Tweets for Book Promotion - Sellers from Mars and Buyer from Venus

Sharing some of the promotional tweets for my upcoming book - Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus

• Emotional people are not best suited for #sales. They are better suited for HR roles. More on this in my upcoming book on #B2B #Sales 
• A buyer who speaks sweetly listens calmly with patience, constantly observe the opposite side, pays attention to detail & use empathy to impress upon & don't like to take control, they are primarily price takers in negotiations. #B2B #Sales 
• A buyer being reserved, emotionless, future centric and striving for perfection but has fear of failure will walk away from the deal if the solution offered is not perfect and of the utmost quality. #Sales #B2B 
• People who respond or communicate at their own pace or are slow and carry a deep voice, are best suited for farming activities in #Sales. More on this in my upcoming book on #B2B #Salesforce People who write an email in bullet points and use action-centric wording brings money to the business. #Sales #B2B 
• A Leader is paid for courage and vision, not for time and effort #thinking #leader
• A buyer with visible and big nostrils will be ideal for sellers for closing a high margin sales deal #B2B #Sales #funfacts
• A buyer who writes short and crisp emails is driven by perfection and the utmost quality and will walk off from the deal if the solution offered is not perfect and robust. #Sales #B2B
• A seller who looks straight into stakeholders eyes will bring money into the business. #Sales #B2B #FunFacts
• Sellers who are, well-disciplined but lack patience, speak rapidly with conviction and respond swiftly and timely, employ intellect and style to impress upon will make multiple offers to close a transaction. #B2B #Sales #FunFacts
• A Sponsoring Executive (Buyers end) who is action-centric, futuristic, data & visual driven, like an audience & connecting with higher authorities will reach out to innovative & agile suppliers, or internal teams for selling the biz. case. RFP is the least preferred. #B2B #Sales

More tweets can be followed here at this handle

Weekend Reading

 Weekend Reading

• mRNA for other Vaccines Could be Bigger than COVID?
• Why Skype is struggling to match with Zoom
• Secrets for Sucess in Sales
• Improving your Thinking Agility
• Why Small M&A Works Better
• Resources flow where Power is
• Improve Customers Life Time Value
• Creately for Marketing - My previous coverage of Creately and Its Co-Founder's view in the early stages of their journey.  

Telcos Monetising Assets - Connectivity in Play

The telco towers bonanza is still in full swing, with two incumbents on opposite sides of the world each announcing deals on Wednesday with investment funds keen to cash in on the demand for connectivity.

• Australian incumbent offloads 49 percent of InfraCo for nearly A$3bn 
• Similarly Telia sells 49 percent of Norway and Finland tower ops for more than €700m 
• In both cases, investment funds are the ones that want a piece of the action 

More here

Key Tips on Negotiation

 Key Tips on Negotiation from the book, Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss.

• A good negotiator prepares, going in, to be ready for possible surprises; a great negotiator aims to use her skills to reveal the surprises she is certain to find. 
• Don’t commit to assumptions; instead, view them as hypotheses and use the negotiation to test them rigorously. 
• People who view negotiation as a battle of arguments become overwhelmed by the voices in their head. Negotiation is not an act of battle; it’s a process of discovery. The goal is to uncover as much information as possible. 
• To quiet the voices in your head, make your sole and all-encompassing focus the other person and what they have to say. 
• Slow. It. Down. Going too fast is one of the mistakes all negotiators are prone to making. If we’re too much in a hurry, people can feel as if they’re not being heard. You risk undermining the rapport and trust you’ve built. 
• Put a smile on your face. When people are in a positive frame of mind, they think more quickly, and are more likely to collaborate and problem solve (instead of fight and resist). Positivity creates mental agility in both you and your counterpart

The Promise of 5G - Accelerates Digital Enablement

 The Promise of 5G - Accelerates Digital Enablement 

Use cases example:

• IOT, Surveillance
• Networking redundancy option
• Industrial Automation Robotics
• Edge Architecture, AR/VR 

Source Credit: Gartner

Customer Experience Principles for Business Growth

The ten principles behind great customer experiences defined by Matt Watkinson in his book 

• 1. Great customer experiences strongly reflect the customer’s identity 
•  2. Great customer experiences satisfy our higher objectives 
•  3. Great customer experiences leave nothing to chance 
•  4. Great customer experiences set and then meet expectations 
•  5. Great customer experiences are effortless 
•  6. Great customer experiences are stress free 
•  7. Great customer experiences indulge the senses 
•  8. Great customer experiences are socially engaging 
•  9. Great customer experiences put the customer in control 
•  10. Great customer experiences consider the emotions

Weekend Reading

• This synthetic bio startup raised $52 million to make tumours reveal themselves
• The best books on The Age of Revolution
• Is your differentiation based on outcome or features
• New eCommerce paradigm - look at boxes trucks and bikes
• Why NPS doesn't mean Retention
• Five golden rules for coaching 

Creating Value by Digital Transformation

 Mckinsey writes how Boards can create value via Digital Transformation.

