Communications, responsibility and leadership

This image is from an article "Listening First Aid" , about Empathic Listening Skills by Gregorio Billikopf, University of California, Berkley.

Three big words: Three simple principals essential for Construction Marketing success.

Communications: Everything you say, do, write, ignore, express, relate, and decipher affects the marketing process. Little things count. Returning calls promptly, being on time (just a little early, not too early for meetings), respecting cultural sensitivities (in some cultures being 'late' is normal), understanding how and where you listen as well as speak/write are all essential to the marketing process. You need to know your cues.

Responsibility: The Blame Game is deadly. Attacking or disparaging competitors, levelling barbs or insults on others, or failing to accept responsibility for your own blunders or even minor errors will destroy your place in the marketplace much more effectively and quickly than whether your price is low enough.

Leadership: No one needs to be a stereotypical charismatic leader to be successful in marketing, but you still need to have the right mix of self assurance and respect for others to influence them and define/draw out the desired results to succeed. Unless you are a one-person organization, you'll need your team's support. And unless you are marketing/selling to yourself, of course, you won't achieve much in winning new accounts and maintaining/developing new business without some leadership skills.

So how do you develop these talents if you don't have them? I wish I could come up with a magic one size, fits all action, but can't. Then again, maybe one word counts more than any other.

Listen.