When we sit down to watch The Apprentice, we always have the same debate: are we hoping to gain some useful commercial insight or is it just an excuse for some light-hearted amusement after a hard working day in the real world?
Last night’s episode saw the remaining candidates seek out three products per team to sell at the Royal Bath and West show. Of these three products, one will already be sold at the show and two will be entirely new products to that market. This particular task was one we are very familiar with. We founded and run yoomoo frozen yogurt, with outlets in the UK, franchise abroad and an “at home” range in all the major national supermarkets. Although our core product is frozen yoghurt, we are constantly adding new products to increase revenue and keep our business expansion innovative.
What struck us initially was the attitude of some of the contestants that they were going to “win” some sort of prize – namely a quarter of a million pounds! In our business, we have had to raise money and have had to jump through many hoops to justify the cash – but it’s not in the name of “winning”, it’s in the name of “investment”. This means that we understand our numbers, our budgets and our plans for expansion. Big difference!
There are three golden rules in business that we always work hard on: know your product, know your market, and know your numbers. So when neither Tenacity nor Summit evaluated their customers, they were over before they even began. What on earth gave James Hill the idea that rural country customers would be racing their tractors full throttle through the cornfields to purchase his fancy swinging seat? (Very cool for a Shoreditch apartment, by the way.) I think every viewer must have been screaming at the television: “Why? WHY?!”
At yoomoo, we work very closely with our teams both here and abroad. It’s fundamental when growing a business that you communicate properly. For example, what might work for our customers in Harrods, might not work for our market in Ibiza; likewise, what works for Ibiza almost certainly will not work for our customers in Thailand. We rely considerably on our team for well-researched information on which we can base our decisions; the success or failure of our business in those markets depends on it. Unfortunately, the downfall of Team Summit was its leader’s refusal to listen to his team and his very arrogant decision to override them. Of course there are times in business when we’ve had to override our team – that’s part of being a leader. However, it’s imperative that you do this based on fact, not ego, and a very clear view of the bigger picture. If we only produced yoghurt flavours that we liked ourselves, irrespective of our customers’ requirements, yoomoo wouldn’t expand outside of our own kitchen.
When it comes to knowing your product, Roisin was a real stand out for us. She was the perfect example of how it should be done. When you are selling, you have to leave your own personal feelings at the door. Roisin doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl who spends much time on a tractor (I could be wrong!) However, she knew everything about her product and delivered the information calmly, clearly and with the perfect balance of authority and respect. She commanded trust and the customer could make an informed purchase decision. So much of selling is about reading your customer – a lesson that Daniel Lassman would be well advised to study! Daniel – selling is like flirting – start gently, read the signals and leave them wanting more.
Of course this is TV and the elimination process is brutal for the candidates. They are all fighting to stand out from each other and prove to Lord Sugar that they are no Piers Morgan but on their path to greatness. Bullying will never work. And neither will in-fighting. I would love to know the number of customers that walked past Felipe’s stall who noticed him with horror fighting with his colleague. Felipe – do the maths and see how much business you lost. Face the customer, sell the product.
So at the end of the episode, we conclude our debate. We’ve learnt a lot about what NOT to do and we definitely enjoyed the amusement factor.
Amanda and Daniel Gestetner are founders of frozen yoghurt brand yoomoo and are also supporting the Business is GREAT Women in Enterprise Campaign
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