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The Kentaro Sono Letter 2024
〒600-8846 京都府京都市下京区朱雀宝蔵町44番地
協栄ビル2階 京都朱雀スタジオ
H-209
2024-38-7 | Sunday | Bonus: CHN
No. 266
From:
Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
Monday, 10:00 A.M.
September 16, 2024
Dear Friend,
In the book When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm, in Introduction: When McKinsey Comes to Town, the author Walt Bogdanich & Michael Forsythe writes:
With a new chief executive and a turnaround plan, U.S. Steel stock began rising, and in 2014 it posted its first annual profit in six years. But the progress was more illusion than fact. The manufacturer posted a $75 million loss in the first quarter of 2015. The downturn impacted workers as well as investors. Nine thousand employees at company plants, including Gary Works, received notices of possible layoffs. Maintenance workers were hit hard: Dozens of them were laid off. Two hundred others were demoted to roving labor gangs at a significant reduction of pay and sent to work in unfamiliar parts of the plant.
Union members came to believe that the Carnegie Way was simply a cover story for the company’s plan to cut costs—a plan that workers said jeopardized their safety. Mike Millsap, District 7 director of the steelworkers’ union, said McKinsey had no experience running a steel mill or “what it takes to protect the employees from harm.”
The warning proved prophetic. In June, workers in Gary found Charles Kremke unconscious with third-degree burns on his head. A U.S. Steel spokeswoman said the employee could not be revived. The coroner ruled that Kremke had been electrocuted, but months would pass without the company’s disclosing the cause of his death.
Consultants in fancy clothes like to "cut costs" by reducing workforce. Because it's easy to imagine, and easy to execute (for them). The "result" is immediate, and you can boast about the number immediately.
But often, those who "look waste" are not waste.
Reducing workforce should be the last resort. Because rehiring proper stuffs is not easy. Retraining them costs much. Unexpected tragedies happen.
When it comes to restructuring, the first move should be fixing ads.
Because over 99% companies don't know anything about creating effective ads. They waste unthinkable amount of money on ads.
If you have really excellent products or services, you can create excellent ads with one smart phone only. You don't need fancy CGs, fancy movies, fancy music. Not at all.
Just write a simple sales letter.
Sign your name as CEO. Don't forget to say hello to the readers first. This is how we start normal conversations, no? Explain your offer sincerely with plain words. Explain why readers must choose your product among all other competitors. Back up your claims with objective data or quotes from reputable newspapers, magazines, or books. Delete all non-essential sentences, but keep all essential sentences. Don't be afraid of writing long letters. You can't sell complex life insurance policies with 140 words if you are honest. Be afraid of writing inhuman, boring letters.
Treat readers as human-beings. Not as ATMs.
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #1:
If you must cut costs, your first move should be fixing ads! Just write sincere, simple sales letters!
Sincerely,
Kentaro Sono
Bonus 1:
In the book 滚雪球：巴菲特和他的财富人生, in the chapter 31 绞刑架决定未来, the author Alice Schroeder writes:
苏珊被他充满力量的话语深深感动，她看到自己的丈夫也深受感动。巴菲特总是跟有气势、充满魅力的演讲者有共鸣。现在他看到马丁·路德·金就站在他面前：这个人充满道义勇气，曾经因为自己的信仰被殴打，被投入监狱，被戴上脚镣从事艰苦的劳动，被鞭抽棒打。尽管遭受反对和暴力，而取得的成功有限，他仍然践行其主张将近10年。
Have you ever suffered violence?
Memories as the victim of violence never leaves you. The anger, hate, humiliation, keep returning to you endlessly. You can never return to who you were.
That's why Martin Luther King's words are convincing.
Do you have some kind of painful memories? If you have one, try to use it in your writing or speech. You don't have to be too explicit. If you really know what you are talking about, a little goes a long way.
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #2:
Bad memories may give you convincing power!
Bonus 2:
In the book 管理（原书修订版）下, in 第27章 绩效精神, the author Peter Ferdinand Drucker writes:
在处理这种良心问题时，人们常说：“我们不能动他。他在这里干了那么久，不能解雇他。”其实，这种逻辑是站不住脚的，是一种软弱的托词。它只会损害管理人员的绩效、精神以及他们对公司的尊重。
但是，解雇这个人也同样不是一件好事。它会违背公正和合理的观念，会动摇人们对管理当局的正直性的信心。“瞧！那就是我的下场——老天保佑。”每一个人都会这样讲。但如果管理当局把一个不称职的人继续留在重要职位上，他们又会立刻站出来批评。对这样一个人的处理方式，将在很大程度上决定你们这个组织的凝聚力。
Ordinary people tend to depend on only one angle and neglect all other angles. It's important to appoint the right people to key positions, but it's also important to sustain employee morale throughout the company.
Sometimes, you have to come up with a plausible excuses to those who lost their key positions. It is your job to save their faces, and protect their pride.
And when it comes to making such excuses, the skill of copywriting is very useful.
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #3:
If you have to snatch key positions from someone, at least save their faces with your copywriting skill!
