I have a very serious question for you. Have you eaten Lucky Charms cereal? You know the cereal that has been around forever with the Leprechaun. You know the cereal that touts marshmallow hearts, stars, blue diamonds, and green clovers. Ok, so you know the breakfast cereal I am talking about right?
Here is the serious question that I mentioned. Would you be more likely to buy or less likely to buy Lucky Charms if they only had the marshmallows in them and nothing other than marshmallows? Everyone who eats Lucky Charms loves the marshmallows, and most people just put up with the cereal part of the mix. What if General Mills the maker of Lucky Charms just got rid of the cereal and left only the marshmallow portion of the cereal in its boxes. Would you be more likely to buy the cereal?
I took a quick poll and ask some of the top people at my companies their opinion on the matter. Yes, I did get a lot of very strange looks asking about Lucky Charms cereal, but what struck me as interesting was the seriousness in the responses that I received. Amy Baumhower who is one of the most highly regarded female mobile device business owners and experts in the country was the only one who was quick to point out that without the cereal portion of Lucky Charms, there simply is no product. She said it is the mix that makes the cereal.
The mix is the magic! Most people agreed that the marshmallows were a very key ingredient, but they unanimously agreed that if Luck Charms was only made up of the marshmallows that they would not buy them. They would be too sweat, not healthy, and certainly not something they would allow their kids to have.
So you say, Jeff what is the point? The point is that everybody loves the fluff. They love the sweat stuff. They love the colorful and the flamboyant side of things. Whether it is your product, your company, or you yourself everybody loves the marshmallows, but when things are all said and done no one just buys the marshmallows.There has to be substance in everything that we do. In every presentation we make, and in every product we sell. In every sales presentation we give, and in every project we work on.
I meet people everyday who claim to be moving towards success, but all they have is the fluff. They lack the substance it takes to be successful. You know things like an effective plan, knowledge from self education, savings/capital reserves, a good network of people, work ethic, etc. They have figured out how to look like a player, but really they are far from it. Successful people can see right through the so called smoke and mirrors people. Successful people know they have not done the hard work, created the substance to be somebody and to find success.
We all need to have some marshmallow flair, but if you are going to really be a player then you better make sure you got the substance, the base, the foundation to bring to the table and to allow you to really achieve success. You can fake the marshmallow stuff all day long. Your outer shell can be candy colored and look great, but if it does not bring any real value to me in the end, you will not make it through my doors.
Finally, before I get a thousand question regarding my opinion on Lucky Charms, the marshmallows defiantly drive the value of that cereal, but I would even have to say that on the day Lucky the Leprechaun decided to go with only marshmallows, I would cease to be a true Luck Charms fan. I am all about substance when it comes to my cereal, my employees, and my company’s partners. I have seen enough people that were all marshmallow in my day to know that these people can give your business an initial bounce in the beginning, but their results in the end will leave you guessing. In other words, Leprechauns toting marshmallows need not apply. I am looking for substance, and substance is what really makes a super stars!
