| |
| |
|
|
|
Judge Rules in Consultant's Favor with 80-20 Rule
I opened the registered letter and was shocked. My best clients were joining together in a class-action suit against me. The letter stated that I had promulgated a false illusion of success by having them follow the 80-20 rule. It alleged that I brainwashed them into thinking that the 80-20 rule was a basic law of business and nature. They followed my advice and many of them had gone bankrupt. I confess, I do quote the 80-20 rule like it is divinely ordained. Called by whatever name, the 80-20 rule reminds us that the relationship between input and output is not balanced. The rule states that a small number of causes is responsible for a large percentage of the effect, in a ratio of about 80-20. For example, it could be said that 80 percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your customers or 80 percent of your budget comes from 20 percent of the items and so forth. The 80-20 rule is definitely biblical in its origins. It's my mantra. I start all my training sessions with a simple question. Although there are Ten Commandments, which ones do you think generate most of our sins? "Do not covet? " is obviously No. 1. The group usually argues over No. 2. Lately "Honor thy father and mother" has been the runner-up. (I guess with the increase in life expectancy, it has become much more difficult to follow this commandment.) We have a few laughs, and I make my point. Each commandment does not generate an equal amount of sins. "Do not covet" and at least one more could well make up 80 percent of our daily transgressions. My audience loves the story. True, they would initially argue that the 80-20 rule does not apply to them. Their businesses are unique and such sweeping rules could not include them. However, I show them data and a lot of anecdotal evidence. I can be very persuasive. Finally they succumb and buy my book, training tapes, and subscribe to my Web site in order to follow my latest advice. I reread the letter. I'm flabbergasted. I call my best customers, but they won't talk to me. They refer all my calls to their attorneys. My attorney warns me that this is not a frivolous lawsuit. I need to have a strong defense. We live in times when consultants are being sued by their clients for a lack of ethics, conflicts of interests, and down right plain stupidity. Consultants are paying hefty fines, even getting jail time. I started working on my defense at the library. I researched the great scientific discoveries of the Renaissance. I believed that the 80-20 rule could be found in the footnotes of Sir Isaac Newton's manuscripts on the universal laws of gravitation. I was wrong. An alternative, for sure, would be Charles Darwin's law of the survival of the fittest. The 80-20 breakdown seemed like a natural outgrowth of his studies of competition, genetic mutation, and the animals of the Galapagos Islands. Again no luck. I was starting to worry. I did find some stuff on an Italian economist of the late 19th century, Vilfredo Pareto. He developed "Pareto's Law" which he presented as: log N = log A + m logX. When dumbed down it is the 80-20 rule. I was very excited. I showed it to my lawyer. "Forget it." I would lose the jury with any math beyond third grade. I decided to tell my lawyer the truth. My pals in high school promulgated the 80-20 rule. We were trying to figure out the probability of getting dates on any given Saturday night. We collected data from our classmates. Surprisingly a small percentage of the guys (20 percent to be exact) dated most of the girls (80 percent to be exact). These guys were considered the "in crowd" and always had dates. On the other hand my friends and I, "the nerds," the other 80 percent of guys, were always competing to get one of those few girls (the 20 percent that would date a nerd) to go out with us. The rule applied in college too. Eighty percent of the beer cans could be found in front of only 20 percent of the dorm rooms. We knew because we collected them for recycling. (OK, we did it to get the five-cents refund available in politically correct California). It just seemed that everywhere I went this 80-20 thing worked. My lawyer sounded encouraging for the first time. He could use this type of information to convince a jury. Initially, his strategy was to plea bargain and ask the judge for community service. Now he was ready to go for an acquittal and threaten to counter sue my former clients for defaming my professional name and character. Did you see me on Court TV? Not only did I win, I got the judge and 80 percent of the jury to buy my book. Hesh Reinfeld writes a syndicated business humor column. You can read additional examples of his columns on his website: http://www.heshreinfeld.com Or contact him at hesh1@comcast.net
