Brilliant at somethings, bored senseless by others? Want to know why?
Or why you got on like a house on fire with some people, yet others are so irritating and frustrating, that working with them (or living with them) is like fingers nails scratching on a chalk board.
Or why some parts of your business were not great at execution but superb at generating ideas, while others were the reverse.
Brilliant at getting things done, but no deviation please.
Well the Kirton Adaptor Innovator theory may be able to answer these questions for individuals, and for organisations.
Watch this episode of Riot Point TV to learn more
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Poor communicator? Don't worry. It's not your fault. But here's how to fix it.
Been in a presentation so boring that you wish the presenter had given up the will to live?
Or been exasperated by emails which go on and on, screen after screen, but never come to the point?
Or worse, have you feared that ’tis you who is the drab presenter or the tedious typer of text.
Don’t worry, you’re not to blame.
So whose fault is it and what can you do about it?
Well I’ll tell you on this edition of Riot Point Radio
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The two most important words in marketing are......?
And as children, we weren’t excited by the meat and two veg.
“What’s for afters?” we cried.
Likewise our customers are begging with us, pleading with us, to answer to that very same question.
While we’re boring them with exotic descriptions of the meat and two veg, they’re shouting, “What’s for afters?”
Find out how to answer that question
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Being bland is bad for your Brand: Here's how to stand out from the crowd
If you want to take a risk with you brand, stay in the crowd and waste your marketing spend.
If you want your customers to open their wallets to you before anyone else, stand out. Tell them how their lives be better AFTER they have purchased your product.
Here are 16 ways to make that happen.
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Is your marketing material selling on your behalf?
Your marketing materials are salesmanship in print—or in pixels.
It should be selling while you’re not in the room.
Is it selling for you? It’s the only measure of success.
If it’s not selling it’s not working.
If it’s not working, stop it or change it.
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This leadership tool smells but doesn't stink. Try it.
The best leadership advice I ever received was practical and yielded results immediately upon application.
From where did I get it?
Well, it didn’t come from a fancy business school. And it didn’t come from a leadership guru.
No, this advice was pummelled, punched and bathed in sweat before it was thrown to me.
What is it? I’ll let you know, without the smell
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Your best work is ahead of you--if you do this.
You should be getting better and more valued with experience. Who wouldn’t want people banging on their door seeking their advice and ideas. Or people placing orders for what you are offering—and happy to pay the higher prices.
But as well as being more valuable to others, your batteries should be being charged continually too. You have to tick both boxes.
And here’s a simple guideline that I’ve seen deliver these results.
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Lost in translation: convert prospects into customers
If you want someone to do something--your words have to work
To convert prospects into customers or to align your organisation you have to do three things:
- Learn the language of your target audience.
- Use it.
- Check that you’ve used it properly.
Don’t get lost in 'Translation.'
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Strategy review looming? Get out your sextant.
How do you kick off a strategy review?
To test our answer we will visit a manufacturer of navigational equipment in Paris, and sail with US Navy in the sticky, sultry, South China Sea.
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It ain't over 'til it's over
Yesterdays Super Bowl provided further evidence of two things:
1. We can't predict the future
2. We believe we can predict the future.
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Not your fault-but you are to blame
When everything looks the same and you don’t stand out, you’re going to get hit.
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Forget logic. It's emotion which kicks off action
George knows that logic stimulates thought, but it's emotion that jump-starts action.
Well he didn't, but he does now.
He is in his mid-50’s and by any measure, especially a tape measure, he is successful.
He displays the fruits of his success around his waistline and gives proof to the saying, travel broadens the behind—especially if you’re doing it in business class.
George resolved to keep success on his bottom line, and not his bottom.
“I have to go to the gym,” he said, “but though I can rise an hour before dawn to visit a customer, the thought of pumping out press-ups at 06:00 leaves me stone cold.”
You see, for all the logic on the benefits of exercise, it didn’t put enough fuel in Georges tank to get him lifting barbells while the sparrows were still sleeping.
What happened next? Listen to Riot Point Radio to find out...
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Avoid shaved legs and let your customers love you
I’m writing this in the studio, and my legs are lovely and smooth.
Well, they’re not really.
They are itchy, and covered in cuts, and you'll ready why in a minute. Plus also a tip on how to avoid the same thing happening to you and your customer—but first a plea.
Make it easy for your customers to love you.
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"If you want action, Talk. don't text."
I was admonished via email yesterday for not having posted in blog in recent times.
My repost was simple. I quoted David Ogilvy's office memo to Ogilvy and Mather employees. Recently, doing has eclipsed writing.
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"Live a life filled with fun and purpose." Colonel Donald Pudney
If your house lights dimmed unexpectedly this morning, or if your car stalled without apparent reason, don’t worry. It was a one off.
The Universe endured a sudden negative energy spike as a force of nature transferred from one dimension to another.
Colonel Donald Pudney has left the earthly parade ground for the last time.
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Concerned your poor strategic thinking will be exposed? Time to write a book.
Wool-suited, french-cuffed and tied (at that time), executives can sit cooly for hours in 40C heat but don’t ever extinguish the projector. Nothing brings on a perspiratory flash-flood faster than the prospect of delivering a slide-less presentation.
An executive should be able to communicate her or his strategy in 10 mins or less. They should be able to do so engagingly and with clarity.
Any Executive who cannot do this surrenders their right to admonish sub-ordinates who are similarly fuzzy in their communication of the strategy.
Can’t past the test? Fortunately a remedy is at hand.
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Get the profits and avoid the perils of digital marketing: an (almost) free workshop
If you're in the Greater Toronto Area on Tuesday 6th December join Rosalina and me at an (almost) free workshop on the strategic aspects of digital marketing.
Done properly, digital marketing can give you very loyal, high quality customers. Loyal, high-quality customers lead to loyal, high-quality gross margins.
But digital marketing abounds with sink holes and pit-falls.
This workshop focuses on getting profits and avoiding perils. It will introduce digital marketing to strategic decision-makers, not tacticians.
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Executives have to go where the rubber hits the road
Here’s the take away for Executives.
Despite your best endeavours, you may have 'defeat devices' installed in your organisation. To ensure this is not the case, you have to engage the source data.
What does this mean?
- Even if your Net Promotor Score is a whopping 80%, you, personally, should still verify the data by engaging with customers.
- Even if your employee engagement surveys tell you things couldn’t be better, you still need to confirm this by walking, talking and listening.
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O Brother (Steve Jobs) where art thou?
It’s official. Tim Cook has stepped out of Steve Jobs’ shadow.
Under his watch (no pun intended), the stock price has doubled, market capitalisation has gone from ~ $300bn to $660bn, and contribution of revenues from subscription services has boomed.
Cook filled a big pair of shoes—and now he’s using them to walk to a destination far from Apple’s roots.
But at what price?
Apple is about to lose it's key competitive advantage: making us creators and communicators
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