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Another Golden Rule

I was involved in one of those informal, first-meet handshake, style introductions over a bottle of excellent red the other day with a chap that ran a firm specialising in writing business plans on behalf of prospective corporate funders. He thought that there was an unhealthy attitude prevalent among the

Think Fluid Mechanics

A chap I met recently was moaning about the seemingly never-ending roadworks around JoBurg-Centurion-Pretoria. One day it might actually be finished and a good thing, yet he feared that they hadn’t taken into account one simple rule from fluid mechanics. Being his forte, he was delighted to elaborate. Liquid

Getting Luckier

One of sport’s most well-known quotes is surely from 9-time golf major champion, Gary Player; “the more I practice, the luckier I get“. So I was intrigued to catch a CNN chat with him alongside 20-year old Northern Ireland prodigy, Rory McIlroy. Player was asked to pass on wisdom.

The Right Target

Premiership managers are often heard talking about how they must first reach 40 points. It is at such a mark that they feel they preserve their prized status for another year. Gain 40 points, so the theory goes, and after all 38 games are done and dusted, you won’t

Change For The Better

I just saw an interview with a former CEO of BP, John Browne, as part of his autobiography [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7189896/Beyond-Business-by-Lord-Browne-a-review.html] PR. He was pressed in typically rolling-news-knock-everything fashion that going into business was surely solely about the pursuit of making

Most Simple Deals Work

On a slightly tangential note for us solution sellers, I came across an interview with a Swiss chap that founded a hotel chain [http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article283722.ece]. A quarter of a century later, the firm has 50 hotels throughout S Africa. Always interested in company founders,

Prepare A Closing Vigil

Your deadline is Friday. It’s the end of the month, quarter, year. Everything is in place. You’ve been promised the deal, signatures, purchase order, deposit. Zero hour looms and Bang. One small thing is amiss. The person who can fix it is back in on Monday. What’s

Picture Your Prospects

I got a terrific wine rack, made from the staves of a Steenberg Merlot barrel by a Cape Town oak artisan [http://www.thatoak.co.za]. He spends most weekends in various shopping centres standing with a display of his craft. As I saw with my own eyes, his wares

TMI Over-rides Helpfulness

I was in an informal first-meet the other day. It lasted around half-an-hour in a coffee shop that offered that wonderful Zumex-enabled fresh orange juice I’m so fond of. The chap the ‘other side’ of the table was interested in one specific project, for which we had a neat

Reference Visit & Corporate Hospitality

I was judging presentations as part of a sales training exercise for a client when the first team up ended with a close routine suggesting the prospect be flown around the world to visit as a reference an undeniably aspirational location. The three following teams picked up on this and