To sway someone to your point of view takes skill. The same can be said when it comes to selling a product. The power of persuasion is a potent tool and should be honed to a fine point.

In this week’s Knowledge Nuggets we are taking a look at Dr. Robert B. Cialdini’s masterwork, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. We will learn the power of persuasion and integrate the six heuristics of persuasion into marketing strategies.

According to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, the key to running a successful business is happiness. By developing happiness habits, embracing a happy work-life, and prioritising your customer's happiness, Tony believes businesses can succeed. For this week’s Knowledge Nuggets, let’s explore the book Delivering Happiness and learn to live lives full of purpose, passion, and profits. 

Before attempting any significant endeavour, you should always have a strategy. Having developed one you should always ensure that is achievable. There has been a myriad of companies that have implemented strategies that have turned out to be less than successful. The fact is that many companies are unaware that they are implementing bad strategies.

Have you ever wondered how your mind works? Have you ever desired to improve your judgement and decision making skills? In this week’s Knowledge Nugget, let’s delve into Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

The author Daniel Kahneman is a renowned psychologist and Nobel Prize Winner. And in his seminal work, Thinking Fast and Slow, he analyses the two modes of thought and how they affect our judgement and decision making. 

Everyone has the capacity to come up with good ideas. But a great idea without proper execution is useless. If there’s one thing you should know about acting on a great idea, it is the fact that there will be chaos involved. 

You will have to wade through a quagmire of priorities and goals. And it is very easy to lose focus. This is why you will need a game-plan. Let’s take a look at the 4 Disciplines of Execution by authors Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling.

When it comes to running a business, it is important that you stand above the competition. And in the dog-eat-dog business world it is no longer enough to just offer great products. It is also necessary to take your customer’s comfort into account. 

What’s the use of having the best tech and services if your customers can’t get a hold of your product in the most efficient way possible? Or if they do get the product, it becomes a struggle to have it repaired or returned. This is where Experience Disruptors come in.

Efficiency is a must for any great endeavour. Whether you are setting up a small business or running a multi-million dollar company, efficiency is key to success.

In this week’s Knowledge Nugget, let’s take a closer look at Scrum by Jeff Sutherland. 

Understanding different aspects of human behaviour is crucial to every strategy. In this week’s Knowledge Nugget, we’ll take a closer look at Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.

How are today's technologies and current trends shaping and changing the world we live in, and how is it impacting today's businesses?

In this week’s Knowledge Nuggets, we’re covering The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum. 

Neither size, depth, or scale can guarantee the continuity of businesses for tomorrow. So what can organisations do to be more future-ready? In this week’s Knowledge Nuggets, a very special guest, one that’s close to my heart, and I will help you better understand the premise in the book Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail.

Disruption is imminent, and organisations must find a way to be more resilient as they step forward into growth and implement their transformation efforts. 

Step Change works with some of Australia’s largest and fastest-growing businesses to effectively communicate business strategy and market insights from the bottom up. 

The new year is here! And as we venture forward with fresh business insights and useful strategy, here are the top 10 articles most popular with C-suites in 2019 that you may have missed. 

Many companies today are opting for procurement to manage their marketing spend. But marketers and agencies have always been at odds when it comes to procurement. Understanding the role that procurement plays and how it impacts marketing is crucial to not only save on costs but to pave the way for better alignment in achieving the brand’s vision.

Customer-centricity used to be something that the marketing department was responsible for. But in the Age of the Customer, it needs to be at the heart of the business, which then ripples right through every department — from operations to marketing, sales, management, legal, and compliance.

In a data-led world, businesses are now able to track more than ever before. But we find that they are falling in the trap of tracking too much. Members of the Board have forgotten that reports rarely advances their strategic position in the market, makes a customer happy, or generates profit. 

The latest economic figures released by the Bureau of Statistics show that the Australian economy is slowing down. What can businesses do to thrive in a recession? We turn to one of history’s greatest strategists and a ruthless warrior, Genghis Khan.

Many Australian companies are complacent about the effect of disruption in their industries. But disruption today can displace market leaders, their products, and their services. Responding to disruption means businesses need to think fast and act fast.

There’s a need for strategy because time, dollars, and focus are scarce and limited resources. A strong business strategy is the application of these resources for maximum leverage.

There’s no getting around it. Today’s consumers hold the power to dictate business outcomes. But with more businesses struggling with their digital transformation initiatives, how can taking a customer-led approach to transformation lead to better results? 

Even with the best ideas to market, many challenger businesses are struggling to get their business from the ground up. But if you’re lucky enough to be one of the very few startups that receive Venture Capital funding, the next step is knowing how to maintain your competitive edge for the next funding round.

Retailers are killing value. With consumers having more choices than ever before, mistakes that retailers make can be costly.

Boards are essential to your business’s strategic success. They can add great value to your strategy, but to do so, they need to be involved in more than just your yearly off-site strategic planning.

Australian banks and financial institutions are losing the faith of the consumer. It isn’t a problem of regulation or profit alone. It’s a problem of public perception.

Whether it’s launching a new product line or executing a new strategy to increase brand awareness or implementing your internal comms strategy, there is one thing we know that’s certain: collaboration and integration across multiple teams are keys to get the job done and get results. But this is not always easy.

Customer lifetime value is a critical factor in business success, but not all companies are tracking it. Many companies do not measure it, do not know what it is, or choose to completely ignore it.

How do you describe “insurance” or  “healthcare” or “software” so your potential clients can grasp the value of something they can’t see?

The business landscape is constantly evolving. With the speed of digital innovation increasing constantly, what impact will disruption have on your business in 2019?

Building an innovation pipeline means curating inspiration as a renewable resource. To accomplish this, you need to develop a system that both drives and supports an innovative culture.

If marketing automation is a great tool for businesses, how do we build an airtight business case for it? And how can we get our stakeholders and the sales team on board?