Digital transformations aren’t about being digital; they’re about creating value. That aligns with the board’s most important mandate, and the board can be particularly helpful in assessing value across three vectors: 

• Scale. The typical aspirations of digital transformations often lead to changes at the margins (5–10 percent increases over the previous year). This is fueled by an insufficient understanding of what digital can do. As a rule of thumb, digital initiatives should have the potential to change at least 20 percent of operating profits. Boards can push their CEOs to shoot higher. 
• Source. Technology is often an efficiency conversation about cost savings. But the greater value of tech is in its ability to build value. Recent McKinsey research into cloud economics, for example, has shown that as much as 75 percent of the $1 trillion at stake in cloud will come from business innovation. Directors can make sure that management is exploring ways to tap tech to create new sources of value. 
• Scope. Short-term pressures can overtake any business, especially when the market is volatile. Digital transformations, however, require long-term commitments to reap the full rewards they can deliver. Boards can press their CEOs to make sufficient expenditures for long-term initiative

More here 

Quotes - How to Shape Vision and Leadership

8 catchy quotes to shape your vision of leadership and management by Leslie Petrequin:

1. “Play chess not checkers”. 

2. “How you handle *the bus* says a lot about your management style.” 

3. “How you handle *the bus* says a lot about your management style.” 

4. “The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.” 

5. “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor.” 

6. “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with ~Jim Rohn”. 

7. “Hire for attitude, train for skills”. 

8. “You can’t find people you are not looking for”. 

More here

Weekend Reading

• Accelerate Your Sales Success
• A Virtuous Cycle of Entrepreneurship
• How Humanity Gave Itself an Extra Life
• The Truth About Mental Models with Shane Parris
• How to Do Hybrid Right

Weekend Reading

 

• Innovations inspired by Nature
• Why smart and hardworking people don't succeed
• Inspiring books to read
• Accelerate your professional services business
• Framework to grow your business

Strategy elements under the hood

 What every strategy design needs to consider and address by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink  

• Value Proposition: What products and services you offer, how you offer them, and what added value they have for the customer. 
• Customers & Needs: The organizations and people you serve and which needs of them you fulfil. 
• Competitors: Others that your customers will compare you to in deciding whether or not to buy your products or services. 
• Resources & Competencies: What you have, what you are good at, and what makes you unique. 
• Partners: Who you work with and who makes your products or services more valuable. 
• Revenue Model: What you receive in return for your offer, from whom, how, and when. 
• Risks & Costs: What financial, social, and other risks and costs your bear and how you manage these. 
• Values & Goals: What you want, where you want to go and what you find important. 
• Organizational Climate: What your culture and structure look like and what is special about them. 
• Trends & Uncertainties: What happens around you that affects your organization and what uncertainties you face.

More on this topic at Forbes

Australias AAA Rating is Safe

From AFR 

The world’s biggest credit rating agency gave a vote of confidence to Australia’s ‘‘strong’’ economic rebound and suppression of the COVID-19 virus. 

The endorsement removes the threat of a downgrade since S&P put Australia on a ‘‘negative’’ outlook at the peak of pandemic panic in April last year and which could have increased the cost of borrowing for the $1.6 trillion in federal government debt projected over the next decade. 

S&P forecasts the federal budget deficit to shrink faster than the government’s projections because the rating agency assumes the iron ore price will be higher than the government’s conservative assumption of $US55 a tonne.

Books Wish List for Next Six Months

 Books wish list for next 6 months.

• AI First Company
• Amazon Unbound
• Noise - A Flaw in Judgement 
• Doughnut Economics

Weekend Reading

 

• Aussie Startup acquired in the US for $2bn  
• How to write a B2B sales proposition
• Humanity is stuck in short term thinking?
• How to retain your customers
• Build things that can last 1000 years
• What do prospects think when salespeople fail
• AIs Competitive Advantage

Digital Enablement - Automation to HyperAutomation

 

Source: Gartner

B2B Sales - CIOs Persona Mapping

Applying the Persona Mapping framework, on CIOs, from my upcoming book at Amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales".

