"When you are young, ethics is what happens after you get caught. But when you get older, ethics is what passes for forethought to make sure you don't have to get caught."As I read this article entitled "The Fairway Test" in the September issue of the Rotarian, its relevance to the topics I discuss in this blog was very apparent. Author Jack Hitt recounts the time he and his siblings were caught hiding the peas in dinner napkins. His father caught on and their sister, as the mastermind of the plan, was forced to eat five servings. They eventually came to realize that had they suggested a vegetable other than peas their father would have compromised.
Most of us can probably remember trying to hide the peas at dinner. Much work has been done to improve the quality of the peas that we eat in this country, but the negative image no doubt holds. I'll bet every day I think about something Pete Klaiber, marketing director of the Pea & Lentil Council, said last year in a class. As I mentioned in the first post to this blog, the industry is now competing on quality. Surely that is not only a response to global market mechanics, but also due to the realization that they must confront their image problem directly. Trying to compete with third world countries in the bulk pea market is probably a loser, but changing a long-held perception about your product can't be easy either.
Competing on quality necessarily leads to a shift in how you interact with your customers. In a need-based market, the buyer-beware ethic is more commonplace. There is no expectation of reasonableness, honesty, or compromise. Proponents of the need-based marketing outlook are correct to point out that in the marketplace, trade is always need-based.
There are two reasons that the need-based outlook doesn't completely hold sway. First, smaller competitors, or those at some other disadvantage must bring something else to the table. A senior partner at a big New York law firm is probably not any better than one in Kansas City. That won't counter the perception held by corporate executives that a New York lawyer is better. Often times they are willing to pay a premium for that perception. So how does the Kansas City lawyer compete? Sometimes luck, sometimes a corporate counsel is a friend from college. Or they can focus very heavily on their relationship with their client, never take anything for granted, and work every day to renew their client's trust in them.
For five years I had the pleasure of working for one of the best lawyers around at relationship marketing. As a proponent of the need-based strategy, it took me a while to come around. Eventually I realized that it wasn't just a strategy this Kansas City lawyer employed to compete with New York lawyers. It's not just his living, it's what he does for most of his waking hours. He chooses the personal relationship marketing strategy because that is how he wants to do business. There are companies here in Moscow, Idaho that employ the same strategy. It would probably be easier to just move, but they choose the "hard way" because they choose a different way to live.
Pete Klaiber and the Pea & Lentil Council have identified an essential reality that will eventually pervade the U.S. agricultural industry. It is exemplified in a Newsweek article about why China will never be the world economic superpower. The article describes a number of instances where China's need-based strategy has alienated countries like Angola and South Africa. It is no coincidence that Angola, with its rich oil reserves, is embracing U.S. efforts to rebuild the long war-torn country.
What the Newsweek article says in essence is that the U.S. economic position in the world is not just about resource domination. It's about culture and dare I say... ethics. The Pea & Lentil Council and the rest of the U.S. agricultural sector will succeed because when you compete on quality, you make a promise that is not required in the need-based paradigm. A promise is not a contract, it's a bond of trust between people who have expectations of one another.
The Pea & Lentil Council's marketing strategy is largely focused internationally, but it may be the local foods initiative that leads this ethical revolution (with all due respect to Pete). Some very important American companies are thriving by taking a stand for quality and sustainability. Chipotle's slogan is "Food With Integrity". Watch this Nightline segment as founder Steve Ells explains his philosophy.
Jack Hitt finishes his Rotarian article with some advice from his brother to a reader who inquires about playing golf with a friend who likes to take do-overs. "I wouldn't do business with him," his brother said. He then recounted something Ben Hogan said about the game:
... golf is a game of recovery. It's about what you're going to do when you get into trouble. It's about shooting out of the woods or a sand trap.Hitt adds, "If one cheats over the very essence of the game, what does that say about your friend?"
A game of recovery. So ethics is about not just not getting caught, it's about demonstrating to yourself that you can recover. It's also about demonstrating to those around you that you welcome the challenge, when the chips are down you won't take the easy way out.
So when a client is really looking at trouble, do you think they call the New York lawyer, who relies on superficial marketing characteristics, or the Kansas City lawyer, who he or she knows will respond the same way that they live? Take a deep breath, relax, and punch it back into the fairway, walk straight to your ball and be ready to make the next shot when you get there.
In international agricultural trade or local food production, it's about gaining and keeping the trust of your customers. That's the point for Steve Ells, and I predict it will be for most agricultural trade groups in the future, not just the Pea & Lentil Council.
This ethical, personal relationship strategy is not something we employ just to compete, it's a way of life. Let the re-set begin.
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