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Did One of the Most Famous, Heroic and Unnecessary ‘Last Stand Battles’ in Military History Happen Because of Miscommunication?

It was midnight April 22, 1951, and the Korean war was raging on.

The “Glorious Glosters,” a famous infantry regiment of the British Army, was positioned at Imjin River in Korea, totally unaware of what was about to happen to them.

The Chinese army that had already marched seventeen miles. Instead of choosing to stop and rest, they did something unexpected. They began coming across the river.

The British were caught totally off-guard.

The soldiers would later report that “huge forces” began to come across the river.  That wasn’t an exaggeration. The wave of soldiers who began charging across the river was an entire division of 10,000 Chinese soldiers.

How big was the defending army?

They were made up of just 3,000 men and that was including 650 “Glosters.” They were obviously heavily outnumbered, but they did their best to guard a 12-mile stretch along the river bank.

As unbelievable as it sounds, the courageous defenders somehow held back the Chines army.

But they couldn’t defeat the Chinese army. The attackers continued their advance and eventually made it to the hilltops that overlooked the river valley.

From that higher advantage, the Chinese army began to rain down a barrage of bullets on the outnumbered defenders.

As they did their best to defend themselves, the overwhelmed British army couldn’t understand why no relief had come, after two days of battling the Chinese army.

The situation finally got so bad that the remaining 550 “Glosters” ended up being surrounded. That meant that every soldier had to try, on their own, to somehow get to where the American armies were just a few miles away.

Sadly, only about forty of the men made it to safety. The other soldiers had to give up and they became prisoners of war.

But their efforts weren’t in vain, Because of the bravery of the “Glosters” and the other soldiers, the Chinese invasion was miraculously held back.

And that allowed the US 8th Army to push back the communist forces back beyond the border between North and South Korea.

But you’re not going to believe the most surprising part of the whole story.

The soldiers wouldn’t have had to fight for two days without back up if it wasn’t for a surprising mistake made by a British brigadier.

You see, when he reported their position, he wasn’t clear about how bad their predicament was.

When asked how things were going, the British Brigadier Tom Brodie told American General Robert H Soule, “Things are a bit sticky, sir.”

He said that because the British have a way of understating things. But what he was trying to communicate to General Soule was that they were in a desperate situation.

To an American soldier like General Soule Brodie’s response meant, “It’s tough here, but don’t worry about us, we’re holding our own.”

That’s why General Soule thought they didn’t need reinforcements and so he never sent them.

If Brodie would have simply spoken in a way that an American General Soule would have understood, who knows how many British lives would have been saved?

How Many of Your Sales Die Out Because of Miscommunication?

 This problem is not just something that soldiers on the battlefield have to worry about. It’s something that businesses and business owners need to worry about too.

Because if you don’t communicate correctly with your prospects and customers then the chance is that you will lose many sales in the process.

So what can we do? Let me give you three steps you can take:

1. Put Yourself in Your Prospects Shoes

 In an article from Forbe.com called “Want To Land The Sale? 12 Tips For Communicating With Your Ideal Prospect,” one of the “Forbes Coaches Council” members says…

“Think Like Your Prospect
“Instead of selling your service or product, think like your prospect. What’s their primary business need and how can you help them? Look and listen for opportunities to save your client money, improve efficiencies and solve their overarching needs. Putting yourself in your client’s shoes will force you to understand their perspective, rather than simply selling to them. – Jeanna McGinnis, ReResumeMe®”

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This is the first mistake that Brigadier Tom Brodie made.

He didn’t stop to think about how General Soule would perceive and think about the message he was trying to convey.

The first thing you need to do is think like your prospect. You need to begin to think about the way that your prospects will perceive what you’re trying to communicate.

You need to put yourself in their shoes. See things from their perspective, doing your best to feel their feelings and sense their apprehensions.

When you’ve done that, you’ve taken a major step towards improving your communication with your prospects.

Now let’s look at the next thing you can do.

2. Speak like your prospects speak

In a LinkedIn post called “4 simple keys to effectively communicating with a prospect,” Steve Hughes from Hughes Coaching gives this as one of his points…

“Lose the jargon
Far too many times when I train new sales people I hear them using industry jargon to talk to prospects and clients. While there are times that technical terminology is appropriate more times it is not. Use easy to understand terms and descriptions of your products and services in order to build rapport.”

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This is the second mistake Brigadier Tom Brodie made was that he spoke British English and not American English when he spoke with General Soule.

The two languages seem to be the same but they can be worlds apart in some ways. The two countries actually use very different words and use different tones to express their ideas.

The language you use and your prospects use can also seem to be the same. But if you’re not careful, you can think you’re communicating one thing when you’re actually communicating something else.

So be very careful that you are speaking a language your prospects fully understand and that makes sense to them.

Study the language and jargon your prospects use. Listen to the problems they talk about (and the way they talk about them) by observing them in the LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups they are a part of.

When you’ve done this, after already putting yourself in their shoes, then you’ll become very skilled at how to communicate with your prospects.

But there is one more thing you need to when you think about communicating with your prospects.

And that is how you communicate with your prospects through the content you create.

This third step will help with this.

3. Talk about the things your prospect is interested in

In a post I wrote, called “Can Your Prospects “Hear” Your Content Over All the Commotion in Their Lives?,” I said this…

“Let’s be real. To create content that no one ever “hears” (or wants to “hear”) is a waste of time. It’s not something that I want to do and I don’t think you do either.

“But to create content that comes through loud and clear – above the noise of life – that is the beginning of a very profitable endeavor. I’d gladly spend my time doing this any and every day.

“I’ll be honest with you, to create content that is ‘heard’ by your prospects is not an easy task. But it is a simple one. It comes down simply to this: Create content that answers the questions that your prospects have.

“If you can learn to do this effectively, then your prospects will tune into your channel and rip the knob off.”

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I would say that this is where American General Robert H Soule actually made a mistake.

He didn’t seem to really communicate clearly and make sure that he understood what Brodie needed and wanted to hear, which was that reinforcements were coming.

We have to remember that communication only takes place when you have two things:

1. Someone speaking
2. Someone listening

Many businesses who are attempting to use content marketing haven’t learned this simple lesson yet.

They still think that just because they’re publishing content that results should be happening.

But results will never come if you are creating content that your prospects don’t care about.

The way you communicate through your content marketing, your email communication, or by phone will determine if your sales succeed or die.

If you focus on these three things, then your ability to communicate with your prospects will greatly improve.

The next time you think about communicating with your prospects remember Brigadier Tom Brodie’s mistake and make sure you do your best to not make his same mistake.

Think like your prospects, speak their language, and talk about what they care about.

If you do, you’ll experience many more victories in your business.

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Sources for “Glosters” Story: Needless battle caused by uncommon language and The “Glorious Glosters” Greatest Battle – When 650 Glosters were up against 10.000 Chinese