After many years of illness, yesterday my mother closed her eyes for the last time 😕. We have lost our beloved wife, mother, sister, auntie, cousin, grandmother and great grandmother 💔. It’s a sad day for all of us who knew her 🤎.
The struggle is real
“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost or you can accept that, and try to put together something that’s good. ”
Do you know your customers?
The customer experience, both physical and digital, begins the moment someone is exposed to your brand and can extend through their entire lifetime depending on the memories you have created from their experience – both as an employee and customer. Satisfying and exceeding both the functional and emotional needs, values and aspirations of your customers and employees cultivates brand love, advocacy and loyalty. Brands must know their customers better than the customers know themselves.
I think success will no longer defined by giving customers what they want, when they want it. Instead, brands must anticipate what customers need before they need it, and offer it at the best price and deliver it quickly. The new success criteria will be measured by how well retailers can personalise, customise, digitalise and socialise. As consumers, we should support the brands that are not just talking about the important humanitarian issues of our day, but are also contributing to bettering the lives of those affected.
The morning blues
It’s Monday morning and for most people it’s unpleasant to go back to work after a relaxing weekend. I have heard it through the grapevine that I am irritating as I am one of the outliers who wakes up with a smile on my face and gratitude in my heart. It’s actually none of my business and I promise that my teachings are not about “waking you up” to the joys of life, in fact, my thing is to do my thing. If you find inspiration from it, then that’s fine and if you don’t, then that’s too bad! I think people’s brains are wired differently depending on how they naturally approach the act of retrieving information.
Even the best psychologists know that people really don’t want to be cured, what they really want is relief as a cure is too painful. We all know that there are strong individual differences in how people remember…
“The nature of rain is the same, but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens.”
Money makes the world go around
“Money won’t make you happy... but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”
Every generation is limited by what it knows
“Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.”
From my perspective
I met somebody new last night and he said that the was an avid reader of my site. I was humbled and explained to him that I am on a 6 week online digital marketing course which has affected the length and depth of my writing. He asked me how to start a business from scratch doing work you love with people you care about? My short answer was that due to the global COVID-19 pandemic a new consumer behaviour has emerged and I would approach all business problems from a design and experience led angle. Everything is going digital and there are so many different perspectives to take into account when creating and developing new products and services.
The American trend forecaster, Sarah Owen said, “When it comes to social media bragging, the youth have a new social currency - culture and lifestyle. We see this demographic invest in the experiential, and the ultimate bragging rights are in the wellness, travel, and lifestyle sectors. Posting a photo of a designer handbag is no longer associated with the changing notion of luxury. What is considered to be a luxury today is time and travel, it’s wellness and well-cultured individuals. That’s the new currency.”
Are you curious? Contact me via e-mail when you are ready to look at your engagement.
Thoughts on Thursday
“Never regret a day in your life. Good days give happiness, bad days give experiences, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories. ”
The business world is changing
In today’s digital world, nothing replaces the human touch! We are living in interesting times where purpose, transparency and effectiveness are the basic criteria for high performance. The red thread throughout my career has been development and growth. Contact me via e-mail and let me know what do you think?
Are you prepared to go that extra mile and really live your dream, in order to inspire and impact the community that you serve? For the majority of organisations that I have interacted with, then the answer is “NO”. Organisations of the future will have to focus on their customers by telling great stories which resonates and helps their customers to remember the details and share them within their networks.
“Without data you’re just a person with an opinion.”
From storytelling to story selling
Last weekend I had a long discussion with a friend about importance of storytelling. I felt obliged to tell her about my experience with luxury and high-end designer consumer goods. And she switched me on to the term “story-selling”, and the importance of story selling for luxury brands if they want to communicate with a younger audience. This morning I watched an “old” video from Burberry - “The Tale of Thomas Burberry” - well in the fashion world what happened in 2016 is old 😊. This is luxury storytelling at its best! The video combines drama with heritage and at the same time depicts the brand founders life story in 3.5 minutes.
One of my favourite poems
c/o BBC
“Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth, “You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.”
