How do I find the right decision maker in the sales process?

1.A job title that is relevant to the area that your offering addresses.
2.A position on the org chart that is relevant to the area your offering addresses.
3.A history of being a successful leader within the organization, implementing similar projects.
4.A reputation among other executives in the firm as a genuine contributor to the firm.
5.A reputation for being closely bound to others in the organization “by mutual advantage.”
6.Sufficient influence to control company events and activities and to alter the firm’s status quo.

The individual who has all those characteristics is the REAL decision-maker for your offering. This is the person whom you must contact, cultivate and work with to make sure that your offering actually gets purchased.

What distinguishes the best sales people from the rest?

how they convey ideas in a way that inspire others to think and feel different, as well as their ability to listen and through listening, create a real connection. I found this in every case: the distinguishing factor is really the way the very few send out messages and the way they take in messages. In the case of sales professionals, i know of so many highly-successful ones who had no process at all, and didn’t follow ANY sales methodology. But they earn the business because they were able to form an emotional connection with their buyer, and could inspire actions.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/ben-zoldan-the-power-of-listening/13215?promo=808&tag=nl.e808

How do I get to the sales decision maker?

Get more patient. As long as you’ve got a dialog going, you’re still in the sales cycle. Relax, take a deep breath, and revise your forecast to reflect the delay.
Get up-front commitment. During the demonstration, get the stakeholder to make an appointment (or send an email requesting one) with the decision-maker while you are online with the stakeholder.
Close the loop. When you email the thank-you and next steps to the stakeholder, copy the decision-maker, so that the decision-maker knows that the stakeholder is committed.
Send a warning email. Sure you might get a deferral, but if you’re going to get one on the email, you’re going to get one on the phone call anyways. Best to know sooner than later,
Create a sense of urgency. If you have some kind of discount program, make the discount contingent on a response within a certain timeframe.
Try to call higher. You say that it’s nigh impossible to get to the decision-maker. Well, maybe, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t try. Find out where the decision-maker network and make contacts.

Sales technique: Reframe the importance of the objection

Sales technique: Reframe the importance of the objection

Prospect: “The taxes are too high on that house.”
Sales Pro: “Yes, the taxes are a higher than the surrounding neighborhoods, which is probably why the public schools are so much better. Which is of greater concern to you, the taxes or the quality of education your children will receive?”


Prospect: “That computer is $1,000 more than I want to pay.”

Sales Pro: “I can appreciate that. You know, $1,000 comes down to about $.25 a day for the length of time that you’ll have the computer. Is the extra horsepower worth an extra $.25 a day to you?


Prospect: “I heard this is not a good area for property appreciation.”
Sales Pro: “We can check the appreciation rates when we get back to my office. Would that be critical to your decision about making a purchase in this area?”


Confirm That the Objection is No Longer Important



Prospect: “We don’t have the money in this year’s budget.”
Sales Pro: “That’s O.K. We can finance the investment so part of it falls into next year’s budget. Does that work for you?
Prospect: “I guess so.”
Sales Pro: “So that settles that, doesn’t it?”
Prospect: “Right.”

//After you’ve answered an objection, you MUST get the customer to agree that you’ve answered it. This prevents the objection from resurfacing later. The reason this is important is simple.

Sales & leadership lessons from the Democratic party

Lesson #1: Customers don’t buy features and functions. Whenever Obama or the Democratic leadership talked about their accomplishments, they get all wonky about weird little details. That’s the equivalent of a beginning sales rep going into an account and waxing eloquent about the superior widgetness of his firms offering. Dumb!
Lesson #2: Never promise more than you can deliver. Obama swept into office on a wave of enthusiasm that was practically messianic. He set expectations so high for a “transformative” experience that there was no way that the reality of a dysfunctional government could possible fulfill even a fraction of what the “true believers” thought would happen. Disappointing!
Lesson #3: Never sell against your brand. If you’re going to position yourself as the champion of the individual citizen against the excesses big business, it’s madness to kowtow to Wall Street and let them get away with gigantic bonuses after defrauding the American public. It would have been wiser to fix the blame firmly on Wall Street, even if it meant a worse Recession.
Lesson #4: Sell what you’ve got, not what you’ll have. Third rate sales reps sell features that the product will have “in the next release.” In the case of the Democrats, they kept on trotting out promises and possibilities, rather than touting the huge middle-class tax cut they already gave the country, and the changes in healthcare that protect average citizens from predatory insurance companies.
Lesson #5: Be clear on why you won last time. Nothing is more important, when you want to make a future sale, than understanding why you won (or lost) a deal. The Democrats won in 2008 because voters were angry and scared at a collapsing economy. If Obama had fixed that problem (rather than getting tied up in Afghanistan, healthcare and other assorted issues), I wouldn’t be writing this post.

How do I build rapport?

1.Don’t BS. Let’s get one thing straight. BSing destroys credibility. If you want to become a successful executive or leader, don’t BS. Period. It doesn’t matter how smart others think you are, just how smart you really are.
2.It’s never about you; it’s always about them. Connecting with people means finding things you have in common, or even different views on a subject you both feel strongly about. You already know you, what you don’t know is them.
3.People like to be schmoozed. I know some will disagree, but they’re wrong. People like attention, to be noticed, to connect and engage. That is, as long as you’re straightforward about it.
4.Be open and genuine. Be you. The most effective way to connect with people and find common ground is to be yourself, with all your native charm, faults, and idiosyncrasies. There’s nothing more attractive than genuine humanity - humility, humor, being yourself.
5.Don’t overdo it. Next to BSing and trying to be someone you’re not, trying too hard is the biggest schmoozing pitfall. Pushing too hard will backfire.
6.Everyone is schmoozable. CEOs, VCs, tough administrative assistants, everyone is schmoozable, for the simple reason that everyone likes the attention … under the right conditions.
7.Always be appropriate. Never overstep your bounds or make others feel uncomfortable. Never invade someone’s personal space. Not sure what the boundaries are? It’s different for everyone, so pay attention; they’ll let you know.
8.Always be respectful of people’s time. Now more than ever, our time is our most precious resource. Enough said.
9.Don’t talk at people. Nobody likes to be talked at. They like to be engaged. They like to be listened to. There’s a big difference. Just remember: give a little, get a little.
10.Let yourself be schmoozed. Although, by definition, schmoozing is related to persuasion, you’ll be better off just thinking of it in terms of long-term relationships. That means you should always be willing to help people first. It’s good Karma.

Public Speaking - The Most Common Storytelling Mistake

The Most Common Storytelling Mistake

By far the most common mistake speakers make with their stories is having too much narration and not enough dialogue. For example, they’ll say something like the following:

“And the principal threw me out of the school and told me never to come back.” Now that’s narration. However, dialogue would go something like this:

“And the principal looked me directly in the eyes and said, ‘Mr. Valentine, you are expelled. Don’t ever step a foot back into this building.’” That’s dialogue.

Narration is retelling a story but dialogue is reliving it. When you relive it, the audience hears exactly what you heard exactly how you heard it. They feel like they are there!

The Necessary Adjustment

If speakers would make the simple adjustment of replacing much of their narration with dialogue, they would automatically and immediately do one of the most powerful things in public speaking. They’d bring the audience into the present moment of the scene they created. Narration is retelling a story but dialogue is reliving it. When you relive it, the audience hears exactly what you heard exactly how you heard it. They feel like they are there!

Three Types of Dialogue you can use to Bring your audience into your Scenes

Most speakers at least know about using dialogue but they might not know there are three major types of dialogue they can use.

Dialogue between characters

Inner dialogue

Audience dialogue

Let’s listen to a quick live audio example of each.

Dialogue between Characters

This occurs when one character is talking to another. Listen to this quick example from my speech to the engineering students at the Colorado School of Mines

The key to using dialogue in between characters is to set up the dialogue with a bit of narration. For example, the narration part was “I was so upset about this I called my friend Steve and I said…” That narration set up the dialogue of “Steve, you’re positive. Tell me something…”

The other key to using dialogue between characters is to make sure we know which character is talking. In addition to many Deliver Devices (click here for details) you can use, you can also put the recipient’s name in the line of dialogue (i.e. “Steve, tell me something…). By using Steve’s name, you now know that I’m the one who is talking. Then Steve says, “Craig, you write that book…” and we know Steve is the one talking. I picked this strategy up from Patricia Fripp

Inner Dialogue

Whereas dialogue between characters brings your audience into a scene, inner dialogue does something even greater. It brings your audience into your character’s mind. You can’t get closer to a character than that! Knowing what’s going on in a character’s mind lets your audience connect with you much deeper. Listen to this 15 second example again from the Colorado School of Mines:

The key to using inner dialogue is to avoid the phrase “I thought to myself…” Whenever I hear someone use that phrase, I ask, “Well, who else are you going to think to?” Just say, “I thought…” or “I’m thinking…” Please remember that reactions tell the story. When you can show your reactions on your face and couple that with the inner dialogue of whatever your character is feeling, that will really bring your audience into your situation and keep them hooked.

Audience Dialogue

This is one of the most important yet most neglected tools you can use as a speaker. Give the audience dialogue. This simply means, verbalize their thoughts in dialogue form. Or you can even verbalize what you want them to think and then put it into dialogue that seemingly comes from them. Listen to this 10 second example also from the Colorado School of Mines:

Obviously my audience was not actually thinking that, but I still connected by giving them dialogue even if it was just playful. So it still worked. Keep in mind I still had them use my name in the line of dialogue in order to clarify who was talking (or thinking). However, the best time to give your audience dialogue is when you can truly anticipate what they are thinking and then you can verbalize it. For example, you might tell what seems like a crazy story and then say, “You’re probably saying, ‘Craig, that’s crazy!’” Whenever you know what they’re thinking, verbalize it in dialogue coming from them. They’ll either laugh or think. Either way, you’ll connect on a deeper level.

Some of the phrases you can use to give your audience dialogue are the following:

You’re looking at me as if to say, “Scott…(dialogue)”

Now you might say, “Janet…(dialogue)”

You say, “Craig…(dialogue)”

Final thoughts

Keep in mind that good dialogue is still set up by some narration. If you only use dialogue without any set-up narration, your story will look more like a stage play. You don’t want that. If you only use narration and no dialogue, you won’t have a story.

