Five Hundred. It seems to be the magic number on LinkedIn. At 500 connections, the site stops counting. “500” means “you’ve arrived” – you are part of the elite, those who constitute the upper crust of business’ primary social media site. When you pass 500, your number freezes at “500+.” You may have 501 connections, or five-hundred-thousand. It doesn’t matter anymore. Up here, you’re all equal. The competition ends.
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According to Blogging.org, more than 42 Million blogs are published in the United States. Given the current U.S. population (315 Million), that means if you can count to eight, you can find a blogger. Cumulatively, these blogs generate more than half-a-million posts, every day, and attract more than 25 Billion page views per month. Yes, that was billion with a “B.”
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We all misspeak. And sometimes, it’s comical. From Yogi Berra to George W. Bush, no one is immune to gaffes. But when the words we choose take on more meaning than we intended, it can be ironic, and maybe good for a few laughs, in which case, we call them malaprops.
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I admit it. I’m a Craigslist addict. It’s not that I expect to find anything on Craigslist that I actually need – that’s not the point. It’s the dream of finding something of great value at a ridiculously low price. Years ago, it was flea markets. I seldom found anything of value at the markets, but again, that wasn’t the point. I was addicted, and had been since childhood. When I was young, I would accompany my father on Saturday morning trips into town. Dad had a penchant for bargains. He once brought home an entire case of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, not because anyone in the house actually ate beef stew, but because it was a bargain, at less than ten cents per can. That’s how my father shopped, as if at a restaurant, reading every line from right to left, in search of the best deal.
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According to the BBC, the tiny nation of Gambia has shortened the work week to four days, making Friday a day of rest. Of course, workers still log 40 hours per week, they just do it in four days. And where are we, by comparison?
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There was a time when enthusiasm was all you needed to get by. Things were less technical, then. Selling was done door-to-door. And “word of mouth” happened over coffee cake, at a friend’s house, or at the church social.
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We recently had the opportunity to review a survey performed by a group of graduate students, who had volunteered, in fulfillment of a class assignment, to help a prominent nonprofit organization. The survey featured a series of appropriately worded Likert items, in which respondents were asked their level of agreement with several statements.
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One of the biggest challenges facing B2B sales managers is knowing whether or not your reps are engaging customers in meetings that are likely to produce revenue. That’s what leads many sales managers to require call sheets. But as we all know, call sheets don’t work, because sales reps learn quickly what you want to hear, and they tailor their weekly reports to meet your expectations. So what you’re really managing with call sheets is how well your sales reps manage you.
But what’s the alternative? Read more
Fascinating experience, this week, with a major telecom provider. It started with a customer satisfaction survey. The call began with the usual questions: “Was your technician on time …courteous …knowledgeable …neat, etc.” And it ended with a Net Promoter question: “On a scale of one-to-ten how likely are you to recommend us to a business colleague?”
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Joni Mitchell called it the “Starmaker Machinery,” the maddeningly complex world of music critics and publishers and agents who used to decide which artists would make the top 20 and which would remain obscure. Oh, there was corruption and injustice, to be sure: disc jockeys and program directors, unscrupulous music critics and record labels all playing payola, but some say the music was better. To be sure, it was more formulaic. Rock groups put out album after album of predictably safe, same-sounding songs, and even die-hard fans could mistake Badfinger for the Beatles. (Their smash hit “Come and Get it” was written and produced by Paul McCartney.)
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