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Delaying decision
Delay is a tactic of slowing down a decision-making process
in order to maintain the status quo. It is employed mainly by parties involved
in difficult public policy disputes (though it can be used in other contexts)
who do not want changes made. If a group is part of the decision-making process
but does not want change, the slower the process, the better. If they do not
have a say in the design of the process, then they can deliberately delay it by
stalling on their involvement.[1]
Strategic delays are often used by disputants who do not
have the power to win directly in court or through legislative action.[2]
Rather than waste their resources on a fight they cannot win, some use delaying
tactics to frustrate their opponent. For example, a city government was
considering the approval of a new industrial plant. Residents of the
neighborhood near the proposed site were opposed to the idea, but they didn't
have the political clout to stop it. So they decided to delay the
decision-making process, by asking for a variety of site assessments, insisting
on a long string of public meetings, and bringing a lawsuit which they knew
they couldn't win, but it delayed the process even further. Their goal was to
delay the decision long enough that the company would get frustrated and give
up. At the same time, they also hoped to gain enough community support that
local decision makers would decide to refuse the necessary permits for
political reasons if the company pursued its quest.
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How to Ending a Meeting
1. Don't let it drag on
Productivity cannot begin and goals cannot be met sitting in
a meeting! Set your timer for a few minutes (10 is good) prior to the meeting's
scheduled end. Once that timer goes off, summarize the outcome of the meeting
with the time remaining. Are there still people anxious to share their views?
Encourage those individuals to send you an email with their ideas so you can
place them on the agenda for the next meeting or get back to them in person.
Most important, end the meeting on time--don't let it go on longer than
necessary.
2. Keep it positive
At the end of each meeting, highlight the positive
contributions your team has made. This is your "make everyone feel
good" moment--make sure everyone leaves feeling good about something he or
she accomplished or contributed to the meeting or the company as a whole. Let
everyone know how incredibly successful you felt the meeting was even if it
means highlighting the one good thing that came out of it.
3. Be nice--like you mean it!
We know most meetings end with head nods, handshakes, and
other bland niceties. Why not end the meeting with a sincere "thank you
for coming," a sincere handshake with eye contact, or lighthearted
conversation about anything but work or the company's future?
4. Neutralize a touchy meeting
Is your meeting going to end with hurt feelings? Sometimes,
for change to occur, things have to be said in meetings that may rub some the
wrong way. Or conversations get heated when the blame game begins. If you have
a meeting that goes south and feelings get hurt, end the meeting by acknowledging
what is and isn't working and, most important, acknowledge the hurt feelings of
members of your team before going on to next steps.
5. Redirect a pointless meeting
We have all been in that meeting where, halfway through,
you're finding it extremely hard to find any semblance of the original intent.
There is a lot of pointless conversation, daydreaming, and fidgeting going on.
Because you don't want this gathering of your team to be a total waste of time,
end the current conversation as quickly (but sensitively) as possible, and then
ask your team members to take a couple of minutes to think about those pressing
things they would like to discuss further. Jot down their ideas for the next
meeting's agenda, or make plans to meet with them one-on-one after the meeting,
and then move on.
6. Open up the meeting
So often meetings are dominated by a few. Save 5 to 10
minutes at the end of each meeting to give all team members an opportunity to
add a comment and have their say without interruptions--this is their time to
speak. This will make them feel heard and could possibly open some eyes, and
the door, to new possibilities as the meeting comes to an end.
7. End it with action!
Toward the end of your meeting, briefly list the action
steps that need to take place to move the company or your team forward. Remind
everyone where the company is headed--the big picture. End it with a genuine
smile and enthusiasm for the future.
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How to Attract Client
1. Identify Your Ideal Client
It’s easier to look for customers if you know the type of
consumers you seek. Without a composite of your ideal customer, you probably
wouldn’t know where to start looking.
“Have a crystal clear picture in your head of exactly who
you're targeting,” says OPEN Forum community member Nicole Beckett, president
of Premier Content Source. “Think about what makes those types of people happy,
sad, scared, relieved, and then think about how you can make their lives a
little easier.”
Narrow down the focus of your ideal client and avoid making
broad target market statements, such as every woman, every man or all baby
boomers. Few products appeal to that vast of a group of people, and overstating
your market will prevent you from developing viable targeted strategies for
attracting clients.
2. Discover Where Your Customer Lives
With your targeted customers in mind, “identify those places
where they are likely to be found (media, online, offline, mail, etc.), and
then create messages for them,” says Jeff Motter, CEO and chief marketing
officer of East Bay Marketing Group.
Where you look for customers will depend on the nature of
your business. Some good online locations include forums and social media
pages, including your own and those of similar or complementary businesses.
Offline, you can meet plenty of potential customers at conferences and
conventions in your industry.
3. Know Your Business Inside and Out
Thoroughly understanding your industry and having a firm
knowledge of your product or service is critical to being able to attract
interested clients. When you know your product backward and forward, that fact
comes through. The people who would be interested in your offerings can see how
knowledgeable you are and will seek your assistance.
4. Position Yourself as the Answer
Give potential clients you come into contact with a good
reason to try your services, which is your first step to making them loyal
customers, suggests Jason Reis owner and lead programmer for Flehx Corp.
“Provide value and establish yourself as having an in-depth
understanding of the problems they are looking to solve,” he says. “This takes
the form of creating content via webinars, blog posts, guest blogging, and
getting out there and physically networking with people. From all this you will
start to attract a following, and as long as you have a structured sales funnel
setup, you will be able to convert the followers/fans into paying customers.”
5. Try Direct Response Marketing
Your best bet for reaching out and touching customers is to
use tactics to encourage them to complete a specific action, such as opt into
your email list or request more information.
Create messages directed at your target market, suggests
Motter. “Learn to create ads that attract your ideal clients by giving them
something of value for free to get them started in your funnel. Learn all you
can about direct response marketing practices, because they will teach you to
focus on results that matter. Create compelling messages that tell your ideal
audience why they'd have to be a fool not to work with you. Show them you
understand their pain, and can make it go away faster and cheaper than they
could without you.”
6. Build Partnerships
Teaming up with businesses that offer complementary services
offers you the opportunity to take advantage of synergy, which can be very
effective in building a business. For instance, if you have a company that
specializes in SEO, consider teaming up with a business that builds websites.
When all is said and done, nurturing relationships, either
with other business owners or customers, helps you create a client base,
Beckett suggests. “Focus on building human relationships. The stronger your
relationships are, the more likely your customers will be to tell their friends
about you. And, the more likely they'll be to come back.”
7. Follow Up
After your efforts to bring in business, always remember to
close the loop, suggests Josh Sprague, CEO of Orange Mud. “Remember to set
follow up tasks (follow up to sample sent, etc.), and execute your plan. So
many leads and great conversations are wasted because you forget to follow up.”
Doing this simple step is sure to get your client base to grow.
