Topic

process

A collection of 175 issues

Buying Bias

[http://hbr.org/product/before-you-make-that-big-decision/an/R1106B-PDF-ENG] You know you’re on the back foot when your prospect doesn’t share their buying criteria with you. Likewise, when you get to shape such potential assessment, you’re on to a winner. In either case, what can you do to shore

Is The West History?

[http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history] Where’s there a more engaging academic than historian Niall Ferguson? His latest tv series spends four and a half hours promoting the six ‘killer apps’ (as he dubs them) that enabled Western Civilisation to flourish like none before it. These banners are; > Competition

Free Pitch Backlash

Down the years I’ve been involved with several businesses for whom prospecting typically entails entering a beauty pageant of dubious repute. I encountered it online the other day as the free pitch. Also known as spec work, it’s where as vendor you are required to submit to work

Blatter Ineptitude

Can you name a world sporting administrative body that actually does good for the game it purports to support? Tricky, huh? With such globally crass stupidity abundant, it’s difficult for one particular administrator to stand out as being the single most damagingly incapable. But if anyone can, it is

Red Zone Efficiency

After a sterling victory on a foreign field of Wales last Friday, England rugby coach Martin Johnson declared his satisfaction with the time spent in the Red Zone. I suspected he meant how long England camped out in the Welsh 22. I checked further on the wonderful web. Slightly miffed,

Rory Sutherland and The Small Stuff

Sales and Marketing make restless bedfellows. It’s hard to find good words that either side says about the other. The very fact that different ‘sides’ is accepted language belies comradeship and gives a glimpse of mistrust. So we should hail Rory Sutherland. A distinguished ad man, he certainly doesn’

Urgency Algorithm

There’s an American research team that can predict injuries suffered in a car crash. They do so seeing only the state of the crumpled wreck. This isn’t just impressive for a party trick. It hugely saves lives. When one of the team used to arrive at crash scenes,

Cricket Bowler Blueprint

Do you have a blueprint for sales success? One that’s written down, communicated and constantly referred to? England’s cricketers played their best tournament ever to vanquish all-comers and be crowned World 20-over Champions in the West Indies earlier this year. It was clear that England were the only

A Swarm Buying Process?

I recently read a review of a management book [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/7919177/Forget-highly-paid-CEOs.-Its-ants-and-bees-who-can-lead-us-to-the-economic-promised-land.html] , apparently one more along a trend of left-field provocateurs trying to get managers to think differently. This particular tome, called Smart Swarm, tries to build parallels between instinctive collective animal

Chief Exec Involvement

The Miller-Heiman solution selling mailing list received an invite to participate in their annual best-practice survey last week. They teasingly included their favourite finding from last year’s [http://www.slideshare.net/alinutley/miller-heiman-sales-best-practice]. Only 7% of companies qualified inside their definition of “world-class”. I realise that you could cloud