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ChatGPT and GPT-4: How to Implement Generative AI in Your Organization

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm with over 20 million daily users. However, there are still questions on how generative AI tools can be leveraged in businesses and implemented organization-wide. With data security concerns leading several countries to ban ChatGPT, is generative AI still worth exploring for businesses?   

In this exclusive interview, AI expert and best-selling author Lasse Rouhiainen shares his thoughts and insightful advice on the latest developments of ChatGPT and GPT-4, and how to implement and utilize generative AI effectively in a business context.  

*This article is a recap of our interview with Lasse Rouhiainen at the session, GPT-4 and Beyond: The Next Chapter in AI and Business Communication. 

 
Lasse Rouhiainen is a best-selling author and international expert on artificial intelligence, disruptive technologies, and digital marketing. He focuses on investigating how companies and society can better adapt to artificial intelligence and benefit from it. Rouhiainen has also spoken at Mobile World Capital and TEDx. His latest book, Artificial Intelligence: 101 Things You Must Know Today About Our Future, was selected by Book Authority as one of the best AI books of all time.
 

How should companies implement ChatGPT and on what level?

It comes from the management. They need to understand that we live in the era of AI. We have to put resources, both time and money, into it. We have to get everybody in the company to start using it, not only IT. Also, remember that whatever you share with ChatGPT goes to the service of OpenAI. Obviously, don’t share your financial information there. Companies like Microsoft are creating solutions where you can have an internal ChatGPT for your company where you can share valuable information. 

In addition, understand that ChatGPT is not a search engine. Our brains are wired to use search engines because we have been doing it for 20 years. We go to Google and type one thing, and we find our answer. What we write for ChatGPT needs to be more than “Give me a 400-word article on management,” for example. We need to give ChatGPT a paragraph. So, everybody in your organization should write paragraphs with as much context and details as possible.  With AI, the more data we give it the better.  

Next, start using ChatGPT in your Intranet or a place where your colleagues share best practices. That way you can share the best prompts and it’s really useful. As a company, you should also send an email to everybody to remind them not to share sensitive information with ChatGPT. 

It’s interesting to see two kinds of people here. Some are excited by ChatGPT and use it all the time and have gotten results. The other kind knows it’s important but tries to avoid it.  Well, this is all about business. We will see the implications within 18 months where a lot of people will be unemployed and not know what to do. It will become a societal problem. Business-wise, there’s been a lot of anecdotes and amazing success stories already. 

 

Is ChatGPT far away from large commercial use?

No, it’s not. It’s a significant and revolutionary tool, and back then we didn’t have GPT-4. We didn’t know that Microsoft would implement this tool in their products.  

ChatGPT is a new layer of the Internet. If you’re not using it and not building on top of it, you will be out of business and lose your competitive edge in a few months.  

It’s happening in every industry, even industries that normally have been safe like the financial industry. Also, companies are building and launching ChatGPT internally. Bloomberg has ChatGPT which has been great at analyzing financial information. This means that 80% of financial analysts will probably lose their jobs, even if they have a Ph.D.  

 

Which industries will be impacted by ChatGPT and who else will lose their jobs?

Industries that have a lot of repetition or those where machines can be taught something repetitive. For example, the financial industry. The education industry will also be impacted gradually as it doesn’t have many AI applications due to privacy concerns in Europe. I just had a call with a university chain with 20 universities worldwide on how they could use ChatGPT to become more competitive. No industry is safe.  

It’s important to be proactive and spend time learning how to talk better to the computer, and not be those people who say that’s not their area of interest. At the same time, it’s an amazing tool to grow your sales and improve your business strategy. This is because ChatGPT has been trained on every piece of business information out there and it has read all the business books. So, it’s more knowledgeable than all of us. For example, we should use it to analyze strategic decisions, or new products and services. 

I don’t know who will be fired, but I do know that a lot of people will be. According to OpenAI and their research, 25% of jobs in Europe and the U.S. will be impacted by ChatGPT. For example, mathematicians, translators, and everything that is repetitive will go. According to Goldman Sachs, 32% of administrative or managerial work will go away, in addition to 44% of lawyers. 

 

What are your thoughts on certain countries banning ChatGPT?

If it happens in your country, don’t start crying. You can always use the ChatGPT API. There are many chatbots that are almost as good, such as you.com. There are a lot of options. The European Union (EU) has a long history of first banning something before they start investigating. Once they start investigating, they change their mind. Also, there are many political reasons why the EU has been doing this. It’s not the best strategy because ChatGPT is a tool that is extremely helpful and democratizes tools that can help teenagers start businesses from zero, for example. That was never possible before ChatGPT. It’s an empowering tool for people who want to use it. The EU also doesn’t want to be dependent on American cloud services. There’s a Finnish initiative where a European language model is in the works, and I think that’s a really innovative way to not depend on American technology. 

 

If everyone is using ChatGPT, how do companies maintain a competitive edge? Will ChatGPT become a commodity?

Right now, there’s a high likelihood that your competitors are not using it to its full potential. But I recommend that you start using it and not wait until your competitors use it first. In addition, there are other AI tools on the market. One of them is AutoGPT. It’s open source so everybody can use it and create their own versions. People are calling it an autonomous artificial intelligence agent. You just need to give it one goal and it will do the rest. At the same time, there’s a lot of hype about generative AI. Don’t get too worried or excited by it. Just focus on your business and use ChatGPT as a tool to help you.  

 

Can ChatGPT be used for economic and financial analysis considering it lacks real-time market data?

There are talks of a plugin that will allow users to use real-time data soon, so I’m not too worried about it. For economic and financial analysis, it’s really good. I would start searching what are the best prompts for financial industry analysis.  

For example, I could ask ChatGPT to analyze the GDP of Finland and Sweden and put the results in a table. I would also advise people who want to write better prompts to write their best prompts and put them through ChatGPT. You can ask ChatGPT to make your prompt more comprehensive and detailed. GPT-4 is really good at understanding nuances and will provide a better prompt. You can create business value from the answer to your prompt and make amazing financial products. 

 

How do companies utilize ChatGPT effectively?

It depends on your daily operations. Again, the best person to answer that is ChatGPT. You can list down everything you do in your day-to-day life and work. Identify three activities with the most repetition and ask ChatGPT to generate creative solutions and ways to manage them. You can also use ChatGPT to get ideas for content. You can feed it different scenarios that could go wrong and how to prepare for each scenario.  

For example, one of my clients has an online store and used ChatGPT to generate emails for seven different scenarios her customers may face. It’s like your assistant that’s always with you and can help you overcome many challenges you have in your work. The paid version does not cost a lot. ChatGPT is the first tool that gives us access to powerful deep-learning algorithms. Get all the benefits from the free version and upgrade to the paid version once you see results. 

 

What do you think of how ChatGPT collects and presents third-party data?