How do I move this sales opportunity forward?

APPROACH #1: Define a viable solution. Work with the prospect to determine an approach to solving the problem.

APPROACH #2: Define economic consequences. Work with the prospect to estimate the economic impact of the problem.

APPROACH #3:Define decision criteria. Work with the prospect to understand how they’ll make a buying decision.

APPROACH #4: Define budget allocations. Work with the prospect to determine whether there is budget for a solution.

How do I ensure my Email gets opened?

Rule #1: Personalize your email address. Have an email address that identifies you clearly. Mine has my full name in it, so whomever gets my email knows right away its from me. If they know who I am, they’re more likely to open it.

Rule #2: Personalize the subject line. If possible, include the name of somebody who you are CERTAIN the recipient will know. (e.g. “[recipient's boss]: Conversation on Software Needs”] This is appropriate when you’ve been referred to the recipient.

Rule #3: Refer to a competitor. If you don’t have a referral to use with Rule #2, use the name of the recipient’s biggest competitor. That’s going to break through the “noise” in all the email messages, because it will be relevant but unusual.

Rule #4: Be specific about the benefits. Pick the two or three words that will get them to sit up and take notice. Something like “Productivity gains at [competitor]” looks like SPAM; by contrast “How [competitor] saved 20% in inventory costs” is more likely to get opened.

Rule #5: Keep it short. The subject line should be no more than 50 characters, since that’s what typically gets displayed on the email system when it’s displayed with a list of messages. If you want to see how this is done, check out how newspapers write headlines.

Rule #6: Test, Measure, Test. The only way to find out what’s going to get opened is by tracking it. Some phrases will work better than others. If you don’t track and measure, you’ll never be sure whether you’re getting the best results.

How do I effectively learn new skills and practices?

The Theory Segment

Stage 1: Unawareness. You are completely unaware that there is a skill to be learned. For example, a novice sales rep might be making cold calls without realizing that her accent is making it difficult for customers to understand what she’s saying.
Stage 2: Awareness. You realize that something isn’t working. For example, that novice rep may notice that her hit rate on the cold-calls is much lower than the other people working in that office. This causes her to ask colleagues and her sales manager for suggestions.
Stage 3: Clarification. You understand what you need to do differently. For example, that novice rep signs up for a class that will improve her diction and make it more understandable to the target customer base.
The Practice Segment

Stage 4: Awkwardness. You attempt the new behavior and find it difficult. For example, the novice attempts to apply the skills learned in the class and speak without the debilitating accent. She finds that it’s hard and exhausting to hold a conversation without slipping into the old accent. WARNING: Because the new behavior seems awkward at this stage, it’s easy to give up, conclude that the new behavior is “not right for you,” or simply too much bother to pursue. This is where people who aren’t really committed fail at follow-through.
Stage 5: Familiarity. The new behavior is easier but still not automatic. For example, the novice finds that she can now hold a conversation in the new accent without fumbling or falling into the old accent. Practicing the new skill is no longer a burden. WARNING: Once a new behavior seems easy, you’ll be tempted to neglect practicing it. In most cases, people think that they’ve mastered the skill and can move on. But, in fact, the skill is not yet automatic, which means that, without practice and ongoing attention, you will quickly slip back into the previous behavior. This is where people who are committed (but are unaware of how the human brain works) fail at follow-through.
Stage 6: Automatic. You no longer think about the behavior but simply do it. For example, the novice now finds that talking in the new accent seems more natural than the old accent. In fact, it takes a conscious decision to speak in the old accent. At this point, the brain has been reprogrammed so that the new behavior no longer needs monitoring or specific practice sessions. It’s now like “riding a bike” - a lifelong skill that you’ll never forget.
Reaching stage 6, where the new skill, behavior or habit becomes automatic, requires constant and consistent practice. The amount of time varies according to the complexity of the behavior and the degree to which the previous behavior is ingrained, though.

For example, changing a habitual negative thought (like “I’m not that good with people”) to a positive alternative (like “people really like me when they get to know me”) can be accomplished in less than two weeks, simply through five minutes of daily affirmations. By contrast, changing something major, like your eating habits, can take a commitment of an hour or more a day for six months to a year. (This is, by the way, why most dieters regain whatever weight they lose.)

If you don’t practice the new skill until you reach stage 6, so the change in behavior never becomes automatic. And that requires single-minded focus. Unfortunately, that focus is difficult to achieve. I explain why (and how to achieve that focus)
The focus required to achieve Stage 6 in today’s business world for two reasons. The first is distraction. Modern working life is full of interruptions constantly vying for your attention.

The second focus-killer is over-commitment. Most people who are committed to improving their lives often attempt to make changes in multiple areas, makes it difficult or impossible to focus on single one change long enough to reach stage 6.

For example, how many times have you heard yourself (or somebody else) say something like: “Starting tomorrow, every day I’m going to run three miles, lift weights, drink eight glasses of water, stop smoking, stop drinking coffee, and eat 50 percent less fat.” While those are all laudable goals, the likelihood that you’ll be keep up that regimen for more than a few days (let alone reach stage 6 on any element of the regimen) is practically nil.

To overcome distraction, you must set aside a very small amount of time each day - hopefully less than ten minutes to focus on the change in behavior that you seek. More time than that, and it’s likely that other priorities will intrude.

To overcome over-commitment, pick a single behavior that you wish to change, and then focus on that until it becomes automatic. Then move to the next.

Over time, your list of automatic skills will far exceed what you would ever been able to achieve through the scattershot “crash course” that’s the mainstay of sales training and self-improvement.

BTW, don’t worry that focusing on one thing will make everything else fall apart. While you focus on this one thing, the other automatic behaviors that you’ve already acquired will continue to function much the same way as before.

In other words, if you can already do what it takes to sell, focusing on improving a single sales skill won’t cause the rest of your skills to disappear.

READERS: How does Wingard’s process square with your personal experience? It matches mine perfectly

What do I need to know in B2B selling?

Before the Sale:

#1: Focus on top prospects and contact them frequently.
#2: Research prospects prior to each meeting.
#3: Commit time and energy to making the sale.
#4: Truly desire to help the prospect.
#5: Transcend the need to make the sale.
During the Sale:

#6: Listen more than you talk.
#7: Cultivate insider “coaches” to learn requirements.
#8: Communicate unique value.
#9: Interface well with your support staff.
#10: Solve problems as a consultant.
#11: Meet deadlines for customer milestones.
#12: Recognize when a sale is not going to happen.
#13: Recognize when the prospect is ready to buy.
After the Sale:

#14: Get referrals and follow up on them.
#15: Appreciate and thank the customer.
#16: Express thanks towards those who helped.
#17: Create a long-term relationship.
Throughout:

#18: Keep a sense of proportion.

What are the traits of a succesful leader and manager?

1.Exhibit flawless work ethic. Lead by example. If you screw around, they’ll emulate you. Likewise, if you’re seriously hard-working, they’ll seek your approval by doing the same.
2.Indoctrinate them with the big picture. Everybody wants to be a part of something useful. Make the work important to them by telling them why it’s important to others.
3.Set goals and hold them accountable. Goal setting in most companies is ineffective. It’s either too top down, too bottom up, or there’s little or no follow-up. Strike a balance somewhere in the middle. Where is different for each situation.
4.Provide genuine, real-time feedback, good and bad, no BS. Ask for the same from them. This is one of the hardest things for any manager to do, especially the negative stuff.
5.Promote their accomplishments and take the heat for their failures. They need to know you’ve got their back.
6.Provide the tools they need to be effective; keep management off their backs; otherwise, get out of the way.
7.Give them as much responsibility as they can handle, no more, no less. That’s sort of tricky if you have a big group because it’s really an individual thing.
8.Communicate what’s going on as openly as you can within reason and without unduly burdening them with confidential information they don’t need to know.
9.Give them personal time to get important things done. We’re not talking about running errands, but important stuff that’s got to be done 9 to 5 like doctor’s appointments.
10.Have some empathy, humility, and a sense of humor. It’ll go a long way. Mostly, be yourself. No jokes about sociopaths; they probably don’t read management blogs anyway.

Insight - How do I stay effective with administartive tasks?

Set aside 1 hour everyday, just before or just after lunch, for administerative task. - Online banking, responding to landlord, paying bills, ..

Fit in as many of these in that hour as possible.

When the hour stops yoou will feel a. releived that you have gotten them of your mind and b. enthused that you have achieved so much in such little time.

Then you can get back to the fun stull.

THE IMPACTFUL COMMUNICATION TEMPLATE

Golden Rule: Alaways be looking for THE FLIP
- Before I answer, for what reasons is that important to you?
- Before I kick-off, What areas would you specifically like me to cover?
- So that I make best use of time, tell me, what are you interested in seeing specifically?

P.O.A.E.M - Problem.Our Offering.Advantage it brings.Example.Metrics

RHYTHM IS KEY. TO SOUNDING INTERESTING & MAINTAINING FLOW.
--- THE THING ---
Such _____ type experiences.
Such a _____ type activity.

--- INTRO DEMO / PRESENTATION ---
If I leave you with one big idea/key message let it be this: ____________.
Let me start off by telling you a tale.

I'm looking forward to today's session. Let me tell you why ___________.
Today I want to talk to you about________.
Today we are going to cover _________.
We are going to start out today by looking at ______ then ___________.
Before we get started, a quick show of hands _____. I have to assume, some people just don't like raising their hands.


--- REPLACE EH/UHM ---
It's like this ______.
Let me break it down for you________.
Having said that ___________.
With that in mind let me __________.
How should I say _______.
You see _______.
You know ______.
I mean _______.
now _____.
so _____.
Look _____.
Listen ____.
Right?

--- INTRO IDEAS ---
There are 3 key messages we want to communicate. Firstly,_______. This is achieved by _______.


--- HEY PRINCIPLE ---
What we can do is say, "Hey, why don't we just..."
And your customers may be like, "Hey,..."
The solution says, "Hey, I can extract the people, places, dates..."

