Since the dawn of marketing, professionals have asked simple questions to construct objectives, strategies, and tactics. At the most basic level, the issues haven’t changed. WHO are you trying to: ? Address? ? Influence? ? Reach? If the answer is anyone and everyone, you are wasting time and resources. Step back and find your “specific […]
Set the conducive environment Their office is their territory. Your office is your territory. In either case, there are interruptions…colleagues, emails, phone calls. Their office, you put up your guard. Your place, the other side will be tempted to put up their guard. Find a restaurant with a pleasing ambiance. You are at ease, and […]
In her book, Improvisation for the Theater, Viola Spolin leads the actors through games and exercises that dynamically connect the players. What one player does and says is immediately sensed and responded to by the other player. And that, in turn, creates a spontaneous response in the first player. The players accept each other’s actions […]
The quotes by world statesmen may be confusing without the right context. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” – Gandhi “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin The tendency is to follow the most straightforward and comfortable path. But, almost always, the more robust way is the right […]
It is tempting to invest resources and develop plans to grow and have a controlling position in your market. “Lock-in” contracts, specific terms and conditions, sticky services—there are countless ways we can make a customer move to a competitor disruptive. While these tactics can be hugely profitable (lower customer churn, recurring revenue, higher company value), […]
There is usually an excellent reason for something: for doing it, for not doing it. Often we tell the other party this reason. We then think of another idea, and we give that as well. Then a third reason occurs to us, and we add that in for good measure. The problem is that each […]
Knowing what you need to know is essential to negotiating well and deriving a better result. So, ask the right questions and then listen to the answers carefully. Every major negotiation, domestic or international, succeeds or fails because people chose to listen or not listen to the other side. When not listening, most likely, they are also […]
“Let’s set up a conference call. We are not too thrilled with your customer service and support. And, of course, we will see if we want to continue to spend this kind of money. We will discuss our contract at the meeting.” This was the call my client received from a significant customer of his […]