Archive of posts from March 2021

“No” often comes with a silver lining:

“This needs to be completed by tomorrow” creates new opportunities for process refinement when the answer is, “No, it can’t be completed by tomorrow.”

Now you get to find a way to create lead time, or possibly even question the need in the first place.

“We need to make a report on this” creates new opportunities for communication when the answer is, “No, we won’t be making a report on this.”

Now you...

If you have a great offer, but the anxiety of changing products is greater, will anyone take you up on it?

A world-class smartphone that’s different to the one you’ve bought every time for ages, needs more than features. It needs to break down anxiety.

A new website that’s sure to convert more customers that requires you to abandon your past attempts needs more than promises. It needs to break down anxiety.

Same goes for the offer you’re making. The...

Apparently I have a thing about calendars.

We’ve talked about them a few times before on this blog… How calendars can lead growth… Scheduling bright ideas… Defending calendar empty space (twice)…

…and I’m bring them up again.

This time, we’re exploring: what if the goal was an emptier schedule, not a fuller one?

A day full of coloured blocks in your calendar looks productive, but ignores the flow of your energy and interests. No time for...

Remember when you’d go for a walk pre-smartphone?

No music streaming. No social messaging. No push notifications. Just you and your thoughts.

A space in time to learn what you think. To chew on a problem. To explore an idea.

We don’t spend as much time with our own thoughts as we used to. Many of us can’t even go to the bathroom without a smartphone anymore.

We used to give important work more time and attention than we do...

How do you do things?

Do you answer email in the evenings? Do you or don’t you? Whether you clearly state you don’t, or think you’ll do it “just this once”, you signal to the world how you do things.

Do you take on other people’s deadlines as your own? Or do you operate on a timeline that’s healthy for you? Whether you clearly state you do the latter, or you make exceptions for the former, you signal to the...

Say no to ASAP:

ASAP gets things done slowly because there’s no time to do them quickly.

ASAP gets things done badly because there’s no time to do them well.

ASAP gets things done frenetically because there’s no time to do them calmly.

ASAP gets things done at the expense of morale because there’s no time for vision or fulfilment.

Things can still get done without ASAP. Quickly, properly, calmly and with fulfilment.

Why would ASAP ever be the better...

Is it worth doing again?

Things not worth doing again: Blindly running PPC ads hoping for a return. Trying another social media channel because the last one “didn’t work”. These kinds of thing are often done over and over again, despite the lacklustre results they produce.

Things worth doing again: Deep work refining a brand’s message. Spending time connecting with (and really listening to) customers and prospects. These kinds of thing are often only done once or twice, despite the...

What’s your slant?

Whenever you spot market opportunities, you bring your slant along for the ride. A unique perspective that, when combined with the opportunity, creates a solution that’s distinctly “you”.

Whenever our teams review market opportunities, they spot opportunities to create better market connection through better narrative and messaging. It’s the same slant they bring to all current product and service offerings.

Buyers buy (in no small part) thanks to an appreciation for your slant.

The slant is what’s...

Our team are in the process of changing the business cards they use.

If the online money experts are to be believed, the best reward/charge/cashback/whatever business cards are usually AMEX cards, usually thanks to a half-percent increase in some esoteric point or reward scheme you may or may not understand or care about.

They’re “better.”

But being based primarily in the United Kingdom, almost nobody accepts AMEX cards.

They’re not “the right kind of better.”

So they’re switching to an...

No is a really under-utilised word for those who really care about those they serve.

No is thought of as a removal of service, or the denial of enhancement in the lives of our customers.

No is seen as a bad thing, a shun toward our body of work, or toward our fiduciary responsibly to serve people fully.

No is neither of those things.

No means saving people from themselves when they’re taking a path that won’t take them to...

You think you’re sharing feedback.

What folks hear is different:

‘Feedback + Insecurities’ results in your feedback not quite being heard over the sound of, “I hope everything is okay.” The volume of the insecurity determines how much feedback lands.

‘Feedback + Ego’ results in your feedback not quite being heard over the sound of, “But I’m right and there’s an external explanation for this.” The volume of the ego determines how much feedback lands.

We get to make things...

Careful.

If you think it’s great and yet it’s not creating the response you’d like in the market, perhaps you forgot who you’re making it for.

If you think it’s great and you’re not seeing room for improvement, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Only that you lost sight of it.

Be proud of your work and your progress. You did good.

But don’t lose sight of your potential just because you think what you made today is great.

Those...

Integrity shouldn’t cost extra.

But when it does, your whole team pays.

Twice this week, I’ve watched people compromise their image as a “nice guy” because something was more important to them.

The first wanted to stretch a supplier to save a few dollars. When they couldn’t, they turned sour, attacking the integrity of their supplier. Of course, all they really achieved was exposing the cost of their own (a few dollars).

The second wanted a refund on a product...

Just a quick reminder for your subconscious:

You can.

You can communicate better with your target audience, helping them see how you make their world better so they can come along. You just need to do the work (such as with NarrativeWorkshop.com).

You can learn that skill that could be instrumental to the next innovation or breakthrough in your progress or business. You just need to do the work.

You can get over that mental barrier you’ve been wrestling with,...

Where’s your focus?

