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From talk to action

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Many people are lacking a connection to their purpose or creating fulfilment in their lives. I love telling stories and I’m passionate about the impact and the effects storytelling has on society. Getting clarity in my message so that I can share it with the right people in the right way, so it can help me grow my impact. I think the biggest communication problem is that we don't listen to understand, we listen to reply as you will never get what you love by attacking what you hate. 

As human beings we are moved by emotion, not by information and data. I help people build that emotional connection whether it's in a one to one conversation or if you have to give a presentation in front of many people. Being your true self and conveying the message in a way that is going to connect. Contact me via e-mail for training or workshops about: How to connect with people in ways that influences and moves them?

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Questions for designers

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George Heilmeier was the inventor of the LCD screen display which we use today in telephones, digital watches, computer monitors and flat-screen televisions. Heilmeierput together this list of questions for designers:

What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using no jargon. 

How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?

Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?

What are the risks?

How much will it cost?

How long will it take?

What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?

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Focus on the finish line

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Image c/o Strategy Sprints

Image c/o Strategy Sprints

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than land and it works the same way as the mind does not care what we plant, whether it be success or failure. A concrete worthwhile goal or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on but whatever we plant it must return to us. The human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth, it contains riches beyond our wildest dreams, it will return anything we were to plant. Well you might say that if that’s true why are people struggling to meet their goals?

Emily Balcetis explains how motivation is not enough if you want to achieve your goals, see the video here. Emily Balcetis, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at New York University and author of “Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World.”

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You can figure it out by yourself

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I won the birthday lottery and have great parents who encouraged me to follow my dreams and do something of use. I think skills are far more important than talent, because we are all born with talent. Here are nine qualities I admire more than skills:

  1. Compassion

  2. Sympathy

  3. Empathy

  4. Kindness

  5. Gratitude

  6. Humility

  7. Patience

  8. Self awareness

  9. Sincerity

Contact me via e-mail as I will not tell you what to do, I will just guide and help you figure out how to best use the resources that are available.

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Things that rhyme show up

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It’s quite clear that the world needs more peace of mind and justice if we are to recover from the pandemic. I spent the weekend with some good friends in the Swedish countryside, this experience of fishing and hunting for mushrooms was amazing. We found both Karl Johan’s and chanterelles. We cooked them with garlic, onions, and cream, we ate them with French toast as a starter and they were delicious.

 

Millions of years ago on earth everyone was a hunter, nowadays, there are hunters and farmers. I think that being a hunter requires a different skillset than being a farmer. We have only had ca. 500 years’ experience of being farmers, and as a farmer you get really good at sitting still and focussing and making tiny incremental improvements. In a world that moves so fast with trends and habits, the old hunting skills of being able to notice just a little bit of movement in the bush are still valuable.

What do I do?
I help people to see where they are and what’s holding them back, and then I help them get to where they want to go. I try to educate, connect, and lead a small group of people who actually care. Contact me via e-mail to arrange a meeting.

Comme Ci, Comme Ça

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I was recently asked this question: Why are we competing when we can create? After a few days of contemplation, I am now ready to answer it! I think that it’s OK to be different as there are many great minds with solutions to big problems out there who are being blocked by the same problem? There are so many opportunities in every industry to create and make a difference, we need to know how to get there in order to move from competing to creating.

I guarantee that you will feel empowered when you start to pick up on that divine purpose you have for being here on the planet. All the roadblocks in your way will be more easily overcome. In reality, everyone wants to work for an organisation and in a team where there is meaning behind what they do. I think what makes you unique and stand out from the sea of competition is: “Who you are and how you work with people, and how you do what you do and the beliefs and values that you emphasise in your process.” Contact me via e-mail when you are ready to look at your roadmap. 

Think like your customers

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Sales and marketing are different functions, marketing is to attract people who are interested in the benefits of your products or services. And selling is the conversion to buy from you rather than from your competitors. You can’t sell if you can’t attract interesting prospects. In my experience the very best companies think like their customers, they are obsessed with their customers. They think and talk about customers all the time, they call and visit their customers, and they personally responded to customer complaints. They are just obsessed with their customers. 

 

I think the key to success is to make your customers happy, then make them happier than your competitors. You must wake up every single day and think - How can I make my customers happier? The foundation is having a great product or service and just as importantly is the need to provide a great customer experience. Making your customers happy from the beginning to the end is so important and it’s the key to repeat business, customer retention and rapid growth. Every successful company, without exception is obsessed with taking good care of their customer experience once they get them. What do your customers want? What do your customers need? Contact me via e-mail for a deeper dive into your customer experience strategy.

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Turn your wounds into wisdom

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The best study of life is how it is, not how we think it should be. I think people will do more to avoid pain than they will ever do to gain pleasure, therefore, salespersons must sell consequences. Buyers will always think about whether you have their best interests in mind, in other words, “Can the buyer trust you?” When most salespersons say something, it tends to be just filtered through their needs and desires when in reality, it should be about the buyers. In my experience most salespersons sell what they love about their products rather than what the buyer would love about their products.

