March 23, 2010

Those elusive payday loan details

76Truth is a rather elusive and subjective topic.What is true from one’s perspective may not be true from another’s perspective. I do not hold truth as absolute, but I do know when someone is not being straightforward with me. I would rather have people tell me the hard truth than undermine my trust by making indirect or misleading halftruths.

Having an accurate assessment of a person’s knowledge of a situation is a stepping-stone toward building trust. Partnerships work when people have the confidence that what the other is saying is direct, truthful, and above board. While the truth may be subjective, a person’s sincerity in what they believe to be true is not. Jack, for example, runs a very large service company.His building management services are in demand.However, his customers cannot trust him because he avoids direct conversation about issues or problems. In short, he has a problem with candidness. He evades, stumbles, and misrepresents issues, and while he may not out-andout lie, many people doubt his honesty, destroying trust in the relationship.

October 25, 2009

Deciding where to position a credit

Positioning depends first on finding a niche or part of the market where there is space to establish a profitable position. To discover whether one exists requires an understanding of the trends and factors influencing the market.

How best to focus on the customer is another important decision. How will potential customers react to the message or offer? Or, to put it another way, what message will have the greatest impact on the customer? With positioning decisions, timing is important. First movers have a head start and can get to know the market in detail and build a strong customer-base, ideally establishing a rapport with customers. Brands that are not the first mover should endeavour to launch when the market leader is weak or quiet, or both.