When I was a kid, I hated early morning wake ups. I remember that the bus would come to pick us up at 07h45 and I was ready to leave 07h40. Not to mention, that with the famous technique I-don't-sleep-I-just-think I was sleeping the first hour. But. there was a day that I would be ready even at 07h30 and wouldn't fall asleep during the class. Wednesday! First lesson: Arts & Design.
I still remember the gentle expression of our teacher, that with compassion to our suffer, would tell us the subject. One day, she told me "You design so nice" and I respond "I like painting" and then back "No, Painting means Art, and you are only 7 to understand it". Well I was pretty angry.
For many years that I was painting, I was always thinking what is missing. And finally one day I understood.
Art, is the expression of the divine part of ourselves. The soul.
Design, is the result of logical workflows.
Now, let's get back to you. I have a simple question. If you look at your website, your brochures, your logo, is it A or is it D. Or is it both?
Often, I get questions about the quality of websites. Most of the times I reply it's quite good. But... you don't follow some principles:
First of all, Quality means: Act + Plan + Do + Check (APDC) with the mentioned order. Most of the websites don't have a serious plan and they are not thourougly checked.
What I mean in plan is the WWW questions: "Why - Who - What" . Why you publish the website, Who is your audience / niche, What is your target. You don't just need to sell and provide your products / services but reassure that those will be of value to the public.
Now check is having three dimensions and you should put same gravity on each:
marketing
content
technology
Next one is the content and actually how direct you are. Take this an example, before we had:
Apogee is an innovative software applications development company. Based on the maximum utilization of the web platform, Apogee focuses on Intranet and Extranet modeling and enhancement. It was formulated and established in the middle of 2002 by distinctive and experienced Information Technology Professionals and distinguished Marketing and Sales Executives.
Now we have... At Apogee, we develop software solutions and provide services with a focus on covering the actual needs of medium/large sized companies and organizations. Since 2002, we expanded our provision of services in the majority of countries across Europe.
Finally... Gautama Buddha - Siddhartha said that "All that we are is a result of what we have thought". If you think that you are small, then you will be. But if you think you are big... then you will!
A friend of mine from New York, called some hours ago telling me that she is having a really difficult presentation in front of the board of directors of an international company. The outcome of that presentation will determine if they will sign a contract with her company. Their are few tips that came to my mind:
Create a powerpoint presentation with four slides and only! Don't use not even one word, just images and arrows. You will find that it will assist you more than just reading.
Don't present yourself make a small introduction and get to the point, "we are here to discuss a)... b)... c)...".
Try to maintain eye contact. Not to just one of them, but all.
NEVER say mmm, aha. Use positive words and take small gaps if you need to think. Thinking is not a crime. On the contrary, they will appreciate it.
When you say something, you better mean it. Otherwise, it's better not to commit on something you can't fulfill.
Give room for questions. Dialogue is better than monologue.
Do you say no? No? Why not? Yes? How often? Most people just don’t say no. Why? Because they want others to like them! And they think that’s the way. But how about business and companies? How about your company? Do YOU say no? Do you say no to colleagues, to partners, to your boss or (even worse) to customers?
Admittedly, it's tough to say no to any customer, especially when your company is young. "What if there isn't a next sale?" But all sales are not equal. It's good business to turn away sales that aren't profitable, for example, or those that conflict with long-term goals. How about those that don’t really make money for you, or those that exhaust all your resources. Do you really have to take them? In some business, 20% of the customers provide 80% of the sales. Why not spend your time and resources chasing and satisfying those customers and not every customer? In INC.com you can find a sampling of “no-stories” by successful chief executives who said no and managed not to loose money, time, and reputation.
"The truth was, we were too small to fulfill that contract." "We probably know just enough about that kind of a sale to be dangerous." "The customer couldn't focus on anything but 'Do it, do it, do it.'" "I don't want to commit a project manager to something that might become a heartache."
But is it always a “yes or no”? How about alternatives? Ok, you don’t want to say no, then don’t say yes! Try to find an alternative solution. Something that will take the “burden” off of you but it will still satisfy your costumer. Be smart! Be creative! And most of all, stay on top of it!
