When a conversation isn't a conversation

I've just had an interaction with a member of my local community. You know the type, exchanging pleasantries then moving on to go about one's business. Actually, the moving on bit was a little more problematic. Reading body language was not a strength for this person. As I looked at my watch, turned my body as if to move away, nothing was making any difference or stemming the flow of words. What started out as an exchange of pleasantries turned into a monologue of updates on family issues, love lives, car purchases and minor ailments, without pause for breath or any interest in my situation. 

In a work setting I would have no qualms on offering feedback on what it is to partake in real conversation. But this wasn't work, and in a social setting, good manners prevailed and I eventually got away when inevitably this person stopped for breath. Maybe there's an opening in the market for training conversation as a social skill. Or maybe not.

   

Conversational selling.

Safely back from HRD expo and caught up on the waiting emails and phone calls. Now is the time to be following up on the great conversations we had with potential clients and future business partners. Or it would be if I could get off the phone from all the sales people now calling me as a result of us being listed as a participant in HRD!! 

It's one of the occupational hazards of being a business owner that many other businesses want to sell you something. After all, it is what we want to do with our prospective clients albeit I think we go about our 'selling' with a little more subtlety than the average call-centre operative that seems to have been bending my ear for the last 2 days.

I've had good and bad examples of sales pitches this week. Having worked in sales for many years and subsequently designed and delivered many sales training and coaching interventions, I believe the bubble team are well qualified to know a good sales pitch when we hear one. 

What makes a good sales pitch? Well, the most important aspect for me is whether the sales person is genuinely concerned about my needs and is actively listening to me, responding appropriately, not continuing to rattle off a script no matter what I might say. Also, well skilled handling of objections is a key attribute of the great sales person. And you can always rely on me to throw in a few objections even if I want the product. That way I can test the depth of the sales person's understanding of their product or service. If it is only superficial then I worry about the credentials of the company providing the product or service. I would in this case probably decline the offer and look for the product or service from another provider. 

For me,  a great sales pitch (and advertisement for the company represented) boils down to the sales person having in-depth technical knowledge of the product or service, backed up with a well structured but flexible script. When rehearsed well, these two aspects allow the sales person the confidence and flexibility to enter into a conversation with me. Something I am always more likely to respond to in a positive way.     

Bubble - Live From London

Its amazing, what you can fit in an Audi estate. Tables, chairs, rugs, live goat, glasses (the drinking kind), fish bowl, picture frames, with the pictures separate (why oh why?), pens, printed leaflets, glasses (the seeing kind), laptop, suitcases, and assorted DIY implements.

It must have looked like I was returning to college after an easter break. The journey down was fine, and all I can say is thank the lord for sat-nav, as Mr Livingstone's signage department obviously need some development. Either that or they are getting ready for the next invasion of England,and have spent the last 6 months turning signs round so they face the wrong way.

The signage incident meant that I had 15 minutes to unload the car before I got slapped with a £300 fine. Good job I'd been lifiting wiights in Manchester on friday night then.

Setting up the stand at HRD was actually quite easy, apart from one minor hiccup. I'd left the chair legs at home. Fell free to insert your own 'legless' joke here. A quick call to mission control, and some were located at IKEA. Thats chairlegs, not jokes.

It was quite nervy this morning, so many questions. How would the stand be received, would it be busy, what type of people would the stand bring in?

It was a hit! You could probably see the joy on our faces, as people said that it was a 'different stand, and stood out', ' very engaging', and was 'stimulating conversation'. There were few comments about the pictures of the bubble gang on the wall, especially the 'good looking one with spiky hair and glasses'.

The degree of engagement with the brand, and with the ideas that we were putting forward was something that we hadn't expected. People understood the approach that we wanted to take, and from multi-nationals to sole traders, we had some amazing conversations, which is what we are about.

We'd spent the past 4 months planning for this day, and it was worth every moment, every decision that was discussed in triplicate, every design detail that decided on, then undecided, and then we decided that we were right in the first place. It proved to us all that the team we have at bubble are unique, engaged with the ideas that bubble stands for, and engaged with each other, driving each other to excellence. Theres no other team I'd rather work with.

Ladies and Gentlemen, bubble has officially arrived!

Something in the air?

I'll put my hands up now, I'm an Apple fanboy. Not the fruit, but the company.

So another January, another keynote from Steve Jobs, I'd booked it in my diary a couple of weeks before hand, so I could watch it on engadget.

The ceo of Apple spent a little under two hours whipping the apple fanboys into hysteria. Famous for challenging the market place, and fiercely innovative, Apple had alot to live up to.

When Steve Jobs introduced the MacBookAir, not only was it a massive step forward in laptop design, it was also something that hadn't been seen before. A laptop, with no CD or DVD drive. How would the masses react?

Innovation sometimes comes at a price of course.

The timing couldn't have been worse, two days later the stock-market plunged, taking apple shares down from their high of $200 to just over $130.

Like all innovative products, they take a bit of time to catch on. The first iPods sold miniscule amounts, as did the first iMacs, but Apple have been here before. During the last tech slump, they simply increased spend in R & D and training, and they innovated their way out of the tech downturn.

The result, a company with no debts, and $18 billion in cash in the bank. Not too bad for a company that was 3 months away from bankruptcy 12 years ago.

Apple invested in the development of their workforce, and they'll do the same this time no doubt. Why? It produces astounding results, innovation in the marketplace, and increases loyalty to the company, and therefore discretionary effort. Apple, have one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the tech market. They also have the highest loyalty amongst employees.

They invest heavily in their organisation, with the focus on T&D, and R&D. The two are linked, increase the capability of your workforce, and you increase the capacity for innovation.

The second thing that dawned on me as I watched Steve Jobs deliver his keynote, is what an amazing presenter he is. Admittedly he's playing to a captive audience, but he owns that stage.

Theres a great piece here about this year's keynote. Some good lessons to be learned I think.

Now all I have to do is find a crowd of a few thousand folks to practice on. Any offers?