This is an extract from a longer blog by Morgan Housel (https://collabfund.com/blog/ideas-that-changed-my-life/)
“This might be the most important topic in business and investing because other than luck it is the only path to long-term success. The only truly sustainable sources of competitive advantage I know of are:
- Learn faster than your competition.
- Empathize with customers more than your competition.
- Communicate more effectively than your competition.
- Be willing to fail more than your competition.
- Wait longer than your competition.
Everything else – intelligence, design, insight – gets smashed to pieces by competitors who are almost certainly as smart as you.”
What reading this passage reminded me of was my own graduation in 1995 from trainee to salesman (salesperson had not yet been invented).
I was working for Scottish Equitable in Croydon and had been the trainee sine Autumn 1994.
The trainee meant prepared all quotes and packs, fetched croissants and dry cleaning, was a general dogsbody and, most importantly of all, made sure no-one (colleague or client) ran dry in the pub. There was some training at HQ in Edinburgh, but that always degenerated into a three-day jolly.
Towards the start of Summer 1995 traineeship was wearing thin and a salesmen resigned. I immediately went to my boss and demanded the vacant position. Our conversation went something like this.
“Put me on the road, I’ve had enough, I’ll leave if you don’t.”
“Ah so you’re ready then? I was beginning to wonder how much more dogs bodying you were prepared to take.”
“Oh.”
“Here’s the deal, you get whatever car no-one else wants and accounts that no-one else wants and whatever you can find in the yellow pages. Also, your basic will be reduced to £11,000 pa and your target is two times that figure per month.”
“Brilliant, I’ll take it.”
A few days later it dawned on me I was supremely wet behind the ears and tasked with getting old, gnarly IFAs, to use Scottish Equitable products where they hadn’t before.
I went back to my boss.
“Are you sure I’m ready? What if I’m no good?”
“Jeremy, it is the easiest job in the world. You will ring people expecting a call from someone like you. You will ask what help they need. They will tell you; you will do it and deliver it quickly and correctly and then ask them what else you can do to help.”
“It can’t be that easy.”
“It is, trust me, most people can’t manage it. If you can, you will start receiving new business from them.”
Within three months I was hitting target, and I have never looked back.
And nearly 30 years later all I ever do is ask how I can help before doing it and delivering it quickly and correctly.
This approach works as well today as it did then and requires no specialist skills or knowledge.
Is there nothing new in the world?