Stop Selling Stuff, Start Selling Stories

David is a genius who happens to sell for a living. I watched him sell a $150 pair of Ugg boots to a woman who had been killing time wandering through his souvenir shop with no big agenda one wet Friday afternoon. He began, not as many salespeople would, by asking what she was looking…

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The Value Of Asking What If

Have you ever been stuck waiting outside your hotel room while it was given the daily once over? It turns out that for some guests housekeeping can feel like more of an intrusion than a service. On average it costs a hotel $22 a day to deliver housekeeping services for each room. That figure probably…

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How To Hit Your Target

When an archer aims she doesn’t keep her eye on the target. She knows the target is there, but she sees it vaguely, or sometimes not at all. The point of aim is always closer than the target. Hitting the target is determined by how she aims, not by the fact that she’s shooting for…

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Why Not Go First?

An article about successful disruptive businesses like Warby Parker or Square spreads like wildfire through social media channels and whole libraries could be filled with stories about what makes Apple unique. It’s natural to want to learn from the successes of others and to wonder how we can borrow a bit of their magic. Following…

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What’s More Important Than Building Awareness?

Ask any business owner what their most pressing problem is and ‘building awareness’ is sure to be on the list. Maybe it’s on your list too? In a world where it’s harder to get attention, gaining mind share is a priority for everyone. We think that if we can just get a few more people…

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Tapping Into Empathy

Wherever you are right now stop what you’re doing and listen to the people and the conversations going on all around you. I’ve been working in public places a lot recently and here’s what I’ve found. Nobody is listening to anybody—not really. They’re pretending to listen while they wait for their turn to speak, but…

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The Truth About Winning

There is no such thing as something for everyone. More is not a shortcut to mattering. You don’t need the most customers. You don’t have to get all of the people to pick you. You don’t need to win all of the hearts. Image by ChrisJL.

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Empathy Is The Killer App

One of the reasons that upstart companies like GoPro have been able to steel a march on their much better resourced competitors like Sony, has been their ability and efforts to develop products for their customers by truly understanding who those customers are and what they want. It’s not possible to create products, services or…

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