When you reduce your price and still offer the same product or service, it’s not negotiating, it’s discounting. Now the main reasons why discounts are given is for volume, (sometimes this can make sense), to generate new business, (normally a discounted offer for a trial period), or the asking price is not appropriate in the […]
The book “On War” by Prussian General, Carl von Clausewitz, published in 1832, suggested there are four main strategies when it comes to warfare. In 1986, Al Ries and Jack Trout, took these and applied them to marketing in their book, “Marketing Warfare”. Recently, I’ve observed a number of businesses deploying excellent tactics but not […]
In a letter dated April,1887, John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, described his concerns about the church and the monarchy: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption […]
Seth Godin recommended reading ‘The Wizard and the Prophet’ by Charles C Mann. It’s the tale of two men: William Vogt (Prophet) and Norman Borlaug (Wizard) and how their polar opposite views of the world influence the choices we must make today to impact the four huge challenges we face: food, water, energy and climate […]
I have a ritual to conclude my annual planning process. After working on my various business plans, personal finances, holidays, family and social goals, fitness plan, personal development and other targets, I review it all and seek a single word to summarise the direction I’m heading in. I do this as it enables me to […]
In the last month, I’ve delivered 18 hours of presentations to full members of the property portal, On the Market. The sessions covered all the main learnings from 20+ years of coaching business owners and senior directors. The content has been inspired and influenced by some great people: Jim Collins Stephen R Covey Stephen MR […]
This is a question I addressed during my #Property Academy HR Clinic in May 2021. It arises from a common misconception that they are unenforceable. In fact, legal commentary currently suggests that these types of restrictions are increasingly being upheld. The reality is that many organisations attempt, often successfully, to enforce restrictive covenants but because […]
Everyone has been affected to one degree or another. Of course, if you’ve lost a loved one, had a business fail, or had some other truly awful experience, then it’s understandable that your response will be very different to those who’ve swerved the serious symptoms of the virus or only been inconvenienced, ie 90%+ of […]
Most businesses have always been based in physical buildings. Indeed, it’s a legal requirement for a limited company to have a registered office, a place where notices, etc. can be served. But for a decade or longer, and of course now massively accelerated by the pandemic, many people work remotely. Up to now the focus […]
Josh Phegan posed an interesting question to our Future Leaders Group last week – he asked, “When someone says they’re experiencing mental health issues, could it in fact be emotional issues?” “Semantics” some of you might be thinking but let’s consult the dictionary to settle that: Mental 1. Relating to the mind ‘mental faculties’ 2. […]