---DO I...IS IT---
Do, I...Is, it
- DO I care if _________. I'll be honest, no. I can tell you why.
- DO I believe ___________. Yes, and here's why ________.
- IS IT a good move to __. Yes. And I can tell you why _______.
- IS IT the right move. Let's find out __.

---PRIMING---
Let me give you some context __________.
Often, Have people ask me, "so tell me", what is a search driven experience all about __________?
So, How does ____.
So, What does ______.
So, Why does ______.
Why is this important you may be asking yourself.
Let's now talk abit about ______.
A second key pillar I'd like to talk about is ______.
With that in mind, let's look at _____.
Picture for a moment __________.
Cast your mind back for a mement to _____.
If I can just take you back to ______.
Let me break it down for you __________.
So, here is the deal _________.
We know there are a few ways RIGHT?
WELL, HERE IS THE PROBLEM WITH THAT THINKING __________.

Before I do that, just let me first ____.
Let me tell you how _____.
Let me tell you why ____.
It's like this _______.
Let me break it down for you _______.

Here's what I have been thinking? _______________.
Let me share for you my thoughts on this ____________.
Here's what I think. In my opinion ___________.
Let me break it down for you _____________.
There are a couple of points here. 1. ___________.

The key take aware here being _________.

---QUESTIONS ---




Let me rephrase the question _____________.

Would it be fair to say that ___________.



--- RESPONDING ---
So, [Repeat question] . Let me tell you how _____.
I agree that is a very important question.
Let me tell you how we have been thinking around that ___________.
I'll tell you what I bet _______.
Good question. Here's how I have been thinking around this.
Let me break it down for you.
There are several elements. Firstly, _________.
But, what I will say is this ______.
Let me park that off for now. _. And we'll touch on that later in the presentation.

I'll take you thru that in a moment. First, I'd like to ______.
Before I answer. What exactly are you looking to achieve?
Firstly. Can you explain why that is of importance to you?



--- BOUNCING OFF LISTENER(s) ---
Ok? Right?
Do you see what I mean?
How many of you are familiar with ____?
Is this making sense? Am I making sense?
Are you still with me?
Are we still on the same page?
Any questions on this? I know when i first saw this I was pretty confused ______.
Would I be right insaying that?

You know that feeling when ______?
You know the pain of having to ___?

Would that be useful to you?
Would that be of interest to you?

So, what we are actually doing here is. How cool is that? huh?
It gets even better. Watch this ______.

Any questions on that_____?
I see eyes glazing over____. Any questions so far _________?

Can you see the benefit of using this in your organisation?
How are you going about achieving this today?

--- ICE BREAKERS ---
If I can recall my slide notes correctly.
You are probably thinking __[JK].
Let me just hit pause for a second.
Let me juckly rewind/fast forward and show you _____.
That takes us to __.
That segweys nicely onto my next slide.
We went a little bit off script there _____.
I like to call them _______.

--- GIVING CONTEXT ---
Let me tell you how I got there ________.
First, let me take a moment to put it into context for you _______.
Well, Let me tell you why ____.

--- HIGHLIGHTING ----
There are a few things I want to CALL OUT before we go any further...
What I can now do is ___________.
I can then start to __________ the benefit of thi is ____________.
The key take aways here being A) B).
I'll repeat this again as this is very important.
One of the key messages I want you to take home is this.
One of the things I want you to take away _____.
This is really important.
Let me just highlight this quickly.
Let me just turn the spotlights on X for a moment.
Its worth mentioning that ______.
What you will notice here is ____.
Let me draw your attention to _____.
So, what I am going to do now is ________.
I'm really excited about this next feature and I'll tell you why ______.
This is really cool. This is brilliant.
You may be familiar with ______. Now contrast that with what you are about to see ____.
I really want to land this.
I really want to fire this home.
There are a few points worth mentioning here.
There is a list here but I'm nt going to iterate thru it. I will though highlight a few key areas. Firstly, _____.



--- EXPLAIN REASONING ---
Here are the evaluation/success criteria I found important _______.Based on these, I concluded that option A would be the best approach ________.

I know last week I said X , but my position has changed to Y. There are several reasons. Let me tell you why _________________.


Let me tell you why. Firstly, _________.
There is an alternative view. Let me share it with you ______.
Here's how it is _______________.
I can walk us thru this in the following slides _______.

--- ANECDOTES ---
Let me give you an example. Now though this customer may appear much larger you are similar in that _______.
It reminds me of a customer we met _____.
We have seen this before, _________.
They were like "Hey, we can't.."
They will say "Look, Its like this..."
We said to ourselves "Wait a second..."
We often get the question from customers - [voice] "so, how come ____"
What we observe from our customer base is _______.
Let's say I am a user who _________.Now, I can _.
So, how does this differ from X you are probably asking. I can tell you why ______.


--- REQUESTING FEEDBACK ---
Does this make sense_______?
Would you agree_________?
From your perspective, how would you see this working in an ideal world_____?
Are there any criteria you would like me to build on_____?
What is your take on this?
I made the assumption that ______________. Is that a fair assumption_______?
If you had this capability. What would this mean for your organisation_______?
What else do you need to know in order to make a decision_______?
Are there any areas where you feel that we are not addressing ______.











---COMPLIMENT---

You have identified some key applications of this technology_______.

You bring up an important point __________.

You have hit the nail on the head. that's exactly right__________.

That sounds like a perfect use case __________.


--- EMPATHY ---
(Understand their concern and play that back to them)
I can understand why you made your decision. You had limited information at the time _____
I know that you must be thinking _______.
I see that you are doing your best, but how about I give you some inputs ____.

--- SUMMARY ---
So, what did we see there? We saw A) B).
So, What did we look at today. In the first section we looked at ______.
So, I spoke a little bit about _______. Then a little bit about _____.
What you saw today was.

So are there any areas where you believe we fail to meet your requirements?


Like a fun night out of tounge in cheek piss taking. Composed Smile.

Key sales questions

1.What can you tell me about your organization… and yourself?
2.What do you like (and dislike) about what you’re currently doing?
3.What can you tell me about your priorities?
4.What can you tell me about your decision-making process?
5.What other options are you looking at?
6.What can you tell me about the people involved in the process?
7.What obstacles are in the way of moving this forward?
8.How will you be evaluating different options?
9.How will the funding for the purchase be justified?
10.How much support would the purchase have at the executive level?

How to sell to different stakeholders?

http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=2725&page=2&tag=col1;post-11050

Evaluating a top manager at one of the world's leading companies

My Manager effectively communicates the business strategy and how our work aligns to broader goals.
My Manager is effective at planning and prioritizing the team's work.
My Manager drives execution and high performance on our team.
My Manager demonstrates that quality is a top priority.
My Manager effectively balances quality, time, and scope to achieve business results.
My Manager demonstrates that customer/partner satisfaction is a business priority.
My Manager thinks critically about existing processes and looks for opportunities to improve them.
My Manager helps me understand the business rationale for the changes that impact our work group.
When priorities change, my Manager renegotiates team tasks and resources to meet the business demands.
My Manager understands cross-group priorities and works to gain alignment with other groups.
My Manager champions changes that will improve our performance.
My Manager acts as an advocate for me and the team.
My Manager effectively balances workload across the team.
My Manager leads the team effectively to achieve business results.
Leadership
My Manager encourages team members to work together as a group for the team's success.
My Manager provides me the encouragement and support to be successful in my role.
My Manager provides vision and thought leadership for our work group.
My Manager is able to influence other groups on our behalf when needed.
My Manager speaks the truth even when it's not popular.
My Manager asks for and is open to suggestions to improve his or her effectiveness.
My Manager respects and values diversity (e.g., differing opinions, work styles, gender, race, ethnic background).
My Manager celebrates team/individual wins and successes.
My Manager ensures that others, including senior management, are aware of my contributions.
My Manager is effective at managing relationships and expectations with his/her peers and senior leaders.
My Manager ensures that my commitments are aligned with the group's commitments.
My Manager views our work group as fully capable and able to handle increasingly challenging assignments.
My Manager fosters and encourages an environment that embraces work/life balance.
My Manager inspires me to do my best work.
Management
My Manager ensures that I understand what's expected of me and how I will be measured.
My Manager delegates work effectively.
My Manager provides ongoing feedback that helps me improve my performance.
My Manager encourages discussions that are open and productive.
My Manager listens to my ideas and concerns.
My Manager considers points-of-view that are contrary to his or her own.
My Manager resolves conflicts in a timely and constructive manner.
My 1:1 meetings with my Manager are valuable (e.g., an opportunity to discuss my commitments, get feedback, and obtain coaching.
During the last annual performance review, my Manager and I had a meaningful and transparent dialogue about my performance.
My Manager accurately assesses my performance regardless of how others on the team performed.
My Manager demonstrates a sincere interest in my career and long-term development.
My Manager provides opportunities that align to my development plan (e.g., on-the-job activities, mentoring).
My Manager helps me make time for and funds development activities (e.g., training).
In our mid-year career discussion meeting, my Manager and I had a valuable discussion about my future development.
I have confidence in the overall effectiveness of my Manager.

How do I tell a good customer story?

[T SEA]
TRUISM - Problem we all agree with
SOLUTION - How we WANT to solve it
EXAMPLE - Customer example
ADVANTAGE - What were the benefits

What we have OBSERVED/SEE/ARE SEEING from our customer base is that {TRUISM}......
This is of BENEFIT because {ADVANTAGE}

[TRUISM]I'M SURE YOU WILL AGREE....Users to your website may often be suffering from information overload and do not even know what to search for.

[SOLUTION]We want to take the user BY THE HAND & GUIDE THEM to relevant content.

[EXAMPLE]A leading Global bank they use query completion to give the user sign posts as to where they can go next without the customer having to explicitly request that information.

[ADVANTAGE]The bank has seen a reduction in calls to the call centre as users are becoming much more self-sufficient.

How do I organise my communications?

http://www.bnet.com/2422-13722_23-435596.html?tag=col1;post-4310

1.DESCRIBING/EXPLAINING: "Where we are coming from...where we are today...where we want to get to...how we are going to get there..."

