Learming Hub
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Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK
Rory was appointed Creative Director of OgilvyOne in 1997 and ECD in 1998. He has worked on Amex, BT, Compaq, Microsoft, IBM, BUPA, easyJet, Unilever and won numerous awards along the way. In 2005 he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather Group UK. He was elected President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in 2009 for two years. Rory is also a visiting professor of Warwick University and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate (D. Litt) by Brunel University.  He will be a keynote speaker at the IMI National Management Conference on 8 October 2015   IMI: Based on your current work – if you only had 6 words of advice to give a business - what would they be?

RS: "Think like a biologist"


IMI: What does this mean? RS: There is a dangerous tendency for people to look at businesses and markets as though they were pieces of engineering: and should be managed and understood in Newtonian terms. Today more than ever it's more useful - at least most of the time - to use the mental models we use to understand complex and evolving systems. biologist Source:www.askabiologist.asu.edu IMI: Where should we look for further information? RS: A great first place to start is by reading Robert H Frank's book The Economic Naturalist, and his later work The Darwin Economy. Nassim Taleb's Antifragile is a long but mind-reshaping read. The other areas of worthwhile study are evolutionary psychology and behavioural economics. These seek to understand how (and why) people - often unconsciously - make decisions in reality, and why this may differ from narrow and naive theories of economic rationality. Where to start here? Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein. And The Rational Animal by Griskevicius and Kenrick. Sapiens, by Noah Harari, Butterfly Economics by Ormerod, Adapt by Tim Harford and The Origins of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker would also be an essential read.   Rory Sutherland s a keynote speaker at the IMI National Management Conference taking place on Thursday 8 October. This event has now reached maximum capacity however if you would like to be added to the waiting list, please email your contact details and company name to conference@imi.ie. [post_title] => "Think like a biologist" Six Word Wisdom from Rory Sutherland [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => think-like-biologist-six-word-wisdom-rory-sutherland [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-05-11 20:40:33 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-05-11 20:40:33 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.imi.ie/?p=11950 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 29596 [post_author] => 94 [post_date] => 2018-12-30 14:51:55 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-12-30 14:51:55 [post_content] => [post_title] => 2018 hghlights from IMI speakers [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => 2018-hghlights-from-imi-speakers [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2019-11-07 12:47:02 [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-11-07 12:47:02 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.imi.ie/?p=29596 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8843 [post_author] => 146 [post_date] => 2015-01-21 15:38:15 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-01-21 15:38:15 [post_content] => [post_title] => 30% Club Sponsorship offered by IMI [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => private [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => 30-club-scholarship-offered-imi [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-12-13 18:19:12 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-12-13 18:19:12 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.imi.ie/?post_type=post&p=8843 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 24873 [post_author] => 146 [post_date] => 2019-01-16 17:26:18 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-01-16 17:26:18 [post_content] => A key element of maximising leadership resilience, impact and success is making sure you have a healthy relationship with being busy – something which can be challenging in the modern culture of speed, ‘doing’ and distraction. Being too busy can seriously affect the performance and impact of leaders – their focus, clarity of thought, creativity and impact on others.  It also often affects their health, wellbeing and work-life balance – critical components for long-term, sustainable success. Based on 18 years’ working with top global organisations, busy CEOs, entrepreneurs and C suite executives, psychologist and transformative coach Dr. Jill Walker will challenge our relationship with being busy.  She will also provide practical ways to help us create space in our fast-paced world.

Date: 06 March 2019

Time: 8am - 10am

Venue: IMI Campus

Register Here

[post_title] => Advant-edge Session 1: Better not busier - Dublin [post_excerpt] => A key element of maximising leadership resilience, impact and success is making sure you have a healthy relationship with being busy – something which can be challenging in the modern culture of speed, ‘doing’ and distraction. Being too busy can seriously affect the performance and impact of leaders – their focus, clarity of thought, creativity and impact on others. It also often affects their health, wellbeing and work-life balance – critical components for long-term, sustainable success. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => advant-edge-session-1-resilience-breaking-busy-dublin [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2019-10-07 09:51:23 [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-10-07 09:51:23 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.imi.ie/?post_type=post&p=24873 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) )
Julia Rowan

Julia Rowan

8th May 2014

In this Section

"Think like a biologist" Six Word Wisdom from Rory Sutherland
2018 hghlights from IMI speakers
30% Club Sponsorship offered by IMI
Advant-edge Session 1: Better not busier - Dublin

3 slick selling techniques you should take from the Time-share Salesperson

Time-share people get a bad press. 

While most people avoid them like the plague, I have the height of respect for them. And I think we can learn a lot from their selling techniques.

In fact I recently dedicated an afternoon of my precious time in Hong Kong to reacquaint myself with their interesting technique.

First off is the guy who stops you on the street and invites you to try your luck on a scratch card.  Surprise, surprise – you have won a t-shirt or bottle of wine!  BUT, your scratch-card friend does not have your prize to hand – you have to visit the complex where the timeshare is for sale to pick it up.  Once in the complex, you will be interviewed by someone who will find out all about you (hobbies, kids, etc.) and then present the complex in terms that are likely to attract you. Finally, you meet with Mr/Ms “Yes or No” – who asks you , in no uncertain terms, whether you want to buy or not.

What I love is the clarity of the roles involved and what they can tell us about the process of selling.

Scratchcard man never confuses the issue: he is not there to sell timeshare, his job is to get you to visit to the complex.  Presentation woman never confuses the issue: she is not there to sell timeshare, her job is to present the complex in terms that you find attractive.  And finally you come to  Mr/Ms Yes or No: it’s their job to sell timeshare and only they ask directly for the business.

Most presenters and sales people get nowhere near the clarity of the timeshare team. 

Here are three lessons we can learn from them:

1. Work out exactly where you are in the sales process (whether you are selling a product, service, information, approach, idea).  I worked with the production manager of an industrial paints and coatings company some time ago.  I sat through his ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ presentation (company history, milestones, products, clients, markets – you get the picture).  When I asked him “how will you know if your presentation is successful?” he answered immediately: “They will send two of their technical staff down to our factory to meet our technical team”.  We reworked his presentation with a very clear objective “persuade the potential client to send two technical staff to the factory”.  Always work out a clear objective based on where you are in the sales process.

2. Start where your audience is right now.  Are they happy, worried, bored, experienced?  If you are introducing performance management for the third time, because it’s flopped the first two times, then standing up and telling people that performance management is the best thing ever is unlikely to engage your audience.  Start where they are – not where you are.

3. Tell the audience your objective clearly and unambiguously, unless you have a great reason not to.  “We want to be on your list of preferred suppliers”, “I want to persuade you to increase the marketing budget by 50% at your next senior management meeting”.  Most presenters think in terms of inputs (“I’ll tell them…) rather than outputs (“they will buy, change…”).  Writing powerful objectives is much harder than it sounds.  Tip:  keep asking “so that?” – you will eventually arrive at a clear output.

So, was it worth an afternoon of my life?  Still have the t-shirt.  Haven’t worn it once.

Julia Rowan is a member of IMI’s Associate Faculty and a highly acclaimed training consultant, facilitator and coach.  She has worked in companies throughout Europe helping managers and specialists at all levels to do better work in less time.  Her career path has included positions in financial services, marketing, lobbying and public relations.  

Click here for more posts on marketing and selling.

If you’re interested in developing your or your businesses’ selling capacity see the IMI Diploma in Marketing Strategy with Digital Marketing or our tailored solutions for organisations.

 

 

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