Finding The Gap
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Decision-making advice for business tends to be "your strategy needs to be driven by data". But data is built in the past. It's certain. It's factual. Forecasts, trends, models. They all take data and build a projection into the future with a certain sense of reliability, confidence, or pure imagination. They're informed by, but not driven by data. Based in the past. Strategy, it's about the future. Uncertain. Non-factual.
After yesterday's message (on the response from Samsung to Apple re: their new tablets), this reply by fellow daily emailer Wes Wheless from The Lightbulb summarized the feeling: "It feels like two rich cousins fighting in public" Spot on. Besides the comms and whether or not the message went through in their ads, the overall feeling is the same: it's all about them. And when you (and your business) focus and react to what the competition is doing right or wrong, you're missing the mark. It's...
When you see red flags in a prospect or a potential project, call them out. You have 2 options: Saying yes and move forward. Knowing what you're trading off —and what you're giving up: being at your best, or... Saying no and move forward. Knowing that when you're at your best, you can help best. Letting go of what seems like a big or interesting opportunity is hard (and easier said than done), YET think of this: if you get to say no, you get to be in charge of your next step. Seeing red flags...
Stop pitching and trying to convince people. Show up with your prospects to see if there's a fit, with your willingness to help them see something they don't see yet. To be there for them and show them the way —with you, or with someone else who fits better. Ask questions and push. Help them see you're on the same side, not against them. Say what you think. Don't hold back, but no need to be an ass either. Be kind, but straightforward. Choose your words. You're not there to sell. You're there...
In hospitality (and business) people talk of having a "sense of urgency" to do things at the right time, in the right way, and always taking care of details. But in reality it's not urgency, it's efficiency and efficacy, I'd say. The thing here is that they get to confuse this sense of urgency with busy-ness. To be always doing something. Doing nothing is not possible, because that means wasted time —or just laziness. So you have everyone jumping from one thing to the other, keeping busy......
Some argue that you're in the service business. And that might be right. It makes sense. But I'd go a bit further. Quoting Ron Baker, "you're in the transformation business". You help your customers transform by servicing them (diff from serving them). :) The approach you'll take on decisions, advice, and goals reflects that.
Here's an excerpt of Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk on creativity The main point on it is about being prepared to get things wrong. Yet, something that keeps coming back to mind is how you can approach things in your business. It can go from trying to avoid mistakes and playing it safe —or be prepared to get it wrong, so you can have a go at new approaches you come up with. On which side of the spectrum would you rather be? You can see the full presentation here.
Your price. At it's top. No discounts. No words after it. Have you tried doing that? Being in a sales conversation, get to the price part and just say it —as natural as saying "It rains outside". Silence. And a smile. Or do you jump to fill it in, justify why it's like this and what it involves? (Been there, done that.) A question for you: What's the thing that you do (your most expensive one) and how much is it? I'm curious to know. :)
You heard that right. Everything is sales. But doing sales is not (necessarily) selling. It's helping to buy.