B to B Marketers: do you spend as much time speaking with your direct buyer audience as you do speaking with your distribution channels ? Remember the game of telephone where we would each take a turn whispering a message to someone else; how often was the last person in the chain able to duplicate the original message?
The importance of being in touch with the ultimate end user cannot be under-estimated. 
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Words of wisdom from a recent media training class that I attended. 
Sometimes, we talk too much. We are uncomfortable with the pregnant pause – the silence between conversations. Framed within the context of speaking to the media and not having full control over the comments or PARTS of your comments that will be published, the words ring true.
Probably a good piece of advice for many of our daily conversations as well. Do you agree?
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
NOT an age thing More #millennials report experiencing age discrimination than Gen X and Boomers combined, per recent AARP Research. This represents huge opportunities for cross generational work flows.
Did you collaborate with someone today who has 10 or more years of age than you do? Let’s create some conversation – What was it like?
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Words of wisdom from a recent media training class that I attended. 
Sometimes, we talk too much. We are uncomfortable with the pregnant pause – the silence between conversations. Framed within the context of speaking to the media and not having full control over the comments or PARTS of your comments that will be published, the words ring true.
Probably a good piece of advice for many of our daily conversations as well. Do you agree?
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Listening to a panel discussion on Healthcare Consumerism, an audience member pointed out an age-old phrase that rang ever so true: Information is NOT Knowledge.
Information is only knowledge when it can be used in a productive, beneficial manner. Too much of the healthcare information that we are exposed to daily is written in lingo that few understand or that necessitates a glossary of words to explain.
We do this in almost every industry. Healthcare. Insurance. Retirement Plans. Nutritional Content.
What are you doing to ensure that the information that you acquire is turned into knowledge that can be used advantageously for yourself and those you care about?
Do you share information or knowledge with others?
Join the conversation……
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Millennials call it forgetfulness or a memory lapse; Boomers call it a senior moment or a brain freeze. Source: AARP Research When boomers use these terms, are they subconsciously reinforcing out of date perceptions? #disruptaging
This question can have a pivotal impact across any aspect of our lives. If only, I had known that? Why didn’t someone tell me? Can I backdate it?
“Knowing everything” is impossible however creating an infrastructure of information/data which heightens your awareness of issues that are applicable to your situation can be improved. Here are six ways to increase your chances of asking the “right questions” to ensure that you are getting more of the “right information” coming your way:
1. Ask incident related questions vs general questions.
Instead of asking: How is it going today? Or how is business, start asking more specific incident-related questions:
• Tell me about the last new piece of business you closed
• Tell me about the last employee you hired
• Did John give you an update on the five client requests made during the March 10 meeting
2. Ask the same question more than once to different people.
Did you ever call a utility company or insurance company and receive completely different answers to the same question — from two different people within the same 60 minute period of time. It happens every day and it goes beyond the quality of the service training. It reflects the experience and the empowerment levels of the person handling your request. Hang up the phone and call back if the answer is important enough to you!
3. Let me tell you what I am going to tell you, and then tell you what I told you that I would tell you.
Creating awareness and interest is a never-ending marketing challenge, Studies show that making an impression on someone can take anywhere from 7 to 20 exposure points across multiple channels of influence.
In addition to telling your story multiple times and in multiple ways, remember to stop and ask questions that are as specific as possible. In small discussion settings, pull from your knowledge of the participants history to open up the dialogue. Whenever possible, the goal is to understand how someone else handled a situation. Are there insights that would help you ask different questions?
4. Can I prevent this from happening again?
We all have situations that annoy the heck out of us, especially since they keep happening again and again. We come up with a plan to remedy the situation so that eventually we are less annoyed and more adept at handling the situation. However, have we truly resolved the core reason behind the incomplete transaction, the never-ending disruptions, or the repetitive errors that need to be corrected?
The application of: How do we know what we do not know in this situation is to make sure to let others know how a problem was solved. This supports continuous improvement in work flow and case management so that the root cause of the situation can be adjusted!
5. Ask someone who really cares.
Some people give their heart and soul to specific causes. Find those who have walked in your shoes. Others devote their lives to providing the support services to the situation you are seeking answers. Ask someone who truly cares, as their answer will point to both the emotional and functional issues that are pivotal to your success.
6. Having the courage to take a leap of faith.
The amount of information in our domain is doubling within brief periods of time. Analysis-Paralysis is no longer possible. A smart pilot program can mitigate the risk. Small changes that can be seen in a conservative culture as acceptable iterations to the process……..move the process forward.
Former NY Mayor Ed Koch created an environment of wanting feedback by including his famous “How am I Doing” question with every appearance. How do you know what you do not know? Start by taking an inquisitive nature to life, always looking for new ways to make the questions you ask more insight.
In keeping with this philosophy, I ask you to share a question with me that you now ask on a regular basis that has made a difference in your life.
Give a man a fish and he eats a meal; Give a man a fishing rod and he feeds himself forever. Give a man a bottle of water and he can drink throughout the day. Maybe…..however it is worth taking note of the modern version of a hotel water fountain. It certainly makes it easier for us to stay hydrated in an environmentally-friendly format throughout the day.
Here’s an interesting water bottle factoid: “According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86% of plastic water bottles used in the US become garbage that ends up in landfills throughout the country. Considering that approximately 60 million plastic water bottles are used every day in the US, we can assume that nearly 18,834,000,000 end up in the landfill each year. Each bottle can take up to 700 years to decompose.” (Source)
Are you using a singular water bottle throughout the day — one that you carry with you and refill as required?
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Puffery – OK……Misleading statements – NOT OK
This proclamation came up in a recent business meeting. Unfortunately there was not enough time to discuss the specifics around the criteria for these two categories of information. Wikipedia defines puffery as a promotional statement that is subjective vs. objective in nature and as such….no “reasonable person” would take literally.
Hmmmm. Take a look at any recent newspaper, news feed, TV or radio commentary – How ya’doing differentiating fact from fiction these days? Puffery? Misleading statements?
As a reasonable person, where are you getting your information these days?
#agreesharon
Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.
Let me know what you think.
Waiting on a store check-out line, I listened to the telephone conversation of the person standing behind me. The dialogue was around customer service. “ I want my customers to receive the best possible customer service from my staff. At the same time”, he continued, “I will not allow my own staff to be bullied or intimidated.”
It seems that a staff member was upset because the customer’s approach was something like: “This is what you will do to correct the situation now” as opposed to “I would like to see you do the following to make good on the situation. What would be the next steps for this to take place?”
In your own dealings: Do you ask them OR tell them what you want? As my father-in-law used to say: You get more with honey than vinegar! Now, go make like a honey bee.
Sharon Lewis 