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Marketing Quandaries Being in a quandary prevents you from moving forward in developing and marketing your business. When we're in a quandary, we are in a state of perplexity and doubt. How to Avoid Giving Away Free Consulting After spending 30 minutes in a coffee shop with a potential client, I realized that the sheet of paper they were writing on was almost full; full of ideas that I had just given away for free. If you consult, coach, or are in the advice-giving field, you may have had a similar experience. 2 Great, Free Techniques to Get Customers to Come to You, Not the Other Way Around Here is a powerful tip on how to substantially increase the traffic to your business weather it's online or bricks & mortar. The best news is that it's totally free! You will get more targeted traffic to your website and more customers through your front door. Unleash the Power of Post Cards Direct mail marketing is essential for a business to survive.Choosing the correct materials can make the difference between success and failure of your marketing campaign. Marketing Lessons From Apples iPod Apple Computer just announced that their earnings from the last quarter more than quadrupled mainly due to robust holiday sales of the iPod digital music player. More than 10 million iPods have been sold since it was introduced in 2001. Insiders Secret to Selling Mailing Lists If you've got a mailing list of at least a thousand names or more, you're sitting on a gold mine. All it takes is for you to get the word out that you've got a mailing list for rent, at a competitive price, and you should be home free!First of all, you've got to have a bonafide list of customers - a list of names of people that have responded to an ad or bought from you. Painless Marketing for People Who Hate to Market Face it?you know you've got to do something to keep a steady stream of clients coming to your professional service firm. But when it comes to the m-word (marketing), you'd rather not. Deceptive Marketing and Procrastination Procrastination is every marketers worst nightmare.This applies on three fronts. How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing Marketing can be expensive. It doesn't have to be, but sometimes you will spend more than you should. Business In 2010: A New Face of Marketing The term "internet marketing" was virtually non-existent a short 8 years ago, now it is a growing phenomenon that is raking millions every year. Because of this expanding industry, the internet landscape it changing. Quick and Instant Marketing Soup Everything happens Quickly and Instantly on the Internet. In the blink of an eye your easily transported around a whole planet. Bridging the Chasm from Lead to Loyal Customer Bridging the Chasm from Lead to Loyal Customer: A Step by Step Guide for Developing Awareness, Building Credibility and Acquiring CustomersHave you ever watched a documentary about climbing Mount Everest? If so, you will undoubtedly remember one specific segment of the journey where the climbers cross a chasm, one carefully placed step after another, using aluminum ladders strung end to end. For me, just the thought of it is enough to cause an anxiety attack!There is a similar chasm between your product or service and your potential customers, even if it is only in the potential customers' mind. 2 Step Marketing Do it Right.I receive postcards all the time. Making the Intangible Real How do you make the intangible real? How do you take an idea or concept, something that can't be seen or touched, and convey its essence to others, quickly and easily?That challenge faces many of us in this age of information and knowledge marketing. In advertising and other marketing communications, we have to convince prospects to respond to words and ideas. How to Use Direct Response Post Card Decks as a Valuable Market Research Tool Market research specialists have discovered a new tool which enables them to quickly identify target market cells, measure buyer acceptance, test new product or service concepts quickly and inexpensively and survey market characteristics.. Did You Know Your Mind-Set IS Your Problem? How To Save Yourself From The Pits of Marketing Cyber Hell!"Your Mind-Set IS Your Problem!"Did you know that the one major thing that stands between You and Success is Your Mind Set? Yes it is true. Sometimes our "Own Stinkin' Thinkin'" gets in the way of our Success, or our ability to achieve success. To Web or Not to Web? Do I need a web site? That is the question often asked by business owners. The answer will usually depend upon the type of product or service offered and what the business is trying to achieve. Marketings Nuclear Weapon Three seconds. That's what you have to convey your message. Your Secret Marketing Weapon As a professional service provider, you're paid for what you know. People come to your firm for the expertise you offer, first and foremost. The M-Word It was a real eye-opener to hear the perceptions people have about what it means to market professional services, as well as the anxiety the "m-word" (marketing) conjures up. It reminded me that, just because professional service providers have a lot of expertise in their chosen field, it doesn't mean they have the same level of understanding about the business of growing a practice.
|
| home | site map | |
| TaraHOST © 2007 | |
| |
