“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Everyday I talk to business people who beg off in making a decision by saying, “I am not ready yet.” They’re right and they are wrong. Are they comfortable moving forward with all of the answers to the questions that will arise? No. But what else do they need in order to move forward? Nothing.

Not long after Sadam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the US Military was mobilized to the area and the world at large was for the first time, treated to real-time video broadcasts of war. One of the things we witnessed each night on television with the attack on Iraqi forces was streams of tracer bullets in the night as seen through night vision lens on the camera. They appeared as green dots on the screen being shot toward the target. The tracers are used so that the gunners do not go through the traditional “ready-aim-fire” to hit their target. With tracers the gunners go, “ready-fire-aim-fire-aim-fire-aim….,” the tracers providing a visual stream of bullets going to the target that could be aimed in real time.

Professional marketers employ the same thing tactics. They begin the process of marketing their product and continually adjust their marketing message as they monitor feedback in terms of the results coming in. The faster the feedback the closer to real-time they get. Many marketers employ multiple channels simultaneously.

A few years ago, I did some business the Home Shopping Network in St Petersburg, FL to sell product on television for the publishing company I was working for. I was given a tour of the television studios where the shows are shot live. Most stood quiet with the props and products laying on tables but nobody around. When we were shown into the studio that was doing the live broadcast we were asked to be quiet and not interrupt the hostess nor the producer. What was remarkable was that the hostess who was looking into the camera and talking about the virtues of the product had an earpiece in her ear listening to the producer give her instructions while she was selling on air. The producer was watching a computer screen linked to the call center that was receiving literally hundreds of calls per minute purchasing the product being touted.

I was shown the chart of the calls and sales as it rose and fell according to what the host said. The producer acted like a conductor directing symphony. As the hostess hit a topic that spiked sales the producer spoke into her earphone and told her to keep going with that topic. As sales slowed he told her to move on. When sales dropped below 200 per minute he told her to move to the next product. It was amazing to watch these two dance with real-time results and in a matter of seconds, maximize the time they spent on the air in terms of dollars and cents – actually tens of thousands of dollars and cents per minute. This is the ultimate of “ready-fire-aim-fire-aim….,”

“Getting ready” is not generating sales. At best it is activity that is a precursor to selling, at worst it is an excuse for indecision, but never is “getting ready” the same as “doing business.” I believe that “management is the act of making adjustments to the current state of activity.” Yet if there is no activity, there can be no adjustment. The most important thing in business is to get moving. Making adjustments is what business people do, not getting ready. You cannot improve your business by waiting, doing nothing, or getting ready. Get things started, then like the Home Shopping Network hostess and producer, read your feedback and adjust until you accelerate your business to the level you desire. Then find ways to sustain it. Just don’t wait until you are ready.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm and is filed under Advertising in tough times, Planning, Selling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.