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Why customers visit and don’t buy

If you have ever been to a new place and your stomach started to crumble. You know now it’s time to eat, so if you are like most people, you will check if there are nearby restaurants where you can have some food.

When you don’t know any of the restaurants, you find yourself inclined to enter the one with the most crowd and dismiss the ones that don’t have many customers. You don’t think, and you just find yourself checking the menu of that crowded restaurant.

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What’s the purpose of this?

I was having a discussion with one of my good friends when I asked him for his thoughts about a new idea that I have.

Before entertaining this conversation, he asked me, “What’s the purpose of this?” In other words, why am I doing it? What do I want to get out of it?

I opened up and started talking about my WHY—which completely changed the dynamic of the conversation. The conversation was extremely exciting, and our brainstorming was so fruitful— utterly different than what I thought it would have been.

And that was one conversation.

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How to start writing your book

Does this sound familiar?

I have so many ideas, but I don’t know where to start or how to put them on paper.” 

It has always been easy for me to write, but for the longest time, I didn’t even think I could write an entire book, let alone become a best seller. I didn’t believe I could do it… and so many people fall into that rabbit hole of thinking too. 

But here is the truth… 

Everyone can write a book, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone. 

Just like everything else you want to be successful at, you’ve got to trust the process, be consistent, and follow through even when your mind is screaming, “Is this even worth it?” 

If writing a book has been in your mind for some time, then I encourage you to do two exercises to put all those ideas on paper and start writing your book. 

  1. Write a list of all the books you want to write. Yes, books, and if only one book idea ended on that list, that’s also fine. Then, choose one book. Only one book from that list. 
  2. Put a 15-20 minutes timer on your phone, and mind map all the ideas that come to you on this topic. No interruptions, checking your phone, social media, or taking a break to make coffee. 

Now, you’ve put your ideas on paper… and that’s the very first step in writing your book. Congratulations! 😉 

What is the fear of other people’s opinions costing you?

I was talking to Sally (not her real name) when she told me she didn’t want to start doing what she loves because she is scared of what other people would think of her.

I relate because I’ve been thinking like this for a long time. In fact, sometimes, I do.

But then, when we think about the implications of that fear, we see how much we leave at the table.

I asked, “so what if someone thinks something bad about you?”

She said, “ I don’t want to hear or read a negative comment about what I create. I only want appreciation.”

I get it. Who doesn’t want appreciation? We all do. Don’t we?

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Why I bought 3 leather jackets from Turkey in the summer

I went to Turkey this summer, it was my very first time visiting Istanbul, and so everyone told me to take my big suitcase. I was skeptical and wanted to take my smaller case. I mean, what would I buy? After all, I am traveling mainly for sightseeing and a change of scenery. Plus, I live in Dubai, and shopping here is not too bad. 

After a small debate with myself, I took my big suitcase and wondered whether it would even be worth it… And it is! 

Turkey is one of the most beautiful places I visited. Amazing weather, good food, and great people. And… well, lots of great shopping too! 

I love authenticity, so I told myself that if I bought, I might as well buy Turkish brands. Part of me was curious, what was the fuss all about? Why does everyone come to Turkey for shopping? What is so special? 

Three things: Style, Quality, and Price! 

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How to make the “right” decision using Holographic Thinking

I recently went to a leadership training and came across an interesting take on decision-making called Holographic Thinking, which opened my mind to a new perspective I wanted to share with you. 

If you know me a tiny bit, you know that I am a huge fan of the pros and cons list when making a decision. I even take it to a whole different level, with levels of satisfaction for each item on the list, and assign a percentage of how important that item is to me. I make a scientific formula out of it. Yup, that’s me. I am a nerd. 

So… if you are a bit like me and like to be objective and rational when making a decision, you know that sometimes your heart is not into that logical decision even if it makes perfect sense. But then again, I like to inject logic into it so that I can justify it to myself again and again, for days to come and sometimes months and years to come. 

Knowing a thing or two about human psychology, I know that we make decisions by our hearts (emotions) and then justify them by logic. And if you’ve made purely emotional decisions in the past, you know as well as I do that they could lead to very interesting outcomes of their own. Some might refer to them as disastrous. 

And so I try to find the balance between logic and emotion. Which one should win? 

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How Saudi Airlines Crew Turned a Bad Customer Experience into a Positive One

You can spend a lot of time designing a perfectly curated customer experience for your customers, but sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

At some point, you will screw up, and your customers will be mad at you. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

The question is: Are you prepared for when that happens?

One time I was flying back from Riyadh to Dubai on Saudi Airlines, and the lady sitting next to me ordered coffee. I guess that’s a pretty common request to have on the plane.

What was not common, though, was her finding a fly in her coffee.

Ughh.

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How Zara’s Refund Policy Gets More Customers to Buy

My favorite clothing brand is Zara. I guess many people share the same love. I love their products, the style, quality, and that it’s not too expensive. It’s so easy to look trendy with outfits you buy from Zara when you have a good stylist or have a sense of fashion.

But those are not the only reasons many people or I love to buy from Zara and continue to buy even when we are unsure if we really want to buy that one shirt.

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This will help you set the right systems and automation

Sometimes we put things off because we need the right systems in place, the right tools, the right systems, the right automation, and having things be just “right.”

As a fellow perfectionist, it’s not something that I am proud of, it’s just part of me for now. I think I have to get those “right” things first and out out of the way.

I think: I will do this when …, and I will… when.

And so happens when creating a new product, service, or even setting up a new structure in your team.

The best way for the systems to properly work is when the base is right.

The base is never right from the first time.

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