Author Archives: NickWAllen

Our family Chevron – Lessons from the garage

In my early teens after hard work and a bunch of savings, dad came home with the news that we were expecting. He sat us down at the table and showed us the scans (well a brochure) for our our soon to be new sibling. 9 months-ish (and 100hours work) later a bright red twoContinue reading “Our family Chevron – Lessons from the garage”

Hunua Hillbilly – Unapologetically Tough

Auckland’s, maybe the North Island’s toughest Ultra? Quite possibly. Well, finally, after overcoming the postponements for distancing 😷 (COVID) and then pest eradication, race day arrived for the Hunua Hillbilly. After dosing off at 21:30, I gave up trying to sleep about an hour before my 02:30 alarm. Peanut butter sandwich and long black ☕️Continue reading “Hunua Hillbilly – Unapologetically Tough”

Heuristics: Using social proof and anchoring for conversion

Today I’d like to talk about peer pressure or lack thereof.  What do you do when a potential new customer really doesn’t know you at all? Much like an introduction by a friend or a spot on the New York Times Best Seller List a little social proof can go a long way.  Social proof isContinue reading “Heuristics: Using social proof and anchoring for conversion”

Heuristics: Using Familiarity To Nurture Trust And Brand Allegiance

Familiarity or pattern recognition is one of the first heuristics we use as a child to be fed. We know that our mother gives us food, so gravitate more to her than dad. We also learn that crying at the right intervals will get us changed and fed. We recognise the familiar pattern and triggers.Continue reading “Heuristics: Using Familiarity To Nurture Trust And Brand Allegiance”

Heuristics: Scarcity And Loss Aversion As Motivators

As we have evolved over time – humans have developed a number of decision making shortcuts or Heuristic. We use these to speed up the decision making process. Heuristics usually govern automatic, intuitive judgments. But we can also deliberately use them when working from limited information. By understanding the role of heuristics in human psychology,Continue reading “Heuristics: Scarcity And Loss Aversion As Motivators”

Hard And Early, Out Of Lockdown, Game On!

New Zealand is preparing to exit lockdown and return to a resemblance of normality. We’ll forgo the hugs and high fives we want to give teammates, my pack training runs will have to wait a bit longer, but shops will reopen, and we’ll get back to some of our old routines. Kids will return toContinue reading “Hard And Early, Out Of Lockdown, Game On!”