Loud Thinking

Archive for May, 2014

Don’t Ignore the Customers Who Love You Most

Many managers are skeptical of superconsumers’ potential, assuming they can’t be persuaded to buy more — even though they’re responsible for a large portion of a product’s sales, highly engaged with the brand, and not particularly price sensitive. As companies build up their analytic capabilities, they must become better at identifying and engaging this group. Doing so can often reveal hidden opportunities for growth and insights that can drive product strategy. Because superconsumers are passionate about a category or brand, they are an ideal audience for testing out new product ideas (in many cases, they themselves are a source of new ideas). And they’re easy to reach, so you can increase the efficiency of your advertising and promotions by focusing efforts on a narrow slice of your customer base, instead of trying to activate lapsed users through expensive mass-market campaigns.

Adapted from “ Make Your Best Customers Even Better” by Eddie Yoon, Steve Carlotti, and Dennis Moore.

“I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something and if you are not making someone else’s life better then you are wasting your time.”

— Will Smith

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

Oprah Winfrey (born 1954);
American television host, publisher

“From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do — now.”

— Epictetus

Integrity is to act according to moral and ethical principles.

“A constructive, useful life, good works, and good relationships are as valid as writing poetry or inventing a machine. Anything that one does well and obtains satisfaction from is a good enough reason for living. To be a decent human being that people like and feel better for knowing is enough.”

Robert Gould
Poet

Attitude is All That Matters

from Smile for No Good Reason

by Dr. Lee Jampolsky

Have you ever noticed that two people can confront the same circumstances with very different reactions? This is a matter of attitude and nothing else. Freedom is being able to say, “Rich or poor, alone or with a mate, physically healthy or not, employed or laid off, I believe that peace of mind is possible.”

We have all experienced what it is like to be having a perfectly fine day and have a situation or crisis arise that sends us into a tailspin. It may be something small like a traffic jam making us late, or something more severe like the loss of a job. Our response can seem automatic.

Though at first it may be difficult to accept, freedom depends on recognizing that you’re not upset because of what occurred, you are upset because of how you perceive the situation. Key to Attitudinal Healing is recognizing that you are not a victim of the world.

Another way of saying this is: There is absolutely nothing in the world that has the power to ruin your day. If you are upset, it is because you have directed your mind to be so. Initially these truths can be hard to accept because you have become so accustomed to giving your power away. Every time you blame another person for your unhappiness you are giving your power away. Stop blaming and start healing.

How you perceive a situation will determine your experience and your reaction. Let’s imagine that you have a favorite coffeehouse that you frequent. The staff knows your name and always has a warm and friendly greeting as you walk through the door. An extremely grumpy woman whom you have never seen before serves you this particular morning. She appears preoccupied rather than caring about you or what she is doing. As she pours your hot coffee a good portion spills in your lap. Despite your jumping in shock, no apology follows. Your experience is anger: both toward the waitress and the owner, Joe, for hiring such an incompetent person. Then, a friend of yours at the next booth says, “Isn’t it great that Joe hired her!”

“Great! Are you out of your mind? She just spilled hot coffee in my lap and walked away,” you reply with your best indignant voice.

“Oh, you didn’t hear the story?” your friend whispers.

“What story?” you angrily reply, still drying off your new slacks, wondering how you will go through the day looking as though you wet your pants.

“Yeah, Joe didn’t know her from Adam. He read in the paper that her husband had died last month in a car accident. Apparently her husband’s health insurance stopped, and she was looking for another job in order to pay for her sixteen-year-old son’s chemotherapy for leukemia,” your friend responds.

Now, you still have hot coffee in your crotch, but are you still angry? Unlikely. The only thing that shifted was your perception and attitude. Through discovering a reason to be compassionate, your entire experience changed—and there are always reasons to be compassionate.

An important part of healing (i.e., letting go of fear) is developing compassion. Instead of going out in the world and finding plenty of reasons to be upset, go out and discover reasons to extend love. There are thousands of reasons waiting for you right now. A helpful thought to remember is that a miracle is nothing more than allowing an old grievance to become a current compassion.

If you ever run short on reasons to be compassionate, remember there is always one good reason: It makes you feel better than anything else you could do.

Steer Your Kids Away from Feeling Entitled

Do you know what keeps the owners of the most successful businesses (or most parents) up at night? The thought of their kids growing up feeling entitled. Money is not the only factor – some choices can substantially affect the development of entitlement in your children. Avoid the entitlement trap by asking yourself a few questions:
Do they hold down jobs? Jobs give your child the chance to gain experience and get honest feedback. Reality is one of the best ways to combat a false sense of entitlement.
Are they allowed to suffer? Don’t set your kids up to fail, but don’t shelter them from fate’s hard knocks. Pain builds resilience – but don’t make your kids suffer too much.
Are they grateful? Gratitude is almost the opposite of entitlement. Parents must model gratitude before kids can develop it, so show gratitude often. Chances are your children will thank you for it.

Adapted by HBR from “ Keep Your Kids Out of the Entitlement Trap” by Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

— Mark Twain

It heavily rained with a thunder storm in Lahore. Still the sky is overcast.