‘Pretty Woman’. You didn’t get the lesson, did you?

By Limor Shiponi

Remember Julia Roberts walking into the stuck-up lucrative store that earlier rejected her presence? “big mistake” were her words before walking out; A modern variant of the old story about people paying more notice to what others wear than to who they are and what they do in the world.

I was reminded of this incident not long ago when connected by a software company’s sales person. I was interested in scheduling a demo as part of my constant search for the right solutions for my various clients. The minute the guy realized I’m not the direct customer but a consultant and that the company was a small one he got un-interested and plain rude.

Innovative tech and industrial talk don’t match

Innovation has become a super-hype buzzword, people and companies wearing it like a fashionable garment. I would love to think this is all true, but the more hidden parts of the conversation reveal too often the wrong mindset when it comes to business oriented processes. One of the clear signals for being not that innovative is the question “number of employees”. I can understand why you would be interested in this information if you sell working clothes or hot meals to organizations. I can’t understand it if you’re selling marketing and sales related software.

In an innovation-oriented business environment you’ll find many small businesses cooperating to generate a lot of business. Each one of us is tiny but the business outcome of our work is substantial. Being small, tactical, experimental, best-outcome-oriented is part of innovation’s DNA. Stop asking the wrong question because you’re industrial mindset is showing and you’re losing business.