In the cartoon the king is racing off to battle, his sword drawn, the troops in colors and armor and waiting in row upon row, their pikes at the ready. He brushes past a courtier whom he brushes off with a “I don’t have time to talk to any salesman right now . . . I have a battle to fight” There to the side of his tent is the salesman with a machine gun. Are you going into battle with dated weapons? In 1925 the book was written that was the basis for most selling for the last 100
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Posts by Kordell Norton
All of my heart loved Olive My Heart
The only thing missing is a French accent. It was a Friday night and my wife and I and our master chef friend, Judes Smith (Judes Foods) went into the Olive My Heart store in Stow, Ohio. This is a mini version of the exquisite Olive Oil boutiques found in Nice, or Paris. They have various “flavored” olive oils and exotic vinegars on shelf after shelf. It takes just a few minutes to start tasting the possibilities of taking something that is a item and turning it into an experience. It had all of the experience building blocks down –
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Selling Ice to Eskomos and plain simple water to . . . YOU! How to turn the everyday into something speacial
Great friends, exclusive restaurant. The drink order, sweet mint-basil lemon-aid (suggested by friends) and . . . water. When the water arrives it is in a green glass with the requested lemons bobbing in the room temperature water. “Ah, could I perhaps get some ice?” “Well of course,” comes the reply from the waiter, in her crisp and starched attire. Moments later a fully filled glass of ice is set in front of me, with a pair of silver tongs. Not only was the food excellent, but the way the restaurant turned water into an experience was masterful. I felt
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Creating Ardent Customer Fans . . . lessons learned from a Coke Machine, Trader Joes, and Frequent Flyers
Are your customer’s ardent fans? Do they tell others about your offerings without your prompting? Consider a recent trip I made to a local hamburger place. These GUYS (5 of them) recently switched their soft drink dispensing machine to a high tech, complex juggernaut. You put your glass into one slot and then, by pushing various buttons on a screen, get your drink. After inserting my paper cup, I studied the screen, which is covered with images of choices. Water, flavored water, the cola and diet cola offerings along with the various lime, cherry additives and on and on and
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How to Destroy Your Competition – Transactions or Transformations?
Stop looking at your business in terms of getting more orders and instead asked, “How could I help my customers transform THEIR world?”
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What is NOT "Yummy"
I stopped yesterday at KFC and asked for a glass of water with my meal. I was told that they could provide me with a glass but no water per instructions from management. Can YUM brands really force you to buy a carbonated beverage by not offering water? The customer is insulted. The results . . . you just don’t do there anymore.
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You Are Talking BUT They Are Not Listening . . . Understanding and Connecting with the Three Levels of Business Leaders
There are three “languages” in business, which change as you move up and down the organization chart. Unless you are aware of these, you might be talking, but they may not be listening. To illustrate, let’s make a visit to Ye Olde Table Factory. The Table Builder (the worker) Our first contact is with one of the people who are hammering away at building. A conversation with this person is about materials and the processes in putting together raw parts to make the finished product. This person represents the day-to-day tactical work. They are interested in: Getting things done now
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Moving from Successful to Significant – Catalyst #3
The Exception – It takes Exceptions to be Exceptional – The Catalyst #3 Success has five building blocks that act as a foundation for, well, success. These five building blocks have common names like Leadership, Relationships, Creativity, etc. The third building block or Success Imperative is the need to be creative and innovate. When you look, act, and perform like everyone else, then you are . . . average. A key Catalyst to drive creativity and innovation is the doctrine of exception. To be exceptional, you first need to be an exception. For example, Kimberly Clark rolled out (sorry about
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Moving Past Success . . . .to Signficance – the 40/20/40 rule to Business Success
Like Christmas, weddings, vacations, birth of a child, pending retirement, and proms, each carries with it a potential for something big. For something significant. Half the fun is in this planning and looking forward. THIS ESPECIALLY APPLIES TO BUSINESS. Your business.
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David fights Goliath VIA the Detroit Automotive Show – a lesson in Contrarianism and Synergy
The Detroit International Automobile Show 2012. Among the hundred thousand square feet vendor booths, and the multimillion dollar backdrops complete with state of the art multimedia, and eye candy models . . . both male and beautifully coiffed women; sits the center of attention. It is all about the cars. There are cars. Each collection is often changed out each day for maximum exposure. Audi might have a new metallic paint the invites you to touch it’s too-strange-too-be-true finish. That is OK because some t-shirted youth, armed with polishing rags and dust wands wander incessantly to make sure nary a
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