Are you the person who brings your significant other a blanket knowing they will be cold?
Have you noticed that a great waiter, in any restaurant, knows when you want service; anticipates your needs; pours and serves before you ask?
Don’t you envy the people who always seem to have tissues, corkscrews or a sweater?
How proactive are you? By that I mean how often are you ahead of any issue? Any opportunity? Any challenge?
And there you have it. Anyone can do it when asked; anyone can be prepared for specifics; anyone can be seriously “buttoned up.”
But how many of us are really ahead of the curve? How many of us anticipate? How many of us look into that cloudy Crystal Ball and squint and strain to catch the slightest glimpse of what might be and then take the chance of going for it?
I’m not talking Nostradamus here – just everyday, ordinary intuitive guessing – but guessing that comes from listening, assimilating and taking the time to process – and then taking the chance…
Listen:
A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. – Wayne Gretzky
Where do you want to be? History? Or making history?
Your view?
So I’m running through a forest on the southwest Washington coast last week (long story) and this very thought came to mind – albeit through a different metaphor. Specifically, I realized that we should really stop categorizing ourselves as hunters and/or farmers in this business. Hunters hunt. And they kill. And they eat. Farmers farm. Harvest. Milk. Neither is concerned much with building relationships.
It’s more about physicians and caretakers. We listen. Observe. Diagnose and prescribe. Nurture. And, when most successful, have long-term relationships with people that help us anticipate needs and enable vitality. And still make money in doing it.
This is particularly relevant for me, status quo. I think it’s wonderful how when we simply take the time to stop – reevaluate where we’re at – we are not only able to anticipate needs and what may (or may not) come down the pipeline, but ultimately are able to be still and listen to what is truly going on around us. This in turn creates a more efficient work flow and strengthens relationships. Taking time to pause and forecast is so easy to do, yet so easy to forget. Life moves rapidly and in trying to keep up by running faster, the liability is the quintessential \snowball effect\. I appreciate this week’s ramble and strive to move toward a more proactive role rather than primarily reactive state.
The skill of anticipating is not only valuable in client relations, but in marketing in general. Many successful products tapped a consumer need of which consumers weren’t previously conscious (classic case = the Walkman). And while some marketing communications are necessarily reactive (customer service response), the truly business-building messages are proactive and stimulate interest or demand or purchase.
Personally, I take pride in anticipating my wife’s needs. I am moderately successful in anticipating those of my kids. When it comes to consumers, we are heroes if we can increase the take rate on a DM offer from 1.25% to 1.5%. I guess that demonstrates the difficulty of our job.
David Ander says: “we should really stop categorizing ourselves as hunters and/or farmers in this business”. I must respectfully disagree. The processes of direct marketing are very much like fishing and hunting (acquisition), crop and livestock farming (CRM/sales/…) and livestock maintenance (retention/loyalty/…).
The aspects of care, anticipation, nurture and attention are all very much a part of good farming and fishing. Maybe less so for hunting.
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