They buy who you are not what you sell

They buy who you are, not what you sell.

Those wise words were pronounced by my good friend Bruce Turkel on Saturday when we had an afternoon meeting with some colleagues to analyze the economic environment in the world and how best to meet the needs of our clients.

In a subsequent article he wrote, he mentions the case of Kansas City Royals pitcher Gil Meeche who just announced his retirement because of a chronically painful right shoulder. In the world of sports, this sort of thing is not at all uncommon, in fact, it happens every day.

Why would this pitcher’s retirement be news, what makes it so unusual?

Well, the reason is that when he retired, he walked away, left behind, and surrendered a $12 million dollar contract.

What did Meeche tell the New York Times when they interviewed them?

“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it. Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it.”

This man didn’t want to get paid what he was owed because he felt he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t ask for a settlement, a buyout, some sort of deal, absolutely nothing. No strings attached.

The New York Times article mentioning Meeche’s case, also mentions some other athletes who walked away from lucrative contracts and a few more who continued to take their salaries even though they were not playing; they were on the sidelines with injuries. It also points out that no one expects an athlete who is sick or injured to simply walk away from the amount of money left in a contract, yet that is exactly what Gil Meeche did.

Meeche says, “This is not about being a hero, that is not even close to what it’s about. It’s just me getting back to a point in my life where I am comfortable.”

To tell you the truth, in my opinion, the way things are today and how athletes and celebrities behave, what he did is heroic and exhilarating.

And even though lots of people would agree that what Meeche did was the right thing to do, I don’t think many would follow his example. The right thing to do, taking the right path is not often the easiest route to take, nor the most traveled.

I have another example from the world of business which is also extremely rare and heroic but before I describe it, I will tell you about another experience Bruce had.

He just received a letter from a client labeled “personal and confidential”.

He didn’t expect it to be good news and I don’t blame him because when any of us gets an envelope that has “personal and confidential” written on the outside, it usually isn’t good news.

In this particular case, since the letter was from a client who owed him money, he certainly didn’t expect good news at all.

The letter was from the marketing director of a client company. And in it he explained that even though he was the one that gave the approval to hire him for a marketing project in his company, his bosses now had decided not to pay him. His organization had taken the position that he hadn’t delivered what he had promised and they felt they were not responsible for paying the bill.

The marketing director said he did not agree with the position of his bosses and he felt embarrassed that they had taken such a position. The way he put it “the materials delivered were as specified and completed.”

To make a long story short, this man said he was in a very uncomfortable position, that he gave great value to his standing with peers, friends and vendors and that he wants to be perceived as a person of integrity and someone who believes in long term relationships, both personal and professional, more so than on short term financial or ego driven positions. (The marshmallow principle again)

And now the real surprise and to me a bigger than life action: “Please accept, without contest, my position of honor and commitment that I made, first personally and second professionally” and included in the note, a personal check made to his firm, for $4,900.00.

How many people would do such a thing? How many executives would take personal responsibility for the actions of their companies? It is really commendable.

This is why the title of this article. They don’t buy what you do, they buy who you are.

Your clients want much more than what you do for them, they really want a relationship. They want you and they want you for the long haul, not just for one transaction.

My own example I want to tell you about is about one of my most admired leaders in the world of business today, Mr. Jon Huntsman, a self made, billionaire, is the best example that people can become very rich by playing by the rules and by behaving ethically contrary to what most people believe.

In 1986, after lengthy negotiations with Emerson Kampen, CEO of Great Lakes Chemical Company, Kampen agreed to purchase 40% of Mr. Huntsman Company for 54 million dollars. They were tough negotiations but finally they shook hands and sealed the deal

Mr. Kampen’s lawyers took a long time to draft the documents, they were dragging their feet and over six months had passed. In the interim, prices for raw materials had decreased substantially and the profit margins of Mr. Huntsman’s company had reached an all time high. In fact, profits had tripled.

Since nothing had been signed with Great Lakes and no documents had been exchanged, Mr. Huntsman received a call from Mr. Kampen with a remarkable proposal in mind.

“Forty per cent of Huntsman Chemical today is worth $250 million dollars according to my bankers. You and I shook hands and agreed on a $54 million price over six months ago”. Although he didn’t think he should pay the full difference, he thought it only fair he pay at least half (125 million) and offered to do so.

Mr. Huntsman answer was “no”. They didn’t have to use the appreciated value nor did they have to split the difference. He had shaken hands and given his word six months ago for $54 million and that was the money he had to pay. His word was his bond. A few days later, the documents were signed and $54 million dollars exchanged hands. They had a long and very profitable relationship after that until the day Mr. Kampen passed away.

In this will, he had asked for two people to speak at his funeral. One of them was Jon. M. Huntsman.

The pitcher Gil Meeche, the marketing director of the firm that owed Bruce money and Mr. Huntsman are examples of people that lead their lives based on principles, not money, ego or fame.

Bravo for them and let’s hope that as many people as possible follow their examples. Our society, in fact the world, needs people like this now more than ever.