"on the one hand,...., on the other hand,.....on the balance"
"firstly,....secondly,....,finally"
"In this presentation I want to share.."

2. TELL THEM WHAT GOING TO TELL THEM

"So, what we are going to do is.."

"In this presentation I want to share.."

2.ASKING: "Where are you coming from..where you are now...where you want to be..how can you get there?"



3.TALK TO OTHERS + YOURSELF - Speak as if you too are a listener:
- This gives you a calm composed pace.
- Prevents you rambling and getting lost.
- Conveys a sense of thoughtfulness.
- Gives you time to think about what to say next.
- Allows you listen and understand what would sound best next.


4.TALK 3rd PERSON - Step out of yourself and observe:
"I want to be able to go to them an say, "here is what you had".."here is how we can improve it"..this is what you require"

"If he comes to me and says...I want to be able to..."

"If you were me, how would you"

"Here's what i want to be able to do..I want to"


Getting to the Point & Being
Remembered
Techniques to package persuasion
Structuring ideas simply and clearly
Speaking in different situations:
one-on-one, on the phone, in meetings,
informal presentations, E-mails
Presenting Your Ideas
Using three-part plans to display
analysis
Helping your listener understand
by placing your ideas into a simple,
unifying structure
Relying on structured reasoning to
answer questions quickly
Using Handy Fall-Back Techniques
When You’re Caught Off
Guard
Making sense out of a mass of facts
Explaining step-by-step processes
clearly
Handling Questions Quickly,
Clearly and Persuasively
Following the “Rule of Threes”
Creating logical pegs to hang your
thoughts on
Announcing & Recapping
Using “Visual” Pegs as Your
Structure
Achieving impact
Supporting large or complex topics
Adding depth to your message
Avoiding Common
Communication Traps
Keeping on track
Avoiding information overload
Addressing your listener’s core
concerns
Dividing Information into Facets,
Aspects or Perspectives
Achieving objectivity
Expressing thoughtfulness
Addressing issues from different
viewpoints
•••
•
•
•
••
••
•
•••
•••
•••
Bridging from Question to Answer
Buying time
Answering the right question
Handling objections and tough
questions positively
How to Broaden or Focus Your
Listener’s Perspective
Moving from detail to big picture, or
vice versa
Handling sensitive or confidential
information
Countering sweeping generalizations
Moving Two Opposing Viewpoints
to a Middle Ground
Negotiating a win-win outcome
Dealing with controversial topics
Moving to action
Selling the Benefits of Your Ideas,
Products, Services
Presenting benefits, not features
Showing advantages to your listener
Employing the “So what?” test
Fleshing Out Your Ideas
Using examples to increase understanding
& recall
Developing ideas through the use
of opposites
Explaining an idea by cause & effect
“Think on Your Feet is still as fresh in
my mind today as the day after training.
Participants throughout our firm tell me
the same is true for them. The program’s
distinctive competence is built around
three equally important facets – structure,
simplicity, and creativity.”
Bob Dean,
Chief Learning Officer,
Grant Thornton LLP
See www.thinkonyourfeet.com for
dates, locations and registration fees.
Also available in-company for groups.

How do be a great leader?

premise that leaders who act as “multipliers” make others smarter and more able, while “diminshers” reduce their abilities and make them act less capably. Multipliers builds on the decades-old thinking of scarcity vs. abundance; research on organizational connectors, such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point; and advice on making managers more humane, such as Bev Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans’ Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em. Here’s what Wiseman found:

Multipliers attract and unlock talent, and diminishers build empires
Multipliers inquire into mistakes, while diminishers assign blame
Multipliers set direction by challenging assumptions, and diminishers act as know-it-alls
Multipliers spark debate, while diminishers tell people what to do
Multipliers invest for the long term, and diminishers micromanage

PWG - INTRO

1. BEFORE I DO THAT LET ME FIRST , __ .
2. LET ME TELL YOU WHY , __ .LET ME TELL YOU HOW , __ .
3. LET ME SHOW YOU WHY , __ . LET ME SHOW YOU HOW , __ .
4. A 3rd KEY PILLAR I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IS, __ .
5. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?
6. PICTURE FOR A MOMENT, __ .
7. CAST YOUR MIND BACK FOR A MOMENT TO, __ .
8. AM I MAKING SENSE?, __ .
9. CAN YOU SEE THESE BEING USED IN YOUR ORGANISATION? HOW CURRENTLY ACHIEVING?, __ .
10. AND WE'LL TOUCH ON THAT LATER IN THE PRESENTATION, __ .
11. OK?, __ .
12. YEAH?, __ .
13. RIGHT?, __ .
14. ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR?, __ .
15. ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE I MOVE ON?, __ .
16. WITH THAT IN MIND, LETS TAKE A LOOK AT, __ .
17. LET ME BREAK IT DOWN FOR YOU, __ .
18. LISTEN, __ .
19. LOOK, __ .
20. LET ME BREAK IT DOWN FOR YOU, __ .
21. OK, SO HERE'S THE DEAL THEN, __ .
22. OK, SO PICTURE THIS, __ .
23. OK, SO IMAGINE THIS, __ .
24. OK, SO IT'S LIKE THIS THEN, __ .
25. THAT BEING SAID HERE IS WHAT I WANT TO DO, __ .
26. GREAT QUESTION. LET ME TELL YOU HOW, __ .

How do I refuse a poor idea effectively?

1. listen. Don’t argue, disagree or interrupt. Think judo not boxing, use momentum against them. Encourage them to complete their explanation of their daft idea. They want to be heard and respected. If you argue too soon you will be met with “You don’t understand…let me explain” and you are into a win/lose time wasting argument.

2. The nice save. Start by praising the one element of the idea which is good. Do you tell a new mother that their baby is the ugliest the world has ever seen? A colleague’s idea is their baby: don’t insult it. Get the colleague emotionally on board by offering hope.

3. Find common cause. Go into praise overdrive. Thank your colleague for having the sense, courage and insight to tackle whatever issue they are trying to tackle. Show why the issue is so important: start to focus discussion on the desired outcome, not on the detail of their idea.

4. Empathise. Indicate that you had been thinking about the same thing, but struggling with it. You could find no way round three big problems, which just happen to be the three fatal flaws with the idea your colleague has suggested.

5. Work together to solve the problem. By now you should have refocused discussion away from their idea (which they will not want to change) to your problem (which they will be keen to show they can solve). The new solution should now provide a very agreeable alternative to the mad proposal which you first encountered. And, your colleague will think that is is all their own idea. No one argues with their own idea. In reality, you have won the argument and won a friend. Job done.

How do I demonstarte CEO prescence?

1.Genuine. Open, straightforward, comfortable in your skin; no BS or sugarcoating.

2.Passionate. You love and feel strongly about what you do and how you do it.

3.Articulate. Communicate thoughts, feelings, and insights in crystal clarity and simplicity.

4.Insightful. Ability to boil complex factors and mounds of data down to rare conclusions.

5.Determined. Driven and full of purpose, determined to achieve and succeed.

6.Confident. Not overconfident, but with enough self-doubt to be objective.

7.Humble. Willingness to admit mistakes, misjudgment, fear, and uncertainty is endearing.

8.Courageous. Willingness to take risks and take a position against considerable odds.

9.Funny. Not over-the-top, but in the right measure, brings down other’s defenses.

10.Empathetic. Connecting with others on an emotional level.

How do I bring value to customers the sales process?

* Geoffrey James: What’s the biggest limitation of the way companies sell B2B today?
* Jeff Thull:
Companies are not able to connect the value they provide to specific performance metrics (KPIs) within their customer’s organization and quantify the true financial impact their solution has on their customer’s business.
Most sales people are set up to communicate value by describing areas where their solution has an impact on individual organizations. However, that kind of value communication simply serves to commoditize the solution because their competitors are telling a similar story. What’s needed is a way to connect the value of the solution in terms of its ability to impact the customer’s ability to provide value to their own customers.
The key concept is that value doesn’t exist until it’s been achieved within your customer’s business.

How do you calculate value for a B2B solution?
There are three levels of value, increasing in order of complexity.
1. Product level - easiest to calculate -
characteristics of the product.
e.g. faster, more acurate or more durable and so forth.
Almost every company expresses value in this way as it is easiest to calculate and the value is seen as similar amongst competitors.

2.How a product changes a company’s processes.
e.g. It may reduce the labor required in the process, get the process completed faster or improve the quality of the process output.

In this case, the use of the solution within one process will likely impact process steps that precede the process your solution impacts as well as the processes that come after.
What makes this more difficult to measure is that you are now impacting cross-functional processes.

3. How those process changes actually make the company better able to service its own customers, and the financial impact that ability will have over time.
This cross-functional impact has a large multiplier effect as it ripples throughout the customer’s organization.

Can you give me an example?
Sure. Suppose that you’re selling a drug like Lipitor. Most sales people would address that sales opportunity by pointing out the value that’s inherent in the drug - it reduces cholesterol. That’s the first level of value.

However, the real value isn’t in that ability to lower cholesterol, but in the impact that a lower level of cholesterol has on the patient’s health. That’s the second level of value.

The highest level of value is the experience of life that the patient has as the result of remaining healthy for longer. That value is quite literally priceless.

I think I see what you mean. Can you give me a business example?
Take document imaging and document management. In most cases, document management solutions are sold based upon competitive contracts for millions of copies at a certain amount per page - a classic commodity sale.
However, if you go into a pharmaceutical firm and analyze the drug approval process, you discover that document management tools can cut the response time on a critical process step, responding to an information request from the FDA, from six weeks to two weeks.
That translates into labor savings, but more importantly, the cumulative effect of the shorter response times means that the drug gets approved more quickly, resulting in a more profitable product with less competition.
The impact is enormous - far beyond the savings that might be generated by a slightly lower cost per page in the document reproduction expense.

Why isn’t this way of thinking more common?
I think the main reason is the historical assumption that the buying customer will calculate the value, because they “know their business.”

The fact is they likely don’t know the unique impact of your type of solution.

Secondly, the people tasked with defining value - the marketing group - tend to depend on the customer to tell them the value - I guess this will sound cruel, but it is a bit like the blind leading the blind - and it is quite inadequate even at the product level of value.

