Bonne
Fête Nationale Joyeux
Quatorze
Juillet
Back in Revolutionary France of 1789 it would be fair to say things were-
Back in Revolutionary France of 1789 it would be fair to say things were-
volatile,
uncertain,complex
and ambiguous.
It was a VUCA period back then. VUCA is not, it appears, a peculiarly 21st century phenomenon.
Pierre-François Palloy was born in 1755 in Paris. Leaving school at the age of fifteen he joined the French Royal Army. On leaving his military career he married the daughter of a building contractor and joined the trade
himself, eventually taking over his new family's business.
By 1789 he had made the company one of the largest building
firms in Paris, employing 400 workers.
To be a successful
sales entrepreneur in 1789, you needed to have vision on how to respond to the
volatility of the politics ,
understanding how to tackle the uncertainly of social upheaval,
a clarity of thought to work through the complexity of revolution
and not a little agility to turn the ambiguities of the times to your commercial advantage.
understanding how to tackle the uncertainly of social upheaval,
a clarity of thought to work through the complexity of revolution
and not a little agility to turn the ambiguities of the times to your commercial advantage.
The Bastille prison
only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of
the abuses of the monarchy.
When the Bastille fell on 14 July 1789 there was some debate
as to what should replace it, or indeed if it should remain as a monument to
the past.
However, Palloy knew what he wanted to do and by
the evening had begun the process of dismantling the structure; he secured the
contract to demolish the building two days later.
Although Palloy did not receive the official payment for
several years, he knew how to profit from the possession of such an iconic
structure.
Diversification into Tourism
Remember in Revolutionary France, we are back in the era of Madame Tussaud and her first wax figure of Voltaire in 1777 , Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris. In 1794 she inherited a vast collection of wax models and spent the next 33 years travelling around Europe. Tourism was developing !
Remember in Revolutionary France, we are back in the era of Madame Tussaud and her first wax figure of Voltaire in 1777 , Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris. In 1794 she inherited a vast collection of wax models and spent the next 33 years travelling around Europe. Tourism was developing !
.
So at the Bastille, Palloy's staff conducted tours, for a fee, to show the public around
the basements and dungeons with skeletons as props!
Palloy labelled
himself a patriot ( vainqueur) and emphasised the symbolism of the Bastille, writing
speeches, painting pictures, and even arranging celebratory festivals and
theatrical reconstructions of the day the Bastille fell.
The ruins of the Bastille rapidly became iconic across
France..Palloy had an altar set up on the site in February 1790, formed out of
iron chains and restraints from the prison.
Old bones, thought to have been of 15th century soldiers, were discovered during the clearance work in April
and, presented as the skeletons of former prisoners, were exhumed and
ceremonially reburied in Saint-Paul's cemetery.
Events management
Events management
In the summer, a huge
ball was held by Palloy on the site for the National Guardsmen visiting Paris
for the 14 July celebrations of 1790.
Memorabilia Industry
A memorabilia industry surrounding the fall of the Bastille
was already flourishing and as the work on the demolition project finally dried
up, Palloy started producing and selling memorabilia of the Bastille.
Palloy's products,
which he called "relics of freedom", celebrated the national unity
that the events of July 1789 had generated across all classes of the citizens of France and included a very wide range of items.
Palloy also sent
models of the Bastille, carved from the fortress's stones, as gifts to the
French provinces at his own expense to spread the revolutionary message.
Successful selling requires an understanding of the VUCA
context in which we find ourselves.
Over the next few decades a new set of
selling practices and skills will need to be adopted. Sales professionals need
to rethink their sales approach.
Considering the VUCA world of today and the challenge this
has for buyers and sellers we need to adapt with similar deftness as one Pierre-François Palloy showed back in the day.
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