Category: Random Thoughts

Pricing Your Proposals: Don’t Assume Clients Act Rationally

If you prepare service proposals for consideration by your clients you need to read this post.  In my first lesson in microeconomics I was taught that most demand curves slope downwards from left to right.  For some products they will be steep and for others they will be flatter but for nearly all products (and services) it is posited that lower price will lead to more sales so we were taught. Continue reading “Pricing Your Proposals: Don’t Assume Clients Act Rationally”

Why you (and your clients) need outside help to change

Automaticity means the ability to do things without thinking about it. It’s usually the result of learning, repetition and practice.  Much of what we do in life, including what we do at work, is automatic which is why our habits reflect a type of unconscious competence.  For the most part automaticity is a good thing but it becomes a significant barrier if we want to change our habits because they’re no longer serving us well. Continue reading “Why you (and your clients) need outside help to change”

When and to whom should you say thanks

In an insightful book written by Robert Caildini called Influence, he cites several studies that provide evidence that people tend to have a mindless reciprocity reflex.  For example in one study Christmas cards were sent at random to a bunch of people who the researched did not know and the great majority of recipients sent him a card back.

It is common practice for professionals to send their clients a Christmas card.  This is a nice gesture and one that is wholeheartedly endorsed by Hallmark.  However, to the extent that everyone does it I believe it loses its intended meaning, that being to let people know you are thinking of them.  This is made worse when you get two (or more) cards from the same firm each signed by the same people and you know they have been at their desk late into the night busily signing a pile of 500 cards and wishing they could be at home.

There is a wonderful traditional universal holiday in the US called Thanksgiving (the last Thursday in November).  It is my favorite holiday of the year simply because it really is a time when people get together and give thanks (and not gifts) for all the good things they have in their life–especially family but also circumstance.  In my view this should be the time of the year we send a card, or some other form of thanks to the people – clients, team members, firm partners and strategic alliance partners – who we want to thank for the contribution they have made to our life.

If you’re not in the US then create your own Thanksgiving Day – it might be the day your firm was founded, or your country’s National Day, or your Birthday but whatever day you choose, make it a day you can relate to with a sense of gratitude.  The other thing you could do of course, is to spontaneously send a gratitude card or note your valued clients, partners, team members etc at random.  For example, set aside an hour a month and send out 10 notes – I suspect it’ll be the best relationship (read marketing) exercise you do during the entire month.

If Caildini and the other researches in this space are correct (and from my own experience they are) you will probably see the mindless reciprocity reflex characteristic of people kick in.  This will take the form of closer relationships and loyalty with clients, more referrals, greater team loyalty and motivation and one more extremely important thing …. even if none of these outcomes happen in the short term you will feel happier simply because you sent a nice positive message to someone you know. See the recent Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 2012) article called Positive Intelligence.

What do you want your business legacy to be?

When Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard graduated from Stanford in 1937 they decided to start a new business. They subsequently memorialized their early discussions in a set of “founding notes” which, in relation to the question of what they were going to actually produce, simply mentioned “we want to direct our efforts toward making important technical contributions to the advancement of science, industry, and human welfare.”   The question of what to manufacture was noted in the meeting minutes in the following way … “The question of what to manufacture was postponed.” Continue reading “What do you want your business legacy to be?”

Strategy in times of rapid change

A typical definition of the word strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a vision, the two key words being “plan” and “vision”.  I’ve been talking about strategy a lot lately because I believe the lack of a coherent strategy is the barrier that prevents firms from achieving their full potential.  They either lack a vision, they lack a plan of action or they lack both.  In other words they lack a strategy. Continue reading “Strategy in times of rapid change”

Do you have an elevator speech?

You need to be able too win over prospects in 118 seconds – 8 seconds to hook them and 110 seconds to reel them in according to Jeffrey Hayzlett.  In the April, 2012 edition of Success Magazine Hayzlett describes how to structure your speech. Continue reading “Do you have an elevator speech?”

What Does 1% Mean for Your Business?

At 99 degrees water is merely hot, at 100 degrees it turns to steam and can move locomotives.  Just one degree—a one percent change—makes the difference.  This is a great metaphor for business.  It is always the little things, the small improvements, that yield big results.  Let’s take a look at the impact that small improvements in the key drivers of profitability have on the bottom line–you could have a conversation with your clients along these lines. Continue reading “What Does 1% Mean for Your Business?”