The way you say it….

client management, problem solving, relationships, Speaking, Uncategorized

A few weeks back I had written a few posts about the relevance of asking questions.

One of the things I have noticed in handling clients over many years, is that they all come in different shapes and sizes – literally and figuratively.

To build rapport with someone you need to gauge the person and then speak to them in a way that resonates with them.

Most of the problems that occur in client interactions is not because the client is demanding or whether the delivery is not happening at the right time or in the right way.

Its mostly about how you say, what you say and the tone in which you which makes a lot of difference. In addition if you make the client a partner in the solution then it works even better, because then she would like to see the solution succeed even more than you do.

Building long term clients who keep doing business with you for years to come, has a lot to do with how you handle them. It takes years to build relationships but you start with a simple step in how you say what you want to say.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Can-Do

mindset, possibility thinking, problem solving

The first international foray that I was personally involved with was into Singapore. The OEM partner (the elephant that we chose to ride at that time) that we used to work with had their regional headquarters in Singapore. The India geography was part of South Asia which used to be clubbed with ASEAN at that time.

While we had our own operation in the US also, this was the first international operation which would be handled out of India. Eventually we were able to execute business in 11 countries out of India.

The various people whom I met in our partner’s office were nice and helpful. However there was one lady who I remember even today because of a phrase she used “CAN-DO”. She was responsible for the business from Singapore for our partner.

I remember we were both in the car and she was explaining the challenges that they face while doing Implementation and asked me questions on various scenarios and how we would handle such situations since we were based out of India. After I had answered all the situations honestly she just mentioned ” I like your CAN-DO attitude “. We eventually went on to do business in Singapore and all the other ASEAN countries for years.

I have always tried to find solutions with whatever I have – quite often I have failed, but a lot of times I have succeeded spectacularly but no one had given this attitude of mine a name. This possibility thinking has got me a lot of rewards.

Now when people try to keep show casing all the reasons why a problem can’t be solved, I use the same term and ask them to learn to get a “CAN-DO” attitude.

Till next time then …. “CAN-DO”

Carpe Diem!!!

Ferocity – 2

Habits, problem solving, Questions

In the last post on this topic I had pointed out how Steven Kotler talks about Ferocity , in his book The Art of the Impossible, to be able to achieve impossible dreams. The basic premise is that if you make a habit of going after big problems and solving them , then you can achieve Impossible dreams.

Having worked on this aspect I think it is also important to ensure that we learn to anticipate the small problems that can come our way while attempting to handle the bigger ones.

Otherwise the small problems act as a diversion of your energy and resources. You end up trying to manage the small things and the bigger prize gets away. There’s a phrase in English about missing the forest for the trees which would be apt for this.

So while you go with a ferocity to making a habit to solve bigger and bigger problems, you also need to make a habit of diagnosing the roadblocks.

Just yesterday while we were at a customer location to handle some complex issue, just the fact that we did not have an adequate answer to a minor question derailed our discussion. I had warned my colleague, who was accompanying me , and whose line of work we were talking about, this question was coming up for sure, but he didn’t take it seriously and our sign-off discussion got derailed.

Especially when you are targeting a problem which has a human element , then knowing about the nuances of the people involved and how they could derail a process has to be planned out well in advance.

Till next time then….

Carpe Diem!!!

Just ask….why finding what’s wrong is critical

Assumptions, Marketing, problem solving, Product Management, Questions

I have a pretty large ego. This comes into play a lot of times. And most of the times when I let it takeover I end up with a mess on my hands.

Especially when we have been in a role for some time we create a tool box for solving problems…and we end up molding the problem into what can be solved by the tools in the tool box.

So when things are not going the way they should be, in the market , we end up taking action using our tools which have proven worthy earlier. We assume we know the problem and like earlier can be solved the same way.

However markets are different…..they are dynamic in nature…the customers, your competitors and the environment are all changing, all the time. As a marketing or product management person you cannot let time pass while you keep grappling with the tools in your tool box.

This does not mean that having a tool box of proven techniques is bad. It is just that we should be quick to figure out if things are not working.

Sometimes its better to find out what’s wrong then to be proven wrong by the market. That happens when you start asking.

Till next time then…just ask.

Carpe Diem!!!