Why politicians can’t sell

nice article. good read.

Beautifully put.

I suspect there are two ways we might get politicians who can sell. Either they become enamoured with politics before they realise what they could earn in sales (P. Keating), or they earn so much dosh early on that by the time they enter politics the money doesn’t matter (M Turnbull).

It has nothing to do with the sales pitch. In fact, they have the sale pitch down pat.

The problem is a lack of values.

What does the Liberal Party stand for that the Labor Party doesn’t, and vice versa?

If you tell me it is economic rationalism v socialism then I’d say you’ve been sold to very well. (Labor has done more to advance economic rationalism than the Liberal Party…Abbott’s signature policy; one of the most generous maternity leave schemes in the world.)

The reality is both parties developed an opportunistic approach to policy in an attempt to leverage the media cycle against the other. The media cycle has now accelerated to the point where they cannot keep their ever shifting policy agenda ahead of it. The result, every leader making poor policy on the fly. (Why do opposition leaders say nothing these days? Ask Hewson about the GST on a store bought cake…You wait for the government to make a mistake and let the media go to town.)

If they were values driven as opposed to poll driven you would see much less shifting of position. They would be rooted in something more longer term than the media cycle and “selling” policy. The debate would deepen, not get broader.

Love or hate them, the Greens have largely retained their voting base at every election because they are values driven.They have moved less than 1% of total votes between 2007 and 2013. (No, I’m not a Green voter.)

So the answer is not better selling. It is values driven politics.

Whilst ever Labor and the Libs attempt to manufacture broad appeal then we will continue to see ridiculous promises and missed expectations.

Given society has gone niche in just about every other facet of life I don’t see why our political system isn’t about to do the same.

The future is issue/value driven minor parties controlling the balance of power. It is minority (small c) coalition governments.

It isn’t about better selling.

Spot on, Epstein had me with his opener – “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care!” Brilliant.

Damn, @technojames, mind if I steal some of that? Very good analysis.

i like this article a lot and @technojames that’s one of the comments of the year so far, very good, clear, accurate.

@techno james – totally agreed.

The reality is, of the two major parties, there are some really good guys on both teams, however there, sadly, are many very unethical being’s with very short term agenda’s, often agenda’s their power thirsty ‘client’s’. Do either major party really care about the interests of the Australian people? Some and if you compare ALP’s policies v LNP’s, you would have to say that The ALP did care, however Murdoch had to take that out, as did the miners. Gina doesn’t want to pay tax…

The Greens is a great example used above, of a party who’s purpose is clear and it hasn’t changed, it doesn’t waiver and it will not be influenced by big business, nor religion. They have a long term agenda to create a sustainable world. The mainstream media have done a good job in making the Greens appear to be ‘loony lefties’. I would guess that there are lots of ‘closet’ Greens voters, due to the public stereo type of a ‘Greenie’? That is why their vote is on the up. I agree; people agree with their values and policy represents those values and that purpose.

One of the things we do not seem to have in either of the two big parties is a real leader. There might be potential leaders in the mist of both parties, however due to the red-tape and so many agenda’s and palms being greased, they are not getting their heads above the clouds to drive either party forward.

Do we need change? As the public become far more informed through freedom of information, (digital revolution), do we need to shake the political system up as the previously un-informed are becoming far more aware?

Is it time for change?

Tony’s sales technique to get elected was the old list of boxes to tick. Repeated ad naseum. Stop the boats, get rid of the carbon tax, get rid of the mining tax, stop the waste. I can’t remember one thing what Labour was offering. The list technique is used in DM because it works. But the repetition comes at a cost. It’s patronising as hell when used on adults. Tony repeats a phrase every time he opens his mouth – as if we’re all deaf, or 5 year olds.

@technojames, you’re right in some of what you say but not all.

They haven’t got “the sales pitch down pat”. If you really believe that you must be hearing something different to me.

Yes, there is a lack of values and that’s a major cause of the poor salesmanship job they do. As Elliot so beautifully put it, “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care”. We’re unconvinced by their poor salesmanship because they appear to change priorities so often.

I don’t believe political parties can’t have broad appeal. All of them should aspire to similar long-term objectives. The only difference is the route they recommend we take to get there.

Thanks for all the great comments.
@techno james …interesting analysis, yet doesn’t the fact that you’re not sold on the parties being values driven prove the point.

Cheers
Elliot

@Impressed

I think change is happening. Look at the make-up of the Senate. Look at PUP. Adam Bandt in the Lower House. As we continue to lose faith in the larger parties and their ability to implement policy the electorate will begin fragmenting on issues that are close to them. I think the instability we currently see in government is here to stay and I’m not sure leadership changes will have an impact.

@sub-editor

I’m flattered you think it is worthy of theft. All yours!

@1268

Cheers!

@Elliot and Terry

Using the same analogies as the article, the major parties have a product issue, not a sales technique problem.

This can be a lengthy subject to debate, but it doesn’t need to be.When Politicians STOP being Politicians and start being real-people, their life becomes easier. Gillard made the glaring error of saying ” here is the real Julia” and then Tony deiced to follow her disaster with a similar statement after the ‘almost spill’ … absolute idiots with no confidence to actually BE themselves … why ? They are sooo frighted of the media. They need to have the goolies to stand up and BE who they are and the Aussie public will support them. So Tony, STOP trying to be PC all the time, and tell-it-like-it-is and you will become a fine and highly successful Salesperson …it is not about Policies it is about TRUST, and trust comes from being up-front and telling it like it is – yes it has to be ‘sold’ not ‘told’ but that is not difficult … deal done !

Malcom made clear his communcation technique on Q&A.
Explain to people without dumbing it down, and people will come on side.
If my years in advertising has taught me one thing it’s that people mostly use the rational only to justify emotional choices.

Emotional = Can’t stand Abbott.
Rational = Turnbull knows about making money, he could run a country.

Emotional always comes first. Turnbull would not be on the radar without the emotional reaction to Tony.

Turnbull thinks he’s going to lead with a rational approach. Good luck.

Agreed Rushdie, they don’t understand emotional connection and its primary role in decision making.

Great article. Politicians live only for them selfs and how to get elected again. Kind of like do anything. Lie, deceive act unethically… anything to get elected/get the sale again. Anything but what they were elected to do in the first place.. provide great and responsible governance for the tax paying citizens/customers.

If they were to act in the best interest of their constituents/customers and simply do a great job backed by a solid set of values with integrity they would get elected again and again. repeat business.

Good article…..these days the only time you will hear a politician speak like a real person is when they are an ex-politician. Listen to an interview after a political leader has just been knifed in the back, lost an election or resigned and you will get to know the real person…..sadly its only then that the majority (irrespective of political persuasion) actually come across as having started in politics for the right reason.

1) You can’t isolate salesmanship – on its own it means little.

2) We are beyond values – capitalism v socialism is a dead end – we need to start thinking about running the country as we might run a company – where’s the growth? how do we provide fulfilment to workers? how can we improve efficiency? how do we incorporate innovation and technology? how do we make the world a better place?

3) Politics needs to be focussed on creation – it is currently mired in opposition

First – what is the vision? What are the things Australia needs to define and develop?

– our position in Asia
– the industries and opportunities we need to invest in
– the reforms required to boost growth / efficiency
– the ways in which we can innovate

Second – define how can the people benefit from any of these ideas

Third – figure out how we can implement / pay for these initiatives

Fourth – figure out how to sell these initiatives – for example by helping people sell them to themselves