 

B2B Sales Tips

• How to Avoid no Decision Deal
• The New Sales Imperative
• Sales Blocker?
• Revenue Target needs 3x The Sales Pipeline
• Overcoming 3 Common Sales Objections 

Types of Digital Ecosystems

 

Source: Gartner

Weekend Reading

 

• How B2B brands benefit from collaborating with influencers
• Selling against the status quo  
• Edge computing opportunities 
• Nine books for every content writer
• Investor for startups - good/bad
• Will Apple get into Electric Car Business? 

Why Buyers Persona Matters in B2B Sales

Does Buyers Persona Matter in B2B Sales and Marketing Execution?

Read here, here, here and here why it matters.

Elevate Your B2B Brand with Emotional Connect

How B2B Technology Vendors Can Make an Emotional Connection With Their Customers

Most B2B technology businesses focus their marketing communications messages on features and benefits. Beyond promoting features and benefits, B2B technology businesses can differentiate themselves by connecting emotionally. 

Following questions to ask yourself when assessing if you're making an emotional connection with your customers can be read here.

Building Digital Business - 6 Archetypes

Mckinsey writes about 6 different models for building the digital business.

More can be read here 

Weekend Reading

 Weekend Reading

• B2B Sales Trend - For Buyers and Sellers
• Strategic Debt - killer for startups
• How products can speed up development
• Myths in Negotiation - Debunked 
• B2B Sales - Leaders use data to drive better sales performance

Post COVID - Know Your Dynamic Demand Profile Trigger

 Post-COVID - Know Your Dynamic Demand Profile Trigger to Identify Growth Areas 

Source: HBR October 2020 Edition

Sales Planning and Execution in a Digital World

B2B Sales Planning and Execution - Strategic Lens and Tools for Achieving Success in a Digital world

 

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - XI

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales". 

How to apply the framework of five elements on a stakeholder for persona mapping.    

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Narendra Modi  

Background

Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. He is the first prime minister born after India's independence and the second non-Congress one to win two consecutive terms with a majority.

Appearance

• The following characteristics indicate that his primary element is Earth:
• he has a round nose tip and a protruding belly 
• he has a thicker nose bridge and full lips
• he has angled jaws and protruding cheekbones, and
• he speaks with gravitas
• The following characteristics suggest that his secondary element is Fire:
• he has a medium build or height
• he has bright eyes and a unique sparkle
• his ears are pointy, and 
• he walks swiftly

Engagement, Communication, Clothing

• Earth attributes are evident in the following behaviours:
• he believes in serving others
• he is stubborn (doesn't like to be pushed around), and once he decides, he doesn't change his decision no matter what happens (like the demonetisation or legislation for removing Article 370 from the constitution)
• he is also secretive – with surgical strikes over Pakistan and the execution of the demonetisation in India, which were designed and implemented with the utmost secrecy  
• he always listens to his friends or inner coterie; for example, he used to consult late Arun Jaitley as his sounding board before taking any critical decision 
• he is a hardworking workaholic and typically works 18 hrs a day and for 365 days a year; since 2014, he hasn't taken a day off from his office, and
• he is also resentful – he is known to go after people who demonise or go against him, like how he won’t give interviews to a few journalists and has made their life very challenging in their profession  
• The following supplementary behaviours suggest Fire is the secondary element: 
• he loves new beginnings and comes up with new initiatives regularly - like skill India, startup India, water and electricity for every household
• he is fond of public speaking and likes to put on a show; for example, he regularly comes on a radio program named "mun kee baat", and when he celebrates any occasion, it's done with a grandeur
• he is inspirational and always promotes the idea of doing something real and meaningful
• he also brings money by going overseas or inviting foreign companies to come to India and do business; every year, Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is used for signing MOU's with foreign companies; under his tenure, India's FDI has reached its highest level since independence
• he is also driven by action (spends long hours and weekends at work), and
• he likes to wear bright coloured clothes

Summary

By analysing the appearance, engagement, communication and clothing style of Narendra Modi, it is evident that his primary element is Earth, and the second element is Fire. His tertiary element could be attributed to Space (Metal).

In terms of his engagement with others, his primary element, Earth, means that he finds it hard to work with people with Air and/or Water as their primary element because Air and Water are in a non-parental child relationship with Earth. People with Fire and Space (Metal) as their primary element would work well with him. These two elements are in a parent-child relationship with Earth, giving way to harmony prevailing among them. 

