You Must Know your Market Before you React to It

This is why education is so critical. Folks that are thrown into projects and markets they are unfamiliar with will not only fail a significant portion of the time, but they will succeed and react to their market wrong a significant portion of the time too. I hear too many "success" stories where uneducated Joe gets thrown into a market and has a major success on his hands. You need to sharpen the saw folks! I think I've narrowed down my customer service complaint to a needle point. It's that people are reacting to their markets before they have accepted responsibility for their market. For example, you ask a worker at a local shop where a product is they are selling. Now does this sound familiar? "It's 2 isles down, let me take you there, I think it's on sale." Did that person buy the product before they sold it to you? I hope they did, but they likely didn't.

This might sound like a desirable outcome. But when the market is stripped bare, there's a lot of compliance. It's sold before you ask the question. Which is only a good thing, when you're really in a hurry. And individuals shouldn't be in that kind of hurry unless they are an Army Ranger or at least a pitcher for the Twins(kidding).

I guess the way this shapes our thinking is when we feel the relentless struggle with progress gripping at our bodies and it seems we're reacting every which way to the specialty markets (read interests) that we know and love, yet have not come to realize the full benefit of said market. Then, we lose sight. Or throw a tantrum. "We're building a bridge to nowhere" as Sarah Palin might say. It's not that we are reacting wrong, necessarily. We aren't prepared for what comes next. So, in fact, we are reacting right. It just isn't pretty.

An example of a transaction that I would thoroughly enjoy...I see an ad...it's extremely simple just an address, a price, and a product...maybe a catchy hook...when I go to buy...I hear "this has been my passion for 40 years"...he knows the ins, outs, strings, and delicate aspects of his product. With cause. He fills me in on his kids activities, but doesn't expect me to be there for their next birthday party. The guy on the other side of the counter (the seller) is a bit too talkative for the good of the sale, but it's strictly because he's enthusiastic about his product, coworkers, location, etc...

When people are educated on proper business etiquette, they will realize the importance of making the time to do the little things right. Again don't react, just get it right.