The concept and the analytical people

I conduct training for different groups of people from business owners to business executives, one-downs, two-downs, team-leads, etc. Over the years, my clientele covers a multitude of different industries. It is not my practice to drop the names of my clients, as I would prefer to let them enjoy their privacy. I myself would be annoyed to see the logo of my company appearing in a speaker or trainer’s web page or in their publicity sites. There is no need to namedrop. I am terribly irritated to hear clients tell me that certain speakers they hire claim that I have mentored them when I have not. I have mentored a few and today, they are now respected professionals, but the newer and the younger ones, definitely not.

I have trained bankers, engineers, scientists, IT, HR and medical professionals. I have also trained seasoned managers, high-potential talents, sales, marketing, creative and advertising people, and I am always amazed at the complexities of understanding their different profile and personalities.

Some are analytical and system-oriented, and they love numbers. Others hate math, but are extremely artistic and creative in coming up with business ideas. Some are quiet, others cannot stop talking. And while everyone tries to be civil, professional, formal, and cute…there is always a difference in the way analytical people and creative people think and do things.

As a speaker and a trainer, I know that when I speak to engineers and IT professionals, I cannot convince them of the ideas I present without proof of studies and research. They love facts and stats. But when I speak to sales people, the moment they see a table or a graph in a PowerPoint slide, they start yawning. But their eyes brighten up when they hear stories. God is such a powerful creator. He has populated the world with people of different personalities, temperament, and disposition such that the world will always be exciting and will never be boring.

Now, allow me to present to you an often-untold and unmentioned side of human dynamics involving different mindsets and personalities.

The analytical people find it hard to understand the oftentimes emotional, loud, and extroverted sales people. They are skeptical of advertising, marketing, and sales because they all seem so superficial and irrational. It does not fit their analytical mind. The sales and creative people, on the other hand, try their best to be civil and formal with the analytical people, but they call them “nerds and robots,” and do not understand why they can’t comprehend the concept they are working on.

Here is the key to understanding business.

You need both in order to run a successful business.

Engineers and technical people need to understand that business is not just about churning out good products and the ability to sell it, and selling is what sales people do best. Thinking against this line may equip the analytical person with the notion that a person is being authentic, and that their preference for having an independent mind is all that matters and tragically ignore a basic truth in business. You still need to sell your product.

A product that sells, but does not work spells the end of the business. The engineering process behind a product is an exact science that demands attention to intricate detail, and people with analytical minds best accomplish this.

Marketing and advertising do not exist to make people buy the product right away. It is intended to embed subtle impressions that will drive sales later. Its activities may seem superficial to the ‘nerds’ and other analytical people because their activities seem to lack transparency. Computer programming or engineering deals with the discipline of things. Some things either work or do not. But marketing, sales, and advertising deal with concepts; sometimes it is an orchestrated campaign to change surface appearance without transforming the entire product or process. They are both means to achieve the same end, which is to get the product to the consumers for their use and enjoyment. Analytical people dislike this, and to them, it looks dishonest.

Engineers and tech people strike marketing and sales people for lacking in transparency. When they look at them conversing with clients on the phones, traveling abroad to make presentations, giving a sales pitch over two-hour long lunches, they surmise that no honest work is being done.

The concept people and the analytical people are both experts in their fields. While the work of the engineers and tech people is not easy and challenging, they also need to know that marketing a product and getting the sales is likewise challenging, and that these sales and marketing people have done the hard work to make sales look easy.

For business to grow, the concept and the analytical people need to work together as a team bound by mutual respect in collaboration and cooperation. They’re both great people and become greater when they work in harmony together and good leadership makes this thing happen.

(Francis Kong with his highly acclaimed Level-Up Leadership learning event will run on June 5-6 at the Makati Diamond Residences near Greenbelt 1. Early registrations and reservations can be made by contacting April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)