Gallup CEO gives marketing advice By Pamela Storm Staff Reporter Most people would have a hard time seeing a connection between mar keting and alligators. But those people probably haven’t met Don Gifton. Clifton, chairman and CEO of The Gallup Organization, spoke to a crowd of about 50 UNL Marketing Club members at the Nebraska Union Thurs day evening. He talked about market ing research and the techniques used to run a prosperous business. He related those topics to a paper a 10-year-old girl once had to write. “She had to write a paper on how i---1 to do something, so she decided how to write a paper on how to catch an al ligator,” Clifton said. First, he said, you have to get the tools to catch this alligator, then you need to go to where the alligator will be. In marketing, Clifton said, business people need to know what tools are needed and to go where the customers are. Three things are needed for a good business, he said: a growing number of good customers, a great place to work and cash flow. If a business has these three things, Clifton said, it can run successfully for years. Clifton said the environment in which people have to work is impor tant. Workplaces need to fit the worker and need a manager who really cares about employees, he said. If a business ' can offer these qualities to its employ-' ees, he said, it can expect to see better * attendance, quality and production. ' “Everybody has a dipper, and ev erybody has a bucket,” Clifton said. An inconsiderate remark or hurtful action constitutes taking something from someone else’s bucket, he said. Clifton continued the analogy, say ing some people want to steal from oth ers’ buckets. Some, he said, have holes in their buckets and are stealing from others to fill their own. Those who have been stolen from want lids — they close themselves off from others and fail to foster a team atmosphere. Clifton’s advice—be a filler, not a dipper. ■■__t__ i j MERGE i When we all work together, great things can happen. Muscular Dystrophy Association 1-800-572-1717 because MDA helps people. i—.y\ I MATRIX® ?.:n: ■ :. "r •-•' < • #T£.