In my first job as a Key Account Manager in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry, I was trying to sell a couple of pallets of Carpaccio to my client in Riga. The client kept ignoring my calls and I was starting to feel very frustrated. I had only been on the job for about a month and was starting to feel that I would never succeed at this. I cal...
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I tried to connect with the national sales manager of a North American appliance manufacturer. I went through a fairly torturous auto-attendant reception tree to try and find the individual. I eventually spoke to a live person who offered to transfer me – and I was put on hold, indefinitely. I dialed back in and then went throug...
Read MoreOnce I heard about someone who made an Excel Spreadsheet to determine if his girlfriend would be a good life partner. There was a set of criteria with various values and a total sum to drive a go-no-go decision. Now, that is perhaps a not-so-common practice in a relationship setting.
Read MoreJelena asked me to provide a picture of myself, in a suit, to update my LinkedIn profile. It occurred to me that I haven’t worn a suit in at least a year. Working from home and meeting people from the waist up sort of negates the whole suit idea. This “going to work” is an interesting concept that has become normal over the last year. That physica...
Read MoreEye contact is a crucial form of body language during communication (just as long as you don't stare :-) When you look a person in the eyes it shows that you are paying attention and actually listening to what a person has to say. Having spent many, many hours on Zoom over the last year or so, I think we have all found that maintaining eye contac...
Read MoreSherlock used powers of observation to understand causation. Here's how to apply that power of observation to determine what causes people to buy. If you can identify that 'inflection point' you can be there at the right time with the right messages. Homeostasis is a biological system's ability to maintain an internal equilibrium in response to ch...
Read MoreEverybody in the world is now only 24” apart. Don’t believe me? On your next Zoom call, measure your nose to screen distance… COVID has changed things. We have learned that we can connect with anyone, anywhere in the world. We know that distance is dead. However, an interesting way to think about it is that everybody in the world is just 24 inches...
Read MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has been an excellent stress test for society - the way work and the way we live. It’s brought to light things that are obsolete, things that are inefficient, and things that from a 21st-century perspective, are simply wrong. We all read about the dramatic changes that are happening in retail. Companies are attracting clients...
Read MoreI wrapped up a meeting by saying, “Is there anything you’d like to know about Kingsford?” And the CEO across the table said,” No, I don’t think so". You have asked such good questions you are clearly an expert in this area and can most certainly help us”. We went on to enjoy a great business relationship with that client.
Read MoreI am based in Denmark, and, like most of you, almost all of my meetings are on-line. We have had to become TV actors in a very short period of time without the benefit of scriptwriters, makeup artists, camera operators, boom operators, sound engineers, producers, or directors. It’ll be a while till Covid is over, and even then, the virtual meeting...
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