Have you met any geniuses? Or is it genii?
I’ve met only two.
One was Charlie Chaplin, whom I met – very briefly – when I was writing ads for a film called Fahrenheit 451.
He just happened to be in a studio when I was – and the producer introduced us. Small, quiet, neat white-haired man in a dark blue overcoat looking cozy in a soft white scarf – with a very beautiful wife.
The other, was David Ogilvy. Maybe ours is such a trivial business nobody merits the description “genius”, but if they do I suspect he did.
Painstaking
Somebody once described genius as “An infinite capacity for taking pains.” To illustrate it, here is a true story about David Ogilvy. It gives you some idea about his working practices.
He rang me up one day at home at 10:30 in the morning. I was cooking the Sunday lunch.
This is how the short conversation went.
“Hello, David here.”
“Morning, David.”
“What’s wrong with Ogilvy and Mather?”
“Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.”
“Thank you. Oh – Merry Christmas.”
Yes: it really was Christmas morning. I spent much of Boxing Day writing him a long memo.
Persistence, persistence, persistence
I once asked a man who’d worked with him for 40 years what made Ogilvy remarkable.
He said, “Persistence.”
The man I was talking to was extremely successful and at the top of his profession. He is worth many millions.
He said to me: “I have done extremely well – better than I ever expected. And I think one reason is that I am not a quitter. Other people try something a few times then give up. I keep going for two or even three years. But David never gives up – 10, 20, 30 years, he just keeps going.”
If at first you don’t succeed
Well, you may take this as a good maxim for running your life. But it actually applies equally to small things. Things as small – but vital – as asking for a reply or an order.
This observation may sound so absurdly simple that you may be tempted to laugh at my naivety, but here goes:
- Don’t ask for the reply or order once or even twice. Ask repeatedly.
- If you’re running a TV spot, keep the number on the screen for longer. If you have a website, ask for a response on every page. Same with a catalogue. If it’s an ad, ask in the coupon – ask also outside the coupon. If it’s a direct mail letter or e-mail, don’t just ask once – ask more than once.
- And ask forcefully. None of this limp-wristed “We look forward to hearing from you” waffle. Be serious. Go for the order!
I always try to ask at least three times, using phrases like:
“Why not reply now, while this is on your mind?”
“Make it the very next thing you do.”
“Call me the minute you finish reading this.”
“Don’t delay: your competitors won’t.”
Or in a piece I wrote two days ago: “Why watch others make money you could be making?”
Hardly very strategic, is it? But far more profitable, I promise you.
Contributed by Drayton Bird, Hon. F IDM
www.directmarketingcourse.com
A Revived article from THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
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