‘Mastering Uncertainty’ by Matt Watkinson
The future is inherently unpredictable. The smartest decisions can still have unfavourable outcomes.
A big winning bet can more than cover the cost of many losing ones. Real winners take calculated risks.
“There is nothing reliable to be learned about making money,”
JK Galbraith
Ingenious innovations and breakthroughs are often happy accidents.
The idea that we can reach the top of the tree without good fortune withers under the slightest scrutiny.
The more people you meet, the more opportunities you encounter and generate.
Be distinctive and memorable. Don’t suppress your uniqueness and contradictions. Go first and people will reciprocate.
Every selling situation has 3 things in common:
- It’s a numbers game
- There are unknown or unknowable factors
- There are ways to increase your odds
If people don’t want to change, cannot change or don’t feel comfortable changing, selling is very difficult.
You must have a compelling reason to be chosen.
The more and better your questions, the more likely the sale.
SPIN – 4 types of questions
- Situation
- Problem
- Implications
- Need/payoff
The magic is not simply to discover our customers’ problems, it’s to help them see the implications of them.
Tell people they can say no and they’ll relax.
Collaborate: “If you… then I…” The person across the table is your partner, your adversary is the situation. Focus on that.
Show me beats tell me – the sooner you get something real to people, the sooner you get valuable feedback.
Don’t focus on a USP. Focus on satisfying customers’ fundamental needs better. Better is almost always different. Different isn’t always better.
Consumers think need, category, brand, eg light, window, Velux.
Attach your brand to a category the consumer knows and understands.
10 paths to growth:
- Prioritise revenue growth over cost reduction
- Proactively manage pricing – don’t leave £ on the table
- Constantly acquire more customers
- Communicate your relevance to as many potential buyers as possible.
- Cultivate distinctive assets
- Maximise availability across channels and territories
- Systematically dismantle purchase and adoption barriers
- Expand your range to cover more buying scenarios and needs
- Increase customer perception of value through continuous improvement
- Combine exploitation with exploration to maximise growth potential.
Discover and focus on the points of maximum leverage.
Orgnisations can become so fixated on what they set out to do that they ignore how things are changing around them.
Measurement is no substitute for good judgment.
Create a culture where it’s ok to make mistakes and unacceptable not to learn from them.
Hire well and manage little.
A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
There is no way to eliminate uncertainty from our environment, neither should we want to.