Two Men Walk Into A … Gym?

A lesson of sales: know your audience

by Cam Marston

Two young men walked into the gym together. They were attending a job fair for engineers hosted by defense contractors. They were students at the university where the fair was being held, and they paused when they entered the gym, took in the scene of the many booths for a moment or two, then stepped up to one of the contractors’ booths and began asking questions.

I was hired to be there by one of the contractors. My client felt they weren’t succeeding in hiring their fair share of engineers. Their competitors were winning the hiring battles, and my client wanted to know what they were doing wrong, what their competitors were doing right and what they needed to change. I shadowed the two young students to see what I could learn.

The students stepped up to the first contractor’s booth— my client — and said, essentially, “tell us about your company.” Behind the booth were two men in their 60s. They wore suits, ties and polished shoes. They stood proudly representing their company. I learned later that these men had been selected by their employer to be there. They were two of the most senior people at the local site, and leadership asked them to attend the fair because they knew the company best.

The two men started in on the long-storied history of their organization. They talked about its founders, its roots and the long line of products it had successfully developed for the defense industry. They talked about the fact that their company was part of the lunar missions of the late 1960s and 1970s and, in fact, their company logo was on the moon today, emblazoned on equipment that was left behind. (“They littered the moon,” the young men later said.) Their company has a solid history of success, performance and profitability. They offered wonderful insurance and a solid retirement plan. It’s a great place to work, the Boomers said. They’d both been there throughout their careers. The young men smiled. They thanked the two older men, packed away some printed materials and some logoed tchotchkes and ambled to the next booth to get the next pitch.

The next booth told a much different story. Behind the booth were a young man and a young woman, not more than five years older than the two students. When the boys asked about their company, the woman handed them a printed piece of paper. “This is the first six weeks of your job. This is what you’ll do every day for those six weeks. Take a look. It shows who you’ll meet and what you’ll learn. You’ll be going through these six weeks as a class. There will be a good number of you, so you’ll have friends and colleagues to learn it all with and, if you choose to make our workplace your career, these people will be a part of your life off and on for years to come. Each new hire group seems to bond nicely, and they’re people to have drinks and find dinner with as you get settled. Notice also,” she said, “that in week five, the CEO flies in to spend the day with you. That’s a big deal and very exciting for all of us when she comes to town.”

“After that,” she handed them more papers. “Here are some options for what your next several months at the company may look like depending on the track you pick. We have many alternatives. We need you, and we want you to find a job that you enjoy. We know that people who enjoy their work are much more productive. Your job satisfaction is important to us.” She went on, focusing only on what they could expect and what their future could look like.

The young engineers were fully engaged. They asked lots of questions. They were eager to learn more. I watched and listened from behind and thought, “Wow.”

What Did I Just See?

A core lesson about the generations is simply this: Baby Boomers are often persuaded (sold) by story. By history. By legacy and reputations of quality. And that’s what my client’s well-intentioned Baby Boomers were doing —telling the story of their company. The Boomers were very proud of it. The two young engineers couldn’t care less.

The next company immediately began talking to the students about their futures. About what they could expect. About whom they would meet. About what they would learn. The focus was on them, not the company. There was no history lesson. There were no insinuations of stability and reliability. This company spoke to what was important to them and the message came from people of a similar age — their peers. The difference couldn’t have been more dramatic.

This is a lesson of sales. Both defense companies were selling their companies as places of employment to the young engineers. One did it the way they — as Boomers — would want to be sold. The other did it the way they knew the next generation wanted to be sold. And, too often, we do that ourselves. We pitch (sell, persuade, articulate features, etc.) the way we’d find them appealing, missing out on the fact that our customer may prefer it differently.

The moral? Know your audience. Not only know who they are but how they prefer to learn, to be persuaded, to be sold. Know their biases and preferences. And remember that your biases and preferences could, in fact, be getting in the way of your own success.

Cam Marston studies workplace and workforce trends. His podcast, What’s Working with Cam Marston, features interviews with business leaders across the country. Marston now offers a two and a half day Communications Academy for deep dive learning into workplace and intergenerational communications. Learn more at CamMarston.com/GICA.