THE POWER OF PRESENTATION

I’ve been criticized at times for being overly concerned with appearances. The car I drive, the clothes I wear, perhaps my watch (it’s a timepiece, mind you). I’ve long argued these things have nothing to do with appearances at all, but rather my personal experience. For example: a Foodie will happily and regularly spend 3X the money that I would on a meal. I don’t think they spend that to show off. They do it for their personal experience. My food standards might be lower, but if I’m going to drive a car, I want it to be an absolute pleasure to drive. I’m not concerned about what some stranger in the next lane thinks of me or my car. Argue as I may, my critic tends to roll their eyes, believing that people who buy finer things do so to simply show them off. Perhaps I’m deceiving myself and am no different, but I’ll likely continue arguing. It’s what I do best.

POWER OF PRESENTATION

At the same time that I argue these items are for my personal experience, there is an element of presentation I won’t deny exists. I’ve long believed in the power of presentation. I built a company where presentation is a key value. We help thousands of people present billions of dollars in projects to prospective clients every year. They continue to tell us that the presentation we provide - the clarity, organization, and even the attractiveness - helps them close more of these projects. Yes, I firmly believe in presentation. I will happily join my critics of things done only for appearances, but to me presentation is totally different than appearances. Perhaps the formula could be: Presentation minus Substance equals plain-old Appearances.

BUT IS THERE ACTUAL VALUE?

The last thing I want to promote is wasting money you don’t have on frivolous luxury items. Or, for that mater, wasting money you do have on them. But in this crazy world we live in, I can point to countless times where I won a client or a deal that I had no chance of winning had there not been a connection with one of these items. To be clear, none of these things actually won a deal. They simply created a connection. A connection that provided me a second meeting where I could then be in a stronger position to express my value - my substance. It makes me ask the question: Is there legitimate value in the finer things?

To be clear, this is an age-old concept. Paul Dexter didn’t just realize this morning that people can be influenced by something nice. Companies will spend seemingly wasteful amounts of money renting the top floor of the priciest high-rise when they could own an entire building in another part of town. They do it to win the respect of potential clients. This is nothing new. But I’m talking about something on a much smaller scale - like a pen.

HERE’S MY CASE:

I write with a Montblanc pen (it’s a writing instrument, mind you). A client bought it for me as a gift 23 years ago. It’s a pleasure to look at, to hold, and it puts ink on paper in a way that is remarkable and inviting. If you are asking, “Is there really any difference between a $2 pen and a $1000 pen?”
Yes there is.
“Is it worth it?”
That’s up to you.

In early 2001 I was looking to relocate from one end of Los Angeles to the other, and I needed to rent a house for the short-term. It was a difficult finding something in a mid-scale neighborhood with a particular layout that would facilitate my recording studio. I finally found the perfect place. It wasn’t particularly special. A nice, yet average house in an average neighborhood. What was unique about it was that it was not a “rental house”. It was a family’s home. A family who was moving to a nearby city in order to put their kids into a particular school system. They would eventually move back into the house. The point being, this was their home, and they were going to be selective about who would be taking care of it for them.

Their agent held an open house that weekend where a large number of nice families walked through, eager for that home. We all left with paper application packages and I learned later that nearly 100 applications were submitted.

I DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE

The majority of the applicants were respectable families, all of which had one or two career incomes, children, roots, 401k plans, and a minivan. Then there was me. I had no real job, so-so credit, musician hair and stubble, no wife and kids, no roots, relocating... And why does a single 34 year old man need a 3 bedroom house in the suburbs anyway? What’s he going to be doing in there? I wasn’t announcing my plans to live in a small bedroom while using the master bedroom as my studio production room. The other small bedroom would be a vocal booth, and the living room my live piano and drum room. Cabling would be snuck through every crevice and pathway that I could find.

That night I filled out the application. I wrote slowly and legibly using my Montblanc pen as usual. I drove it to the agent’s office Monday morning and they told me that she would be reviewing them after the full batch came in by Wednesday.

Late in the morning on Wednesday I answered a phone call and it was the agent. After the basic greetings she said “What kind of pen did you use on your application?” I was actually stunned. I use the pen for me, not for others. The ink looks fantastic on paper, but plenty of affordable pens can write very nicely. Still, she had leafed through countless applications and mine, with the “Mystery Black” ink jumped out at her. She had set it aside, scanned through the others, then called my phone and ultimately offered me the house.

My attention to detail on the smallest of things must have told her that I would give attention to the details of the home itself. Indeed I did. Even while running a recording studio out of that house for a couple of years, I cared for it and left it every bit as nice as the day I moved in.

Sometimes the finer things exist for a reasons far beyond appearances or status. A thousand dollar pen literally delivered a home and place of business that I would have never gotten without it. And for 23 years since that incident, my pen has likely and unknowingly influenced quite a few other deals.

Recently, for our 20th wedding anniversary, my wife gave me an incredible replacement for that pen. An even nicer, more exquisite Montblanc. I’m already excited for what far-reaching, low-odds deals I can close with its help.