This is an interesting ethical analysis, specifically with generative AI that creates images. There’s a big court case against Stable Diffusion, which is a project that is trained using Getty Images to generate any image you want. I understand it’s a big thing because many people work their whole lives to take photos and share them. All of a sudden, their work is being used and they get no profit. It’s a big ethical issue. When it comes to writing, I don’t see it as big of a problem. For instance, GPT-4 can give me reliable sources and citations.  

 

How can we spot AI-generated information? Is there a need for digital authentic source marking?

There are many solutions being built at the moment but most of them are not good. For example, students already know that you can use ChatGPT to write text and then copy and paste it to other tools like Grammarly, change some sentences, and it already looks human-worthy. I think OpenAI is also working on some kind of tool, where there will be a label for AI-generated content. When it comes to videos, it will be difficult. That’s where we have a big problem because anyone can be impersonated, we can create videos with anyone’s voice. That’s one thing that needs to be managed. 

 

What are the limits of ChatGPT on deriving correct information for business-critical decisions?

GPT-4 can currently give citations and sources. For example, I used it to analyze the hotel industry in Helsinki and the answers were amazing. Also, give as much context as possible without sharing sensitive company information. However, don’t copy and paste the answers you get, and remember to think critically. That’s how you get the best business results. 

AI will help us do things better, cheaper, and faster. The problem is that ChatGPT is simple, it’s just a website. People don’t understand that behind it are some of the most powerful AI algorithms. I recommend that everybody accept this new reality where your future depends on how well you talk to a computer. It’s a question of your career and your company’s success.  

Embrace these tools and be architects of the future rather than victims by resisting technology. I want to invite everybody to join this revolutionary AI journey. 

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

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Why Resenteeism Can Be More Harmful Than Quiet Quitting

Workplace engagement saw several waves of change in recent years from The Great Resignation to The Great Reshuffle, and a rise in presenteeism and quiet quitting. Now, a new buzzword has cropped up: Resenteeism.  

Following from quiet quitting, resenteeism is an active response to frustrations at the workplace, dropping all facades of being satisfied or even apathetic at work. As the labor shortage continues to plague CxOs across industries, the percentage of workers who are actively engaged in work is gradually declining, from 36% in 2020 to 32% in 2022. Given concerns of a looming recession, a rise in disgruntled employees poses a threat to overall productivity and business success. 

We spoke to Yvonne Alozie Obi, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at Standard Chartered Bank and Marjolijn de Boer, organizational psychologist and founder of The Human Factor about the root causes of resenteeism, how leaders can measure its impact, and the best strategies for creating a work culture that supports employee well-being.  

 
Yvonne Alozie Obi is a Certified Diversity & Inclusion Specialist and current Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Standard Chartered Bank where she plays a pivotal role in delivering the Global D&I strategy. Yvonne has received several awards and recognition for her contributions to business and society, including being named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in Africa by Forbes Magazine in 2020.
Marjolijn de Boer is an organizational psychologist with over 15 years of professional experience in coaching, consultancy, and training. She is the founder of The Human Factor, an organization that partners with businesses and individuals to help them become high performing.
 

What is resenteeism? 

Marjolijn: With resenteeism, people may still be productive at work but do not feel valued or appreciated. This can happen within industries where many employees were laid off – those who end up staying for fear of not finding another job will pick up the slack and become overworked and resentful. This is very harmful to organizations. These employees usually talk about their dissatisfaction to other colleagues which creates an environment that is far from positive. 

Yvonne: Sometimes there are external factors as well, such as global economic situations that are resulting in layoffs. This can make employees feel resentful as well. Further, in the diversity and inclusion space, we see a lot of injustice happening and employees may feel resentful towards their companies for not responding in the way they want. This can fester over time and lead to resenteeism as well.  

M: Things are changing very rapidly but this has been happening for decades already. What you see in the workplace, in the worst cases, is that managers have very few conversations with their employees and teams. If you do not have a dialogue with your team as a leader, it can get out of hand very quickly because this can spread through the organization. Before you know it, there is a negative atmosphere. Management may think employees are being very productive, but in reality, they are not happy at all. 

How have your organizations dealt with managers that are not taking concrete actions to address resenteeism effectively? 

Y: It’s all part of the change management process, especially when a reorganization is happening, and people are disgruntled. It’s about planning to make sure that potential questions are answered and that organizations are as transparent as possible. Usually, town halls are held by the leadership.  

We need to equip leaders and managers to have challenging conversations and learn how to keep spirits alive.  

“Leaders must know how to get loyalty and engagement from employees who are not yet resentful – because it can catch on like wildfire.”

M: Sometimes, people may become resentful when you don’t utilize their potential to the fullest. This can lead to a drop in productivity when employees do tasks that are not fulfilling. You do see a productivity incline if you utilize the team’s potential. I agree with Yvonne that leaders must have open and deep conversations. This is a teachable skill. 

Who has these tough conversations with resentful employees and what is usually discussed? 

Y: In Standard Chartered, we have a group of coaches. It’s important to look inward first, so we make sure these employees do not project their own triggers onto the organization. Next, we also help the employees understand what is truly under their control. It could be they don’t have a healthy work-life balance, not because of the job demands or lack of resources, but because they may not personally be equipped to effectively balance these two aspects. It’s always important during coaching to help employees think through the patterns they may need to break out of.  

M: Speaking of the environment, no company is perfect. Of course, there are narcissistic leaders. In this case, a different kind of approach is needed. 

How can leaders spot resenteeism early? 

M: If you want to preventatively know what your team is feeling, you need to be vulnerable. Do check-ins with your team and be honest about your own feelings and challenges. 

Y: I think it’s important for organizations to improve and embrace not just the typical biannual appraisal ratings but continuous performance feedback. With regular conversations, managers can begin to spot where things start to become issues. Some people can be good at masking, but it’s a skill for leaders to go in and see what’s going on and be vulnerable as well. If leaders start role-modeling, they will have a team that feels comfortable sharing when they are not ok.  

 M: Because it’s behind closed doors, I think intuition in leaders goes a long way. When you’re in a meeting and something feels different, that’s your first signal. If you see people are less happy at work, that’s another signal. Use your intuition to look at non-verbal behavior while also starting conversations with your team. 

What kind of leadership style fits best to solve these issues? 

M: In my experience, a lot of leadership styles can be extremely effective. In fact, we always think leaders have to be extroverted. I think introverted leaders are extremely good for keeping the peace.  

“Leaders must be able to balance a people-focused approach to leadership while setting clear boundaries.”

Y: I agree. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all leadership style that can manage resentful employees. I think self-awareness in a leader is key. A self-aware leader knows when they need to or can help, and when they need to ask for help. They can also draw boundaries. One thing we try from a D&I angle is to equip our leaders with inclusive leadership skills. Empathy is also important. It takes a lot of intentional empathy from a leader to manage a resentful employee. 

What is the importance of coaching and well-being programs within an organization? 

M: It’s extremely important because, firstly, people have a misconception about stress. We have stress but we also have a system to reload. If we don’t take enough time to reload, that’s a problem. Preventively talking about this with your leaders and employees – about taking rest times – is good. For example, writing emails in the evening or not taking lunch is a bad idea because there’s no time to recuperate. That’s an important message.  