We recently had a software client where the marketing group had provided the sales teams with 24 ways that their product creates value. Our analysis showed that 21 of the items on that list delivered less than 12% of the value, the top three on their list delivered 43% of the value and 45 percent of the REAL value came from just two items… both of which weren’t even on the original list.

How does this play out in a sales situation?
When a novice sales person tried to use those value points in a sales situation, it actually made the prospect LESS likely to buy. Because the list was so long, it made the product seem complicated, and each new item on the list required the prospect to consider how that value translated upward into the higher levels of value and what they would have to do to implement or use each feature. What’s worse, the list was almost identical to the list that the firm’s competitors were using, making the firm’s product seem like a commodity that could only compete on price.

That was the novice reps. What about the experienced ones?
What we found is that the top sales reps never used the value propositions that marketing had prepared for them. Instead, they focused on the two or three value items that made sense to the customer and built a story around them, showing how they would impact the prospect’s processes, and change the way that they operated. These top reps - and it was only about 3 to 7 percent, by the way - seemed to intuitively understand how to adapt the solution message to something that made sense to the prospect.

Why don’t companies simply change their value definitions?
In many cases, the sales executives themselves don’t understand these issues. In addition, the realization that a company has been selling value incorrectly in almost always something of an indictment of either sales management or the marketing group, implying that they don’t know how to do their job.
As a result, it’s usually only when a CEO recognizes they aren’t receiving the revenue growth they should from their high-value solutions that a company is able to focus long enough to address them adequately.

Is that how you’re helping companies?
We’re working with a number of companies, typically at a very high level, helping them quantify their “strategic value impact” and create a methodology for expressing connecting that value to specific performance metrics within their customers business.
The results have been quite dramatic. The foreword of the new edition of Mastering the Complex Sale explains how a division of Shell Oil applied this “higher level” of value quantification and went from $150 million from sales revenue with 110 salespeople to 750 million in sales revenue with 44 salespeople within five years.

PWG - BIG

1. IT HAS A LARGE MULTIPLIER EFFECT THAT RIPPLES THROUGHOUT THE ORGANISATION, __ .

How do buyers make sales decisions?

As you probably remember, neuroscience tells us that the left side of brain is always looking for a right or wrong answer it doesn’t tolerate shades of gray. It tends to be analytical, linear and skeptical and emotionally neutral. It also tends gets “paralysis by analysis” because it can never get enough information to make what it feels will be an entirely correct decision. By contrast, the right side is creative and imaginative. The ‘big picture’ right side interacts with the feeling power of the limbic or emotional brain. The emotional brain is where the ‘aha’ moments happen. Where the “I want that” or “I need that” feelings happen. The buyer has “gut reaction” and an image that allows them to make an emotional decision, such as the decision to trust someone or buy something. They can feel it and see it rather than quantifying.

Stories appeal immediately to the right side of the brain. As soon as somebody hears “once upon a time…” or “I’d like to tell you a story about the time…”, the listener relaxes and knows that no decisions need to be made immediately, but instead all that’s needed is to go along for the ride and listen for what might be important in the future. When it IS time to make a decision, the right side of the brain (which actually makes the decision) draws upon the stories it’s heard in order to judge whether or not a decision makes sense. The story can actually engulf the listener and the teller. The connection during the story can remain between the two people after the story is over, leaving the top sales reps with a connection that others can’t achieve.

No, it doesn’t. Unfortunately, the corporate world tends to get left brain thinkers to create PowerPoint presentations that are intended to provide left brain information to the left brain thinkers. So you end up with these incredibly long sales cycles, with committees and endless analyses because, even though people make emotional decisions, they’re trying to find a way to make a decision logically. This isn’t to say that left brain information isn’t useful; but it doesn’t drive buying behavior unless framed in a story that makes sense to the right brain.

What do sales pros need to become great storytellers?
MB: Great question. First, they need to respect their own storytelling ability. I’ve found that most sales professionals are much better at telling stories from their personal lives - the sort of anecdote you tell to your friends and family - than they are at telling stories from their business lives. People tend to be more relaxed when relating personal anecdotes, but then get all formal and stilted when they tell business stories. So the first step is to learn to adopt the same style of storytelling in business that you use in your personal life. Top sales reps are always naturally good at this. Top sales reps are also willing to share themselves as humans not supermen. Buyers are human and so many sales people feel they have to be ‘perfect’. That isn’t reality, and top sales people sense that.

You use your storytelling ability to retell the customer’s story, and then confirm - by asking - whether you’ve actually got the story right. Then, and only then, are you ready to sell, because then you can retell the customer story with a different ending or a new sequel, with your offering playing a role in the story. It’s also useful to have a quiver of “here’s how I’ve helped other people” stories, so that you can help the prospect visualize a future that includes you and your offering.


One of the skills that I’m teaching is the ability to build a 30 second version, a 3 minute version, and a 10 minute version of your stories. This requires deciding what’s essential about the story, and what’s an optional anecdote, side plot, or detail. It’s really a matter of adapting the story to the circumstances, whether it’s a formal presentation or just an informal conversation at a social gathering.
http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=10193&tag=nl.e808


"The rider and the elephant" as described in Made to stick
Rider is rational, Elephant is emotional. Rider can guide and train the elephant, but when emotional shook, the rider is so much larger and stronger it can easily overpower the rider.

What makes a good boss great?

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/05/12_things_that_good_bosses_bel.html

1. Have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.

2. My success — and that of my people — depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.

3. Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.

4. One of the most important, and most difficult, parts of my job is to strike the delicate balance between being too assertive and not assertive enough.

5. My job is to serve as a human shield, to protect my people from external intrusions, distractions, and idiocy of every stripe — and to avoid imposing my own idiocy on them as well.

6. I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I am in charge, but humble enough to realize that I am often going to be wrong.

7. I aim to fight as if I am right, and listen as if I am wrong — and to teach my people to do the same thing.

8. One of the best tests of my leadership — and my organization — is "what happens after people make a mistake?"

9. Innovation is crucial to every team and organization. So my job is to encourage my people to generate and test all kinds of new ideas. But it is also my job to help them kill off all the bad ideas we generate, and most of the good ideas, too.

10. Bad is stronger than good. It is more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.

11. How I do things is as important as what I do.

12. Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk — and not realizing it.

Top 10 worst marketing mistakes

Description: For decades, Apple priced the Macintosh at a premium over comparably-powered IBM-compatible PCs.

Why It Was Dumb: Apple marketing apparently believed that the added value of the Apple brand, and the superior usability of the product justified a higher price. But the truth is that as Windows became the de-facto standard, the Macintosh environment became a liability that would have required a LOWER price in order to compel people to continue to buy.

The Obvious Alternative: Apple marketing should have understood that the incompatibility of the Apple product with the majority of other platforms represented a barrier to market entry, not an advantage. As such, they should have priced the Macintosh significantly lower than a comparably-powered PC and positioned it away from the business market.

______________

Mistake #9: Ignoring Computer Games

Description: Apple never attracted game developers to the Macintosh, never launched a game machine, and has only sporadically promoted the iPod and iPhone as handheld gaming platforms.
Why It Was Dumb: Since the main strength of the IBM-compatible PC was in business applications, the home and consumer market was available for an alternative platform. However, Apple’s appeal to the consumer market was vastly weakened by the fact that the Macintosh seldom had the latest and greatest games, which are THE killer applications for a home-based computer platform.
The Obvious Alternative: Apple marketing should have moved hell and high water (i.e. paid big bucks) to make sure that game developers put their games on the Macintosh first. Beyond that, Apple marketing should have pressed the company to turn the Macintosh or a related product into a gaming console long before arch-rivals Microsoft and Sony locked up that market.

________________

Mistake #8: The Missing Sustainability Report

Description: Apple, alone of all the major high tech manufacturers, refuses to release an official report on the sustainability and environmental impact of its manufacturing and supply chain.
Why It Is Dumb: You’d think that a company with Al Gore on its board, and with a reputation for having “green” products, would realize that reinforcing that image is a good idea. However, Apple’s perceived secrecy around its environmental track record has raised the ire of environmentalists, attracting negative attention to Apple in an area that should be one of the company’s strengths.
The Obvious Alternative: In a recent proxy filing, Apple stated that “the board believes that the proposal has been substantially addressed and publication of an additional report would produce little added value while requiring unnecessary time and expense.” However, the amount of time and expense involved would be minimal compared to Apple’s huge marketing budget. So just publish the d**n report, OK?

______________

Mistake #7: Allowing Macintosh Cloning

Description: For a few years, Apple allowed other manufacturers to make Macintosh clones. The company later rescinded those licenses, driving those vendors quickly out of business.
Why It Was Dumb: The strategy was an obvious attempt to imitate the “success” of IBM’s strategy of an “open” PC platform. However, Apple failed to notice that IBM was struggling in the PC market (and would eventually sell it off), and that, in any case, an “open platform” strategy — which worked (sort of) in a geometrically growing market — didn’t make any sense in a mature market where the platform battle was already lost. In addition, the fact that Apple royally screwed its erstwhile partners didn’t win the company any friends in the marketplace, and drove even more potential partners into the Microsoft camp.
The Obvious Alternative: Don’t allow cloning of a product that’s value lies in being proprietary. To its credit, Apple marketing finally figured this out, but only after it became clear to everyone else in the world that Mac clones didn’t make any business sense.

_______________

Mistake #6: Continued Support of Apple TV

Description: Apple continues to promote the concept of Apple TV on its website and marketing materials.
Why It Is Dumb: The product is a widely seen as an industry joke. People don’t want to consume television in this way and there are numerous other platforms that do a much better job at both the delivery and the purchasing of the content.
The Obvious Alternative: It’s a zombie. Kill it.

