You C*NT
How many times have you told yourself you CAN’T do something? Because… You don’t have experience. You don’t know how to do that. It’s not how things work. Who are you to do that? You might fail. You have a reputation. You don’t have a reputation. You have to take care of your brand. You don’t have a brand to take care of. You’re not ready. You’re too small. You’re too big. You’re too young. You’re too old. … Those are valid reasons. However, are they really true? Let me pose you a challenge:…
A reputation business
It’s about the future.
Strategy is about the future. Uncertain, risky, unknown. And at the same time, to bring you to an advantage. Strategy is an idea and approach to a goal, that leads to, with the most impactful effort, a position of advantage. While data can help you frame it, it can’t be what drives it. It’s about what could be. It’s about what could the future hold for your customers.
Past and… future?
Decision-making advice for business tends to be “your strategy needs to be driven by data”. But data is built in the past. It’s certain. It’s factual. Forecasts, trends, models. They all take data and build a projection into the future with a certain sense of reliability, confidence, or pure imagination. They’re informed by, but not driven by data. Based in the past. Strategy, it’s about the future. Uncertain. Non-factual.
Creating a future
Friend-of-the-list, fellow emailer and data scientist Genevieve Hayes came back to “Past and… future?” with this response (and she knows a thing or two about data-driven things) —shared with permission, bold mine: “Data-driven approaches are like your dive computer. They’re very good at determining the optimal course of action assuming everything continues the way it has in the past. However, they can’t cope with unfamiliar situations. You need humans for that.Or to put it another way: a…
Call their bluff
When a prospect comes to you and tries to negotiate down on your price with the classic “Other vendors offered me a 20% discount. What’s yours?” Call them on their bluff. Way 1: And why are we still talking? They seem like the obvious choice, if price is what determines who you choose. Way 2: That’s awesome. Send me their official quote with the discount? Then I could consider thinking of something. Way 3: That’s the discounted price. If you come back in a few months, I’m sure the price will…
Thought leadership
So, you’re a thought-leader. Says who? You’re a trusted advisor. Says who? If it’s not your customers who say that, there’s a gap to fill. Leadership and trust don’t come from within, they come from the outside. If they’re not the ones saying it, you need more work to do. 🙂
Clarity in the articulation
Ghostwriters, copywriters, marketers, content marketers, brand strategists… Other people can’t write “thought-leadership” for you. Neither will they turn you into a “thought-leader”. It’s not magic. And definitely not a linear, easy-to-reach process. Leadership comes from the outside. Thought-leadership comes from your market: rivals, business environment, customers. Thoughts come from you. To get there, others can help you. Yet the articulation (and the struggle to get there) needs to come…
How much does it cost?
A cost is not a price. Talking about price makes you think in different terms. When you see “Cost”, it usually makes you consider something a bit more, like if it’s more painful. On what you’re giving away. When you see “Price”, the focus shifts onto what’s the thing on the other side of this pain. It helps your customers see the potential. To assess the value of what they consider worth it. It changes the dynamics in a sales conversation and negotiations. It clears the air.
[Last Chance] Don’t miss out
Don’t you HATE this kind of emails and messages trying to push you into a buying decision? Even worse —when it keeps repeating over and over? I know i do. Pushing for this fear of missing out (FOMO) and to get them to take action based on an impulse is a common (mal)practice. Why? Because this push is artificial and external —and an overkill. A better approach to help your customers buy is to dig up that urgency they actually feel and direct them to make the decision a no-brainer. You don’t…