Matthew Owen, managing director, M2M Intelligence, says leave room in negotiation to avoid a prospect’s loss of face.
- As a child what job did you want to have when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a pilot, but lacked the maths and dedication to get into the RAF, so settled for gliding as a hobby and getting on with a life in marketing and business. Looking back, I think I would have made a terrible member of the services, I have never been good at unquestioning obedience to authority!
2. If you had one business lesson to share with your younger self what would it be?
To be honest my approach to business over the last 35 years hasn’t changed much. Perhaps at the risk of being a major cliché, I would say “stick to your principles, and take the big risks – fortune favours the brave”.
3. Which Internet of Things (IoT) use case has recently fired your imagination?
We are busy pulling together a consortium of partners to create a health and social care solution that enables clinicians to get a holistic real-time view of their patients in their own homes. This helps to address the biggest challenge in healthcare, particularly across much of the developing world. This is a tremendously inspiring sector where we can directly contribute to improving peoples’ lives.
4. What lessons have you learned from doing business in other countries or organisations?
We have a growing base of clients across Asia, Japan and the Americas, in much of Europe and Africa. Our background in global telecoms has taught us to spend time understanding and appreciating the immensely diverse cultural approaches to business that we encounter.
For instance; it’s far too easy to assume that certain words said in meetings have the same power and meaning worldwide, but you need to understand the human aspect, as well as the social and political context in which they are said. For example, it’s important to consider whether you have allowed sufficient room for negotiation that doesn’t result in a loss of face for your client or prospect.
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