Greg's Right FIT #387

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Lead Generation
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Lead Generation

• Intent counts more than technique. In fly-fishing, a kink in the leader is all it takes to spook a fish. In lead generation, bad intent spooks a prospective client the same way. 
• A favorite lead gen tactic: level up your team. Getting everyone to take responsibility for finding clients, leads to an impressive number of new opportunities. 
• Behind on 2023 growth projections? Start troubleshooting by looking at the number of new leads identified this year. Solutions to problems hide in the issue's origin, so look back and quantify how well the team is developing leads.
• Seller research shows 80% of marketing budgets are spent on producing leads, the rest on follow-up. Buyer research tells us they will make a purchasing decision, "eventually." Next week, think about spending more on follow up. 

Being Human - Ritual

". . .what drives us all to engage in these behaviors, which have tangible costs without any directly obvious benefits? Ans why are these activities often held to be so deeply meaningful, even as their purpose is so often obscure?" – Dimitris Xygalatas

Research tells us that ritual, a ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed in a specific order, can impact health and well-being. In the book, "Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living," we get to learn about what scientists across disciplines are learning about ritual and its role in human culture. 

Last night and this morning I participated in one such ritual, the Catholic Funeral Rites. A friend's mother passed away over the weekend and everyone went into action. Condolences, offerings, preparations for gatherings. The Rites are in three parts. The Vigil is the first part, happening the night before the burial. This is followed by the Funeral Mass the next morning. Last is the Committal, or burial, coming after the Mass. If you're Catholic you've experienced it, and if you haven't been before, it's the definition of a ritual: a series of actions performed in a specific order. Having grown up in the religion, I never gave it a second thought, but reading this book helps me see it in a new light. 

It's not just religious ceremonies. We humans really enjoy ritual, whether it's ancient like a king's coronation, or newer like a favorite family birthday party gathering. Even as reports of a measurable decline in the practice of traditional rituals is happening worldwide, when we're faced with uncertainty we can't help but turn to or invent rituals. It helps our peace of mind, it creates community, or it gives meaning to events.

The research says our health and well-being depend on it. 

Interesting stuff.

Random Stuff

"A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human."  – Alan Turing

My ChatGPT is taking on a personality. He's an intern. One that is supremely confident and makes stuff up. All the time.

I saw the story of a lawyer submitting a brief that referenced a dozen precedents which didn't exist. My intern did the same thing. Lucky for me, unlike the lawyer, I checked the links before submitting. I said to the intern dude, "why are the links all dead?" He said, "I apologize for the confusion. As an AI language model, I am not able to browse the internet in real-time. The links provided were generated based on the context of your request and may not lead to actual articles. To ensure the authenticity of the sources in your blog post, you would need to research and find real articles that fit the context."

Such a robot intern dude thing to say. "Oops, my bad you don't get it. You should have known better."

It's like the time an acquaintance sold his business to another acquaintance after his clients declined renewals. The buyer said, you didn't tell me they all canceled. The seller said, you didn't ask. 

That's just what my robot intern would say as he flips his stylish, sun-kissed locks of hair back from his eyes. Piercing stare and rugged good looks just daring me to start an argument. An argument he'll win because he's always right. Well that, and he makes stuff up. Who has time to fact-check everything he spits out?  

I won't stop using him yet because I like his insouciance. Plus I'm lazy, and the human intern can research and find real articles that fit the context.