What’s the Point?

I walked past a construction site in Manhattan and was fascinated by all the heavy equipment. Some were manufactured by Komatsu, the huge Japanese company. What struck me was that some of the behemoth machines had aerodynamic shaping and seemingly modern style aspects. However, none of this machinery was capable of moving more than a few miles per hour, if that, so eliminating wind resistance is really irrelevant!

I see drills with the same rounded edges and presumably irrelevant physical features. When I say “irrelevant,” it’s because no one needs a drill, what they need is a hole! If the drill can’t make the kind of hole desired, it’s useless. If those large machines can’t move huge loads or lift heavy objects, they’re useless.

Focus on the end result desired, and the best way of achieving it. A drill is superior to a hammer and nail, but only if you need a hole. If you don’t need a hole, you don’t need a drill, and certainly not an aerodynamic one!

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

It’s become clever to say that “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission,” but that’s not always true: robbing a bank, cheating on a test, breaking into a line in Manhattan will neither get you permission nor forgiveness.

But we often deal with clients (or friends or family) with whom we can get something productive done better if we don’t ask and don’t tell anyone what we’ve done. Such as allowing my daughter to drive the car in order to teach her how to drive and “forgetting” to mention it to my wife. Or providing an anonymous gift at the holidays to people I know really need it without revealing myself and avoiding any sense of obligation or publicity.

In other words, if you’re doing a good deed sometimes you neither have to ask nor tell.

The Case for Wisdom

“Age” and “aging” are two different things.

“Age” is the chronological tracking of how many years you’ve lived. “Aging” is the physical and mental changes that accrue as you age.

Associating mental deterioration with aging is not smart. Many people are on top of their game, getting smarter, as they age. And with our lower birthrates, we had better utilize the talents of everyone, despite age, to continue to thrive (along with an intelligent use of AI and of immigration, if that’s possible).

I haven’t heard anyone speak of the “wisdom of those in their twenties.” Wisdom only arrives when you’ve been around long enough to acquire it.

Just Created:

Using Contemporary Events to Generate Uniqueness and Extreme Value to Buyers

One day I was forced by my buyer at a St. Louis hospital to attend a board reception before my speech. I simply could not get out of it, so I began to “mingle.” I met a man who owned the largest trucking firm in Missouri and the eighth largest in the nation. I said to him, “How does the bankruptcy of consolidate freight affect you?” (I had read that in the Wall Street Journal on the plane.) He spoke for 15 minutes and asked if we could talk again later. He became a client.

Are you aware that supply chains are being “shrunk” in order to be less dependent on foreign sources and intervention? Do you appreciate the fact that use of telehealth has increased by a factor of 38 since the pandemic and is expected to grow almost 25% annually from its current $100 billion in revenues? There are 32 million small businesses in the US, small business comprise 99.9% of all global businesses, and 50% of all of them fail in the first five years due to clearly preventable factors.

Two bad service experiences prompt about half of your customers to quit the brand.

This will run on March 4 at 10:30AM US Eastern time, on Zoom, and will be recorded for distribution later. My birthday is the prior day, Sunday, March 3, and so your gift to me is $900. Includes recording. Bring your own coffee.

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.

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.

New: 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.

Sentient Strategy Certification

My new book on the topic released in March 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. In a recent program a particpant sold a $100,000 strategy program within 48 hours.