Imagine almost any situation where two or more people are gathered—a wedding reception or a job interview. What do these situations have in common? Almost all of them involve people trying to talk with each other. But in these very moments where a conversation would enhance an encounter, we often fall short. When small talk stalls out, it’s often due to a phenomenon we call “mirroring.”

The phrase “The customer is always right” was originally coined in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London, and is typically used by businesses to convince customers that they will get good service at this company and convince employees to give customers good service. However, I think businesses should abandon this phrase once and for all.

Sales executives with even moderately large, distributed sales forces rely on data to help them understand which activities and behaviors lead to the best outcomes. Yet much of the data from sources such as CRM reporting tools and time studies is self-reported, and thus inherently flawed. That leaves executives in the dark about what is actually occurring on the front lines.

Marketing and strategy might be what initially gets a company noticed, but there is one component in the workplace essential for success: motivated and inspired employees. Even the most self-motivated employees need a little nudge here and there to produce consistently proficient work streaks. Today we will talk about how to achieve it.

I’ve recently been invited to the interview of the greatest entrepreneur of all times, James Peterson, who founded a small company in 2005 and then developed it to become the biggest international enterprise that ever existed. The interview was aired on Business1 FM last Saturday. In this article, James answered a few questions about his company.