 

People don’t do things because we tell them to, people do things for reasons. For example, buyers must associate the action of buying with creating tremendous pleasure and the action of not buying with pain. I think that selling is the process of finding the buyers pain, disturbing it, and making them feel the hurt. The salesperson is then responsible for healing the buyer’s pain through different choices, usually through their products or services. Would you like to know how to guide buyers through your sales process? Contact me via e-mail for sales training and workshops.

Don't complain, don't explain

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I think that the mind is our individual mental factory and what you read pours a massive amount of ingredients into your mental factory. Subsequently, the quality of your life will be built on those ingredients. Everyday, I stand guard at the door of my mind, and I decide what goes into my mental factory as I have to live with the results. I would advise you to select the right ingredients, keep out the wrong ingredients and acknowledge that it all starts with thought. In my opinion, everything starts with thought, so you must be wise and careful about what you think about.

As a child, I remember the first time I heard the Henry Ford quotation, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” I immediately knew that our lives are affected most by the way we think things are and poor thinking habits will keep most people poor. We need to get upset, we need to get disturbed and this motivates us to do something about it and change our behaviour. It’s only when we feel hurt enough that we will do something about it. Contact me via e-mail and I will awaken you to the pain that already exists and then guide you with solutions for that pain.

The twin forces of human behaviour

Illustration: E. Wikander/Azote

Illustration: E. Wikander/Azote

The primary motivating factor behind all human behaviour is the desire to avoid pain and the desire (or need) to gain pleasure. My values are “old school”, as I think selling is the process of motivation after you have discovered the reasons why the buyer should buy your products or services. Those of you who are from my school of thought, believe that people don’t buy needs, they buy wants. And then the big question is, how do you build tremendous wants for your products?


We know that if you can make people want your products or services badly enough, they will find a way to justify their purchase. For example, online shopping for luxury goods has soared, doubling its market share from 12% in 2019 to 23% in 2020. This indicates the profound shift in consumer behaviour as well as the results of people shopping from home due to Covid 19. The key to succeeding in these times will be for brands to meet customers’ expectations in a more seamless manner across all of their channels. Especially as brands contend with store closures, travel disruptions and ongoing threat of future lockdowns. Contact me via e-mail for workshops around improving your online customer support, click and collect initiatives and contactless payment procedures.

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You do have a choice

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c/o BBC

c/o BBC

New technologies will always encourage different types of thinking, the symbiosis between humans, machines and nature has enabledI us to move forward in new ways. Some things never change, for example, relationships. You get what you pay for and this especially true in relationships, so if you truly want them to be great, then you are going to have to invest in them. I’m a believer in therapy and anything that makes you look at yourself in a constructive way. There are so many levels to life, I think it’s always beneficial to sit in front of someone who is not going to give you the answers you want. It’s also really important to maintain a student mindset and learn from relationships.

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No leads = No sales = No income

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Sugar coating things and pretending problems will just go away on their own is nice, but it’s not something we do in my network. As entrepreneurs we are used to wearing different hats, for example, sales, marketing, operations and finance, etc. and we use CRM tools to help us mange our sales processes. Your number one goal in sales is to make your customer as successful as possible and as long as your motivation is to help the customers win, you will always win in sales.


I recently watched Susan Cain’s “The Power of Introverts” Ted Talk and was reminded about what a nightmare it must be for a shy person when working with outbound sales. Constantly making excuses to avoid making that call or sending that e-mail. It must be hard to continuously have your sales pipeline full of new opportunities when reaching out to strangers is hard for you. This does not mean that introverts are not good salespersons, as I have found that introverts are better listeners than extroverts. Contact me via e-mail for sales training and workshops.

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Curiosity is critically important in sales

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We currently live in a world where we can connect to whomever we want whenever we want, therefore, why would we connect to someone who is selfish and boring? We are more likely to connect with people who are interesting and generous. I think selling is about matching a solution to a problem and it’s also about building relationships. 

Salespersons are usually trained in behaviours that buyers find no value in, therefore, they are going to have to learn how to change their thought processes before they can change their behaviours. I think sales should be fun and I always try to make it fun, as I am a curious person and approach everything with curiosity. When you approach things with curiosity, you are present, you are learning and you are connecting. You will always learn new things that push you out of your comfort zone. Do you have a sales manager who trusts you to do things your way? Sales training should not always be about compliance to methods and processes. How can I help your team to tap into their natural curiosity and overcome the roadblocks to success? Contact me via e-mail for sales training and workshops.

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The mental vs. The physical

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I can highly recommend the renowned sports psychologist and culture coach Dr. Pippa Grange’s book, “Fear Less: How to Win at Life Without Losing Yourself”. For over 20 years, Pippa has helped leaders and athletes (including the English football team) reach their true potential. Pippa has found that even the most successful people experience fears of inadequacy, what sets them apart is their ability to pinpoint their fears and “turn down the volume.”

I think that your results are just an outcome, they are not your worth. Contact me via e-mail for real world strategies, sales training and workshops opportunities.