_________________

Mistake #5: Sleeping with Microsoft


Description: Apple forged an alliance with Microsoft to get Microsoft’s office software on the Macintosh platform.
Why It Was Dumb: While Apple is finally in a position to get some well-earned revenge, the entire history of the Apple/Microsoft alliance has consisted of Apple dropping its pants and bending over a barrel. By focusing on Microsoft Office, Apple marketing continued to flog the idea of Macintosh as a business computer, rather than a consumer computer, thereby making certain that the IBM-compatible PC (which was always going to be the favored platform for Microsoft’s software) would remain dominant.
The Obvious Alternative: Apple marketing should have put its energy into landing applications that were unique to the Macintosh, uniquely valuable to the home market, thereby positioning Apple as far as possible from Microsoft. Apple, of course, finally figured this out about five years ago with the iPod, but that was after a decade of getting regularly screwed by the giant of Redmond.


________________

Mistake #4: Treating Journalists Like Cockroaches

Description: Apple is widely known among business journalists and industry analysts as an insanely difficult company to work with. Their PR people seldom answer press inquiries and their executives treat journalists as unwanted pests.
Why It Is Dumb: You end up with articles like What’s the bug up Apple’s @$$? and When did Apple become uncool? And when you’re really stupid and have a business reporter arrested for reporting about your future product, you get TV coverage like the Jon Stewart video I’ve posted below.
The Obvious Alternative: While the field of business journalism does include its share of independent thinkers, most are more than willing to kiss corporate butt if you throw them a bone once in a while. Every other company in high tech manages to be helpful to the business press. Apple marketing’s continued arrogance is just plain stupid.

__________________

Mistake #3: Pretending They’re the Underdog


Description: Apple is still posing as the underdog, the scrappy fighter against the big bad forces of the IBM PC world.
Why It Is Dumb: Apple’s market valuation and yearly revenue is currently about the same as Microsoft. Eventually, even Apple fanboys will figure out that Apple is a corporate behemoth whose corporate headquarters resembles the movie set for an updated remake of 1984, replete with security cameras, secret codes, and all the accoutrement of a police state.
The Obvious Alternative: It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since Apple marketing devised the underdog story. Give it a rest, for cryin’ out loud. Apple marketing should build a story that fits Apple’s real status in the business world.

________________________

Mistake #2: Censoring the iPhone

Description: Apple recently purged 6,000 apps from the iPhone/iPod library that it deemed “too sexy.”
Why It Is Dumb: Porn is one of the big drivers of traffic on the Internet. If Apple is going to displace the current PC-based Internet environment, it will need to capture some of that traffic. Furthermore, the PC world of porn is having trouble monetizing content in a world where peer-to-peer sharing has become common, a problem that wouldn’t exist in the Apple environment. Apple marketing is therefore throwing away a multi-billion dollar revenue stream.
The Obvious Alternative: Woo-hoo!

______________

Mistake #1: The AT&T Exclusivity Agreement

Description: Apple granted AT&T exclusive rights to the iPhone until 2012.
Why It Was Dumb: The iPhone has been successful, sure, but think how much more successful it would be if it were supported by every carrier (or even more than just one carrier? The delay in getting the iPhone on other carriers has created a marketing opening for other platforms, like Android, which otherwise wouldn’t never have had even the ghost of a chance.
The Obvious Alternative: Apple marketing should have landed multiple carriers with no exclusivity. Sure it would have been harder to negotiate such deals, but a really savvy marketing group would have understood the importance of NOT locking out the majority of a market during an all-important early adoption phase.

________________

PWG - NO

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT SUCH A NOTION, __ .
YOU DON'T CHANGE PILOTS MID FLIGHT, __ .
THAT IS OUT OF SCOPE FOR TODAY's DISCUSSION, __ .
I'M JUST A LITTLE CONCERNED THAT IF WE DIGRESS ANY FURTHER WE WILL OVERRUN, __ .
I'M GOING TO HAVE TO STOP YOU THERE, __ .
IN MY OPINION THIS NOTION IS ONLY PARTIALLY RIGHT AND LET ME TELL YOU WHY, __ .
I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN AND I THINK IT MAKES SENSE, HOWEVER CONSIDER THIS, __ .
THAT IS CERTAINLY ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT, BUT ANOTHER IS LIKE THIS, __ .
I SEE YOUR POINT BUT CONSIDER THIS, __ .
I WOULD LIKE TO CONTEST THAT POINT, __ .
I refuse to accept that, __ .
I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE I AGREE, __ .
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT IS THE MOST OPTIMAL|FEASIBLE IDEA AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY , __ .
WE DON'T WANT TO SET A PRECEDENT BY ALLOWING, __ .
WE ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO, __ .
IT SITS OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF MY RESPONSIBILITY/KNOWLEDGE, __ .
THERE'S NO FREE LUNCH, __ .
THROWING TOYS OUT OF THE COT, __ .
I HAVE A FULL PLATE, __ .
I DO NOT HAVE THE BANDWIDTH, __ .
ALL HAT AND NO CATTLE, __ .
WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET, __ .
ITS NOT FULLY BAKED, __ .
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE CHASING RAINBOWS, __ .
I WASNT INVOLVED. IVE GOT CLEAN HANDS, __ .
ALL BETS ARE OFF, __ .
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD.
DON'T WANT TO JUST PULL THE SHUTTERS DOWN, __ .
THAT WAS A RESOUNDING NO, __ .
ITS NOT OPTOMISED FOR, __ .
NOW, THAT'S NOT TO SAY, __ .
ITS NOT YET BREACHED, __ .
GOOD INGREDIENTS DO NOT NECESSARILY MAKE GOOD SAUCE, __ .
I'M NOT EXPECTED TO, __ .
WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO, __ .
WE ARE NOT EXPECTED TO, __ .
IT IS NOT A SLAM DUNK BUT IT WILL SUFFICE, __ .
ITS NOT RESTRICTED TO, __ .
THEY HAVE NOT BEEN VERY FORTHCOMING, __ .
THERE IS NOTHING TO SUGGEST THAT, __ .
IT DOES NOT INSPIRE CONFIDENCE, __ .
BY NO STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION, __ .
DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CARDS TO PLAY, __ .
I DON'T HAVE AN OPINION ON THIS, __ .
That's a NEGATIVE there John, __ .
Well that's NOT ENTIRELY TRUE, __ .
IT ALLOWS NO DEVIATION, __ .
I would be hesitant to, __ .
It can definitely be achieved, no question. However it will require a development effort, __ .
In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice.In practice, there is. , __ .
IT HAS FALLEN ON DEAF EARS, __ .
I DO NOT HAVE THE BANDWIDTH, __ .
THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THAT ONE, __ .
Null and void, __ .
there is no cause for concern in my opinion, __ .
no way, shape or form, __ .
If you cannot compete with no competitors then compete with slow compeititors, __ .
no one has ever been fired for buying Microsoft, __ .
THAT FUNCTIONALITY IS NOW DEPRECATED, DEFUNCT IF YOU WILL, __ .
Its a fire hose approach, only on or off, there is no middle ground, __ .
There is no need to force the issue, __ .
Its hanging in the balance, __ .
There is no single silver bullet that will fix everything, __ .
There is no future in vanilla for most companies in a flat world. - the commercial future belongs to those who know how to make the richest chocolate sauce, the sweetest, lightest whipped cream, and the juiciest cherries to sit on top, or how to put them all together into a sundae.Vanilla will be provided free by the OS community, __ .
Its like digital cameras, no one knew they needed one until they had one. Then they couldnt live without one, __ .

PWG - HARD

IT'S A CURVE BALL, __ .
IT ERECTS BARRIERS RATHER THAN KNOCKING THEM DOWN, __ .
IT MAKES A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLE HILL, __ .
IT ESTABLISHES WALLS OF COMPLEXITY AROUND, __ .
IT REQUIRES SOME HEAVY LIFTING, __ .
IT REQUIRES A DEEP DIVE, __ .
THEY ARE PLAYING HARD BALL, __ .
ITS HARDER THAN NAILING JELLY TO THE WALL, __ .
ITS LIKE HERDING CATS, __ .
ITS A BOX OF FROGS, __ .
It's always harder to make a case for lost hours than for lost dollars, __ .
IT'S HARDER THAN HE'D CARE TO ADMIT, __ .
THAT WAS FEEDING THE COMPLEXITY MACHINE, __ .
IT HAS BECOME QUITE TURBULENT, __ .
ADMITIDLY, ITS DIFFICULT TO DIGEST, __ .
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, __ .
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, __ .
WELL I'VE GOT MY BACK TO THE WALL ON THIS ONE, __ .
ITS A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW, __ .
ITS LIKE EXTRACTING BLOOD FROM A STONE, __ .
I must warn you, Its non-trivial, __ .
THEY ARE WORKING AT FULL TILT, __ .
People who are desperate enough don't look very hard at the price or the evidence...apricot pits..Mexico exclusive medical cure..Sweden in supermarket, __.
ITS LIKE PULLING TEETH, __ .
ITS A CAN OF WORMS, __ .
WE NEED TO MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS, __ .
It is more CHALLENGING than they initially suspected, __ .
It is a quite COMPLEX problem to solve for several reasons. Firstly, __ .
WE NEED TO DRILL DOWN HARD TO EXTRACT ALL THE NECESSARY DETAILS, __ .
Has proven difficult to piece together, __ .
Its more difficult in a hostile environment, __ .
first time difficult as we need to carve out the gully, __ .
ALWAYS MORE CHALLENGING FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES, __ .
THAT ADDS A LAYER OF COMPLEXITY, __ .
ITS A GREY AREA WITH NO SIMPLE ANSWER, __ .
There are a number of variables we do not have control over, __ .
Rome wasn't built in a day, __ .
Its difficult to hit a moving target, __ .
SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE, __ .
ITS AN UPHILL BATTLE, __ .
TRYING TO TURN WATER INTO WINE, __ .
Up the creek without a paddle, __ .
Answer a difficult question with a 'WHY EXACTLY IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?' question, __ .
Need to keep so many plates spinning, __ .
systems are getting more and more complex, so we need to overcompensate and expend a lot of energy on simplification, __ .
ITS COMPRISED OF MANY MOVING PARTS, __ .
this adds another layer of complexity, __ .
If you did an apples-to-apples comparison its many times more complex, __ .
a small cog in a complex system, __ .
ineffable complexity, __ .
This raises several complexities, __ .
We need to abstract from the end-user all those complexities, __ .
The process is a little convoluted, __ .
It seems quite counter-intuitive, __ .
Sounds like you are in Over your head, __ .
There are a number of operational complexities we need to overcome, __ .
We need to wade through red-tape and process, __ .
You got the rough end of the stick, __ .
It's rough but readt, __ .
It's a little rough around the edges, __ .

