SalesHire Storytellers
Storytelling is a powerful but underappreciated sales skill, helping you connect with your customers emotionally and encouraging them to lower that guard that comes up when confronted with “facts.” To ensure he’s hiring storytellers, Jeremy Zimmer, CEO of United Talent Agency, tests his potential hires by asking them to tell a story. “If we’re selling something, we have to be able to communicate it in an elegant, intelligent way,” he told Business Insider.
MANAGEMENTBe Remembered
Speak first, last or both in meetings. Research shows that it’s not just how you say something, but when you say it that matters. We remember things best if they come at the beginning or end of a list, a presentation, a trip to the mountains. What gets stuck in the middle often is forgotten, says Dan Pink, author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.
FEEDBACKThree-Star Reviews Can Be Best
Everyone loves a 5-star review but sometimes the three-star reviews are more helpful, says podcast host Tim Ferriss, explaining that perfect reviews don’t offer much useful information while 1-star reviews are often the result of something out of your control, a one-off error, a crank who can’t be satisfied. “But with three-star reviews, or the most critical three-star reviews, you tend to get a lot of really helpful feedback,” he notes.
FINANCESInvest in Preparedness
Fortunes are difficult to make and surprisingly easy to lose. It’s why the more you amass, the more time you need to devote to protecting it. In his latest book, Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, venture capitalist Morgan Housel urges his readers to think of risk the way California thinks of earthquakes. “California knows a major earthquake will happen. But it has no idea when, where, or of what magnitude. Emergency crews are prepared despite no specific forecast. Buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes that may not occur for a century or more. As Nassim Taleb says, ‘Invest in preparedness, not in prediction.’”
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PRODUCTIVITYChatGPT Wants to Know You Better
ChatGPT is amazing — and flaky. This is partly because it is like Drew Barrymore’s character in 50 First Dates: It has to learn who you are over and over again. To improve its output, let it know you and your preferences better by using the tool’s “Custom Instructions” setting. Dan Shipper at http://every.to/ has a useful explainer (invisionmag.com/032401) on how to enhance these settings in just a few minutes. Once set up, you won’t ever have to explain “anything twice because it will already know enough context about you to help — and it will do so in ways that surprise and delight you,” he says.
MOTIVATIONEmbrace the Cringe
Do you feel a slight twinge of embarrassment when you look at some of the custom design work or even the business decisions you made five, 10 or 20 years ago? Embrace it, says James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Speaking on a podcast he said, “A good indicator of progress is the feeling of slight embarrassment by the quality of your earlier work,” he says.
BUYINGDon’t Leave Anything Behind Again
Traveling to Vision Expo East? Keep all your things visible in a hotel room, not in drawers, and all gathered in one spot. “That way you’ll never leave anything behind,” says WIRED co-founder Kevin Kelley. In his book, Excellent Advice for Living, he adds: “If you need to have something like a charger off to the side, place a couple of other large items next to it, because you are less likely to leave three items behind than just one.
MANAGEMENTCapitalize on Spring Fever
Spring is in the air. Your employees are generally in a good mood, but somewhat distracted. And despite the improving weather, absenteeism suddenly seems on the rise. Instead of dreading the seasonal slacking, take advantage of it. Channel that wistfulness into idea generation. Pick your slowest day of the week and call a two-hour brainstorming session at a local green spot. Just make sure you have a loose agenda of sorts. You may well be amazed by the flow of good ideas unleashed by unlocked minds.
