"Tell Them What They Want to Hear"
Written by Gloria Metrick on . Published as written. It may not reflect how these systems work today.
Those of you who know me will know that I often read books and articles regarding various business issues. Recently, I was reading a fairly popular book about writing that gives tips for on-line writing, such as blog posts. It says that the secret to boosting readership is to "tell [you] what [you] want to hear."
I'm willing to give it a try. Here it is (and I'm trying to give a sincere and comforting smile what I write this):
Without any any effort or thought on your part, everything will work out fine. Everything will be okay so don't worry about planning, communication or any of those other pesky issues.
Outcome
I already feel uncomfortable. I have to undo this. Let me take it back. Without making an effort, without putting thought into your project, including things like communication plans for the larger projects, it's going to go quite badly. I know I'm now going to have an unpopular blog and be shunned by the entire laboratory informatics community, but I can't stomach the tell-the-customer-what-they-want-to-hear-at-any-cost-in-order-to-make-the-sale mentality.
Customers make choices when they make a purchase. If they're buying from me, they're not looking for platitudes but real information. Not every customer feels that way. Some want platitudes and buy from those people that spout them. That just how the sales cycle goes. We all make choices. I choose to sell what I can genuinely feel is true, others don't. Some customers look for credibility, others for a bright smile and the answers that are what they want to hear. We all sell what we want to sell and buy what we want to buy. It's a free market for us to do that and we all live withe the consequences of these decisions that we are free to make.
Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/