The Failure of Success - Why Thinking/Acting Like a Marketer/Sales Type Is Common Path to Plunging Sales (and stock price)

Being successful in business, venture capitalist Paul Graham hammered in his blog, is a play-out “ … like science, where you need to follow the trail wherever it leads.” Essentially Graham was saying in a poetic way the now-urgent principle of being totally open to change. Also, he said that in 2006, before the current wild volatility. Today Graham might be dropping the poetry for a stern life-and-death warning to business.

WHAT A LARGE MARKETING/SALES BUDGET MIGHT NOT BUY

This is the third article on non-selling sales. It explains why following the trail can achieve what even the largest marketing/sales budget might not. Actually, operating on the change platform might eliminate the need for a huge advertising campaign. Constituencies in the loop feel the “it.” The “it
is getting what they want in the format they want it. Those constituencies range from customers/clients to government. The closings can seem almost magical. That’s what non-selling sales is all about.

The first article in this Law and More series explains the non-selling sales secret of nurturing the strength of weak ties. The second focuses on The Always Be There Principle.  

SO TELLING THAT NETFLIX HAD BEEN “SURPRISED”

As Forbes documents, Netflix leveraged more and more spend for acquisition of each new subscriber. In 2012, that had been $308. In 2008, $539, and in $2019, $581. In 2022, it crashed. Among the factors is slowing subscriber growth. Currently the stock price hovers at around $181, down from its 52-week high of $700.99.

Obviously Netflix did not follow the trail wherever it leads. Otherwise it would not have admitted that it was “surprised” how things have recently played out. It would have been continuously changing. That’s the way to follow the trail. In essence, it was trapped in a traditional marketing/sales formula: Throw money at a challenge.

MICROSOFT, PURPOSE-DRIVEN, BECOMES THE GOOD GUY IN TECH

The Non-Netflix is Microsoft. Guided by former General Counsel turned a kind of Chief Diplomacy Officer Brad Smith, this one-time government antitrust target followed a path leading in a whole new direction. That can be summed up as this: purpose-driven versus an alleged global bully. Along that path it even transformed itself to be a trusted and treasured government ally. Unlike other Big Tech players, it isn’t being hauled in front of Congress to justify itself. Microsoft primarily rebranded through its actions.  

LAW FIRM PAUL WEISS REIMAGINES ITSELF AS BUSINESS PARTNER FOR CLIENTS

Also not risking Netflix’s stunned failure is elite law firm Paul Weiss. For its Chairperson Brad Karp the trail it is following leads away from standalone legal services and toward developing comprehensive business solutions for corporations with a legal situation. In an interview with Leaders, April 2022, Karp noted:

“We need to deeply understand our clients’ business goals, professional culture, key stakeholders and risk tolerance.”

Karp sums up that mission and the changing behavior it generates as being a "business partner." Confirmation that is the right trail to follow is that Paul Weiss' revenue-per-lawyer surged 21% during 2021.

NOTHING FAILS LIKE SUCCESS

Netflix is not atypical. Many market leaders get lost. That's because of this reason: Nothing fails like success. There is a compulsion to grab tight on what originally had put the business on top. That's where the marketing/sales focus gets stuck.

The way back? As Graham recommends, think like a scientist. Stand back from it all, observe, develop a hunch, and see where it leads. Or doesn't lead. The process might take plenty of experimentation. That requires the soul-wrenching process of change. The outcome could be and often is non-selling sales.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. Now and then she does freelance communications assignments for professional services firms such as Paul Weiss.