Y: We have questions related to well-being in our annual surveys and we see more colleagues reporting that they do feel more included and are getting more manager support. We see the scores for psychological safety increasing. What we try to do is solve innovatively to improve business processes. If there are functions that operate inefficiently and keep stress levels high, we see how we can intervene and improve some processes. 

What steps can leaders take to reduce the stigma around mental health and create a culture that encourages employees to seek help when needed? 

M: When I do cultural transformational programs within organizations, I always start with management. That goes a long way and takes a lot of time and precedence over work long-term. 

Y: There can be huge power imbalances due to underrepresentation or employees being from a marginalized background. This is where psychological safety is key in ensuring optimal well-being among the workforce to be able to have difficult conversations. But it’s a very complex topic. That’s why organizations should introduce other resources such as employee assistance programs and coaching programs – a third party they can talk to when the situation becomes so unbearable that they can’t talk to their managers about it.  

We are a company of 85,000 employees. Building trust is an ongoing conversation. As an organization, we do everything we can to equip our people and leaders to have challenging conversations and get the skills they need to lead effectively. We’re trying to improve the role modeling of senior leaders. Additionally, we try to get people ambassadors who role model some of our valued behaviors. It’s an ongoing cycle. Trust also means different things across different markets. So, we also try to align with our country heads and make sure that the key messaging is repeated. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

What is a key takeaway you have about resenteeism and its impact on the business? 

M: The key takeaway is to invest in your leaders. How do you have conversations and build trust? How do you build personal leadership? It’s a fair step because in this case, it really does start with leadership. 

Y: Organizations should also begin to examine how they can be more influential externally, especially in complex situations. In the UK right now, the public appointments board is trying to get seasoned professionals from the private sector to apply for public boards. As a senior leader, it can help you to advocate for things that would benefit your workforce. Many employees, especially the newer generation, are value-based. It’s important for organizations to think about advocacy. 

*Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

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Gary Vaynerchuk: 11 Leadership and Tech Insights 

Today’s business leaders need to ensure that they are equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and mindset to identify emerging market opportunities and drive their organizations in the new world of work. In this exclusive interview, serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk shares pertinent insights on leadership, success, and emerging tech trends; as well as evergreen advice on how to become the best version of yourself.  

 

1. Adopt micro speed macro patience

“People confuse patience with a lack of ambition or laziness. I’m not saying to be lazy, complacent, and not have goals. I’m saying that you have more time than you think. You can accomplish everything you want over time.”  

Gary says he’s as ambitious as it gets and supports the idea of being competitive and striving for more. However, there are no shortcuts to success, and those who take shortcuts will suffer the consequences down the line.  

“If you lack patience in that journey, you will take shortcuts. When you take shortcuts, you could stumble, or worse, really throw the whole thing off. That’s why I talk about micro speed macro patience. On a day-to-day basis, if you’re ambitious, you need to have lots of hard 15-minute meetings to develop that [idea]. But in the macro, it can take three years. And that’s okay.”  

“I don’t see an issue with people’s ambition these days. I see an issue with their patience. A lack of patience is an enormous vulnerability.” 

 

2. Hold yourself accountable 

As a leader, you put your employees in a precarious spot when you make a mistake. Therefore, Gary emphasizes a greater need for patience, thoughtfulness, and accountability in today’s leaders. “Everything becomes magnified 50x once you become a leader, manager, C-suite executive, leader of a division, and definitely when you become the owner or CEO of a company.” 

He gives the example of having to let an employee go. “If your employee is terrible, you can either build them up or fire them. That means you’re in charge. I think it’s pretty black and white.” 

“I push accountability very aggressively because I think it leads to happiness. When you fall in love with true accountability, you’re able to begin navigating and not waste time on blaming and pointing fingers.” He adds that there are many people who lack accountability and are entitled and think the world owes them something.  

3. Instill kind candor

When asked about the definition of kind candor, Gary explains that candor is telling someone the truth of what your opinion is and remembering that it’s your opinion, whereas kind means how you make someone feel when you tell them the truth. 

“When you’re critical of someone’s performance, there are two ways that person could leave that meeting. Very low and scared, or very neutral and inspired to fix it. Kindness in delivering the news is important.” 

“It’s transformed VaynerMedia. We’ve become a much better organization because of kind candor. A lot of people were scared to give feedback at our company because we had such a great culture. Negative feedback was hard to deliver because somebody would complain about the feedback, and we were oversensitive. We needed to find our balance.” 

He adds that for companies like VaynerMedia with a good culture and kind framework, candor is important to prevent employees from politicking and feeling entitled. “When you don’t have candor, you can create entitlement because underperformers can start getting confused and thinking that they are performing at a higher level than they actually are.” 

Furthermore, kind candor not only creates employee retention but allows them to deliver at a higher level.  “The company has made huge advancements and grown significantly because of kind candor.” 

 

4. Get distracted by new ideas

Gary advises leaders to not be scared by new ideas and that new ideas are healthy. “Do not demonize the occasional veering off the road because that speaks to creativity. Sometimes, creativity can make something operationally stronger.”  

“It’s like the 80-20 rule. If you’re putting 80% of your energy operating that vision, but 20% of your energy is being deviated to curiosity, I think that may lend itself to making your 80% act like 110% instead of 100%.” 

When asked how to not lose focus when ideas result in too many projects, Gary goes back to accountability and leadership. “What happens if you wake up and realize you’re doing 500 things when you’re supposed to do 50?” Instead of beating themselves up, leaders must be accountable by cutting 450 projects and focusing on the 50.  

 

5. Define your metrics for failure and success 

Gary shares that his biggest failures were based on a lack of candor in that he was unable to communicate his frustrations to his employees who had to be let go. “When they were fired, they were surprised and angry because they were not being communicated to in a proper way. Even though I’ve managed thousands of people, having a [few] people have a bad taste in their mouths towards me feels like a failure.” 

He says he works on candor on an everyday basis. “I’ve shed light on it, both within my own brain and in public, and I’m trying to hold myself accountable to be better.” 

In terms of success, Gary cites the freedom to operate and be creative. “Am I able to wake up and do whatever I want? Do I like it? Am I happy? “He adds that everyone’s success metric is personal and that he can’t impose his belief of success onto others. He also prioritizes having a grandmother mentality, which leans towards empathy and caring about others, as opposed to an alpha businessman mentality that is more dominant and authoritarian.  

 

6. Lead with optimism

According to Gary, these are the competencies and skills leaders should prioritize and improve:   

  • Leading with optimism  
  • Being accountable 
  • Curiosity  
  • Communication 
  • Vulnerability  
  • Tenacity 
  • Self-awareness 

However, he emphasizes that leaders do not need every single one of these skills to be successful. “Many leaders, founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs have been successful without being tenacious. I was successful without being great at candor. I’m just more successful with it now.” 

He adds, “a lot of things I bring up are true, but they may not be a necessity for you right now. But it’s very important to consider [your] capacity to get better at certain things.” 

