Never flatter

We use to respect people who treat us as equals. We hate snobs and arrogant, but probably we hate most people who flatter.

When you meet a CEO and his assistants, do not limit to look towards the boss, make sure you speak and listen everybody. If you focus only on the boss, your risk is that him and his assistants will see you as a flunky. The boss knows he is on the top of the pyramid, you do not need to remember it to him anytime!

Think at the assistants: they feel in some way subordinates who deserve the title and the regard you reserve for the boss. It is critical to give them the most of your attention and consideration: they will remember you when they will answer your phone calls, filter out your messages and be your allies when they will be asked for an opinion from about you.

A good rule is always treat bosses as equals, a and assistants as bosses.

Forget perfection

Claude Monet sayd "I wanted perfection and I ruined what was going well".

You should always concentrate on what creates enough value, without abusing on time and resources. Trying to achieve perfection is always too complicated and costly. It is a challenge that you are destined to lose.

What you mean with perfection is not necessarily the same your market means. Anyway, even while this happens: how long could this happen? The time and resources invested in the search for perfection can be appreciated by customers? Above all, the desire to purchase will be sufficient to justify the cost of perfection? The search for perfection is not sufficiently rewarding and rarely justifies the investment.

A manager should always remember not to be an artist. For a manager it is critical to achieve desirable and affordable solutions for the most of his customers. The manager must offer products and services that customers want to buy in such quantity as to justify the investment, contribute to the prosperity of the company and fund future development. An artist has the right to do what he loves, the manager has a duty to do what others love. On the market a good is better than a "perfect" for many reasons:

Perfect. Its real value can be understood and appreciated by few and sometimes only by its creator; Good. Its real value can be understood and appreciated by a large market;

Perfect. Generally requires a long construction time, and sometimes does not see the light then does not even reach the market; Good. Requires less time to completion, then arrives before the market;

Perfect. Requires investments which result in off-market price, then a competitive disadvantage. Good. Requires less investment, so it can have a more competitive price.

A marketing strategy should always be aimed at a broad market. The breadth of our market is the answer to the question: "How many people will say that the offer is well worth the price you ask?" - And then - "Who are my customers? What do they do? What do they buy? What do they love? ".
The niche markets are just happy for those who create them, for who knows them thoroughly, for those who recognize and capitalize the first. It's never a good choice to compete with the leader in a niche market, failure is almost certain. If instead we find our niche, we really know its components, the environment, the needs, habits and have the possibility to achieve and to introduce our solution, it is time to invest.

The search for perfection is strategy is just luxury, and as such not everyone can afford it: good is enough.

Listen, hush then talk

If you want your words to be memorable you have to know how to wait before talking.

When you respond immediately, without any pause, in a tone too enthusiastic you show that you have not listened. It means that before the other has finished speaking you were already thinking about the answer, and stopped paying attention to his words. People realize when you stop to listen and do not appreciate it (answering with no gaps you just confirm it). And think: you even formulate a thought that misses the whole information.

When someone listens to us moving the head, smiling like saying "I already knew, now I'll explain," closes his mouth and points us with his finger, playing with various objects, or looking away, the result is that we have a negative impression of him and we rush to end our speech. In business this is a missed opportunity both in terms of relationship, both in terms of knowledge.

The best thing after having listened carefully to our interlocutor, with our ears, eyes and the whole body ... is silence for one second. This will ensure that you interlocutor listens more attentively. He realizes how deeply you heard and reviewed his message, and creates an expectation by raising the words to a higher level.
Silence is elegant and says "the next words I will say are chosen carefully, are important". That favors the concentration so your audience can easier remember your message.

Beware: Non-verbal communication includes all aspects unrelated to the literal meaning of words in the message. This type of communication is considered universally understandable, and can transcend language barriers.

A study conducted in 1972 by A. Mehrabian (Non-verbal communication) has shown that what is perceived in a voice message can be in:
- Body movements (mostly facial expressions) 55%
- Vocal aspects (volume, tone, rhythm) 38%
- Literal meaning (words) 7%

Remember: the effectiveness of your message depends only minimally from the literal meaning. Master the way your message is perceived your nonverbal communication.