“God, this is one big proposal that we’re about to send out to Big Potential Client. I’m tired of looking at it. I’m sure that the dollars, scope, terms, and conditions that our sales team put in here are reasonable. I’ll sign it. Or wait, should I spend another hour […]
Phil
172 posts
“Impatience …always results from one cause: an underestimation of the amount of time the job will take. You never really know what will come up and very few jobs get done as quickly as planned. Impatience is the first reaction against a setback and can soon turn to anger if […]
“The Dark Star of High Intelligence “Astronomers have discovered that Sirius, the brightest star int he sky, has a dark companion: a lightless, infinitely heavy presence turning endlessly in space in a tight orbit with the blazing star. Hubris is the dark companion of personal brilliance… “Hubris is a powerful […]
“Some marketing experts recommend that in creating a direct mail program, you should devote half your time to creating the reply form. “…most marketers spend too much effort on the sale–and too little on the ‘buy.'” “Think how often you have been virtually sold on something, but chose not to […]
Many of my clients have “project-based” businesses like graphic design, conference planning, or even real estate development. I often remind these clients, “before you chase a piece of business, make sure it fits your criteria for a ‘good project’. Because if it isn’t a good project, why would you want […]
“Why are negotiators unprepared? “People assume “just talking” is low risk “Sometimes we may think that preparation is unimportant. Since we know that we cannot be forced into an agreement, we see little risk in saying, “Let’s hear what the other side has to say.” If we like it, we […]
“We are so anxious to achieve some particular end that we never pay attention to the psycho-physical means whereby that end is to be gained. So far as we are concerned, any old means is good enough. But the nature of the universe is such that ends can never justify […]