PWG - EASY

ITS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, __ .
ITS THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTENCE, __ .
THERE HAS BEEN AN EROSION OF COMPLEXITY AROUND, __ .
ITS NOT TRIPLE BYPASS SURGERY, __ .
IT IS A LEVELLER. IT KNOCKS DOWN BARRIERS, __ .
IT'S A SITTING DUCK, __ .
IT'S A QUICK WIN., __ .
SHOOTING FISH IN A BARRELL, __ .
CHOOSE THE LOWEST HANGING FRUIT FIRST, __ .
WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT, __ .
IT IS VERY TRIVIAL, __ .
The hard work is in the establishment of the guiding framework, then execution is trivial, __ .
It's a TRIVIAL excercise, __ .
its easy to say looking in the rear-view mirror ofcourse, __ .
IT'S VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD, __ .
AFTER THAT ITS PLAIN SAILING, __ .
You can use a knife to open a can of beans but it wont be as pleasant and easy a process as using something perfectly designed for that very requirement, __ .
Its easy to pick problems, but its a lot more intellectually challenging to come up with solutions. Don't tell me about the errors I know them, __ .
HE FOLDS OVER VERY EASILY, __ .
IT WILL BE MORE EASILY CONSUMED IF , __ .
NEED TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DIGEST, __ .
IT'S EASIER FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES, __ .
Tinkering with perception is often easier then fixing reality, __ .
ITS TRACTABLE, VERY EASILY MANAGED, __ .
EASILY BLOW IT OUT OF THE WATER, __ .
Users want to simply do their job in the easiest and quickest possibly way that does not require them to learn something 'new' or change behaviour, __ .
I'm of the KISS school of thought, keep it simple, minimise risk, __ .
Occam's razor - of several theories, the simplest that introduces fewest assumptions is to be preferred., __ .
Let's keep life simple for everyone, __ .
WORK SMART - AVOID, AT ALL COSTS, UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY, __ .

PWG-START

EVERYTHING IS STARTING TO CLICK INTO PLACE, __ .
I don't know where to start,.. Can you give me the 2 minute trailer, __ .
LET ME REWIND AND START AGAIN, __ .
So, THAT WE START OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT, __ .
WE NEED TO GET IT THRU THE FRONT GATE FIRST, __ .
START CHIPPING AWAY AT IT, __ .
STARTING TO GET MILEAGE OUT OF IT, __ .
THIS WILL SERVE TO GIVE US A CREDIBLE START, __ .
WE NEED TO START RATTLING THE CAGE TO GET SOME RESPONSES, __ .
THEY START SALIVATING WHEN THEY HEAR, __ .
DON'T WANT TO JUMP THE GUN, __ .
NEED TO BE FIRST OFF THE BLOCKS. NEED TO BE FIRST OUT OF THE GATE, __ .
THEY ARE STARTING TO WARM UP TO THE NOTION OF, __ .
WE NEED TO KICK-START THAT PROCESS, __ .
IT SERVES AS A SEED SOWING EXCERCISE, __ .
WHEN DO WE KICK OFF? , __ .
DIRECT FROM THE OUTSET, __ .
IT IS DIFFICULT FROM A STANDING START, __ .
YOU START WITH YOUR BELIEFS AND LOOK FOR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THEM, __ .
WE NEED TO BEGIN TO FORMULATE A PLAN OF ACTION, __ .
IT IS STRATING TO GROW LEGS, __ .
THAT WILL GIVE US A HEAD START, __ .
AT WHICH POINT IT STARTS TO CREEK, __ .
IT IS STARTING TO DRIFT, __ .
WHEELS ARE STARTING TO SPIN IN THE MENTAL MUD, __ .
THAT'S A GREAT PLACE TO START, __ .
IT'S TIME TO TURN THE LIGHTS ON, __ .
THEY WANT TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, __ .

WHEN DO WE COMMENCE, __ .
The COMMENCEMENT date is the, __ .

We will BEGIN discussions around, __ .

They IGNITED efforts around, __ .

We need to ACTIVATE thinking around, __ .
This serves to ENERGIZE the brand by , __ .

Since INCEPTION it has suffered from problems relating to, __ .
He has INITIATED interest in , __ .
The INITIAL attempt was a failure, __ .
It INVOKED immense interest from, __ .

NEED TO HIT THE ROAD RUNNING, __ .
FROM THE GET-GO, __ .
RIGHT OFF THE BLOCKS, __ .
We need to identify whree one begins and the other ends, __ .
RIGHT OUT OF THE GATES, __ .
It's beginning to sag under the weight of expectation, __ .
Beginning to scratch the surface of the thick bureaucratic wall with his restructuring toothpick, __ .
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin, __ .
As you begin to peel away the layers, the complexity greatly increases, __ .

PWG - FINISH

TAKE IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE, __ .
FOLLOW IT THROUGH TO COMPLETION, __ .
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED, __ .
NEED TO SIMPLY JOIN UP THE DOTS ON THAT ONE, __ .
THEY ARE SUNSETTING THAT PRODUCT DUE TO., __ .
THEY HAVE PULLED THE PLUG, __ .
I HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL AVENUES, __ .
THEY ARE ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES NOW, __ .
WE CANNOT LEAVE IT OPEN ENDED. PARAMETERS AND BOUNDARIES NEED TO BE ESTABLISHED, __ .
Retire perfectly good equipment before it is fully depreciated and had reached its natural end of life, __ .
SIMPLY NEED TO PICK UP YOUR WINNINGS ON THAT ONE, __ .
WHAT IS THEIR END GAME?, __ .
THE END RESULT IS ___, __ .
WE CAN TAKE THE TAIL-END, __ .
ITS FORTUNATELY NOT A SHOWSTOPPER, __ .
NEED TO GENTLY APPLY THE BREAKS, __ .
WE MAY HAVE TO PULL THE PLUG ALTOGETHER ON THIS, __ .
WE CAN AVERT ANY THREAT BY ___, __ .
IT IS COMPLETE PARALYSES UNTIL THEY ________, __ .
WE NEED TO SIT ON IT FOR A WHILE, __ .
ITS ON ICE FOR NOW WHILE WE DECIDE THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION, __ .
IT'S ON THE SHELF, __ .
THEY HAVE DISENGAGED FROM THAT ACTIVITY, __ .
WE HAVE A HARD STOP AT , __ .
WE NEED TO HAVE IT OUT THE DOOR BY, __ .
first over the finish line, __ .
excuse me - just let me finish please, __ .
CLOSE THE LOOP, __ .
WHEN I FINISH YOU WILL GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.OK?THEN ME. THEN YOU., __ .
WHEN CAN YOU TURN THIS AROUND BY, __ .
IT HAS NOT BEEN FINALISED, __ .
They have not COMPLETED the project yet, __ .
The development efforts have CONCLUDED successfully , __ .

They have decided to DISCONTINUE sponsorship of, __ .
They have DIVESTED from devlopments in that area, __ .
The contract has been TERMINATED due to breach of regulations, __ .
It is a TERMINAL agreement.
ON EXPIRATION we need to, __ .
can i please finish..dont ask a question if you refuse to give the courtesy to answer, __ .
IT CULMINATED IN , __ .
END OF PLAY TODAY, __ .
IT WAS A PHOTO FINISH, __ .

WHAT IS THE E.T.A?, __ .
At the end of its thether, __ .

PWG - GOOD

IT's A WELL OILED MACHINE, __ .
IT'S COMFORTING, __ .
IT'S VERY ENCOURAGING, __ .
HE'S A BIG HITTER, __ .
HE iS VERY VCAPABLE, __ .
IT IS A SWEET SPOT FOR US, __ .
It was an EXCEPTIONAL performance, __ .
There are GREATER EFFICIENCIES in taking that tack, __ .
He is a VERY CAPABLE sales person, __ .
We first need to be as good as the incumbent, but then we need to create a differential in order to be better, __ .
TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD, THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH, __ .
Good fit for what you are trying to achieve, __ .
Open source has good enough functionality, good enough scalability,.. most customers are happy with good enough, __ .
Is Google Docs as good as Microsoft Office? No, and it likely never will be. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be as good. Users are overshot right now, __ .
That may all be well and good on paper, but in practice there are a lot of opposing forces, __ .
It sounds good but there is a sting in the tail in that, __ .
establish a good baseline foundation from which to build, __ .
the good news is, __ .
I think its a good middle ground, __ .
good enough competition at much lower price points, __ .
like a child that needs to be rewarded for good behaviour, __ .
we need to have a good story around, __ .
SHE IS QUITE DISCERNING, __ .
IT HAS PROVEN ITSELF TO BE AN EFFECTIVE MEANS, __ .
IT WAS DONE PRO-BONO, __ .
CONSIDER IT BONA FIDE, __ .
IT HAS PROVEN TO BE A FRUITFUL EXCERCISE, __ .
IF IT IS DEEMED TO BE GOOD USAGE OF OUR TIME AND EFFORT?, __ .
They yielded good results from the team, __ .

IT WAS A VERY COMPELLING PROPOSITION, __ .
All's well that ends well, __ .
WE ARE ON GOOD TERMS, __ .
If you can achieve this you'll be in good shape, __ .
Those good folks further up the tree, __ .
I'D SAY I HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON IT, I CAN SEE THE END GOAL AND WHAT IS REQUIRED TO GET US THERE, __ .

IT IS TOLERABLE BUT NOT IDEAL, __ .