Every generation is limited by what it knows
"Actions speak louder than words." We've all heard it a thousand times, but the fact remains: Leading by influencing and inspiring others through your actions is far more effective than leading by pure authority. My parents and our Christian upbringing taught us to marry passion with reason. We do not get overly excited when life is going well, and to not get too down when it goes badly. I’ve trained myself to take the long term view, about how to stay focused on your goals rather than getting hung up on the daily ups and downs. My ability to maintain composure in the middle of a crisis is a superpower. Contact me via e-mail when you would like to tap into your superpowers.
“To have long term success . . . you have to be obsessed in some way.”
To express yourself, you have to know yourself!
Reflecting on moments that shaped his life, actor Ethan Hawke examines how courageous expression promotes healing and connection with one another -- and invites you to discover your own unabashed creativity. "There is no path till you walk it," he says.
Ageism simply isn't helpful
According the the World Health Organization by 2050, the world’s population aged 60 years and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 900 million in 2015. As I get older, I better understand the following:
Lost money can be found; lost time is lost forever.
Learning to learn, and changing yourself is a superpower.
You are not your job.
Networking is about giving.
The best teacher is your last mistake.
Good manners as important as good education.
I think that experience and wisdom take time and effort to accumulate, and sharing those things can be a significant blessing to others. Contact me via e-mail and let me know what do you think?
Just a little bit of respect
“I don’t care about your gender, skin colour, age, sexuality or body size. As long as you respect me, I’ll respect you.”
The effectiveness of goal setting
As a football fan, “goals” have a completely different meaning than when we speak about them in the professional or personal context. GOALS provide focus, enhance productivity, boost self-esteem and increase commitment. I think it essential to make your goals SMART. In my world, S.M.A.R.T is an acronym and is extremely helpful when goal setting - S = specific, M = measurable, A = attainable, R= relevant and T = timely.
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
Specific
The more specific you are, the more likely you are to reach the goal. What specifically do you want to accomplish? Who’s involved? When? Where?
Measurable
How will you know when the goal is achieved? What milestones can you measure along the way?
Attainable
Make sure your goal is realistic and achievable.
Relevant
Be clear on why you want to work toward this goal. How is it significant to your life?
Timely
Anchor your goal with a deadline and create a calendar leading up to it with all the steps you need to take to reach your goal mapped out.
Contact me via e-mail when you have written down your goals and are ready to have them defined. we can go through the S.M.A.R.T acronym as it’s only when you do that, that goals became reality.
The market conditions are not ideal
The last ten years was really about going online to save money. I think the next ten years will be about going online to save time and to buy things not available in your local retailers. Customer service will be more important as well the quality and range of product on offer. Send me an e-mail and let me know what you think?
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We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.”
Version 2.6
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Survival of the fittest
In the western world we have been conditioned to look out for ourselves and we are judged on individual performance. When for example, we do well in exams or in our work, we are rewarded with awards, promotions and increased wages. People may be rated individually, but what can we do to align and more in the same direction? How can we connect and collaborate on a level where we are looking at that common mission?
As you know I am a huge football fan, so it makes sense to use a football team analogy. A football team consists of a goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and attackers, they are all doing their jobs in different ways but at the end of the game, they all want the same outcome - to outscore their opponents and win the match. You can do things differently, you can have different skills but you are moving in the same direction and that is the way we want to behave when we are part of a team. What I try to do is get everybody to work towards the organisation's common mission. My work revolves around growing your influence and building trust with your colleagues. Contact me via e-mail for a meeting or a team building workshop.
Overcoming objections with your story
I was recently asked about my unique selling point, I flipped the script and began speaking about my simple recipe for how I get results for my customers. What is the definition of a proprietary process (or trade secret? A proprietary process is a distinct problem-solving methodology for your professional or technology-based service organisation. I think a proprietary process is essential because it creates a framework for how and when you tell your story. The simple elements about my personality and beliefs are powerful differentiators.
I can help you create a story that overcomes objections before you invite your customers to join your sales presentation. Contact me via e-mail when you are ready to accelerate your connection with your customers. Instead of sharing everything, just point at a couple of key aspects of why you are different, for example:
a) What problem is your customer currently facing?
b) What solution do you offer?
c) What benefits and transformation will your customer experience by choosing your solution?