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quirky

ideas and experiences with a selling angle that come from left-field

No Long Cons

The perpetrator of the biggest known Ponzi fraud (a bit like a pyramid scheme) Bernard Madoff, was sentenced to 150 years [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3c4b9ec2-6496-11de-a13f-00144feabdc0.html] for crimes that were “extraordinarily evil” on 29 June. To mark the occasion, the Beeb asked the son of one

Add Emotion To The Facts

I caught a local radio interview with Sunday Times food and television critic, features and travel writer, AA Gill [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/eating_out/a_a_gill/] whilst driving down the M40. A writer of much renown, he really came alive

Expose Bait and Switch

A major obstacle solution sellers face is not simply the cheaper quote, but one where a competing bid claims to offer exactly the same as you, but for way less money. In such cases, should you be able to justify that your price premium alone unlocks the unique capabilities essential

Recession Schmecession

At a recent out-of-hours event, the second slide one presenter showed betrayed his allegiance to the type of networking organisation only truly embraced inside America. He trumpeted their current slogan, that you can even buy on a dollar-a-throw pin badge [http://store.bni.com/p-202-i-refuse-to-participate-in-a-recession-button.aspx]; “I Refuse to Participate

Lessons Learned Exercises

The head of the army, Sir Richard Dannatt, announced his 3-year tenure will end in August. During the round of subsequent media appearances, I caught that he’d just “kicked off” a “lessons learned exercise” of the operation in southern Iraq. This begins now as one had already been done

Commitment Tax

A universal way to understand someone’s continuing commitment to you is to ask them for yet more money. Many companies try to tie-in customers (and lock-out competitors) by setting up programmes that add extra value, typically for a small ‘service’ charge for membership. The software trade somehow got away

Attention Scarcity

Here’s a thought-provoking concept I read from a Frenchman’s blog, Macro Principles [http://www.macroprinciples.com/2009/04/user-adoption-risks-are-growing-rapidly-for-it-projects/] , quoting Herbert Simon: > What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a

Can You Cut A Sliver?

I was reminded just now of a thoroughly decent chap called Dylan. I met him around twenty years ago whilst he was doing a PhD on how small businesses make strategic decisions. He is now a leading academic [http://dylanje.blogspot.com/] with specialisations including how such small enterprises become

Standing On The Shoulders Of CEO Expertise

I’ve spent time lately helping salespeople understand the kinds of topic that CEO-style people want to hear, specific to when they permit a prospective rep to sit before them for five minutes, and do not ‘appear’ directly involved in your decision process. I was reminded of a time fifteen

Managing Dissonance

In the rarity of English sunshine last Sunday, three of us were ambling around a village in Pennine foothills when the woman among us decided it was ice cream time. Clearly, there’s no argument when a lady demands such a treat so I was forced to join the hunt.