Friday, September 19, 2008

Looks don’t matter…




Really? Who would you rather a date with; Angelina Jolie, or Jo Brand? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Jo brand is quite lovely, but I would still choose Angelina. It’s a shallow male thing.

That’s not all, looks go further than people. Remember a little while ago now that the fiat multipla won all sorts of awards across Europe, it had some serious innovation in internal design. Two bench seats that sat three, plenty of leg and headroom, a sizable boot and some pretty nifty foldable seats.

But what in the name of all that’s holy were the designers thinking. It looked like the love child of a dolphin and an elephant and I for one would rather arrive at my destination riding piggie-back on John Merrick than step out of it. And the truth is, I am not alone. Despite its good manners and supreme practicality, sales for fiat were disappointing low. It was meant for families, but no self respecting child would be seen getting out of it in front of the school gates. They would be beaten, tied to a tree and laughed at all day by passers by. So disappointing low were fiats sales, they decided to tone down the exterior design to just ugly instead of repulsively hideous. Thanks fiat.

Even if the product is good then, design still matters. But why? Well I have a theory about this. I personally think that good well thought design helps in two areas. It shows firstly that the company cares about the product. They have thought long and hard about how people will view it and they design it to look as pleasing as possible for them.

Secondly, good design delivers something that money almost cannot buy. Pride. Have you ever wondered why all Ferrari drivers have a smug grin? Surly they must know that everybody hates them? I have a friend that owns one and yes, he knows that people want to do him a serious injury, but he also knows that secretly, deep down inside we would love to drive round town in one too. He knows he is the ugly bloke with the super model girl friend.

In business, pride provides a little bit more. It provides motivation. If your proud of something your motivated to tell as many people about it as possible. Now I know that I have touched on this subject before but the power of motivation is astonishing.
A recent survey from America studied the results of ‘grades verse motivation’ to prospective employers. The results showed that as many as 90% of employers will take someone who is highly motivated over someone less motivated but with good grades.


The same is true when we own our own business. There is nothing we cannot learn, or accomplish, no problem we cannot overcome and no mountain we cannot climb if we are motivated enough.

There are some things in business we can save money on, there are some corners we can cut. But with your equipment always, always buy with your head AND your heart. You will never regret it.


Carl Phillips
Director
Clear View Plus Ltd

1 comment:

andy marling said...

well put carl n i agree LOOKS do matter, ya can see the look on pips faces when i drive passed other shiners, the best is only good enuf
andy