Year: 2009

Senator Edward Kennedy, a big loss for all of us.

Veteran US Senator, Edward Kennedy, dies at the age of 77.

Senator Kennedy had been battling a brain tumour for a long time; his death makes this a very sad day.

The BBC has a good tribute to him.

James Kwak of Baseline Scenario makes his tribute personal, and all the better for it.

I have nothing new or insightful to add, but it feels wrong to go back to blogging without paying respects to Ted Kennedy. When I was younger and perhaps more idealistic, I used to carry around a copy of his speech at the 1980 Democratic National Convention. He was a man who cared about the poor, the unemployed, and the sick, even as their cause became less and less fashionable over the past four decades. He believed that justice went beyond formalistic legal rights and extended to economic and social conditions as well. The Senate needs another person like him, but sadly will not find one.

By Paul Handover

STS-128 Mission

This always gives me a thrill.

Hopefully, by the time you read this Post, shuttle Discovery will have had a successful and fault-free launch.

Here was how it looked at the time of writing (13:30 MT/20:30 GMT on the 24th)

Awoke to find that poor weather has delayed the launch. Here’s a pic of the bird standing out in the rain last night.

Shuttle in rain

By Paul Handover

Selling change – Part Two

Understanding the process of change – Upsetting the Homeostasis

In yesterday’s Post on this topic we left the reader with a ‘flow chart’ of the process of change within a business and, slightly tongue-in-cheek, how that compared with change at a personal level.

What is the role of the salesperson in facilitating this process?

Well, firstly the salesperson should have established that the potential client ought to have a need for the solution. (That, at least, ups the odds of an effective use of sales time.) Whether that is from knowledge about the company or its business, a referral from somewhere else, or a solid sales reference from another customer, i.e. another of the salesperson’s customers is a good example of using the solution.

Continue reading “Selling change – Part Two” →

Selling change – Part One

Understanding the process of change is vital in selling.

When a potential customer is considering a solution on offer from the sales person, it is almost inconceivable not to think that your contact is going through a change process. In business-to-business selling most new solutions require the acceptance of change.

With that in mind, it would be wise to consider the change process. Now the challenge is that the author may have a few decades experience as a salesman but zilch experience or qualifications as a psychologist. Thus this Post looks at a salesman’s understanding of what appears to take place.

Change cartton

Essay One – Inflation – Part Three

Inflation, deflation, economic crisis and so on, getting to the bottom of meanings.

Inflation – Part three

Part One was published on the 23rd.

Part Two was published on the 24th.

Sherry writes:

I think we are getting somewhere!

You’ve zeroed in on the key question, I believe: why is there an inflation risk while the outlook remains so grim?

Inflation is a (sustained) increase in the equilibrium price of goods and services.

The price results from the interaction between two completely independent sides of the market: the demanders and the suppliers. Think of money (or a debit card, whatever form money takes) as an enabler of demand — it makes transactions easier, quicker, and thus more transactions result. The higher the supply of money, the more enhanced the underlying demand for goods and services (by consumers, business, and government).

So more money, higher demand. Higher demand, higher prices. Higher prices, higher inflation.

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