Image Credit: Pinterest

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Previous articles can be read here

• Part 10 on How to apply elements framework for Product vs Service-Centric Sales can be read here
• Part 9 on How to apply elements framework on how a Procurement Executive will engage can be read here 
• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Weekend Reading

 Weekend Reading

• AT&T Cash flow continues to grow - Fibre, Postpaid and HBO Making a difference
• The digital currencies that mater
• High performance brian to text communication via handwriting
• In a letter in the journal Science, 18 prominent biologists are calling on China's laboratories and agencies to "open their records" to independent analysis
• In Person or On Video   

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - X

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the five elements framework for Product vs Service Centric Sales.

--

Next: Coming up

• How to apply elements for identifying Narendra Modi's Persona, Prime Minister of India

--

Previous articles can be read here.

• Part 9 on How to apply elements framework on how a Procurement Executive will engage can be read here 
• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here.
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here.
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Australian Economy - Reviving

The economy is ‘roaring back to life’ - key indicators below: 

The budget bottom line is $133 billion, which $30 billion better than forecasts in December, due largely to surging income taxes off the back of jobs growth, as well as increased superannuation and company taxes. The former reflects a rebounding share market, the latter a business recovery led by retail. 

More details here - https://lnkd.in/gSCQqfG

 

Iron Ore demand by China is cushioning the debt.

 

Recovery in Employment

 

Weekend Reading

Weekend Reading

• What history tells you about post-pandemic booms - read here 
• Voyager Digital: 18,000% Revenue Growth And Better Interest Than Coinbase - more here 
• Funding Friday: Pattern Alphabet cards for exploring nature - more here
• Making large-scale, functional, electronic textiles - more here

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - IX

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the five elements framework when engaging a Procurement Executive. 

--

Next: Coming up

• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here.

• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here.
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here.
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - VIII

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

Cheat Sheet for applying the framework of elements for B2B Sales Planning and Execution 

--

Next: Coming up

• How a Procurement Executive will Engage
• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here

• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here 
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here 

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - VII

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the framework of elements on a stakeholder for persona mapping  

-

Application 

The first step is to identify the key elements representing their human traits to apply this framework to any individual. Out of the five elements, a primary and a secondary element plays a vital role in shaping our personality and appearance. Let's apply this framework of creation and destruction of five elements and their elemental attributes with few examples to identify primary and secondary elements.

Steve Jobs

Background

Steven Paul Jobs was an American business magnate, industrial designer, investor, and media proprietor. He was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve is widely recognised as a pioneer of the personal computer and smartphone revolutions.

Appearance

The following characteristics indicate that Space (Metal) element as primary:

• had a muscular body but in the latter part of life became slim because of illness
• his face was oval-shaped
• had lined lower cheeks, and 
• had wide space between features

The following characteristics suggest that the Fire element is secondary:

• had a pointy nose, and 
• had long hair in his youth and later on became partly bald with a receding hairline

Engagement, Communication, Clothing

Space (Metal) attributes are evident in the following behaviours 

• was self-made and was always keen on the big picture
• was emotionless (even left his daughter)
• loved designer clothes and expensive items (he built his own luxury yacht)
• was meticulously neat and tidy (apple stores, new apple head office, practised the philosophy of minimalism at home and work)
• was a perfectionist (iPhone and iPad), logical in thinking
• highly critical (openly criticised Adobes Flash for crashing ios devices and mac), and
• his email responses were concise and minimal (he used to respond to customer queries from his iPhone with 1-2 lines of text only)

The following supplementary behaviours suggest Fire is the secondary element 

• he loved new beginnings
• was fond of public speaking and putting a show (apple events) 
• driven by action (spent long hours and weekends at work)
• was inspirational and always promoted the ideas of doing something real, inspiring uni students with his talks
• brought money with him (he started as a salesman and became one of the best salesmen), and 
• lacked boundaries and was impulsive (was widely know to shout at staff if they didn't meet his very high standards) 
• righteousness (lost his cool and criticised Eric Schmidt for copying Apple design by Googles Android)

Summary

By analysing the appearance, engagement, communication and clothing style of Steve Jobs, it is evident that his primary element was Space (Metal), and the second element was Fire. His tertiary element could be attributed to Air.

In terms of his engagement with others, his primary element, Space (Metal), meant that he found it hard to work with people having Air and Fire as their primary element because Air and Fire are in a non-parental child relationship with Space (Metal). People with Earth and Water as their primary element would have worked well with him as these two elements are in a parent-child relationship with Space (Metal). Giving way to harmony prevailing among them.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Next: Coming up 

• Cheat Sheet for Sales Planning and Execution using Five Elements   
• How a Procurement Executive will Engage
• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here

• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here 
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here