…the linkage, established using data on millions of randomly sampled Americans, was extraordinarily robust.
Doubling home ownership in a state can lead to more than a doubling of the jobless rate.
“I have become convinced that by boosting home ownership we have ruined our labor market,” Oswald said.
The changes mean small business owners borrowing $150,000 will no longer have to come up with $2,550 in upfront fees at the time the loan closes.
“Shoot the shit?” Does this mean that he uses a shotgun instead of a snake or a plunger to clear the jam? I wonder if he smells good. – Ed.
We are coming up on a decade in our own business. We have worked with thousands of clients and many times that number of prospects. As independent business people, our survival depends on our ability to forecast and close work. We have a very high close rate once we’re presenting, especially in person. This has been achieved through careful study of human nature and at a high cost.
As a consultant, you need to make the prospecting cycle as tight as possible so you are not chasing leads that won’t go anywhere. We began to experience greater success when we understood the following principle: Most people can’t say no.
I don’t mean this in the sense that they will buy from you if you overcome objections or demonstrate value. Most prospects know very quickly if they see value in what you’re doing and will buy. Our experience has been the best engagements result from connections that form quickly or, if there are delays because of a competitive procurement process, you are continually building a tighter relationship as it goes on. Absent this, you are likely waiting for a ‘no’.
The reason for this, my partner and I believe, is that most people hate the idea of rejection and hence are hesitant to do it to other people. I, for one, appreciate having my attention and effort liberated by a firm ‘no’. I am now free to begin the hunt for a new client, sometimes with lessons learned. But the slow ‘no’, or worse, the ‘we’re thinking about it’ just takes up mental and emotional cycles that are better spent elsewhere.
Continue reading “The Consultant’s Dilemma: People Can’t Say No | Peter Mehit”
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES:
We congratulate ourselves on being able to juggle many things at one time. Usually this celebration occurs as we speak to someone over our Bluetooth headset, between bites on a Big Mac while driving. We Twitter while on Facebook, instant message in meetings. Think about other things while we’re doing things.
Then we’re shocked, shocked, when the school proclaims our child has ADHD. Our way of life is ADHD. Soon we’ll be fretting when our kids don’t have it.
We think we can do many things at the same time, but we can’t. It’s simply not true. Human beings can only focus on one thing at a time. Not even computers can do it. They take whatever work needs to be done and break it up into threads so they can utilize tiny time slices on a processor.
People who think they’re good multitaskers, I like to call them delusional, use the reasoning that because they can handle a high volume, chaotic flow of information and requests, they should. But it’s a huge waste of time. Don’t believe it? Check this out.
The video speaks for itself. I found it while scanning CNN online. Mathew Cordle confessed to the drunk driving death of Vincent Canzani in Ohio last June. Watch it and draw your own conclusions.
What is more amazing is the good that will come of this. The site it is posted on, because I said I would. is a social change site that encourages people to keep their promises by writing and exchanging promise cards. An idea that I would have thought was a nice piece of piffle, until I saw this video.
What Matthew Cordle did was horrible; what he did about it is amazing. because I said I would was the vehicle for it.
Harper Estelle Wolfeld-Gosk has 6,282 Twitter followers. She’s 2 weeks old. The daughter of Today show correspondent Jenna Wolfe (58,610 followers) and NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk (12,356 followers), Harper was registered for an account at birth by her moms to “give her a little voice in the loud world of social media,” said Jenna. “Didn’t know if anyone would follow her tweets, but I figured she’d have at least two loyal followers — her mother and me. Turns out, she’s pretty funny. Guess it was all that amniotic fluid.” The tweets are written in the infant’s voice: “First doc appt tdy. Big success,” reads the second one. “Pooped AND pee’d on Dr’s changing table. Everyone laughed. Will have to try that again tmrw at home.”
Dispatches From The Front 