ON How to Use Competitive Intelligence to Gain an Advantage yesterday:
We should subject any of such approaches to professional ethics. Gathering intelligence through social network data and eliciting the opinion or knowledge of our employees about competitor’s information are quite appropriate. Any other approach beyond these needs careful consideration. I am afraid if we should seek any information from our employees about their past employer as it might violate NDAs and professional ethics.
ON How I Became an Optimist:
A great expression indeed by the author! We must plan both the optimistic and pessimistic approaches related to the significant items on our life’s agenda. Pessimism helps us in identifying the risk and optimism helps us in incorporating the risk mitigating strategies. An attitude of being possessive and developing high aspirations on any given aspect makes us go unstable when things go wrong. We must develop the courage to pronounce the word ‘NO’ when things demand. It makes matters easy and keeps us going smooth in our life’s journey.
ON Five Steps for Giving Productive Feedback:
Feedback should be a productive measure than a tool of criticism. Both the parties in the context should understand the subject value than taking things personal.
ON Put Your Customers on Stage:
When customers takeover the stage, it is possible that audience won’t get to know the entirety of the product and its application value for a given business segment. They may end-up discussing some operational issues than the functions and features of application. Besides, there could be audience from different business segments who may not be able to follow the conversation on stage. It will be a very sensitive situation unless an intelligent and conversant moderator from the company is present and reach the message to the audience.
We can probably consider organizing customer visits to a customer’s place to practically understand the product functioning and its application value. This could be arranged with small group of customers who are non-competitive in their businesses and where there is an obvious acceptance to the same between the parties. This could as well be a virtual meet wherever it is not possible to have physical presentation. Building trust is the cardinal thing in any case.
ON Report: Social Media worth the Time:
If we have the clarity about the very objective and purpose of using social media and pursue it with right strategy, then it is a great platform for swift results. We need to be very proactive, lively and intelligent to connect with the required stakeholders in our strategy. The way we are dependent on web for other purposes like Email, web address, and the very surfing for various reasons, we are also going to be dependent on social media tools to create personal branding, business network and participate in a social cause. Are we not seeing the way the SM tools are being used for even revolutions in Egypt and other places? Very recently, in fact in the last week, in its fight against corruption, India had witnessed the biggest ever public support after Independence. It happened through social media. Social Media is the most inexpensive and user friendly tool for whatever legitimate cause we like to exploit it, as I can understand.
