Feb
29
Setting up a business isn’t totally alien from winning an election. In part one I examined how my experience of electioneering gave me so many vital skills which helped me succeed commercially. But my commercial experience also gave me a fresh look on Labour Party life.
1. Limited resources requires sharp focus
Limited resources, both financially and in terms of manpower means you have to choose between different options. For example, Trufflenet ran a reasonably effective Twitter account for a while (it built relationships which generated sales) but we didn’t have time to blog. I always wanted to do a customer newsletter but never had time. Lunching clients was more effective.
In contrast, the Labour Party tries to do too much. For example, in a meeting about digital I asked whether the intention was to service members, win hearts and minds, organise activists or shape public debate. The smart answer was ‘all of the above’ but the truth is that we don’t have the capacity to do all equally well. David Miliband used his leadership campaign to highlight the party’s own lack of corporate social responsibility. He’s absolutely right that this is a weakness (particularly when criticising ‘predators’) but is it a priority given our financial state?
2. Nice words don’t reap rewards
Before I launched the business, 98% of people I met thought we had a great idea. All were hugely encouraging. Yet no prospective client parted with cash. There was a gulf between the analysis of a concept and the delivery of a compelling proposition. It is unlikely to have been realised in focus groups.
Nice words are important in politics. The context surrounding the ‘brand’ sets a mood, although the ‘consumer’ isn’t usually listening. But as Glenys Kinnock remarked in 1992, there’s a difference between people liking you and voting for you. I suspect we weren’t liked in 2005, but we still got votes. Converting doorstep conversations from vague encouragement to pledges of support requires skill.
3. There’s a gap between what you say and what people hear
The subject has been done to death by people more expert than me. But it rarely ceases to surprise me how the best crafted messages get heard differently when they are exposed to the real world. From the pronunciation and memorability of your company name to the description of the service down to vitally important issues like the wording of commercial proposals and agreements – the expectation gap is significant.
For years I knocked on doors with a script which asked ‘which political party do you identify with?’. Even when I corrected the poor structure of the sentence for posh houses, it still didn’t make sense. Yet we used it perpetually across the country.
4. Make the right impression
In the first year of the business I knew that the first contact, if bad, would be the last opportunity with that person, and by extension that company. A typo in a flyer, an email without an attachment could all cause commercial failure. One of the most important lessons I learnt was trying to limit failure to a small sample. Rather than distributing a mailshot to 1,000, I sent it to 10 and found out if it worked.
I’m sure that the Labour Party does lots of market testing of which I’m unaware. And much of its materials are often very good – with the resources available. But I’ve also put some utter crap through people’s doors; material that is worse than a fried chicken advert. Whilst on the leaflet we’re claiming to be able to run a council or a government!
5. You don’t need permission
Seth Godin isn’t all wrong! In business, if you do something that works, people will buy into it. But no matter how much buy in you get beforehand, if it doesn’t work, you will be left standing alone. But if you are successful, the chances are (assuming they pass a basic political test) the activities will be embraced by others. Oh – and if you really want to get involved in the Labour Party – you just have to turn up to a campaigning session.
For years I worried about the structures and processes of the Labour Party. I feared that they were off-putting, archaic and a barrier to progress. Little did I realise how little structures matter. If you want to do something, you can. In a current political party the earliest measure of success if whether you can engage other people consistently.
6. Success is fleeting
There was no greater feeling than winning a contract; winning a big contract; hitting income targets. It was almost enough to justify the misery of those months where none of those things happened. And then at the end of the month it starts all over again. I kept my sanity by breaking it down in to manageable chunks to ensure a steady supply line – the number of meetings in a month, the number of proposals generated a week, the number of calls made in a day.
In politics, winning an election or passing a bill can be such an all-consuming activity that it feels conclusive. It isn’t – and I’m sure that’s not news to people who hold public office. Winning an election is the start, not the end. It is less of a mandate than it ever was. Yet the Labour Party is engaged in some wars that will never be won. Successes need to be identified but never taken for granted.
7. We have more in common than we know
Outside the Labour Party it’s hard to remember the details of who you are meant to like and who you aren’t; who’s a Blairite and who isn’t; who’s done what to whom. And it doesn’t even matter. Occasionally, I’d go to dinner and say pious things to political friends like ‘does any of this really matter when the economy is in such a state?’.
By the time I stopped active politics I was very clear what side I was on. And that wasn’t just the Labour side but a sub group within. That reflects badly on me rather than the Labour Party. But now I look to get back involved with the party, I’m struck by how nice most of its members are, and how much we have in common.
Feb
23
In one of my first client meetings after setting up a business the client asked “what’s it like?” I’d prepared for pretty much every question bar this. Searching for an explanation I suggested it was like an election campaign, without a polling day. Here’s why:
1. Audience segmentation
We know all about segmenting our audiences in politics. Identifying which wards to contact in which order. Putting out different leaflets depending on likely voting intention, targeting switchers, ignoring non-voters and so on. Running a successful commercial operation is not very different. You identify who you want to pitch to, why they want to use your service and how much income you expect to generate from them. You then keep contacting them until you get a ‘no’ or, better yet, until you find out why they don’t want your product. Ok, so there’s no electoral roll but there is LinkedIn.
