Nigel Walsh

I would always look to establish clear stakeholders ahead of the sale and be clear on if this being done to them or with them or for them. Do they have responsibility, authority and accountability for the work contracted for ahead. Each of these requires a different approach to the actual work. If they were unresponsive during the pre-sale it's a leading indicator of how the project may go too!

Create your community with your'e people. Whether that’s going for a run. Joining a yoga class. A coffee morning. A round table dinner. Bring diverse groups together. Some of my favourite events are small groups of round table dinners with like minded folks from across the industry and Chatham house rules.

This reminds me of the whole, if you ask a customer what they want, they would likely say faster horses. Most customers will not have been through a crisis, and hope never to either. Show them in advance each and every step of pre and post event, take them full through full role plays and live simulations, add in the unexpected. Practice practice, practice. Get used to know how the team act, react and collaborate against common and clearly defined goals and outcomes. Over communicate throughout, leaving no room for rumors or speculation. Have one clear combined message.

I think this is broadly a ridiculous question. For the mass market (Dogs & Cats), I would expect there is zero negotiation on terms. If you had a specialist pet, or used a broker as had a very specific issue that needed custom underwriting, that would be the only way to do this, but my guess is that's not 99% of pet owners.

Be super clear on the rational for the feedback. Balance positive and negative. Leverage radical candor properly. A good example here from Kim Scott in an interview with Lenny Rachitsky - from theory to practice. Well worth a listen - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lennys-podcast-product-growth-career/id1627920305?i=1000638082869

I think the data in the community world is as important with what its not telling you vs what it is telling you. Where are the gaps, what surprises you, whats not interesting and what is. How do folks engage, when, why, are their adjaciences. How do you build community and sense of fun or purpose, while the ability to bring back to why its there in the first place. How do you leverage guidelines without squashing what people want or need, sometimes without knowing it!