If you only focus on team building, you may wind up with a great team but not many customers. Things designed exclusively around you don’t usually have the same appeal to your target market.

If you only focus on customers, you may wind up with lots of customers but a weak team. Things designed exclusively around customers don’t usually have quite the same appeal to a team.

If you focus on the customer’s journey, you may wind...

When we see a great offer, but we don’t have a need, there’s no demand and the offer isn’t great (for us) at all.

When we see a better product, but we don’t need all the cool stuff it can do, there’s no need and the product isn’t better (for us) at all.

When we see content full of great answers, but we haven’t asked a question those answers they fit into, the answers have nowhere to go mentally, so...

I bought a card game last week.

The game I bought would have been off my list immediately if:

• The creators harassed me on the phone
• The creators followed me around online with targeted ads
• The creators put ‘tripwires’ and ‘funnels’ in my path

…All of the ‘best practices’ you hear you ‘must do’ to market online would have ruined the sale.

Products are recruited into the lives of those who need to move from problem-land to a...

How can being dumb be smart?

If you love shoes, you’ll tell me why certain shoes are technically superior to others. But if it only comes in “the wrong colour”, many won’t care. Being dumb (forgetting all that and listening to what your audience really needs) is smart.

If you love writing code, you’ll tell me all about the innovations of your proprietary codebase that uses all the latest tools. But if it doesn’t “run faster” or “look easier” many...

Could you white-label your service?

The upside: it means you’ve made a methodical, predictable product or service that others trust can be repeated over and over with consistent results. This is good.

The downside: it means you fulfil upon a stereotyped problem without strong opinions that point to a better way. Without the logo, you’re unrecognisable. This isn’t good.

What if you were so predictable you always deliver (the upside), while simultaneously delivering something that elevates the expectations and ambitions...

A good lap time is almost always accompanied with a boring, methodical, almost “slow” looking replay.

Slow down to go fast:

When you skim emails about a project, you miss details that may require backtracking or reworking downstream in the project. The seconds you save skimming cost days or weeks in production.

When you hurry through your working relationships, spending as little time as possible with each in the name of scale, those relationships will wither. The minutes you save...

Average and great – what’s the difference?

Average salespeople require a ‘silver tongue’ on sales calls, moving people forward through force of will alone.

Great salespeople don’t need any of that because they put in the work ahead of time – in research, attention to detail, carefully crafted roadmaps etc – so that calls are a breeze.

Average designers require a swipe-file of cool visuals that will help wow stakeholders. They describe their output with words like ‘pop’ and ‘flare’.

Found yourself in this situation?

“Website conversions are down.” The temptation is to look for the top WordPress plugins and tracking tools to install, in hope the conversions problem can be killed with software.

“Our marketing message isn’t quite landing.” The temptation is to look for the top tools or panel-review platforms to throw tech and unqualified prospect opinions at the problem, in hope the messaging problem can be killed with software.

Some things don’t benefit much from being “killed...

“I already know that.”

Ever caught yourself saying this?

If so, let’s find your type:

The ‘Obvious’ type: “It’s obvious, I knew that already.” To these guys, everything is obvious. The fact that none of the obvious stuff gets implemented is tangential.

The ‘Reader’ type: “I read five books a month.” These guys have mastered the art of “already knowing” because learning outpaced implementation.

The ‘Delegator’ type: “I don’t need to know that, I have people.” These guys have successfully...

“I close in one call” is a perverse brag.

It’s the business-version of “how many chicks I got off with last night”, or similar gestures of emotional negligence.

Some conversations happen to lead to a buying decision right away. The ability to help others by leading them to clarity and action promptly is a valuable service in itself.

Other conversations quite rightly take longer. Not due of lax salesmanship, but due to an appreciation of the journey those you serve...

Some things are one-off events.

Special moments that can never be repeated. An amazing find in an antique store. A one-time event for one night only.

Most events aren’t like that.

One of the reasons people buy iPhones is because they know there’ll be another ready for them in 2-4 years time when they replace their current one.

One of the reasons people buy from Amazon is because they’ll probably be able to find what they’re looking for when it’s...

There are gurus everywhere in the business world.

Let’s rank them:

#1 Obvious Frauds: These say all the right things in their blog posts and social bios, but struggle to back up their claims in live social environments like Clubhouse. The illusion breaks down when asked probing questions.

#2 Subtle Frauds: These say all the right things even in social environments like Clubhouse, where they can chip in with quotes that reenforce their claims. The illusion breaks down when discussing...

If your outbound calls aren’t working, it could be the way the calls are being handled or operated. Or it could simply be that you aren’t saying the right things to the right people.

If your conversion rate is down, it could be your layout is suboptimal or your testing suite isn’t being utilised properly. Or it could simply be that you aren’t saying the right things to the right people.

If your paid advertising results are creating a negative...

I’ve bought and filled more Moleskine notebooks than I could count, over more than a decade. I keep a pile of them ready to dip into so I need never stop jotting.

Over a decade of brand loyalty exists there.

But if someone at LEUCHTTURM1917 (a competing, similar brand) reached out and showed me personal care and interest in my world, the pile would shift.

Many notebook brands could go first, and shift the pile.

Showing care and interest in...