Make Me Feel Important
October 30, 2008
Everyone has a deep need which they are seeking to fulfill. We all need to feel important. Watch anyone, and if you can identify what makes the person feel important, you will know what motivates the person.
Your customer, your boss, your family and your friends either have a good or bad relationship with you based on how you make them feel important. Otherwise, there is not a relationship. At best, there may be mutual exploitation and utility.
It should not shock me, but it still does. I am incredulous at how business people miss the obvious. They wonder why they lack business when it comes down to how they work with their prospects, the vendors or anyone they run into. We live in an ecosystem of relationships. When we do not do the things which makes the other person feel important, then a relationship is in jeopardy.
Here are they blockades of why people do not give this all important ingredient to making relationships and business opportunities work: Read more
Busy or Productive?
October 22, 2008
We run into the challenge every knowledge worker is facing today. We are all overwhelmed. There are more emails than what we know what to do with. There are more phone calls than we can return. There is more news than we can absorb.
Information moves with such abundance and ease that it is hard to keep our bearings. Often, we shut down and lose what is most important as human beings:
- Decision-Making: Information is presented to us in order to move to an action or a decision. Everything else is noise. When we develop a continuous habit of letting our inbox fill up and not making decisions, we develop a habit of being indecisive. The tragedy is that the items that are a crisis are what get addressed.
Maybe People
October 17, 2008
“A maybe person will never get you where you want to go.” - Jim Riley
There are two things that matter in business - decisions and actions. All the activities, emails, conversations, meetings, phone calls, and myriad of work we do as knowledge workers ends up in a decision and an action.
Unfortunately, many people put their energy and emotions into another thing altogether - hope. Hope is a poor strategy. When a person you are seeking an answer from does not decide or act, it slows down momentum. Their lack of forthrightness has you pursuing without a clear answer. Unfortunately, we live in a society where people are not candid. Rather than return a phone call as good etiquette, they ignore your call. Part of it is inattention. Part of it is hoping you will go away. Either way, it is indecision and inaction. They are likely not a decision maker, not interested or not polite. It is a person not worth pursuing business with. Read more
Guaranteeing Success
October 9, 2008
The guarantee of success is music to our ears. That is what every customer, company and employee wants. We want security in our jobs. We want to know the products we buy will do as they promise - make us more money, make us more fit, make us more beautiful, etc.
Guarantees meet our need for reducing perceived risk. We have all been burned. We have all experienced unmet expectations. Thus, our guard goes up.
I can remember years ago when my wife and I were seduced into one of those typical honeymoon events - a timeshare presentation. Why not? We were in high spirits, our guard was down and everything was just a good time.
We were definitely entertained. It was salesmanship from the get go. There were multiple hand-offs between the street salesman to the breakfast reception to the keynote speaker. The experience was one giant show. The emotions and pressure were high. Promises were made and we bought. We bought what we thought were years of good times and a return on a small investment. Read more
The Biggest Secret In Business
October 2, 2008
The biggest secret in business is right in front of you. Take out your credit card receipt from last month. Review it. Do any of the items stand out? How many could you have done without for another month? How many could you have done without period?
The question begs asking, why did you buy? How did you buy? Whether you realized it or not, you “bought” long before you purchased. It started when you began noticing watches, TV’s, or whatever it was that caught your interest.
Your attention moved to desire. You pictured the object or service bringing pleasure, relieving pain or increasing value in your life.
At some point the desire hit a tipping point. It was fanned through consistent, credible or intriguing exposure. Read more
