Monthly Archives: May 2015

Takeaway #10: Protecting Customers and FreeCash Flow with GrandMaster Flash and the Furious 5

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‘cuz it’s all about money, ain’t a damn thing funny

You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey

Furious Five (Grandmaster Melle Mel and Duke Bootee or Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)    (The Message  ♦     (1982) )

 

One of the oldest aphorisms in hip hop, this line remains constant.  The issue is not that the game is about cash at all costs, but there is actually more subtlety afoot here.  Your world is the world of commerce, which is about more than cash, it is about effective salesmanship, marketing and yes, even customer relationship management (CRM).  The perfectly efficient market governs the world of commerce, in theory.  The reality is that this “land of milk and honey” that is the free marketplace is governed by something more insidious, “the con.”  It is the angle, the marketing pitch, the mission statement and the management of perceptions of others – the CRM – that dictates who will remain above the fray.  You must control your customer base by perpetually fine-tuning your pitch.  If you don’t, your customer will be pinched.  Eat your own lunch, before someone helps themselves. 

BPM TAKEAWAY#10:

  • FREE CASH FLOW COMES FROM EFFECTIVE CRM

  • FINE TUNE YOUR PITCH OR GET YOUR LUNCH & CUSTOMERS PINCHED

 

Extra Note: 

  Ajhiphopworld.com on the Message

  Mastering-the-art-of-the-pitch


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3rd Bass says: “Details,details, details***”

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A grin shows a trick up a sleeve (HUAHAH)

What a tangled web they weave

Deceivers, stupefied through fable

say Let’s Make a Deal at the dinner table

Put you on tour, put your record on wax (“Trust me!”)

Sign your life on the X

You eXit, X-off, but what you really get:

A box of Newports, and Puma sweats (“Damn!”)

3rd Bass ♦  The Gas Face

Do you need a translation?  Whether it is a deal memo or a definitive agreement you need to be cautious.  Is the drafter of the contract trying to lure you into a deal with an inordinate amount of fine print that you will only discover long after the fact?  The sales pitch sounds great.  The proponent weaved a great story about what they can do for you and how this deal will change your circumstances for the better.  The black & white deal bears no similarity to the pitch.  Is it bait and switch?  Yes, we suppose, but it is always slightly more subtle.  The deal memo leaves out the key items you need.  The spirit conveyed over the meeting that “locked” the deal up is not captured in the first draft.

BPM is not a fan of putting extra money in the hands of attorneys, but you need to get your attorney to review the earliest possible articulation of the deal in writing.  It’s hard to renegotiate a deal, even it is only written on the back of a cocktail napkin.  You don’t want to go into the deal with an Armani suit and walk out with nothing but a jockstrap.

BPM TAKEAWAY#9:

  • GET THE DETAILS IN WRITING

  • READ THE FINE PRINT

Extra Note:  Attention to detail matters not just for defense, but for building an effective brand, see Details at the Mouse

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Takeaway #147: Can you be a change agent? Inspired by Schoolly D

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PSK, we’re making that green

People always say, “What the hell does that mean?”

P for the people who can’t understand

How one homeboy became a man…

Schoolly D ♦ PSK ‘What Does it Mean?’

Takeaway 147:  Yeah, I know, west philly, Park Side Killers.  But the reality is that it takes Pragmatic Skills….street/tested Knowledge to be an effective change agent.  Do you have it in you today?

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