"I'm just the message, not the messenger" is a popular phrase used to express the importance of not blaming the person who communicates information originating from another source.
If you ‘shoot’ as in fire/ demote the person who reads you the report delivering the bad tidings or whatever, that doesn’t change the facts (it’s a useless act). You are not punishing the people who generated the numbers (only the messenger) and you also run the risk of never hearing the truth.
As a consulting firm CEO, I often get the feeling some business professionals do not want to hear how they can improve their businesses from 321 Biz Dev LLC. The proof I have is, after training sessions, clients have stated they were open to increasing sales performance but they could not understand how 321 Biz Dev LLC could provide the best solution.
The statements I commonly hear from clients after training are: "how did you come up with this information" and "this is the information I was missing in my business".
I summarize this "message-messenger" feelings others have that good ideas must come sources we accept psychologically from the commercialization of our minds.
How often have people purchased something because the girl was cute or the guy was handsome?
Maybe the product or serviced was delivered by a salesperson of the same race, ethnicity or religion as the buyer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the above reasons why people buy. Familiarity breeds confidence.
If I want to go dancing at a great club, I probably would not take the advice of a person who lived in the Brazilian jungle along the Amazon River most of his life. I would not take his advice because how could a guy, who grew up in the Brazilian rain forest, recommend a good place to party in Atlanta?
If I were a woman with expensive tastes in fashion and accustomed to shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, why would I take the advice of another woman to shop at the thrift store for a $5 dress?
So, when it comes to solutions to increase sales productivity and sales performance, it is totally understandable how people feel when 321 Biz Dev offers assistance to small business owners. 321 Biz Dev business development specialists do not have legal, accounting, dental, or medical backgrounds.
But there is a big difference between receiving a message when the message comes from the messenger! I personally believe it's a plus to get a message and the messenger has the skill, talent and expertise to execute actions items in the message.
In the world of business solutions, there are two kinds of solutions: theoretical and practical.
Theoretical solutions look good on paper but often fall apart when put in action. Theoretical solutions disintegrate in real time because people are not involved. It's almost as if the theoretical solutions read: "just add water". Theoretical solutions start at point A and never reach point Z. Theoretical solutions end up in a drawer with other ideas tried and failed.
Practical solutions, in contrast, often do not look good paper because people must execute the instructions. Practical solutions start at the end result, point Z, and work backwards to the beginning, or point A.
As an example, I am not good assembling things from a box to create a finish product. My mechanical skills are horrible if the final product has many nuts, screws and pieces. Instead of ending with an ugly finished product...and probably an unsafe product...I call my friend who is excellent with product assembly projects. In this example, my friend is both the message and the messenger.
Successful sales solutions require people to act using a sales system. Sales systems are not theoretical. You would not have a good feeling about cars if they were operated 39% of the time. Most cars are highly reliable (unless a major component breaks) because cars are made up of many systems perfectly engineered together.
This article may be a little difficult to understand for some people but I hope people get the message from these messengers.
Interested parties can contact me, Rick Nappier, CEO, at (833) 321-3212 or Yeilyn Rodriguez, VP, Business Development Specialist (bilingual) for English or Spanish contacts, at (786) 697-3400.
321 Biz Dev LLC offers 6- to 9-hour sales system training to help white-collar salespeople improve skills and increase business development results.
Business owners can also complete a 5-minute Questionnaire by clicking the Services tab on our website. Also, click the About tab to learn about 321 Biz Dev LLC.
I hope readers enjoyed this article.
Rick, CEO
Yeilyn, VP