A 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 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 MoreONE:You need to obtain a high-level view of the market. This needs to be from your perspective, not a distributor or potential agent who will have inherent bias. Think of it as a 30,000-foot flyover to understand how the market works today. This will give you an indication of your potential revenue from this market. And it will give you a sense of...
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 MoreMost of the time when people come to us they are looking for help to grow their businesses. And when you think about it, there are actually only five ways to grow a business. Here they are: OneDouble down on the niche that you already serve. This can be done through better-selling processes, better marketing processes, improved channels, but essent...
Read MoreAn area that people get wrong all the time is pricing. Some people price high based on the profits they hope to achieve. Some base it on some sort of average industry “cost-plus” rule. Some are afraid to charge too much. Still, others simply add a few percent to last year’s price. So before you set your next price or quote your next deal here are...
Read MoreMany companies (products and services companies) focus all their efforts on designing the end-customer experience. They think about the discovery, the buying experience, the user-experience, support and so on. And then, after all of that is ‘designed-in’ they think about getting to market.
Read MoreHave you ever been fascinated by an expert juggling three or five balls at a time? So you try it and maybe you manage to catch one ball, then you find yourself lunging after the second, and then you have absolutely no idea where the third one went. The secret to mastering juggling is to be an expert thrower. Because, when you are good at throwing,...
Read MoreAs a consulting firm, we need to clearly understand who might buy our client’s products or services. Clients often point us to research firms that publish ‘Everything You Need to Know About X’ (the mining market, housing industry, power, ice cream, TV dinners - there are literally tens of thousands of research publications). These ‘off the shelf’ r...
Read MoreThis is the second of three articles exploring how to take your virtual meetings to the next level. Last week we discussed some good practices for virtual working meetings: the quality of your sound, lighting, positioning of the camera, environment, and the peculiarities of live interaction. Today, we are going to build on that and consider how to...
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