15th August, 2008
Strategy vs. Tactics
A couple good posts were written this week on strategy vs. tactics which boil down the importance of seeing the bigger picture and being more proactive vs. reactive.
Seth Godin writes about the role of patience and perseverance in a successful web strategy. However, the ideas are applicable to virtually any plan for success.
Simon Sinek discusses how being more proactive and less reactive can alleviate stress and lead to greater success in business and in life.
Popularity: 24% [?]
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8th August, 2008
Sales Lessons from a Turkish Rug Dealer
A fascinating account of an unintended purchase
While much of this story makes me squirm in my chair, reminding me of tactics used by timeshare sales weasels, there are some valuable takeaways here. First of all, I’m not entirely convinced the Turkish rug salesmen’s gestures were not somewhat genuine; then again that could just my naiveté or wishful thinking. In any case, there is definitely something to be said for putting the interests of your customer ahead of the sale, for freely offering something of value, for trying to establish a rapport or even a relationship before selling your goods or services, particularly if your motives are genuine. Even if you don’t make an immediate sale, good will and a pleasant experience go a long way toward building future business and positive word of mouth.
Thanks Guy Kawasaki
Popularity: 26% [?]
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6th August, 2008
Don’t Tell Me What Not to Do!
Simon Sinek, renowned business author, speaker, and consultant writes in his blog about American’s tendency to tell people what not to do. Don’t smoke. Don’t eat junk food. Don’t litter. Don’t vote for candidate X. He points out the ineffectiveness of this strategy and suggests, as a test, to tell someone, “Don’t think of a pink elephant.”
Telling people what not to do is ineffective for two reasons:
- Our brains cannot process negatives. For example: we cannot quantify darkness or coldness. We can only measure each in terms of its positive counterpart, light and heat.
- Telling someone what not to do (or even what to do), imposes your dogma upon them, strips them of their power to choose, and removes value from the equation.
On the other hand, telling people about your purpose, your beliefs, their options, or the benefits of choice A or B, places the power and the accountability in theirs hand and allows them to make their own value judgments.
I can’t help but think optical professionals often fall into this trap with their customers. Don’t get your eyes examined at Wal-Mart. Don’t buy your glasses from the internet. Don’t buy your contacts from 1-800. And whatever you do, don’t post your [consumer] questions on Optiboard! When faced with these kind demands, it becomes more likely the customer will respond with, “To heck with You. You don’t care about me. You just want my money. I’ll do what I decide to do.”
Value can only be perceived, if the buyer is accountable for their own decision instead [of] being pressured to do what you think is the right thing to do. This has nothing to do with the quality of the product or the service - telling someone not to eat McDonald’s because it’s bad is good advice…just not as effective as telling them to eat broccoli because it’s good.
Popularity: 25% [?]
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1st August, 2008
Holy Spectacles Batman!
Seemingly, time even catches up with superheros. “Quick, Robin. To the Bat-tician!” …something light for a Friday.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Posted at 9:05 am | Comment (0)
