It's not personal, it's business

My cousin's an up and coming lawyer in Chennai and I recently had the pleasure of doing some official work with her. She helped me out with, an otherwise painful, legal filing process with the government.

Professional to the core, her approach was quite cut and dry and that suited me perfectly. Almost perfectly. In many areas, where I didn't have all the required documentation, I would have liked her to bend some rules to get the job done but she was quite hard-nosed about doing things the right way.

Before, during, and after the engagement, I kept asking her what her fees would be. She evaded the answer continuously and finally when it was over, she responded to my 25th attempt at getting the bill from her with a curt email stating, "...it has been waived." Finally I wired her an amount I thought appropriate. (It was wired because there was a chance that she would not bank a cheque if I had given her one.)

It's all fine that we're cousins and stuff but my final analysis is that she's a good lawyer with poor business sense.

Whatever your vocation, one must keep a keen eye on the cash flows and monetise your assets, either physical or intellectual. In fact, not having a business sense will have an adverse effect on your profession, however good your work is. What's the professional fallout from her attitude?

1. She is poorer than she should be
2. Focus will be lost on accounts that do pay
3. A lot of time is wasted on clients who don't take her (free) time seriously
4. She won't have the money/time to invest in her business and herself to make her a better professional
5. Free clients won't appreciate the work
6. Value assessment depends on the cost, so when it's free how does one make an assessment?
7. When the service meets/exceeds expectation, then the more we pay - the greater will be our appreciation
8. Referrals become a problem because of the points 5, 6, and 7

Let's hope she learns her lessons at her young age.

Lawyer cousin, if you are reading this, it's time to clean up your act.

Dissonance reduced shoes

Feeling good about my shoes

Today a colleague of mine noticed my new shoes and said, "Hey those are nice shoes!" Little does he know how much that statement meant to me. I had picked up a pair of 2k shoes for 400 bucks at a Lifestyle sale. When you get that kind of discount, you keep wondering whether you're buying something that no one ever wanted.

Well my colleague compliment reassured me that it was a great buy. Long live post-purchase dissonance reduction.

Just the ad won't do

The new Tata Safari Dicor ad really strikes a chord. It must be the laser-like targetting at men in my age group. The only problem is that I wouldn't be caught dead with the keys of a Tata Safari, no matter how powerful it is. [For that matter, I would be caught dead with the keys of any SUV.]

Same goes with the Yamaha ads. With John Abraham and some slick shots, the ads are really great but the bikes are sorely lacking.

One the other hand the new Bajaj Avenger ad is great. Hits the nail head on about guys who are on the road to self-actualisation. Great!!!

Ads that go for the Jugular

A decade after leaving B-School, I am waking up to the art of marketing. Of late I’ve been looking more carefully at how companies sell not their products but what customers need. Three great examples I’ve see of late are:

Worldspace – They don’t talk about radio models, music channels, artists, or even the fact that they don’t play ads. The only thing their hoardings say is, “Unwind.” It’s something very topical in today’s world of stressed out lives and urban culture. It also shows ordinary people doing simple things like dancing by oneself and lying on the pillow trying to unwind, something that everyone can relate to, even if they can’t do it.

Lufthansa – Another great set of hoardings which don’t talk about the service, airplanes, and schedules. They show that the most wonderful thing about traveling is feeling the embrace of your family on your return.

Veta – They had a great ad in the Hindu which had just one line that said, “When your employees know better English, they can express themselves better, become more confident, give more ideas, which your company can use, and your company can be more confident… making you more successful.” They never talk about classes or curriculum or staff. All they talk about is how you will become more successful when your employees know better English.

Here's a great article that's a must read if you're trying to market a small business.

Be a Better Liar
If you want to attract customers in an increasingly competitive world, it helps to tell tales about your products. Just make sure your lie is true.
From the May. 2005 Issue of FSB
By Seth Godin

Blown at Bata

Went to Bata on Comm Street last Saturday to buy rubber chappals. Had Leah strapped around my torso, so after trying out my size, I couldn't tie my sneaker lace. While struggling the unionised Bata salesman came and tied my lace to my biggest surprise. So for all that help, I bought two unneccessary socks from them.

Leah had her first porridge today. She struggled eating it and Tara finally gave up. According to Tara, she was either too hungry, too hyper, or didn't like how it tasted. She also sat by herself for the first time today.

Jordan's at home with a fever and after the 33km ride to office, I ain't doing too well either.