PWG - BEST

I'll do my level best, __ .
Principle of restricted choice and regret. If we have too much choice, we will always fear that we have not made the best choice, __ .
BEST OF BREED, BEST IN CLASS, __ .
its a case of the best defence is a strong offense, __ .
THE MOST OPTIMUM, __ .
THE PREMIUM OFFERING, __ .
Despite your best efforts, I think the knee jerk reaction from the field will be a, __ .
Put your best foot forward, __ .
WHAT ARE THE BEST PRACTICES AROUND, __ .
Best Way to Motivate Workers: Show Progress. Give Incentives. Acknowledge Publically, __ .
We need to determine the best bets to take going forward, __ .
Optimisum bias - focus on the benefits and underweigh the costs, __ .
it is a top-tier soultion, __ .
Need to move the unique value contribution to another plane - ipod did not create the best mp3 player, they created the best user experience, __ .
THE BEST ANSWER TO A DIFFICULT QUESTION IS A QUESTION, __ .
Not necessarily the best use of your time, __ .
now, if you don't want to be best in class this is best, however if, __ .
rather than competitng with it, its best to aim to co-exist with it, __ .Yeah and you can also use a fork to eat soup, but its not the best way to do it..its not our competency, __ .
It reigns supreme when it comes to, __ .
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning, __ .
it was the cherry on top, __ .
they are a top-tier customer, __ .

Of course we want to do our utmost to help, but we can't deliver the impossible, __ .

PWG - BETTER

IT IS MORE FULLY BAKED, __ .
WE NEED TO SHARPEN OUR, __ .
WE NEED TO POLISH OUR , __ .
THIS NEEDS TO BE BULLET PROOF, __ .
THIS NEEDS TO BE AIRTIGHT, __ .
YOU MAY BE RIGHT IN SAYING IT MIGHT NOT MAKE IT BETTER. BUT IT CERTAINLY WON'T MAKE IT WORSE RIGHT?, __ .
One group will walk the track labelled 'Its ok, why change?' the other group will run the track labelled 'Its ONLY ok, lets make it better , __ .
IF WE CAN'T BE BETTER, LET'S HANDICAP OR REMOVE ALL ALTERNATIVES, __ .
ITS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS, __ .
ITS STARTING TO BEAR FRUIT., __ .
THE WOULD BE A MORE FAVOURABLE APPROACH FOR ALL PARTIES, __ .
WHEN I GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THIS I WILL, __ .
BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED, __ .
NOT BETTER BUT DIFFERENT, __ .
FOR WANT OF A BETTER WORD, ___ .
IT IS BEST OF BREED, BEST IN CLASS, __ .
Armchair critic: offers advice but never shows they could do any better, __ .

WE NEED TO BETTER DEMONSTRATE, __ .
WE NEED TO ENHANCE, ___.
NEED TO GET A BETTER GRIP ON, __ .
we are better positioned to weather the storm given, __ .
infinitely better than what we had previously, __ .
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without, __ .
WE NEED TO BETTER SERVE, __ .
I'D LIKE TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF, __ .
After taking root in a simple, less functionally rich application, disruptive innovation gets better until they change the game, relegating previously dominant firms to the sidelines, __ .
WE NEED TO RAISE THE BAR, __ .

WE NEED TO CREATE A CYCLE OF CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT, __ .
THIS WILL ENABLE US TO BOLSTER, __ .
THAT WILL HELP TO BOOST, __ .
IT HAS BEEN ENRICHED BY, __ .
THEY HAVE HONED THEIR TECHNICAL SKILLS SO THAT NOW, __ .
YOU CANNOT IMPROVE WHAT YOU CANNOT MEASURE, __ .

IN ORDER TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE EFFORTS AROUND, __ .
That would be approaching it from the profit improvement angle, __ .
What is the economic value of your profit improvement solution to the problem?, __.

It is a greatly IMPROVED version of the product, __ .
It has IMPROVED greatly, __ .
The POSITIVES OUTWEIGH the negatives, __ .
The POSITIVES OUTSTRIP the negatives, __ .
There are ECONOMIES in taking that approach, __ .
It OUTPERFORMS its nearest rival on several key dimensions, __ .
There are ADDITIONAL BENEFITS in selecting this approach, __ .
It gives a RICHER experience with respect to, __ .
It is a more POLISHED version, __ .
It is EXCEEDINGLY capable when it comes to , __ .
I am trying to determine a MORE OPTIMAL time, __ .
It is infinitely better in terms of , __ .
What happens is, it clogs up resources that could be better utilised, __ .

IT REFLECTS A BETTER WAY of working that users are already adopting en masse , __ .
Shape up or ship out, __ .

PWG - LESS

IT HAS TAKEN A MASSIVE NOSE DIVE, __ .
THEY ARE MUCH LESS PRICE SENSITIVE, __ .
IT HAS PLUMMETED, ___.
IT HAS FALLEN OFF A CLIFF IN X TERMS, __ .
When you have 100 options to choose from the critical skill isn't choosing 5 but sacrificing 95, __ .
WE NEED TO WITTLE DOWN TO A MORE MANAGEABLE NUMBER, __ .

It is becoming INCREASINGLY MARGINALISED in today's society, __ .
EFFORTS HAVE GREATLY DEPRECIATED, __ .
There was a CONTRACTION of efforts on, __ .

Their ability to expand has been greatly DIMINISHED, __ .

They DECIMATED, killed in large numbers, the competition, __ .

There has been a REDUCED focus on, __ .

There is a HEIGHTENED sense of disillusionment, __ .

It EXCEEDS requirements and expectations, __ .
It could be viewed as EXCESSIVE, __ .

It is SUPERFLUOUS to demands, __ .
Exacerbated an already bad problem, _ .
IT IS LESS PRONOUNCED THAN IT ONCE WAS, __ .
Less Choice is better than more. The more choice they have, the harder they will find it to make a decision and they often fail to make any decision at all, __ .

THIS INCURS LESS RESISTANCE, __ .
LESS actively pursuing such, __ .


THAT LESSENS, WHAT COULD BE A POTENTIALLY HARD BLOW, __ .
IT IS THE LESSER OF 2 EVEILS IN MANY RESPECTS, __ .

THEY HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THEY HAVE LIMITED AMBITION, __ .
THERE ARE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES WHEN IT COMES TO, __ .

IT WAS AN INFERIOR PRODUCT, __ .
THE IMPACT WAS NEGLIGBLE, INSIGNIFICANT, LESS THAN EXPEXCTED.

ITS A STEAL AT THAT PRICE - it costs much less than it is really worth, __ .
We want to reduce the distance to knowledge, __ .
WE WANT TO REDUCE THE DISPARITY BETWEEN, __ .
We need to reduce the number of variables over which we have no control, __ .

THEY HAVE BEEN MARGINALISED THROUGH, __ .
He was divested of his rights, __ .
We need to Reduce the number of false positives, __ .

IT IS HALF-BAKED, __ .
NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL, __ .
Humans have greater loss aversion than gain affinity - Italy reverse penalty points, __ .
£50 loss is worse than £50 win for a bet of £50, __ .

It is the law of DIMINISHINGL UTILITY - Each additional usage brings less benefit, __ .
It is the law of DIMINISHING RETURNS - Each additional input brings less returns, __ .

The NEGATIVES OUTWEIGH the positives, __ .
The NEGATIVES OUTSTRIP the positives, __ .

LESS OPTIMAL, __ .
That would be a LESS OPTIMAL approach, __ .

PWG - MORE

1. WE NEED TO UP THE ANTE , ___ . , ___ .
IT IS AROUND 5X MORE IN TERMS OF , ___ .
IT GOES FAR BEYOND THE _________. , ___ .
IT GOES FAR BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY. , ___ .
WE NEED TO STEP IT UP A GEAR. , ___ .
WE NEED TO PICK IT UP A NOTCH. , ___ .
WE NEED TO RAISE THE TEMPO/VOLUME. , ___ .
ITS EXPONENTIALLY MORE. , ___ .
IT IS INFINITELLY MORE. , ___ .
THERE HAS BEEN A RISING TIDE OF. , ___ .
WE NEED TO STEP ON THE GAS PEDAL. , ___ .
IT SKY ROCKETED AFTER WE HIT CRITICAL MASS. , ___ .
THIS GIVES US A BIT MORE LATITUDE, __ .
WE NEED TO INCREASE THE FREQUENCY FOR MORE IMPACT, ___ .
WE NEED TO MORE AGGRESSIVE ON TWO FRONTS. 1, IN TERMS OF ___ AND 2, IN TERMS OF, ___ .
The greater the hurt the more costly the rescue, __ .
More than one string to their bow, __ .
The cost of in-action is an order of magnitude greater, ___.
Greater number of conversions, __ .
IT PROVIDES GREATER TOLERANCE, __ .
IT PROVIDES INCREASED LONGEVITY, __.
WE ARE increasingly hearing, __ .

IT IS GREATER BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE.
In terms of absolute value it is greater but not in terms of relative increment, __ .
To be honest, that is more myth than fact, __ .
He may have bitten off more than he can chew , __ .
MORE PRODUCTIVE WITH GREATER EFFICENCIES, ___ .
it is more work yes, but is the goal to have less work or more profit, ___ .
IT HAS INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY SINCE, __ .
WE NEED TO SCALE OUT OVER MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS, __ .
We are looking to EXPAND that focus. , ___ .
There has been an EXPANDed effort to. , ___ .

IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY, __ .
It has become INCREASINGLY difficult. , ___ .
WE NEED TO SWITCH GEARS NOW. , ___ .
There is an INCREASINGY sense of disillusionment. , ___ .

This enables us to AMPLIFY the target size. , ___ .

There has been an EXTENDED focus on. , ___ .

There is a HEIGHTENED sense of disillusionment. , ___ .


ITS ABOUT INCREASING MINDSHARE, __ .
ITS ABOUT INCREASING THE NUMBER OF EYEBALLS VIEWING, __ .

It EXCEEDS requirements and expectations. , ___ .
It could be viewed as EXCESSIVE. , ___ .

It is SUPERFLUOUS to demands. , ___ .

It TRANSCENDS the boundaries of wht is required. , ___ .

THERE IS AN ESCALATING SUPPORT COST.. , ___ .

EFFORTS HAVE ACCELERATED OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS.. , ___ .

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WILL BE REQUIRED INORDER TO SUCCESSFULY COMPLETE , ___ .