.

Brand by association; this week we can all pay more attention to who we are working with and who we are standing next to at a busines networking event.

Prawn sandwich anyone?

Next week: Forecast Errors

Many moons ago, when I had fewer grey hairs and more hair anyway, I had a job interview for a production manager’s role. I was young and eager and naive.

The interview was conducted by two directors who spent 10% of the time asking me questions and 90% of the time squabbling with eachother about the precise nature of the role and what my key tasks would be.

Impressed with my answers they offered me the post and I happily accepted.

Of course the job was a disaster. The directors happily pulled me in two different directions, disagreed with each other and made my life hell. The only decent thing they did was to fire me after six months, because they were fed up with all my attempts to improve their business.

Day one was instructive …my supervisor said ‘hello’ and then said…

‘Well now, you’re the fourth production manager here in two years. Good luck!’

A clear warning, which I happily ignored. Safe in my own ego, that I would be different. Be bold. Get things done. Not get fired.

Silly me. I learned the hard way.

I used to think that due diligence was a phrase that applied to business mergers and acquisitions.

Silly me, twice over.

It applies to buying a business, starting a new client, accepting a job offer, taking on staff, working collaboratively with fellow coaches and so on.

I could, and should, have spent time in the factory, getting to know the staff. Talking through the job in more detail. Asking myself if they really could afford me? Reading past accounts to see how the business was performing. Noticing that an interview squabble is a red flag even!

I did none of those and let my ego get the better of me.

There are two key things to remember when we check out a new opportunity:

1. Ego. Are we being flattered into a role that is too big for us, or that the business isn’t really ready for? What makes us more special than the last guy, who presumably was a sound person who tried their best? Where are we kidding ourselves?

2. Facts. What do we really know about the person, or the business we are going to deal with? What don’t we know? What have we been told and ignored, in our headlong rush to take advantage of this tantalising new opportunity? Who can we talk to, to get an objective appraisal of the situation?

When I started my coaching business, over 15 years ago, I was smart enough to be ignorant. As a result, I interviewed other senior managers and coaches and asked them what I needed to know. Then I pooled their answers and set sail and have never looked back.

Honest ignorance is the best defence against rampant ego.

Taking time to do our research gives us space to think and to assemble our facts.

We can all become experts in doing our own due diligence and effort today can prevent heartache tomorrow.

So, this week have fun being happily ignorant and see where it takes you!

Next week: Brand By Association