 

7. There is no formula for work-life balance 

“There is no right answer for living a fulfilled life.”  

This is because everyone lives different lives and works different hours, whether it’s the traditional 9 to 5 or four-day work weeks. Each person has their own definition of work-life balance, and they have to adapt to achieve it. “It’s a very personal journey. You can’t be scared to adjust along the way. You have to be adaptable. When you have a moment where you have to put more time into your personal or professional life, you have to be prepared and capable of that.” 

 

8. Practice self-love 

“Self-love doesn’t mean getting high on your own bravado that you’re delusional and you don’t see your shortcomings.”  

He adds that it’s possible to have self-love and humility, but most people don’t agree. “They think of self-love as ego and delusion.” He believes that people can love themselves but still have the humility to be accountable and critical of themselves. “Criticizing yourself occasionally or holding yourself accountable is very different from beating yourself up and saying, ‘I’m stupid, I’m ugly, I’m not good enough.’ I want to remind you that somebody put that into your brain, and you need to get out of it.” 

 

9. Don’t be afraid to fail  

“Failing in front of people is incredibly powerful.” 

He encourages leaders to do things that make them uncomfortable and to put themselves in positions where things don’t work out. “When you start a business and it fails, your friends may tell you they admire you for trying. All of us sudden you become more fearless.” 

“Anything can happen at any time. I always tell people not to regret a decision because you don’t know the outcome of the other hand. Be grateful for what you have, don’t dwell on what you don’t have, and keep looking forward.” 

When it comes to making hard decisions, Gary relies on instinct and the best information at the time. “I’m not scared to be wrong. This goes back to fear. It’s why so much of my content rails against fear. I think it’s the weapon of choice of politicians, parents, and bosses.” 

“If I’m wrong, I become accountable, learn from it, and move on. But for some people, it’s like a scarlet letter that they can never get over.” 

 

10. Focus less on quick wins   

Gary says that quick wins are not needed unless you’re trying to sustain your job or secure funding. “I find that quick wins, often in the corporate environment, are dangerous because they lead to bad behavior. What’s more powerful is having slow conversations with the leaders who have the power – the CFO, the CEO, the board – to give you the time.” 

He adds that it’s more effective to have real conversations with decision-makers and say, “This will take three years versus having to create a narrative that we [need] some sort of win six months in. Putting [your] energy for the short win often is in conflict with building [something] meaningfully.” 

 

11. Put in the work 

When it comes to searching for trends and opportunities, Gary advises leaders to put in the work. It can be as simple as finding out what the most downloaded apps are at the moment.  

“People always ask me how I always know what’s coming next. I searched the App Store. I think that people overcomplicate things. I also think that people don’t want to put in work that takes 10 to 30 minutes.” 

“If you find that there is value in something, then you have to explore it and actually execute it. That’s how you advance yourself.”  

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LG’s Director of General Operations: A New Model for Future-Proofing Supply Chains

Supply chain leaders are emerging from a difficult couple of years plagued by various global crises with a renewed determination to build resilience in a volatile landscape. The question on everyone’s mind: What actions can be taken from the recent lessons learned?

During our insights session with supply chain business leaders, LG’s Director of General Operations, Gabriel Mesas Paton, walked us through the secret of the multinational electronics company’s collaborative supply chain strategy which helped them weather and quickly adapt to continuous disruptions.

 
Gabriel Mesas Paton, Director of General Operations, LG Electronics is directly involved in all divisions of the company from consumer electronics to B2B solutions. He also leads the integration of operations capabilities to foster LG leadership. Additionally, Gabriel is a Member of the Executive Board at CEL (Centro Español de Logistica) and speaks at different business schools and industry events.
 

How did the recent economic challenges impact LG’s supply chain?

We have been severely impacted since ours is a very fragile supply chain. The product lifecycle of electronics is very short, meaning that everything moves quickly. As such, the disruptions over the last three years caused our supply chain to suddenly stop. We don’t have a lot of inventory along our supply chain and therefore, no huge buffers that we can use to overcome these issues. These disruptions led to difficulties in delivering products to our clients. Having said that, I’d say we have been able to overcome those challenges.

Allow me to first explain how we operate. We have a global supply chain that moves hundreds of thousands of containers a year. We have factories in many countries and the entire chain is complex. Ours is also an integrated global supply chain, which is not typical in many industries. This brings with it major difficulties but also opportunities and advantages.

LG Electronics has a single forecasting and production capacity system as well as a single system for order and inventory management. Today, we can see inventory levels at warehouses, orders from clients, production capacity, inventory of components along our supply chain, suppliers, production facilities, and the capacity of our transportation partners and distribution centers. All this information is visible simultaneously to all parts of the supply chain. We’ve been able to build this integrated supply chain visibility for over 15 years.

Of course, when one part of the supply chain is affected, that impacts the rest of the chain. However, we do have the advantage of immediate communication and reaction.

 

The Collaborative, Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) model in supply chain has been around for a while but has recently received criticism for its lack of usefulness in recent times. Can you elaborate on the new concept that LG has implemented instead?

CPFR was very popular from the 90s to around 2007. It was a way of collaborating with manufacturers and clients over a period of one to three years. Forecasts and production plans were made for 12-month periods and replenishment orders would be done for the three months following that. A review of the market would take around a month. It was a long commitment.

In today’s market, CPFR is no longer valid. You cannot make commitments for two years. Our products change every year. In fact, we launch new televisions every year, but we upgrade the features every six months. How can we make a two-year commitment for a product with a lifecycle of fewer than six months? We understood that we needed a framework that allowed for immediate response.

We came up with what we call FCR – forecast, check, and react. It’s a new process to produce the best forecast, continually check in with our clients and partners, and react immediately both locally and globally.

FCR is about setting up a joint process with our clients to do forecasts that we then use to come up with some rough intentions and commitments for three months. But of course, the level of commitment is low and our clients are not interested in committing for just a few months when the market is extremely volatile. So, we check in with market progress on a weekly basis and react immediately.

This process requires thorough collaboration and work. We are looking at data to create forecasts for the next three months. From there, we narrow down forecasts for each product on a weekly basis. Then we gather information on weekly sales to see how the market is progressing. If sales levels are as expected, we will confirm our orders and forecasts. If not, we will take other measures and adjust our projections.

It’s like what we used to do years ago. The difference is that we are managing information and visibility on a global scale. We have discussions with clients and partners daily. Decisions are also made daily.

For example, we can have production orders for our factory in Poland on Tuesday for products to be delivered to our clients in Iberia between Friday and Monday. Roughly 50% of our sales are executed directly from the factory to our clients without passing through a distribution center. This allows us a quick reaction capacity. FCR allows us to implement quick updates, review changes, and make adjustments in real-time.

 

Do you use product-in-use data for sales predictions?

Unfortunately, our market cannot be statistically forecasted because the effect of promotions and the effect of seasonality is so big. Having said that, it can be analytically forecasted. What we do is work on this joint forecast with our clients, using product data to estimate and project sales for the next few weeks. We consider our clients’ promotional plans and our own marketing investments. We do our forecasts at an aggregated level to procure materials, but not for sales of an individual client.

