Integrate Risk Management into your Business

Nolan’s cheddar commercial is a piece of art. You are drawn in by the visual robotic effects, the amazingly simple storyline and the cleverly selected soundtrack. It brings tears to your eyes!

The first time I saw this commercial I was taken on an emotional roller coaster, not realising that it was a commercial within a commercial. The strong Cheddar cheese brand is completely fictitious and ‘Nolan’ refers to the creator of the masterpiece. Nevertheless, I was left with the inexplicable urge to taste this cheese, to confirm if it was as strong as advertised.

But far beyond the excellence of this ad, it is a tribute to Risk Management applied to Sales activities. The mouse’s notion of the unexpected, thinking “how lucky am I to stumble across this marvellous cheese on my journey”, associated with the trap of ‘too good to be true’, is something

we experience from time to time in business.

How many times have you been lulled into thinking that you had a great deal in front of you, only to realise later that there were hidden pitfalls and that the deal in fact was not so great.

Learning to take a step back in order to carefully analyse an unforeseen future is key, restraint and prudence are preferable to acting in haste.

Analysis of the four key factors in Risk Management (Likelihood, Impact, Vulnerability and Velocity) helps build a realistic perspective of the situation.

From this viewpoint you can then decide in which direction you want to go and make your choice between the four actions; Mitigate, Accept, Inactivate, Transfer.

Mark Zuckerberg said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks”. This statement is so relevant for today’s unpredictable world.

Take risks? Yes, but do so within a structured and mindful framework.

This is the practice of Risk Management.