The lesson that I learnt in Episode 6 of “The Apprentice (Season 5)” is …

Command Respect from your ‘troops’ and they will rally to your cause!

In my opinion, both teams did well in this round.  The project manager was successful in commanding the respect in rallying all its members to work on the tasks.

However, the only difference was the winning team integrated what the customer wants into their end-product.

(Important hint: “Give the customers what they want!”)

In this episode, the task was all about branding. Each team was to create a jingle for Arby’s new, all-natural chicken line. Two Arby’s executives would judge their work.  The Arby was trying to break into a new market with their chicken product.  The key message they wanted to be delivered was “the customer can only get this new chicken at Arby”

Below is what I found to be relevant lesson to our online business.  Avoid the mistakes and model after the effective methods.

1. “Gold Rush” did the following wrong this round:

First of all, the project manager did not take note of the timing. They were 25 minutes late meeting up with the Arby’s executive.  A bad impression was made.  At that stage, the project manager should have done a quick recovery instead of moving on the the task.  This was a critical mistake as it impacted the customers’ trust.

Next they failed to take note of what the customers really want. This was the second critical mistake committed. If they have got this part right, it would be a closer fight this round.

1. “Synergy” did the following right this round:

The project manager was able to take note of what the customers wants before they started work. This helped them to focus.  In your online business, remember to do your market research first before you focus on creating your product!

The second thing that the project manager did right was to rally all his troops together and brainstorm the jingle together.  This act of engagement brought the whole team together.  With this, all wanted to see this task succeed.

In the end, “Syngery” team won this round.

The results after this episode was “Gold Rush” - 2 and “Synergy” - 4

Above are the main lesson that I noted in this episode that is relevant to Marketers and Infopreneurs. Tuned in next week for my review of the next episode.

Picture from this official site.

Related postings:

• My Compilation “The Apprentice” Lessons
• Lesson 1 - Creating Successful Buzz
• Lesson 2 - Location, Location, Location
• Lesson 3 - Have A Theme And A Plan B
• Lesson 4 - Keep It Simple, Silly!
• Lesson 5 - Listen To Your Team And Your Customer

To Your Success,
Keith Choy

Tag: the apprentice, command respect