I think that one has to remain open-minded to the fact that there are 6 billion people around the world who are not European or North American, and they buy an awful lot of stuff.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to start asking some questions about these consumers, for example:
- Why do they buy it?
- How do they buy it?
- What are they using to buy it?
- Who’s serving them?
- How do they serve?
Don’t count on someone coming to rescue you.
Don’t count on someone to give you big breaks.
Don’t count on someone standing up for you.
You have to do these things for yourself.
I have always watched what happens when people visit stores, where do they go and what do they talk about? They are not going to tell you, but they will give it all away by the stories they tell while under observation. A common mistake marketeers make is assuming that other people see the world the way you see the world. This takes the form in thinking that other people believe what you believe, thinking that other people fear what you fear and everyone wants what you want. And when you are a marketeer, this is always a mistake!
Each of us walks around with a world view that we are certain is true. Our belief about money, about strangers, about places, etc., we think that it is true and that’s why it’s so hard to have a rational conversation with someone who holds opposing views on politics, race or religion. This is because their world view has surrounded them with enough narrative that they are sure they are right. It does not matter if you have scientific evidence, they do not want to believe you because that’s who they are at that moment. I certainly know that my world view is not the the truth of the world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
What Tim Cook understood when he took over at Apple is that many people don’t buy Apple products because they are better, they buy them because their status goes up. People will queue overnight to get the latest Apple device because they feel good when other people see what’s in their hand and their status goes up.
There has not been one important innovation has happened under Tim Cook’s leadership, this is not a criticism, as he developed the biggest, most profitable luxury brand in history. Apple just use the technology ratchet to turn a handle on status and luxury. Tim Cook and his team understand this simple formula and all they had to do was watch what was happening in an Apple Store.
Contact me if you would like me to look at your processes …
I’m a sales guy by nature and have done really a lot of selling. Basically, there are two elements of selling - starting the conversation that leads to a meeting and closing the deal.
I think SALES is a performance profession! The challenge is how to accurately and fairly measure results. Most companies teach their sales team how to take an order and how to make presentations, which is fine, I think what they should also be teaching is how to ask open ended questions. You can read all the books and study it, in reality, unless you are applying it everyday, building systems and habits around it, it’s just information.
I have a passion to help others achieve their goals and exceed their own expectations with over 20 years experience of contributing to and leading organisations within retail, wholesale, marketing and branding.
Contact me if you are interested in hearing more…
c/o British Vogue
A vision usually comes from an individual. An entrepreneur. They make their companies and the whole world share the values to which they are attached. Luciano Benetton had a clear image of a world without interracial hatred.
Back in the days the “United Colours of Benetton” campaigns were groundbreaking. AIDS, racism, homosexuality and religion were important issues and Benetton was the brand that provoked the establishment. It’s a real shame that their voice has gone flat.
c/o Wallpaper
I think that when you close your eyes, you see your inner world and when you open them, you see the outside world as it presents itself. If you keep one eye open and the other one closed, your sight is blurred, but you find your vision. Remember that when you look through a telescope, you have to close one eye if you want to see farther!
Traditional salespeople are often compared to hunters, as they stalk their prey (new leads) in the hope of a killing (closing the sale), so that they can return to the tribe with food (revenue). In contrast, farmers plant seeds and nurture crops that will eventually grow over time into food, in other words, farmers prefer to develop long-term relationships and customer loyalty.
Both hunters and farmers have the same objectives and their own set of challenges, I think the farmer has a major advantage over the hunter. While the hunters must go into new territories each day to stalk their prey, farmers stay in one place, planting new seeds and reaping the fruits of their efforts on the same ground they have toiled over already. In return, the land they till becomes infinitely more valuable because it can consistently reap a harvest without going through the hits and misses off hunting.
It’s no different in business, as all salespeople share the same ultimate goal: generating revenue. The big difference is in the tactics they use. Farmers take the time to lay the groundwork for sustained success, they educate themselves on the tactics and techniques of persuading their audience to act by building their own authority in their space. Granted, some hunters also do this too, and the smart ones also think like farmers.
During the current pandemic, I have had the opportunity to look closely at my competencies and roles that I have played throughout my career. I have been both a hunter and farmer, I think that creating contact, trust and credibility are the defining competencies in both roles as increasing revenue and penertrating deeper into the existing client base is fundamental in sales.
“What is written without any sense is read without any sympathy.”
We currently live in an information-rich, time-poor world and as a result, it is easy for us to behave like rats - in other words, we see an opportunity (stimulus) and we jump at it (response). The great thing about being human (aside from our ability to use a TV remote) is that we can exercise choice. So unlike one of B.F. Skinner's rats, our behavioral equation is Stimulus > Choice > Response.
The challenge is that sometimes we move so fast we whoosh right past our choice and feel like we are simply reacting to the multitude of stimuli - demanding customers, boss' deadlines, screaming children, "you've got mail" notifications, web page pop-up ads, Facebook status changes, GPS voices telling us to "veer right", text tones on our phones, etc. So, to help you intentionally respond to inbound opportunities and requests, here are four useful questions:
Does it interest me?
Do I have the resources (skills, money, contacts, knowledge) to make a positive impact?
Do I have the time (our most precious resource) for it?
Can I make the personal commitment necessary to be successful or fulfill the demands?
These questions reveal a thought process that highly successful people use to live intentionally. They never lose sight of the "C" - choice.
The choice is ours. Our success can be accidental or intentional. Choose to live intentionally.
