Half a conversation: The difference between talking about it and doing it; why I nearly fell off my chair – and a few little freebies

A friend manages a business that turns over a few billion, and is the leader in its field.

They do it by charging less, delivering better service and marketing a lot more than their competitors.

The other day he had a phone call.

I have no idea what the caller said so I can only tell you his end of the very short conversation.

Caller: ?

My friend: No, we don’t use management consultants.

Caller: ?

My friend: No. We just get on with it.

Over the years I have noticed that the larger the organisation the worse they tend to be at getting on with it.

Also, the people who get to the top become less and less interested in reality.

Don’t imagine that the recession changes things.

I just discovered that a client for many years has been paying an agency £750,000 a year in fees to give “strategic and planning advice” and do their advertising and direct marketing.

I nearly fell off my chair. We used to do their direct marketing for under £100,000 a year – and we were never beaten in tests over a seven year period.

The media planning is done elsewhere. So is the digital stuff. They produce one TV ad a year. The direct marketing results are way down, because they can’t write letters.

But they are very good at playing golf.

The Marketing Director (a fine golfer) has left for leafier climes; the Managing Director (still working on his swing) has departed.

The reason? Not enough profit.

Anyhow, to depart from these high strategic realms, I just found a 15 minute video of money-making ideas on my computer.