 

How important is the network of partners for LG Electronics?

Typically, inventory was the protection against uncertainties. Now, we know that inventory is extremely expensive and the risk of holding it is too high, especially with the marketplace and world we live in today.

The way to build buffers nowadays is by building capacity, which requires a network of partners.

For example, 15 years ago we could have 30,000 units of TVs in a local warehouse to protect from demand uncertainty and variability. Now, we build capacity between factories, supplies of components, transportation capacity, and manufacturing capacity. We are agile in production, meaning we can extend production by a few hours per day, giving us the ability to increase daily production by 20% to 25%. We also have the capacity to stretch transportation from five trucks per day to 200. This means we can cover for the uncertainty with the capacity to reach. This is only possible with a big network of suppliers and partners.

For example, if we had only one transportation partner, we could not reasonably expect them to have five trucks one day and 200 trucks the next. What would they be doing with their idle capacity? To divide the risk, we have many partners. In Iberia, we have over 25 logistics partners. The same is true at the European level.

So how can we work with them? We need to show them all this information in the FCR model. The forecasts and plans are aggregated at a higher level, then disaggregated at the partner level daily. Sharing this information allows us and our partners to prepare as much as possible.

 

What makes it possible for you to react to customer demand changes within a week?

Our production plan is adjusted daily in the factory. Transportation capacity is confirmed with carriers 24 or 48 hours ahead. Sales orders are confirmed daily with our clients. It’s just about having the right information and commitment.

One of our secrets is losing the concept of fighting and negotiating with clients.

We live in a market in which we need to work together with our clients by building mixed teams. There are some functions that still reside entirely within the client and within LG, but then we have several functions that are performed by a core process team that jointly works over the same information. They share roles, responsibilities, and the same KPIs. They share communication and tools which allow us to work closely with our clients. The secret is to work as a single team, to know that the only way to win is to do it together.

*Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

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Marko Sarstedt: Why is Sensory Marketing Important?

As the retail industry faces the challenges of a weakened economy and rising inflation, consumer confidence and spending power are decreasing. This shift in consumer behavior requires a strategic approach to product differentiation through effective marketing strategies. However, in a highly competitive and unpredictable market, maintaining a strong brand image is no easy feat. It is crucial for business leaders to stay ahead of the curve and develop innovative strategies to remain relevant and resilient.  

We spoke to marketing professor and consumer behavior researcher, Marko Sarstedt about sensory marketing, the impact it can have on customer experience, and the knock-on effect it has on customer loyalty.  

 
Marko Sarstedt is a chaired professor of marketing at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and an adjunct research professor at Babeș-Bolyai-University Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Marko’s research on consumer behavior has been published in world-leading academic journals and ranks among the most frequently cited in the social sciences.

He has also made the Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers List several times including ranking as the “world’s most impactful scientific researchers.” In March 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Babeș-Bolyai-University Cluj-Napoca for his research achievements and contributions to international exchange.
 

Could you briefly explain what sensory marketing is and how it relates to customer loyalty? 

Sensory marketing involves all processing of sensory perception. It’s about how certain sensory stimuli – like light, temperature, sound, or haptic elements – impact our perception of products in retail environments. Sensory marketing as an academic field is involved in trying to understand how these different stimuli impact us, what are the mechanisms through which they impact us, and how retailers and other companies such as online shops can leverage these insights to improve customer experience. 

When consumers enter a retail space, there are lots of influences they have to cope with such as music, light, scents, and even other customers. Being exposed to many, sometimes divergent influences, creates dissonance and diminishes satisfaction. By harmonizing at least some of these influences, consumers can process the environment more easily.  

As consumers, we don’t want to go somewhere and invest lots of cognitive effort and capabilities to process all these different impacting factors. We want to have things easy. If this is achieved through sensory perceptions, customers will enjoy the experience enough to come back.  

Harmonizing sensory perceptions improves satisfaction, which then improves loyalty.  

There is a direct causal chain between these sensory perceptions and customer satisfaction, and it is well supported by research. 

 

How has the current economic climate impacted customer loyalty in the retail industry? 

We need to first consider the consequences of the pandemic which has shifted many businesses to the online environment. People who were not used to purchasing goods online were forced to give it a try and they learned that it’s favorable. The pandemic was an accelerator for online businesses because it massively shifted demand into the online world. Obviously, this is an issue for stationary retailers.  

At the same time, we’re seeing high inflation in Europe and other regions in the world because of the war in Ukraine. This means there is less spending power. People want to save, and they typically get better bargains online. So we see diminishing loyalty in stationary retail because people have just shifted to an online world for various reasons. 

Also, brand loyalty in general has been diluting for several years now. This is because there are more companies emerging that are targeting smaller niche segments to adequately address consumer needs and wants. In fact, today’s consumers, especially younger ones, expect this. 

Nevertheless, the fact remains that people still want to experience goods and services in an offline world. They like more tactile environments because humans are social beings. We like to communicate one-on-one and want to experience our surroundings. We don’t live in a social vacuum. Especially after the COVID lockdowns, we can see that people are longing for social interactions and exchanges. So, despite the shift online, there is a countermovement back to stationary retail.  

Sensory marketing has an unbeatable advantage over online settings because it caters to all our sensory perceptions which is more difficult to achieve online.  

That’s how sensory marketing can contribute to customer loyalty for stationary retailers. 

 

In today’s highly competitive retail landscape, how can businesses use sensory marketing to differentiate themselves from their competition? 

Brand managers put a substantial amount of effort into defining their brand image. They define what a brand should look like in the minds of consumers. They then run advertising campaigns on social media with influencers, targeting these brand image elements.  

What brand managers oftentimes forget is the actual experience of the brand at the point of sale. You can have the fanciest advertising campaign, but if the brand experience at the point of sale is opposing that image, then it’s wasted money in the first place. 

For example, if the masculine image of a brand that targets male consumers is not supported at the point of sale – either by the color schemes, lighting, music, or scent – all your brand positioning efforts are ruined.  

Brand managers need to view the experience of a brand holistically, not just through advertisement and communication, but also how consumers experience the product at the point of sale or the experience of the product itself.  

This is something that many brand managers put very scant attention on right now. They focus on how people perceive the brand. But when it comes to haptics, tactile, and what the products look like when a customer interacts with them, that’s regarded to be of minor relevance. 

 

How can business leaders justify investment in sensory marketing? What are the potential returns on that investment? 

There’s ample research showing the importance of sensory perceptions for consumer behavior. For example, we know that when companies implement a pleasant ambient scent into a retail environment, this generates an average uplift in sales of 20%.  

Similarly, we know that music impacts our behavior. If you play specific music in the background, it triggers specific country stereotypes and leads people into buying certain products. For example, researchers have played French music in a wine store, and suddenly, people bought French wine. Then they play German music and people have bought German wine.  

