Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 03/04/2024

In 1982 John Naisbitt wrote the huge best-seller, Megatrends, ten new directions for transforming our lives. It was probably the first of its kind in terms of making disruptive predictions, and it contained the famous admonition: “high tech/high touch.” The book has been on my shelf for the last quarter century.

The premise, of course, was that the further we proceeded with “high tech” (in the 80s, this would have been fax machines, pagers, Polaroid cameras, and such, and companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, Ericsson) the more we needed “high touch.” The latter was about “personalization”—using live operators, creating personal calls, avoiding strictly “robotic” and automated interactions.

My social proof today would include those automated cashier machines in pharmacies with the chastising voice harping that you haven’t scanned correctly or haven’t moved your purchase to the loading platform. This requires an actual human employee to come over, silently curse you and the machine, and resolve the errors. That’s not saving money or time. However, an ATM machine doesn’t require any human interaction from the bank for the transaction and serves a fine purpose.

My cars are automated beyond belief, but I can hit a button and rapidly talk to an OnStar rep for roadside assistance, reservations, directions, or other matters. (If you use WAZE, you have an automated GPS system constantly updated by other drivers inputting information on road hazards, police, accidents, and so on—high tech and high touch.)

My point to you (this is an automated distribution newsletter, but every word is mine, not the pompous Chat, and many of you exchange “high touch” emails with me after each issue) is that most things in life are rheostats, not “on/off” switches. They are subject to degrees of use and application. (We don’t set the thermostats “on and off,” we choose a setting which we often change.) We will not be a nation of solely electric cars (my prediction is for a rotting electric infrastructure when we finally admit we can’t power national networks and the system is environmentally negative), we will not use AI to replace our writing, math, and thinking (assuming you can do those things now), and high tech is going to be augmented by high touch, just as Naisbitt observed.

If you don’t believe that, you can write me (high tech) and I’ll write you back (high touch). Yesterday was my birthday, and not one machine has, of its own accord, sent me a gift!

In the Buyer’s Office

I’ve been asked to elaborate on the extremely popular “In the Buyer’s Office” videos on a regular basis. So I’m going to stop whining about doing it, and do it. I’m offering a 1.5-day, live session in Rhode Island during which everyone will get the chance to sell to the buyer and to be the buyer. You may record this if you like. You’ll learn how to, and apply how to:

• Open the meeting gracefully and move quickly to your objective.
• Handle distractions.
• Overcome objections.
• Reframe and pivot the conversation.
• Create trust, find key issues, create conceptual agreement, and “pour cement.”
• Create a resultant proposal with over an 80% probability of acceptance of options 2 or 3.

For those of you who can’t travel or are afraid of TSA, I’m offering the same experience (as much as possible) virtually over the course of three mornings. All of this will be recorded for distribution. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/in-the-buyers-office/

Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com

Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/

Sentient Strategy Certification: My new book on the topic (above) has been released, so this is an ideal time to market Sentient Strategy. Write me to apply, join over 70 people certified in six countries. One-time fee of $12,000, includes 90 days of my support, free admission to all future certifications, and admission to a private web board with other Sentient facilitators.  alan@summitconsulting.com In a recent program a participant sold a $100,000 strategy program within 48 hours. Write me at [email protected] The next certification session spans April 4 and 5, each morning by Zoom.