Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

What These People Know that You Don't

That got you reading, didn't it? Earlier this week I had an interesting email exchange with Lewis Green at bizsolutionsplus about blog comments and links. In response to one of my posts, Lewis stated that in everything we do of importance, asking why should be a regular agenda item. This prompted me to ask him a why of my own: "why do I have so many links to my posts, yet so few comments?" We both blog about broader business issues and often use a marketing lens to weave our personal take into our posts. We agreed that my posts... Read more →

Keeping your Brand Promise

Last night I had dinner at my local Lai Lai Garden Restaurant. It's in the neighborhood and I've been going there on Wednesday night quite regularly. The magic of Wednesday night is the dollar sushi menu: a pre-selected list that will cost one dollar per piece. I like the deal for two reasons: (1) it keeps me aware of how many pieces I order; (2) the list is extensive enough to offer variety at a reasonable price so I can order one or two pieces in the more expensive price range. Lai Lai Garden has a nice sign posted by... Read more →

A Sound Brand

A secret story filled with passion filmed on December 23, 2006 was released today -- right on time for Valentine's. Oscar winning director Anthony LaMolinara (SpiderMan 2) created this music video in the Giardini Segreti of Villa Borghese, his house in Rome. Combining live action and 3D with character animation -- 13 frames in computer graphics by Direct2Brain, the virtual museum in the clip -- the video totaled 24 frames. When you've had the chance to watch the clip, you can come back to the story of this extraordinary Italian brand: Mina Mazzini. Mina's sound career spans more than four... Read more →

Conversation with Skip Shuda on Entrepreneurship

In 2000, just when the technology market was starting to see signs of overheating, I decided to join a technology start up: Destiny WebSolutions. I quickly became familiar with and very fond of Skip Shuda’s interconnected and highly fascinating way of thinking and talking. An advisor-builder with a sense of adventure, Skip founded Destiny WebSolutions in 1994 after having worked with numerous startups since 1983. Destiny was named Startup Company of the year in 1998's Philadelphia Area Enterprise Awards and grew to $25 million in annualized revenues in 2000, employing over 120 people. Today Skip enjoys working with technology startups... Read more →

What Lies Beneath

"Language is more than words," starts the interactive composition on NPR. Words are just the tip of the iceberg. "Their meaning depends on the underlying social and emotional context." The meaning beneath the words does indeed come from shared experiences and the ability to read a person's mind. Your boss has a habit of holding only two kinds of discussions behind closed doors: she either is (a) about to tell you that she'd like you to stay later that night, or (b) that you're fired. Guess what you're ready to do when she calls you in and closes the door?... Read more →

Connecting Ideas and People: That's Why I Blog

A while back, Tully at LOGICal eMOTIONs and I were discussing the merits and mechanics of an about page in our blogs. That's how our conversations began on and offline and allowed both to get to know each other better. Now Tully asked me to share the five reasons why I blog. I created Conversation Agent back in September of last year to continue connecting ideas and people and demonstrate that talk can change our lives. I also joined the FC Expert Blogs five weeks ago under innovation to tell stories that would highlight how customer relationships are conversations. So... Read more →

Sense of Urgency

If you have worked as closely with a sales team or organization as I have, you may be familiar with the expression sense of urgency. It is terminology that appropriately describes the idea of where the action is, where the proverbial rubber meets the road. It is helpful to approach our work with a sense of urgency especially when we’re talking about responding to issues and serving customers. With a big caveat: this does not mean that we should rush to conclusions or be harried through the process. The first duty we have as we build anything is to ensure... Read more →

Our Product is a Relationship

My good friend Serge runs a concierges Services Company in Montclair, New Jersey. He has no trouble pronouncing the word as he is originally from France. If you need help planning a social event with fine cheese and wines (you always need more wine to keep the dinner flowing), he's your man. Serge fine tuned his palate in the high-end restaurant business for 15 years and shares his bits and tips in his blog, aptly named SergetheConcierge. I love small businesses, I employ as many of them as I can in my work. Want to know why? Because the owners... Read more →

How Do you Say Flat in Swedish?

Platt, as in platform -- the Business: The tightly packaged furniture you buy at IKEA -- a company whose business was founded on the idea that it is possible to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that they are affordable to as many people as possible -- is the platform to a highly sustainable and successful business. The Swedish company celebrated its 60th birthday a couple of years ago: sixty years of "providing light, airy, functional Scandinavian style," as they said in their facts and figures report. Anyone in the retail business... Read more →

Push it Around

I'm reading The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp during a week of hard work and meetings and it has been helping me keep an open mind and the creative juices flowing. The most memorable part in the book I reached was where she says that as we develop an idea, we need to push it further. Tharp's thought is that we should spend time to develop the approach to the topic in a way that can make it fresh and interesting. Tharp defines creativity as an act of defiance. "You're challenging the status quo," she writes, "You're questioning accepted truths... Read more →