Sales men are always optimistic and Finance executives are mostly pessimistic. There is a joke that reflects their respective attitudes. A sales executive and a finance executive were residing in the same house. They had hung up stockings on the Christmas Eve. The next day morning the sales executive sees that the stocking is full of horse shit and he is overjoyed. The finance executive finds two fresh packets of milk and he is terribly unhappy. A common friend finds both the sales executive’s and the finance executive’s attitude very strange.
He asks the Sales person “how can you be so happy and how can he (the finance executive) be so unhappy. The sales executive responds “Santa Claus has sent the horse shit today and the horse will come tomorrow." The sobbing finance executive adds “the milk is fresh today and it will get spoiled tomorrow. That is my worry”. That in a nut shell shows how two different professionals feel about their jobs.
It is always better to say that the glass is half full than saying it is half empty. Say that Tank Bund connects Hyderabad and Secunderabad rather than saying that it separates the two cities. Always be optimistic.
A shoe company had sent its sales manager to a remote African country to find out the sales potential. Within a few days comes a telex “No one wears shoes here. 100% market share can be expected”. Not totally believing the sales manager the Managing Director sends the finance controller. The telex arrives within a few days” “No one wears shoes here, zero market potential”.
Alarmed at the variance to these two reports the Managing Director sends the Head of Strategy. After two weeks a detailed report is sent by the Head of Strategy. The reports says the following" Both the sales manager and the Financial controller are correct. No ones wears shoes. So theoretically there is a possibility of 100% market share. But in a country where no ones wears any footwear the finance controller’s observation is also correct.
The company has to make people believe the advantage of wearing shoes over walking barefoot. Product trials have to be done and opinion leaders have to be won over. So cost will have to be incurred before some of the local population start wearing shoes. Once some of the people start wearing shoes there will be a cascading effect and many more will follow suit.”
The head of strategy does not stop here. He goes on to add " The company will have to invest in new machinery. This is because the typical shoe sizes in India are 7, 8 and 9. In Africa the typical shoe sizes are 8, 9 and 10. The country is very poor and does not have liquid cash. But the country is very rich in cloves”. The head of strategy suggests a barter system where the shoe company ties up with a local entrepreneur and supplies shoes in wholesale and take cloves in return. This true story illustrates the necessity of being optimistic and pessimistic at the same time. But Moderation is the key!
Nice one for the students who are about to enter their placement season. As this is the dilemma they mostly find themselves in.
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