Scent, music, and haptics work together like an orchestra. Jointly, they impact our behavior and increase or decrease our propensity to purchase a product. They also affect our satisfaction with the servicescape and retail environment. 

What’s a good starting point for business leaders who want to start focusing more on sensory marketing in their branding strategies?  

The cheapest way of tackling this is certainly by music. You can play specific music in stores which can have a significant impact on consumer behavior. Of course, the best-case scenario is getting an agency to help you make these decisions. Things like time of day and volume play a role. For example, if the music is too fast, people will move through the stores too quickly. If the music is too slow, they move slower but there’s a risk they may get bored, which creates dissonance. While fine-tuning requires expert help, implementing music is low-hanging fruit and a good place to start. 

Many of these things can be done intuitively without causing harm to the business. Typically, investment in sensory marketing is low while the potential benefits are high.   

You have a book coming out about sensory marketing, Multisensory Design of Retail Environments: Vision, Sound, and Scent. Can you tell us more about it? 

As researchers, we know there’s a wide array of research in various fields – not only marketing but consumer behavior, environmental studies, and so on – that deal with sensory perceptions. However, these studies are oftentimes complicated and heavy with statistics, making it difficult to extract information that is relevant to practitioners who want to grasp the essence of the findings. 

With that in mind, my fellow co-authors and I set out to summarize the most recent research on sensory stimuli that retailers can readily implement themselves. We’ve looked at a huge amount of research from various fields, leaving aside statistical detail and theory, and focusing instead on how to improve the sensory perception of retail environments, as well as next steps for the future. 

What do you hope people will take away from your session next month? 

I hope that they take away how important it is to actively manage the sensory environment.  

We invest much time in the front end of brand marketing, from advertising to the image – but we frequently forget about how people actually experience the brand at the point of sale.  

*The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

**The book: Multisensory Design of Retail Environments: Vision, Sound, and Scent.

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Shell’s CIO and CISO Allan Cockriel: How to Win the Tech Talent War 

IT leaders from start-ups to multinational corporations continue to struggle with a lack of tech talent. In this exclusive interview, Allan Cockriel, CIO – Global Functions & CISO at Shell; shares expert insights on the elements of good global talent management, strategies to attract and retain tech talent, steps on how to scale culture in a global organization, and more.  

*This article is a recap of the session, CIOs Winning the Global War of Talent with Leadership Competencies. 

 
Allan Cockriel has been the Vice President & CIO – Global Functions and Chief Information Security Officer at Shell since July 2020. He is also part of the IDT Executive Leadership Team and leads the IDT organization to ensure maximum business value delivery through complex digital transformation across all corporate functions; and oversees the continuous improvement of the Information Risk and Cyber Security posture for Shell.
 

What is your definition of good global talent management?

“I’m a big believer that organizations with the best teams will win great talent.” 

Doing great work and delivering for customers is the way companies are going to succeed now and in the future. Shell, like every other company, is out there competing for the best and the brightest globally to join and stay to grow their careers. From an employee value proposition perspective, it’s a very compelling mission. Does the company have a mission that you want to be part of?  In the case of Shell, it’s powering progress.  

We’re committed to net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. We also want to have great work. Does it excite you? Does it get you out of bed? Are you passionate about the work you do each day? From a CIO and technology perspective, are we giving our teams and our stakeholders the right tools and technologies to be successful? Do we have an allergy to bureaucracy and waste?  

We constantly figure out ways to simplify and find ways to create better work environments for the organization. Next is an environment where you can bring your whole self to work. So, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) needs to be part of the fabric of the organization. Anyone can show up at Shell and have great career value for who they are. Their diverse opinions can help us to create the best possible product. We also have a culture of trust, transparency, and focus on value.  

 

What sets Shell apart from other enterprises?

Shell is a technology company, so we have some of the best tools, technologies, and capabilities in the oil and gas industry.  

“When you come to Shell, you have access to phenomenal talent and capabilities, and a genuine passion to digitalize.” 

Next is care for people. This organization has a tremendous focus on work-life balance and helping people have great work and personal lives. We’re doing great things.  

The world also needs clean energy. I personally find a lot of passion in being a digital leader who is driving forward the clean energy agenda. When we’re speaking to students all the way up to executives, being part of that journey has been incredibly attractive for a lot of technology leaders who want to join the company. 

I think we have a more compelling story compared to other large corporations in the oil and gas and energy industries. A lot of people don’t know that we are going to have half a million EV charge points in the near future. We have a very large battery business in Germany. We’ve installed some of the first and largest hydrogen electrolyzers globally.  

 

Can you explain the importance of purpose for employees?

There are two dynamics at play there. Firstly, when we went through the COVID experience, people wanted to do work that mattered. There was the Great Resignation and the Great Turnover, among others. I think people realized through the pandemic, that they want to do things that matter. That’s the focus on vision and mission. Next, if you look at the generations that are coming up through the leadership ranks, the Gen Zs and the millennials, they inherently want to do things that matter as well. They want to be part of something good, something big. Those two are the trends that I see driving change, or more appropriately, a focus on mission, and the quality of the work that they get to do.  

 

Tell us more about the remote worker management at Shell.

Shell operates in over 180 different countries – that’s everything from the forecourts where you go to fill up your tank or charger all the way through to assets that are producing hydrocarbons and electricity around the world to our major hubs in North America, Europe, and Asia. From that perspective, the reach of the organization is larger than most organizations in the world. From a talent perspective, we want to be able to reach out to that network and identify great talent as a business. But as a technology function we want to find that talent, either business proximate so they’re out near our assets, or they join one of our hubs in North America, Europe, or Southeast Asia. 

 

What is the bigger challenge: attracting or retaining talent?

If I have to pick one, it’s attracting talent. Some people look at Shell as an oil and gas company and they don’t understand the amount of technology and innovation that we have as an organization and the amount of focus that we put on digitalization. When people hear our story, they see the technology that they’re exposed to, and they want to join. From a retention perspective, we have folks in the organization that want to be part of this journey. 

 

What is the biggest struggle in retaining good IT talent?

“In the technology space, particularly in cybersecurity, great talent knows their value, and they want to be part of something big.” 

It’s very difficult to find great talent. At Shell, we’re committed to investing in the net zero emissions future. We’re out there in the markets every single day trying to find great Shell leaders to drive our programs and our transformations. It’s tough because there are a lot of options for tech talent out there. The way you work, where you work, and the culture of the organization have a lot more value than ever before. We’re out there competing to get the best and the brightest for the company. 

 

How do you manage different employee needs and preferences in terms of work-life balance?

I think COVID taught every industry a big lesson on flexible, remote, and hybrid working. I think the hybrid working concept is going to stay with us, which I’m a big supporter of. From an approach perspective, Shell adopted a hybrid work policy. We asked our employees, “Where are you most effective in line with what your business needs?”  

Given the breadth of Shell, we have some organizations where you have to be in the office five days per week, it’s just part of the expectation, it’s part of the ways of working, and that pivots all the way to individuals who go to work one to two days in the office. But again, valuing that sense of place value in that area for collaboration, but then affording a tremendous amount of flexibility for people to work where they are most effective, and recognize that people have complex lives. Hybrid working unlocks a lot of that capability for people to live great lives. 