This week, I have observed the most articulate 2 year old, Isiah is his name. His line of questioning revolved around, “Why? Why is it like this? Which invariably led me to ask the question, “Why can’t it be different?”
I think discovery is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
My process revolves around the 4 D’s (discover, define, develop and define) and therefore, always starts with discovery…
This quote from Alfred D’Sousa has always been a favourite of mine: “For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life”.
I think ife and work will always be messy, therefore, trouble shooting, firefighting and problem solving are how we spend a lot of our time so, let’s make sure we enjoy it.
Remember “Happiness is a journey not a destination and complaining is not a strategy.”
Imran Amed, founder and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion and I were keynote speakers at Fashion Talks, Antwerp (October 2013).
There has never been more tools, technology or creative thinking around how to connect with the consumer. Today, we are building a vast array of habitats inside a single eco-system that is completely connected by software, promotions, technology, data science and we don’t care where the consumer enters, it can be in any of these habitats on the customer journey.
““To get to the head you have to go through the heart.””
In other words, you need to make people feel before they think and act on something. We are storytelling animals and we start developing our understanding of stories through fairytales and role play during our childhood. This continues throughout our lives, as we become professionals, whether you study law, medicine, business or engineering. Regardless of what you are selling, I think that we are all in the business of moving hearts and minds.
If you love someone, tell them now.
If you miss someone, connect with them.
If you appreciate someone, show them.
If you made a mistake, apologise.
If you want to feel lighter, forgive first.
If you are confused, ask more questions.
If you are stuck, ask others for help.
It’s all about mindset, from the moment you wake up to the moment you rest your head at night, everything is up to you! Your emotions, your thoughts, your perception and your reactions - every moment. When someone tries to trigger you by insulting you or by doing or saying something that irritates you, take a deep breath and switch off your ego. Remember that if you are easily offended, you are easily manipulated!
I think the only thing you can control is how you treat yourself and this knowledge of that one thing can change everything. Before I write anything, be it an e-mail, text message or on SoMe, I ask myself these 3 important questions:
Is it important?
Is it respectful?
Is it necessary?
What are the fundamental capabilities of a human system that are crucial to its capacity to execute flawlessly and innovate consistently?
““We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the secret sits in the middle and knows.” - Robert Frost”
The words you use to frame your current situation will change your mindset and elevate your mood. A positive mindset allows you to stay open to new possibilities where others see barriers, and a positive mood will lift your spirits and attract people in your life who will help, support or hire you.
Successful individuals in any field used positive words to frame an outcome. It's an imperfect world and despite hours of practice and years of experience, the ball won't always bounce your way. Now and again you will be dealt a bad hand or an unprecedented pandemic, and by default this will change your plans.
I think the important thing is the path you travel and the people who accompany you, not the destination to which it takes you.
Last weekend, my son had his Confirmation (coming of age celebration - an affirmation of faith in God and it is also seen as the transition ritual from a child to adult). During the reception one of his friends asked me a question - What is the biggest lesson you have learned in 2020?
I was quite impressed that a 15-year-old was thinking on such a deep level.
My answer was that I’ve learned that during times of crisis, you can either be a giver or you can be a taker and you choose who you want to be. When this pandemic is over and I look back or you look back, the question we will ask ourselves – “What were you, were you someone who gave and helped during the pandemic or were you someone who took?” So I learned that we have a role to play and you have a choice.
Hellerup Kirke, 15.08.2020
“If” by Rudyard Kipling is one of my favourite poems, do you know it?
If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster;
And treat those two impostors just the same,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that in it,
And, what is more, you’ll be a man, my son.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time for reflection. I am fully aware that opportunity is always mixed with difficulty, therefore, the only time when things will change is when I change. “I am not a product of my circumstances I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
I had an epiphany last week that made me think about the meaning of my life and what have I become. The voice said, “You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are and unless you change what you are, you’ll always have what you’ve got.” I know that the major key to my better future is me, and in my case true happiness is not contained in what I get, happiness is contained in what I become. I immediately knew that I had to start working on myself and as there are only 24 hours in a day, time was not the issue. You cannot get more time, but you can create more value as we primarily get paid for the value we bring to the marketplace. We have plenty of energy to do the things that we really want to do as motivation creates energy.
The Last Dance - Netflix
What are my life goals? How can you hit a target that I don’t have? How to set goals and how to achieve them? I know that you have to have your goals in place to get what you want, and I have to set the kind of goals that will mean something by achieving them. I have to start by making myself comfortable with being uncomfortable as when you let yourself get comfortable with your way of life, you miss out on what you could accomplish when you keep reaching for the next golden ring. One has to eliminate all the negative influences in your life and that also means friends who are dragging you down and keeping you from reaching your goals.
1. Identify exactly what you want.
2. Why do you want to reach this goal?
3. What are the obstacles you need to overcome in order to achieve this goal?
4. What are the skills and knowledge required to reach this goal?
5. Who are the people, groups, organisations you need to work with in order to achieve this goal?
6. What is the plan of action required to achieve this goal?
7. When is the completion date?
Your goals could be physical, mental, spiritual, social, family, career or financial. Are you committed to reaching your goals? When you have a solid base with a solid commitment and solid objectives then you have a much better chance of reaching your goals. Please do not confuse activity with accomplishment! Have you written out your clearly defined goals? Yes? If no, why not? Is it because of fear, a poor self-image, no desire or just because you don’t know how? Would you like some guidance with how to set your goals? I am interested in building characters and developing leaders. Contact sb@stephenburrell.com
