Tag: relationships

A price too high

Fabrizio2 Comments

A big chunk of every job is managing expectations.

Of course, we want to say yes to everything. We want all the new customers and partners. We want to be perceived as competent, fast, and infallible. We want others to think that we do our work with ease even though our work is complex and uncertain. We want to project an aura of competence and confidence in any situation.

But if we do not manage expectations realistically, we will soon drown and take all those around us – colleagues, friends, family – with us.

The price is just too high.

Just because you are right

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you seek someone to blame, things to improve, new ways to get ahead, always start from yourself.

Not because you are not good enough, but because that’s easier to control. A new habit is possible. A change of mind is possible. An additional piece of knowledge is possible.

It’s much more complex when you start pointing fingers. You might be right and perhaps others are not doing their part, the environment is not ideal, the tools you were given are suboptimal.

Yet, things will not change just because you are right.

You can, instead.

Benefit everybody

FabrizioLeave a comment

Overpromising is bad not because you are going to disappoint others but because you are setting yourself up for failure.

Make the selfish decision to only promise what you can actually do.

It’s the kind of selfishness that benefits everybody.

One plus one does not equal sale

FabrizioLeave a comment

In the past four years, I have only replied to four cold outreach from sales or business development reps.

In two cases, I already knew the company. Their brand was so popular in my circle that I was just seeking an opportunity to work with them. When the sales reps reached out, I was sold already. I booked a meeting, and from there on it was just a matter of how.

In one case, the sales rep really put work and effort at personalising the outreach. I did exchange some emails with them, and the whole thing turned into a deal with another side of the organisation a few months later.

In one case, there was an offer for a €125 Amazon voucher to attend a demo. I did reply, the thing got too complex, and since I had absolutely no interest in the tool they were selling, I gave up easily and with a smile on my face.

I can’t say how many others I have gotten, but they all went to the trash bin or ended up accompanying some pungent posts on social media.

And yet, there is people that still believe that one plus one equals sale.

Not how people work

Fabrizio1 Comment

Subject: Such Interesting Mentorship Programmes

Body: Hi Fabrizio, came across your LinkedIn profile and wow you have participated in such interesting internship programmes. I’m just checking to see if you are the person responsible for lead generation. If you aren’t the right person to speak with, can you forward me on to someone more appropriate?

I guess the assumption here is that personalisation is easy. That to establish a relationship it is sufficient to point at some trivial thing, such as the colour of your hair, or the fact we both have two eyes and one mouth. That after quickly exchanging some pleasantries, it is ok to not only go straight to business, but also to ask for further introductions. That the receiver of a cold outreach is nothing but a necessary evil to surmount in the name of the business goal.

Of course, that’s not how it works. Because that is not how people work.