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Own one idea. Complete it. Map the current model of purchase and usage. Change how it is done so at least some part of the market uses only your product. Extend from that core user to a much broader universe. Describe your concept in a very short, six-word story - a la Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Michael J. Silverstein

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Michael J. Silverstein
Age: 69
Born: 1955
Born: January 1
Author
Consultant
Done
Story
Shoes
Currents
Broader
Much
Universe
Market
Concept
Extend
Never
Idea
Models
Model
Users
Ernest
Use
Products
Product
Maps
Hemingway
Stories
Short
Six
Worn
Usage
Part
Baby
Core
Uses
User
Change
Least
Complete
Describe
Purchase
Ideas
Word
Concepts
Current
Sale

More quotes by Michael J. Silverstein

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People underestimate the power of the Internet. For some consumers, it is the source of all information. Younger adults are on their phones more than they watch television. They don't read newspapers. It is their real world. It is not a set of virtual lenses.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Take giant leaps. Too many companies are into incremental innovation. The only thing that moves markets is violent turns. Major differences. Don't get caught in the trap of small steps.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Get out of the office. Roam the frontline. Be observant. Hold your people accountable for creating the new narrative, a new story, in which your customers are the most important characters. Because, you know, they really are.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Respond to your customer's dissatisfactions with precision and power.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Companies that get in trouble have a failure to see two realities: market trends and competitor attacks.
Michael J. Silverstein
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A lot of people believe you only need a vision. This is simply not correct. You need brilliant execution every day. It's about attention to all the details of go to market.
Michael J. Silverstein
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For me, it's often about consumption behavior. I focus my energy on understanding the heavy user. They are odd but hold opportunity. I ask: how do they use the product, what motivates them, how can we clone them.
Michael J. Silverstein
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People need to be inspired. They need to hear and believe a story. If you want them to be self-motivated, you need to engage them.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Original research starts all inspiration. Get inside the head of the consumer. Understand their needs, hopes and dreams. Deliver to their expectation. Have your team do the work. They will then have the framework for the solution. If they believe and they understand, the results will be their results.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Failure to make the tough but necessary choices means slow painful death.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Find out what schismogenesis means. Schismogenesis is anthropology. It says relationships between people are not stable. They are either moving up or moving down. The same is true for brands. You need to understand where you are.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Define a winning proposition that is consumer right and delivers margin accretion.
Michael J. Silverstein
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I admire many entrepreneurs. They bring energy, excitement, youthful enthusiasm. What they lack in process, they make up for in gumption.
Michael J. Silverstein
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You need to have sufficient resources against your priorities. Your eyes have to be open every day.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Truth is so difficult to hear about. It must be experienced.
Michael J. Silverstein
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The most effective CEOs have a primary source for tracking their markets. They meet with their teams frequently enough to keep innovation flowing, to reduce and focus costs, to be energized. They create a tight agenda and they set high goals.
Michael J. Silverstein
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I believe in classic ideas. They are timeless. They are forever. There are many fads in management.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Deliver infinite growth having your customers talk about you, exclaim you and tell their friends and colleagues about you.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Woo your biggest fans. This rule says concentrate your efforts at understanding on the 2 percent of consumers that personally drive 20 percent of sales and invite their friends and colleagues to enjoy you.
Michael J. Silverstein
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Business operators that really deeply care about their employees and consumers deliver the right response every day.
Michael J. Silverstein