Jim Blasingame

Business futurist, award-winning author, speaker and columnist

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Mastering The Sales Discipline To Shut Up

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Contrary to what you’ve heard, selling is the oldest profession, because “In the beginning” the serpent sold the apple to Eve. Everybody knows that. You might say she bought wholesale and then sold the apple retail to Adam. And as we now know, that was one expensive transaction.

A key characteristic that separates humans from the other animals identified in Genesis is ego. And while ego can be a beneficial motivator in selling professionally, in order to do that successfully, we must do something that’s in direct conflict with our ego — we have to let someone else talk more than us.

So, when you’re on a sales call – face-to-face with a prospect – what do you do? Do you unload the dump truck of stuff about products, pricing, etc. that your company installed in your head? If that’s your answer, your professional selling career is doomed. [Continue Reading]

The Golden Triplets Of Small Business Success

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For most of the 20th century, Americans enjoyed what I call The Golden Age of Customer Service. Sadly, based on recent research, it appears we’re in the Plastic Age.

In a national customer satisfaction index, the average customer rating was less than 60%. Going six for 10 is pretty good – if you’re playing baseball. But any small business with that batting average is headed for the shower.

So how has such a level of unservice become a 21st-century norm? Because customers have become sensitized to what I call the Plastic Triplets: High volume/low price, impersonal e-business, and almost as impersonal face-to-face service.

For small businesses, the Plastic Triplets create both opportunity and danger. But seizing the former and avoiding the latter requires an understanding of two things: [Continue Reading]

Parental Paradox: A Father’s Love Is The Harder Job

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Parental love is a paradox, simultaneously delivering the expectation of a safe harbor with the consequences of discipline. As the father of an adult daughter and son, plus the grandfather of four knucklehead boys (Hurricane, Tornado, Crash, and Train Wreck), I’ve learned some things about this paradox.

All the hours logged as Dad and Poppy have often caused me to contemplate how different are the roles of mother and father, especially in the overt demonstration of parental love. And it’s fascinating how the manifestation of this love differs between mother and father – biologically, emotionally, and experientially.

A mother’s love, at once gentle and fierce, is observed in almost all animals, not just humans. No doubt you’ve heard this simile: “… as sweet as a mother’s love,” and this warning: “Never get between a momma bear and her cub.” I’ve witnessed and have been the happy recipient of this side of the parental paradox, and there truly is no other force like it in nature.

However, a human father’s love is more often associated with the other half of the paradox by unfortunate references like “tough” and “strict.” Here’s a warning no one has ever heard from a father:[Continue Reading]

What’s Love Got To Do With You And Your Small Business?

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In her second-most-popular song, Tina Turner sang, “What’s love got to do with it?” Out here in the Main Street marketplace, the answer is a lot.

Indeed, love is the reason people start businesses. We love to make and sell things: shoes, tires, hamburgers, cars, soap, computers, bread, air conditioners – you get the picture. You love your business; I love my business. Starting and running a business is a love story.

Yes, I know. Sometimes our businesses are not easy to love. In fact, our business is often like our teenagers: You may not always like it, but you always love it. Which is a good thing, because if you didn’t love your business you wouldn’t come back the day after it gave you the worst day of your life.

But love can also be a problem. Is it possible to love your business too much? As business owners, we know how to fall in love with our businesses, but we usually don’t know how and when to fall out of love with it. Here’s a great American love story that went wrong: [Continue Reading]

Can Your Business Survive Accelerating Inflation?

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The current inflation rate is 7.5% and trending the wrong way. Since you probably already don’t charge enough, what’s your plan now?

You might think that a rude and presumptuous opener, but it’s intended as a tough-love reality check for which you’ll thank me later. Because no business owner has experienced such a spike in inflation since Carter tossed the White House keys to Reagan and “The Jeffersons” replaced “All in the Family” on TV. That was more than 40 years ago when inflation was double today’s rate.

Those facts are why we’re going to discuss the impact of inflation on your pricing strategy. Wait! What? You do have one of those, don’t you? I’ll give you a minute. [Continue Reading]

When The UGC Says “Nu-uh,” You’ve Gotta Problem

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Once upon a time, but not that long ago, a brand message could be successful even if it was close to a work of fiction. 

Created by Madison Avenue wordsmiths, copy for an ad or brochure was crafted to manipulate and motivate using puffery, a legal term referring to acceptable marketing exaggeration. And most of the time it worked. In fact, generations of consumers allowed themselves to be manipulated by puffery that became part of the soundtrack of our lives. Here are three Memory Lane examples:

“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is.”

“Put a tiger in your tank.”

“The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.”

Here’s a local example: “Largest inventory in the tri-state area.”

Since the release of the Internet for commercial use in 1993, the 10,000-year-old Age of the Seller paradigm has shifted in favor of the Age of the Customer. The primary differentiator between the two Ages is control of the information, which your customer now co-owns, including the truth about your products, services, and marketplace behavior. This customer control is derived in part from something called User-Generated Content, or UGC. [Continue Reading]

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