If you want to download a free audio copy of Seth Godin’s new book, Tribes, then just click on the link and follow the instructions from audible.  The books is around 3 hr 40 minutes long but it’s worth it, you can just put the book on your ipod and listen to it at the gym, in your car, etc.

Seth Godin is also going to be doing a free teleseminar series for his new book so if you want to participate make sure to sign up.

hope you enjoy!

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Here’s a neat tool that many of you may like that measures your twitter influence.  If you recall, not to long ago I wrote about another twitter tool from the folks who created Web Site Creator.  The tool was called Twitter Grader, and I wasn’t to keen on it.

Today I found out about a new twitter tool called Twinfluence.  Twinfluence actually gives you interesting information, for example I know that my reach on twitter is approximately 212,000 (this is pretty much the size of my whole twitter network including my followers and their followers).  I also know that on average my twitter followers have around 316 followers of their own.  Now not all of this information may be actionable (yet) however it’s interesting to see some twitter statistics to help me understand my followers a bit better.

I think Twinfluence is on the right track here with measuring the influence that a twitter user has, certainly this is much more efficient then “grading” a twitter follower.  I for one, like to know that my twitter network spans approximately 212,000 users on twitter.

There are a few things that I would like to see on twinfluence:

• When I share links I want to know how many times those links are viewed and how many times they are shared, think a very simple version of google analytics but for twitter.

• I would also like to know how active my twitter followers are, maybe some of them haven’t posted in months!  It would be good to know how active my network is.

• I would love to know where my twitter followers are located, for example, is most of my network in San Francisco or New York?  This would also be great for corporate twitter users as they will be able to know what their reach is in a particular geographic location

• On average how many replies to I get per question that I ask my network?  Again this is very useful in measuring how active a particular twitter network is.

What do you think of twinfluence?  What features or data would you like to see?

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During the past few weeks I have been traveling around Turkey at virtually at every stop I go to there is always someone trying to sell me something.  If you’ve been to Europe you probably know what I’m talking about.  The prices are of course negotiable and you can most likely bring something down from $500 to around $200-$300 or something down from $3 to $2, either way there is negotiating going on.

It’s interesting to see how the negotiation process takes place and I’ve noticed a very unique process for how shop owners negotiate:

Identify the Customer

Not every person that enters a shop can be a customer, some are just trying to kill time while others are actually looking to make a purchase.  The shop owner needs to be able to distinguish between prospective customers and window shoppers.  Once the customer is identified the next step begins.

Make Friends With the Customer

Once the shop owner identifies the prospective customer the next step is to make friends with the customer.  This usually means the shop owner will ask the prospective customer where they are from, what languages they speak, how long they are visiting, etc.  This breaks the barrier of a simple owner/customer relationship and allows for negotiations to take place on more personal grounds, which is exactly where the shopkeeper wants the customer because then it’s harder to say “no.”

Take Sides With the Customer

What’s the shopkeeper asks you a few questions to get to know you a bit, they usually take the same side as you.  For example, if you say you speak Russian, the shop owner will say something like, “oh really?  I speak a little bit of Russian,” or “I visited Russia and loved it.”  The point of this is to make the customer feel like the shop owner understands the customer and where they are coming from.

First Stage of Negotiation

During this phase the shop owner tests the customer.  If the customer sees something that they like but want the price lowered, then the shop owner makes a few adjustments and lowers the price by maybe 5-10% to see what the reaction of the customer is.  If the customer agrees, then great, if not, then second stage of negotiation comes next.

Second Stage of Negotiation

If the customer still feels the price is too high then the shop owner proceeds to talk about how “special” the product is and how no others exist like it anywhere else in the world.  Then just to make things a little bit more appealing the price drops another 5-10%  Once again if the customer agrees then great, if not, then the third stage of negotiation comes next.

Third Stage of Negotiation

If the customer still says no then the shop owner walks away for a few seconds, takes out a calculator (or calls the boss) and then comes back with another final price.  (Or the shop owner asks, “what’s the maximum you are willing to pay?”)  At this point the customer begins to approach the “true value” of the product and now the negotiations get really interesting.  Most customers usually don’t make it this far, meaning they just buy the product at either the first or second stage.  If the customer buys at the third stage, then it’s still a good deal BUT, if the customer still says “no” then we move onto the final stage.

The Final Stage of Negotiation

At this point the customer says “no thank you” and quietly approaches the exit of the shop, this is actually a very powerful negotiation tactic.  The shop owner now realizes that he/she has one last opportunity to make the sell and usually drops the price one final time to make the sale.  Most of the time the shop owner actually walks out of the store to get the customer to tell them the good news.  At this point the customer either buys or leaves without making a purchase.

I was fascinated to see these negotiations take place, and I actually like to debate/negotiate with people so I had quite a lot of fun doing this.  It’s interesting how we don’t have any type of negotiations in the United States (well ok, that’s an over exaggeration), it’s either a “buy” or “leave” attitude and it makes me wonder if this approach really benefits the customer of the shop owner.  Of course we are a lot of more corporate, we have franchises, red tape, etc.

What do you think would happen if negotiations became more common and wide spread?  What can you learn from the how Turks negotiate?

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Years ago when I worked at my first start up (Passenger) one of the most important things I learned about (from the director of business development, Josh Pink) was content and context.  Generally speaking content is the actual piece of data or information that you are presented with and context is the framing or meaning behind it.  One does not mean much without the other and I think people in general are in the habit of forgetting that you need both.

I’m sure we can all think of many times where someone said something that didn’t make sense, where we walked in late on a joke, where we saw something that upset us, etc.  As a species we are quick to judge and make conclusions without taking the time to understand both the content and the context behind what is being presented.

The whole point of this post is just to remind and encourage people to always think about both content and context.  When you watch a presentation, read an email, or engage in a conversation try to understand what is being said as well as the framing and meaning behind what is being said.  I think understanding both of these things will help foster success and growth, both professionally and individually.

what do you think?

thanks for reading

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There was a lot of gossip around the web that the new ads with Seinfeld have been canceled, turns out that rumor was false and there has not yet been any cancellation of any kind.  Now having said that, Microsoft did release 3 new ads (a bit similar) which feature actual Microsoft employees and users, which is something I wrote that Microsoft should have done from the beginning.

Needles to say the new ads are much better and actually convey a message!

check them out below and let me know what you think.

so what did you think?

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