2. Making an impact . . .
Election campaigns are all about making an impact. There’s activity that identifies voting intention – sales in a business but some of it is just about making a noise in the market place. Posters, banners, street stalls, loudspeakers. We know how to make an impact.
3. . . . with limited budget
Election campaigns rarely have the luxury of spare cash. What you do spend, has to work. The thing that I found most challenging about the early months in business was keeping control of costs. You want to do marketing, but you can’t afford for it to not work. There are ways of doing it cheaply, but you don’t want to make a bad impression.
4. Managing people
Campaigns would be nothing without the volunteers. There is a hardy group that will do it whatever the candidate, cause or climate but most will give more if they are more energised. But party members are often a cynical lot and no level of sophisticated fakery will work. Early hires in a business will need to contribute much more than the hours for which they are paid. And they won’t be as well-remunerated as you (or they) would like. You need their goodwill and forbearance whilst having to manage their confidence when income doesn’t match expectations.
5. Telling a story
Election campaigns that work tell a story about the state of the country, the merits of the candidate and the failure of alternatives. In business stories are also important – particularly for early investors who are interested in the person as much as the business.
6. Responding quickly
The best election campaigns react to events in minutes or hours. A press release written, a photo stunt organised, a leaflet printed. Even great businesses take weeks to turn things around. Startups don’t have that luxury. Responding quickly is massively important, whilst not losing sense of the strategic objectives.
7. Managing failure
In politics you are meant to lose before you win. It teaches you what you need to know before it really matters. Yet even with a British business culture (as opposed to an American one) you aren’t meant to be doing badly. It isn’t in the lexicon of entrepreneurs to admit to having a bad month. But managing the early, inevitable setbacks is vitally important if you are to maintain your business – and your sanity.
Many Labour Party activists – and most representatives – have little obvious experience of running a business. But most have already learnt some of the most important lessons. In my next post, I’ll examine what I’ve learnt from setting up a business which could be transferred to electioneering.
Feb
7
Where next for Unite the Union?
Filed Under Labour politics | 1 Comment
Since I left Unite, the trade union, my blogpost on the subject has become a place for people to exchange opinions about the merits. Some of these comments have been so negative that I’ve had to not publish them although others have been much more positive. Whilst I respect those that have had negative experiences and never wish to have anything to do with trade unions again, I fear it is their loss. There are no other organisations that seek to represent working people like the trade unions. The comments that I’ve found the most inspiring are those that have admonished me for taking my ball home and suggested that I should, instead, engage in doing something to contribute towards a better trade union.
I’m not sure I’m ready to throw myself into active trade unionism, or that most unions can easily accommodate someone who is not from a workplace with a recognition agreement. However, I hope that the observations below may be of some benefit.
- Trade unions over promise
Unite has the most compelling list of reasons to join the union I’ve ever seen. Ten Good Reasons to Join Unite is the sort of marketing that I used to wish could be produced. But it massively over-promises. You may earn more if you join Unite, but I reckon that the chances are that you earn more because you are more likely to work for responsible employers. I’m sure you are less likely to be sacked, but every member who is (and there will be lots) will feel considerable pain on reading that claim.
- Trade unions under promise
There’s an awful lot of good that a trade union could do. They helped me with public speaking. With understanding how to sit through long meetings. They could have taught me negotiating skills. A better understanding of HR and employment law would be a massive benefit. ‘Join a trade union to get on in your career’: that’s an attractive proposition.
- It’s facilitation, not insurance
Lots of comments on my blogpost were from people who felt let down by the union, its reps and its solicitors. Actually their grievance ought to have been with their employer. But the union helped encourage (or didn’t confront) an expectation that the union could sort out your problems. Actually, if the focus was on helping employees represent themselves, the unions would have more resonance in more workplaces. Yet at unitetheunion.org it’s easier to find ways to buy members’ benefits than communities to stimulate solidarity – just the sort of free market attitude that unions oppose.
- A lack of grassroots debate?
Depending on your search criteria my blogpost can appear in the top 10 search results for the union. It appears that’s how little people write about the trade union online. The union doesn’t seem to offer any public platform for its members to organise campaigns, chat about workplace experiences or network with each other. That’s extraordinary and must be ripe for change (although there does appear to be an ‘Activist Portal’).
- Low awareness of accountability?
Reading through the website it’s very hard to find who works at the union, beyond the general secretary. When people have contacted me reporting problems with union staff, there’s no obvious route through which they can register concerns. There are lots of elections but apparently little awareness of the more mundane procedures by which members can register gripes.
Not all of these observations may be complete, or even fair. But I’ve posted them in an effort to be constructive and learn from the people who’ve shared their experiences of the union with me to discover if these are commonly-held opinions and how we can encourage a more effective trade union. After all, any organisation can only ever be as good as the people that drive it forward.