Coaching on the DR Court, Part 1
By Leo Gorcey

In the movie “Michael Clayton,” senior law partner Marty Bach (played by the late Sydney Pollack) makes the following observation about human behavior: “People are #@c&#*$ incomprehensible!”

Welcome to the direct response world, which–like the rest of the world–is chock full of people who are #@c&#*$ incomprehensible! Which is exactly why the age of coaching has arrived.

How do we create an environment where teams of people (sometimes thousands of miles apart–and who are incomprehensible) can cooperate at an unprecedented level to add value beyond MER/CPO/ROI and the armada of other acronyms that rule the business we call our vocation–direct response?

Creating a structure that will align the needs and interests of DR marketers, creative agencies, media buyers, call centers and customers is no longer a whimsical notion–it’s now a necessity. I believe the time is no longer coming, but is now here, when we are compelled to dig deeper and focus more intently on breaking down silos, building bridges, cultivating more open communication and fostering greater trust between the various sectors of our direct response community if we are to reap the fruit of the new economy.

This shift from top-down, hierarchical, fear-based management to open communication, humility, curiosity, holding one another in equal esteem and taking the time to cultivate deeper levels of awareness, while improving performance, is even more critical due to the fact that, for the first time in history, we have four generations side-by-side in the workforce. In our workforce. In direct response.

COACHING TIPS
So how do we go about cultivating a coaching culture that emphasizes learning it all over knowing it all?

Here are some coaching tips to add value to your direct response environment at little or no additional cost to your organization:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Do you respect the people you work with? How many of us have really stopped to ponder what it truly means to respect one another?

The word “respect” literally means to “look back at with regard or esteem.”

Among the tribes of northern Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, equivalent to “hello” in English, is the expression Sawu bona. It literally means I see you–I sustain you in this world–or I see you and honor you before me as a living, breathing being. If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, “I am here.” It’s as if when you see me, you bring me more fully into existence.

It’s hard to feel respected, honored and esteemed when we commonly “greet” one another without even looking up from our laptops.

To respect one another is to recognize one another’s legitimacy–the potential each person carries within them. To truly see and regard another as one who can teach me something I don’t know. Respect is the opposite of judging people and seeing them as objects in a mechanical world. Respect is making a space for another’s views as legitimate.

Respect is the foundation on which we can build a true learning environment–where coaching, development and improvement are not only valued, but also supported and encouraged at every level of our business.

Coaching focuses on overall performance, not just numbers. It’s time to hone in on opportunities to add value in all areas of performance–particularly long-neglected soft skills. Ask more questions (versus having all the answers). Listen more intently to each other. Communicate more openly. Build deeper, more meaningful personal connections among those we co-create with every day. Cultivate curiosity. Make space in conversations for differing points of view.

Focusing on overall performance involves coming together with no agenda and participating in open dialogue focused on the deepest, most fundamental problems that are blocking change, positive growth, creative development and improved performance.

Take the relationship between the DR client and the vendor (let’s say, the call center). Traditionally this relationship is littered with mine fields and booby traps that have crippled our best efforts at cooperation. Often, we have walked in circles, one foot nailed to the floor, doing the same things over and over and expecting different results–emphasizing numbers over people, putting technology over relationships, testing over dialogue and power over understanding.

Since market conditions are changing almost daily, do we really have the luxury of continuing to behave in accordance with age-old unquestioned assumptions and beliefs that are threatening our livelihoods?

Focusing on raising the quality of our communication may be the very key to the future prosperity of our business.

Those in direct response who have been tasked as managers and supervisors are waking up to the reality that they’ve become glorified paper pushers (now e-mail pushers and “crackberry” addicts) and baby-sitters. There is a growing frustration around the sucking sound of meaning being siphoned out of our work environments faster than diesel fuel being siphoned out of farmers’ gas tanks.

So how do we change? My experience is that we must first have the courage to question the assumptions that got us here in the first place. And they go way back.

Next month, I’ll share more coaching tips.

Leo Gorcey is a direct response consultant specializing in training call center teams and profit-building call center scripts to increase revenue. He can be reached at (541) 531-7419, or via e-mail at leogorcey@leogorcey.com.