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Coming Soon! Beware the Shiny Object

I’ve been working on a book since the start of the new year, although it’s been about 30 years in research. The content is complete and final editing is in progress with a release date within the next 30 days. So excited!

Every business leader could use a bit of advice occasionally. In this book, I share 19 and ½ Nuggets of Business Wisdom accrued from the last 35 years under the covers of all types of businesses. Whether you’re a software developer or leading a multi-million-dollar manufacturing business, this book has something for you.  Every business leader looks for concise honest insights with clear actions.  This book delivers.

Topics of interest include strategic decision making, organization transformation, program management, team building, customer engagement and others. With each nugget I highlights traps that can be set and practical tips to avoid them highlighted by real world case studies.

You’ll find each nugget either thought provoking or strangely familiar.

Over the next few weeks I’ll post snippets of the book to this site.

March 27, 2024 Posted by | Thinking About Change, Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Moments Matter

Life is about moments. As each day passes we grind through the rigors of survival in whirlwind of activity. But every once in a while, there’s a moment we remember that stays with us forever. That first meeting with the love of your life, the birth of your first child, first day of your first real job, I could go on, but, those moments are real life milestones. I’m thinking about the little moments that impact us we never expected.

Back in the stone ages, when I was flying jets for a living in the Air Force every day, we would have these monthly safety meetings. One time there was a video produced by a Navy flight surgeon. The Doc was walking through the psychology of why Navy pilots either continue their careers or move on. A moment was the answer. One moment during a cruise after weeks of drudgery the flyer would have an experience of wonder and excitement. That moment, that one moment, would validate the reason for staying with the grind, being away from home for extended periods, living in tight quarters and landing on a moving stamp in the middle of the ocean. One little moment.

Think about how moments sneak up on us. In our personal lives they happen all the time, at least to me. In business, moments can make or break an entire brand.

When I work with clients around customer journey mapping it’s essential to determine “moments of truth” where customers experience the brand in a moment that impacts their perception forever. Be intentional when designing moments of truth for you customers. Whether it’s a first impression on-line or the un-boxing moment. Make all their moments a delight.

Moments matter…a lot!

March 18, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , | Leave a comment

Brevity Wins Every Time

Need to communicate something important? Do it fast!

Since the turn of the century, this century, the average adult attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, based on a Microsoft study, which when compared to the 9 second attention span of a goldfish, according to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Let me be clear, goldfish have a longer attention span than humans.

Ever wonder why you have to remind everyone from your last meeting what the point was? Well, now you know. So let me make this brief. If you don’t deliver a message clearly and concisely in 8 seconds or less the game is over. But remember that not everyone is listenting during the first time you deliver the message so you have to deliver it multiple times in multiple ways so maybe 30% or the listeners will walk away with what you want them to hear.

Sitting in a room full of ‘busy’ people listening to you while answering emails on their laptop and looking for texts on their phone is not productive unless you beat them into submission by using every tool in your communication kit. Being longwinded and using 5 syllable words is not a good idea.

Here are some simple tips:

  • Gain attention by opening with a provocative statement
  • Be clear about what the message is right up front
  • Concisely explain why the message is valuable to ‘them’
  • Repeat the message multiple times in multiple ways, visual aids help
  • Close by reinforcing the message
  • Check for understanding and connection by asking what was heard

Don’t waste time with long presentations that build to a climax. Hit hard, hit fast and hit again!

In the words of Franklin Delan Roosevelt “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.

March 12, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

En Fuego!! Sort of…

Two-thousand business cards. Going through my desk drawer today I realized just how many business cards I’ve collected over the years and saved because those people the cards represent could result in a friendship or business relationship. Some are reminders of former clients that have moved on to other jobs, started their own businesses or just retired. Of course the two-thousand are exclusive to the unknown number of electronic contacts made since the demise of the formal business card.

What this brought to mind is the change in business relationship development that’s occured. Digital marketing, intent marketing, drip campaigns, social media marketing and all the various impersonal methods of connecting have caused an interesting effect. At my own niche firm and with clients I regularly debate the merits of electronic versus in-person interactions to develop new leads for projects. What I often hear about is the huge number of cold leads that come into a prospecting pipeline. “We’ve got a great pipeline of work, look at all these leads”, bah humbug! The reality is that most real opportunities come from the extended network represented by all those business cards.

Business cards in the drawer, or wherever they’re stored, represent physical touches with humans. A name, a face, a place, a shared smile, or common connection. I submit that twenty leads generated from a physical connection outweigh one-hundred from electronic sources, don’t quote me here I don’t have the data to support my claim. However, I can reliably say that a blend of electonic volume and personal engagement is the most reliable approach to converting leads to deals.

Critical success factors in developing new business realtionships always begin with TRUST! Trust in built over time through a combination of personal relationship development with key decision makers and having a clear postion on a challenge that decision maker is dealing with TODAY! Fishing for problems to solve in today’s world is a bit lazy. With all the information available at our fingertips today hitting a sweet spot with a new relationship is pretty easy. Using electronic marketing tools can generate volume for potential interactions. People build trust, devise creative solutions and build long term synergistic relationships.

Here’s the take away. If you think the opportunity pipeline is on-fire because digitial marketing says so, beware the conversion rate. Get personal, go out and collect some business cards!!!

March 4, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment