It’s fascinating how business buzz words and phrases pop in and out of use. Here are a few: “At the end of the day”, “core competency”, “think outside the box” and “take ownership”.
The Long View
In listening to music, we love to follow a great melody. Whether it’s a piece we know or one that’s new to us, we enjoy the return to the “chorus” that the verses inevitably come back to. We do that just by active listening. It strikes a chord in us and connects us to something deep within us.
The Dangers of Survey Fatigue
Why Associations need to be wary of this alarming trend
It’s a trend we all experience. Each day your inbox is carpet-bombed with survey appeals, “Tell us how we did” or the old-school appeal, “Give us your two cents”. It’s almost comical, but sadly is not funny – it presents a major challenge to your feedback loop with members. The more survey requests they receive, the less likely they are to respond to yours. What’s Driving the Issue?
Growth is for Grownups
Developing new growth ideas can be exciting, but at the same time fraught with risk. What can be better than leveraging the unique competencies of your organization to solve customer problems in a way that no one in the marketplace is currently doing?
Explaining the Unexplainable
Making sense of the seemingly random things that happen in business and in life is just part of human nature. It’s how we’re wired. When a significant sales opportunity is lost to a competitor, that instinct goes into hyper-drive. There is a lot of explaining to do.
Authentic vs Artificial Intelligence in B2B Selling
With all the attention given to AI and machine-learning driving business processes, are we at risk of losing sight of the need to apply authentic human learning to improve results? With so much focus on AI, we tend to overlook the meaning of the leading word of that phrase, “artificial”.
The Four Perils of Denial
It’s commonly said that business-to-business (B2B) companies have a similar marketing challenge to those in consumer (B2C) categories. After all, they say, it’s still ‘people’ making decisions. That’s only partially true.
Avoiding the Pain
Why It Hurts So Much to Lose a New Business Opportunity and how Win-Loss Analysis May Help
Solution Selling into Enterprise Accounts
Whitewater rafting. It’s kind of a Colorado thing – like Subarus, Tevas, and dogs. That crazy pin-balling off boulders, both seen and unseen, as you hurtle downriver tossed about by ever-changing rapids, rises, and drops, can leave you wondering how you’ll ever make it to the takeout.
Deals that just won’t close: Behind the “Next Quarter” syndrome
Having a group of deals expected to close, but instead get “pushed” into next quarter is as frustrating as it is common. And it is common.