 
Dive into the latest trends and technologies impacting tech leaders in the Executive Insights sessions. View upcoming sessions here.
 

How do you define good leadership in this era?

The game has changed. As I mentioned earlier, people want to work for a great company, and they want to do work that matters. They want an environment where DEI is part of the fabric of the organization so they can be present and have their voices heard. I think it’s incredibly powerful. As an organizational culture, we want to foster and support innovation.  

“We want to make sure that people can take chances and fail forward as technology leaders throughout their careers.” 

From a development perspective, we want to invest in our capabilities, both the red threads of how we do business as Shell and how we work as Shell. From a technology perspective, you have very clear and well-supported paths as a leader, whether it’s in technology, operations, or HR. People can see themselves long-term with Shell with tremendous value to add to our customers. 

 

Can you elaborate on the fail forward concept?

If things go well for a project, you take it, scale it, and monetize it. But in certain cases, things aren’t going to work out. Through that process, as long as you approach that from a learning mindset, where you’re learning from the experience, you’re finding a different way, and maybe that specific pilot or action didn’t work out, the learning through that process is incredibly valuable. When I say fail forward, you’re stopping whatever tactical exercise you’re working on but the learning and the value through that experience is what I want to make sure you take into your next experiment, program, or initiative. 

 

How do you keep your team involved in innovation projects?

If I do a scan of our competition, I don’t think we’re competing against other oil and gas companies.  

“I see us competing against tech companies, start-ups, and the small agile organizations that can innovate.” 

That’s where I see our main threats. From a culture perspective, we invest in smart risk-taking. This is everything from rewards and recognitions for people who are taking risks where you can fail forward without worrying about reprisal. We’ve pivoted that where we celebrate on a regular basis where people took bets. In certain cases, it worked. In certain cases, it didn’t work, and we celebrate both equally.  

Finally, it’s continuous investments in innovation. I have a pot of money that I’ll take and invest in ideas where people come up with a great way to use ChatGPT, for example. They go out and experiment, they find something that they can potentially pilot and scale. If it works, that’s fantastic. That innovation fund puts our money where our mouth is in terms of valuing innovation and risk-taking. 

Things could go wrong – people operate within the bounds of compliance and integrity. Our security controls are non-negotiable. But taking a new technology and finding a different way to monetize it will be something I’ll invest in every single day of the week. 

 

Cultivating culture becomes difficult when an organization goes global. How do you ensure that the culture can scale?

From a technology perspective, we have a few global hubs around the world. I believe that the office, or more appropriately, a space for collaboration, has tremendous value for big global organizations. When you join Shell, there’s a lot of training, there’s support, and there are groups that help you to assimilate into the organization. We do value people who come into the office on a regular basis and find ways to collaborate with their teams and pick up the Shell culture. 

There’s also an investment in training, or immersion workshops, where there’s dedicated training to help the employees know what good delivery looks like, the way we act as leaders, and how the organization values their contribution. It’s incredibly important because that training allows us to scale the organization quickly with the right level of horizontal consistency from a culture and working perspective. We invest heavily in the office environment as well as in these training capabilities. 

 

What has changed about the skills or competencies of a good leader?

I think one is being an empathetic leader. Listening, being human, and creating an environment where people can feel safe.  

Also, successful technology leaders in the last 10 to 15 years have been financially savvy business partners who recognize and monetize great technologies. Last but not least, is continuous learning. The average shelf life of a technology leader is a few years.  

“Individuals who are curious and eager to learn will find themselves very successful throughout their careers.” 

 

How can leaders balance compliance risk controls and the drive for innovation?

It’s similar to asking whether a car needs a bigger engine or a better set of brakes. I think they are symbiotic. You need both. I think the answer to the question is having a risk-based conversation.  If you’re a risk or an IT professional, you need to have an open dialogue with your business partners on the compromises you want to balance with operational effectiveness and efficiency with security. When that conversation is balanced with a sense of trust, you find yourself in a place where you can keep your data and customers’ data safe while innovating at pace. I think it’s achievable, but it starts with that dialogue. 

 

What can CIOs and CISOs do differently tomorrow?

Stay humble and stay hungry. I live by those values every day to help me to stay focused and move at the right pace. Next is empathy. Show that you care, be a person, and create a great environment for your teams. I believe that it all starts with empathy and trust. 

 

*The interview has been edited for length and clarity.  

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CISO of ICA Gruppen: Limiting the Human Factor in Cybersecurity

Automation is no longer optional in cybersecurity. In fact, it is the fastest and most effective way to deter cyber attacks while also offloading mundane tasks that are traditionally managed by humans. However, improperly implemented automation can lead to significant errors and damage to reputation and financial performance.  

What does that mean for the human factor in cybersecurity? Albin Zuccato, CISO of ICA Gruppen walks us through the different levels of automation and how it can serve to reduce the human factor.

 

What Can Businesses Do With Automation?

 

AI or automation is the automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor. Here, security comes into play because automation concerns processes – how can organizations ensure their network is secure? 

Second, automation is widely adopted as a way to replace human labor, which is directly responsible for a lot of errors in security – i.e. the human factor. 

“I do not see an option in security not to use automation.” 

Albin notes that there are three goals for automation in security. These are: 

  • Speed: Automation increases reaction speed, which is crucial for stopping attacks and containing viruses. 
  • Efficiency: Automation allows for better utilization of resources and replacement of human labor which tends to be less efficient. 
  • Noise reduction: Also known as the human factor. People are creative and very good at solving new problems. But when it comes to solving the same problem over and over, automation is more efficient and consistent in its solutions. This allows organizations to recalibrate and stabilize their processes.  

Having said that, humans are still superior in certain aspects of security. So a balance must be struck. Albin explains that it helps for businesses to think about where they need automation the most by examining their internal security processes.  

 

Three Levels of Security Processes  

 

Artistic 

This is where penetration testers try to find new vulnerabilities in a network while handling critical security incidents, which are never the same. This requires artistry, which is something humans excel in.  

The benefit of automation at this level is noise reduction by utilising a playbook or manual for security incidents that will ensure solutions carried out are consistent. Automation here is a tool to reduce the human factor and as a support to allow humans the flexibility they need to handle such situations requiring artistry.  

Craftsmanship 

These are where processes have some variability and require skilled workers. There may be patterns and repetitive processes with some level of variation that benefits from the eyes of a human who has the larger context of the business network and security goals. 

Here, automation can help with taking over the more repetitive processes to reduce the human factor while still giving human teams to focus only on the variations when necessary.  

Industrial 

This is the most common level of security processes that make up security and where automation is most effective. At this level, processes have very little variability and are mostly repetitive. Generally, humans do not accelerate here, which is where automation can have the biggest impact on noise reduction. With machine learning and AI, industrial processes can be streamlined and made incredibly efficient with little human intervention. 

