Meetings That Don’t Suck!

Here are some useful tips on how to organize good, productive meetings:

Kill the status meeting: check-in meetings are not efficient or relevant to everyone
Hold one-on-one meetings sacred: more important than group meetings
Every meeting must have a single owner
Your calendar doesn’t make you important: you don’t have to sit at every meeting
Calendars shouldn’t postpone decisions: you should be available for decision making meetings
Keep meetings small: under 5 people
Consider the opportunity cost of every meeting
Treat other people’s calendars as a scarce resource
Escalate, don’t undermine: just move to the decision makers
If the meeting is over, end the meeting: if you finish early, end the meeting
Declare calendar bankruptcy: if need be, start over with your bookings

Hidden Psychology Of Why Customers Come Back

Apply these 3 simple technique to get more customers:

Labor = Love (Ikea Effect): the more time or work we put into something, the more valuable it becomes for us
Consistency counts (turn the small sign to the big sign): it is much easier to use the past behaviour and previous experiences into something bigger rather than having a big ask upfront
We avoid cognitive dissonance (Aesop’s Fable – Fox and grape hanging from the vine): if it is too hard to reach, it must be bad and we don’t like it

August 4, 2014 by Behzad on Communication, Systems

Remember this life cycle when developing a habit-forming products to win more customers:

First, you need a trigger, such as an advertisement, commercial, or other marketing materials
The customer needs to take an action, and the customer has to have the will and also be able to take the action in simple steps
Customer has to be instantly rewarded for taking the action and using the product
The product has to be habit-building by offering rewards and changing the customer’s behaviour for the customer to take the action again

Start off with a joke
Get on their level
Very important: I very very slightly slur my words
Try to use JUST one word plus one image per page
Try to shock people on each slide
Self-deprecating, showing you have the same fears, worries, faults that they do and let’s solve some of those problems
A talk should be a three act structure GREED, FEAR and SHOW — I personally prefer AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action
The Pretty Girl Rule: it’s about presentation
Never ever self-promote
Simple facts nobody knows
Tell Stories. This is a must. Whenever anyone goes to a talk they are signing up for a couple of reasons:
1. They want to know they are OK
2. They want to know how they can be better
3. They want to be entertained
4. They want to know more about you
Get the full article here.

June 11, 2012 by Behzad on Communication

These words have been proven to evoke emotion in a listener or reader [attributed to a research from the Psychology Department of Duke University].

How do you feel after reading these words?

March 16, 2012 by Behzad on Communication, Sales

Remember to

Not reject the idea you hear right off the bat. Listen to it carefully and try to understand where it is coming from. The chances are the people in the meeting are more interested about that.
Never forget to say “How Can I Help You?”
Always have a follow-on action and continue the conversation beyond the meeting
State the perks connection with you can bring to the table and mention your capabilities and resources
Share the big picture of what you are working on
Stay GENUINE

February 12, 2011 by Behzad on Communication

Five things you should not say while negotiating:

“Between”, don’t use a range in your offering
“I think we are close”, it’s a sign of frustration and willingness to compromise
“Why don’t you throw out a number?”, be the first bidder
“I’m the final decision maker”, always leave some room for advice from your dog!
“Fuck you”, I say use it if needed

Source [Inc.com]