The End Of The Affair
ningcontentIn this extraordinary film set in wartime London, star-crossed lovers are denied the radiant power of their electric romance by forces out of their control. She denies herself his unabiding adoration on a twisted premise that God wants it that way. And he is without the life force that makes him so joyous that even when Nazi bombs fall on London, in her arms he is safe and oblivious to everyone and everything but his lover.
And then when she makes her pledge to God and walks off into a sad twilight zone, they are left to love and miss each other in silence. There is an important analogy in business. Every day customers and clients walk away without saying why, without lodging a protest, without a word. They simply vanish in the night. And hardly anyone pays attention. Managers simply believe it is inevitable. Just the other day, a new client told us they lose 40% of their customers every year. Why? They have all kinds of theories but no one has bothered to ask a single former customer why “former” now stands at the front of their name. Just like the lovers in The End Of The Affair, a lack of communication separates a man and woman who in their hearts want to orbit together around the solar system. That same lack of communication is a business killer.
The only way to grow a great business is to capture, amplify and maintain customer relationships. Focusing on the capture component alone or even primarily always leads to a leaky boat of a business that has lost customers wandering out of your world without knowing why they left. Affairs of the heart exist in a realm of their own. Sometimes nothing can be done to save the relationship but in business, knowledge is power and the determination to do something about it is king.
Article by, Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of “Your Marketing Sucks,” “Your Management Sucks” and”God Is A Salesman.” Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.