 

The Challenges of Automation in Security 

 

With any new technology come challenges. Albin cautions that trust will be a big issue as automation is adopted not just by businesses but by bad actors as well. It will be an ‘arms race’ as both sides begin to adopt AI and machine learning. Organizations do not have the luxury of waiting to see how the technology evolves as they risk being behind the curve.  

“We have to learn now and start incorporating AI and automation into our processes.” 

Explaining ICA Gruppen’s use of automation in security processes, Albin says that the company has reduced its dependence on human decisions which therefore has reduced human errors.  

Albin added: “Automation must happen, and I think the most important part here is that we do automation that is purpose-driven.” 

A purpose-driven approach to automation is the way forward, noted the CISO who explained that a company should decide what they want to achieve with different kinds of automation to get the most out of it. After all, there are plenty of tools in the market promising different outcomes. Clarity will be crucial.  

He also stressed the need to focus on where humans can be most effective.  

“With automation, the creativity of humans can be boxed into areas where they will be most effective – let automation take care of the rest and reduce and correct errors.” 

 

No Escaping the Human Factor 

 

Finally, Albin advised that human error is something every security team needs to accept because it is unavoidable. However, it can be curtailed with the effective deployment of automation.  

This is because while most attacks, which are carried out by machines, are best counteracted by machines, smart humans can still outclass them.  

Albin added, “I believe strongly that we need to reduce the human factor, but I do not believe that we should eliminate it.” 

He went on to say that the best thing organizations can do with automation is to just start because like every new approach, it is a learning process. Start by defining goals and then jump straight into experimentation, learning, and adapting. 

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5 Virtual Sales Meeting Tips

As a hybrid sales strategy is predicted to be the dominant way of selling by 2024 (McKinsey), sales professionals need to continue honing their virtual sales meeting skills on top of in-person communication. In addition, the global video conferencing market is expected to reach $14.58 billion by 2029 (Fortune Business Insights), suggesting that mastering the art of the virtual sales pitch and effective online meetings will be crucial for years to come.  

HOW TO MASTER YOUR VIRTUAL SALES PITCH AND WOW C-LEVEL CUSTOMERS 

The ability to deliver a compelling virtual sales pitch is more crucial than ever. C-level executives, with their busy schedules and high expectations, require pitches that are concise, engaging, and tailored to their unique needs. Mastering the art of the virtual sales pitch not only sets you apart from the competition but also positions you as a forward-thinking and adaptable sales professional.

Here are five tips on how to impress C-level customers at your next digital sales meeting: 

 

1. DO SOME ETHICAL STALKING

Researching prospects is as important as nailing your virtual sales pitch. There are several steps to take when a lead enters your sales cycle. Even if it’s a marketing qualified lead (MQL), you should dig deeper by looking into their social media profiles and websites. For example, find out what they are posting on LinkedIn and check if there are any recent news articles about current or upcoming projects at the company.  

If possible, send the lead an email and schedule an initial discovery call to discuss desired outcomes, budgets, timelines, and the right decision-makers to get in touch with. Doing this pre-work will help you carve out a more precise buyer persona that will be valuable when preparing for your sales meeting. However, doing this pre-work is time-consuming and impossible to do for every lead.  

It’s beneficial to invest in a service that does the pre-work for you, like ME Matchmaking, leaving you more time to prepare your sales deck and practice for the meeting.

 

2. MAKE THE CUSTOMER FEEL SPECIAL

Personalized customer experiences are no longer nice to have in B2B sales, they have now become a necessity. In fact, 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from companies that offer a personalized experience (Epsilon). At the end of the day, decision-makers are humans, and sales professionals need to make their sales presentations engaging and connect to their customer’s emotions and needs.  

Virtual sales meetings give you an opportunity to create a customized presentation for each customer and share your screen to showcase any relevant promo videos and web pages. Ensure that each point presented relates back to the customer’s challenges. It’s vital to center your sales presentation around the customer instead of presenting your product’s offerings or benefits blindly.  

 

Why ME Matchmaking partners prefer virtual meetings:

“Virtual meetings are more effective as you can prepare better, you’re in your own environment, and you have more time. You can be very direct and you can also present your slides.”

– Chris Herben, Field Marketing Manager, Commvault

 

3. AVOID MEETINGS ON MONDAYS AND FRIDAYS

Scheduling virtual sales meetings is tricky. Research shows that virtual meetings are badly received on Mondays and Fridays (Human Resources Online). Conversely, another study found that the best time to schedule a sales call or meeting is on a Wednesday between 4 pm and 5 pm (Salesmate).  

Ultimately, the right time for a sales meeting is a time that works best for you and the decision-maker. Give your customer a few meeting time options to make things easier. Ensure that the decision-maker accepts the meeting invitation and that you send them a reminder email a day before the meeting just in case. You can also leave these administrative tasks to services like ME Matchmaking which will pre-schedule virtual sales meetings on your behalf.  

Additionally, always prepare a meeting agenda so that no time is wasted during the meeting and that the customer knows what to expect. The end goal is to make every sales meeting as efficient as possible. In fact, 85% of sales prospects are more eager to join a 30-minute virtual meeting rather than an in-person meeting (LinkedIn). 

 

Why ME Matchmaking partners prefer virtual meetings:

“Virtual meetings are terrific because you can cut to the chase much quicker. It‘s more of a conversation with virtual meetings compared to meeting people at exhibitions or conferences.” – Ronald Kerkhof, Sales Director, Smart Communications

 

4. DITCH THE SALES PITCH

Instead of a traditional sales pitch, why not go a step further and provide a product demo during your presentation? This makes for a more interactive and engaging sales presentation that includes the decision-maker. A product demo also allows you to practice active listening and have a two-way conversation with the customer.  

During a product demo, C-level customers can ask specific questions that are related to their pain points, giving you the opportunity to provide real-time solutions to those challenges. You can also take it up a notch by calculating the ROI of your product or service in real-time, which gives you a chance to understand the customer’s budget better and even customize a package that suits their needs best.  

 

5. PRACTICE AND HAVE A PLAN B

One huge benefit of virtual meetings is that they can be recorded. This gives you an opportunity to watch old meetings and see where you can tweak or improve. It also helps to practice your sales presentation with your colleague on the video conferencing software you intend to use. That way you can identify potential technical issues early on and get familiar with the software’s tools and functions. This is also the time to come up with a backup plan if the actual sales meeting goes awry. For example, appoint your colleague to control the slides or handle any technical issues during the meeting while you continue speaking to the decision-maker.  

 

Why ME Matchmaking partners prefer virtual meetings:

“Most of our sales cycles take place remotely. It fits very well in the current atmosphere of business, so there are not many on-site meetings. Customers have realized they can have a virtual meeting in an hour and then jump to the next meeting.”

– Jouni Pohjola, Sales Director, Movial

 

After the sales meeting is done, make sure to send the decision-maker a thank-you email with a short recap of the meeting. You can also attach handouts and book follow-up meetings if needed. Don’t forget to connect with the decision-maker on LinkedIn too. All the best during your next sales meeting!