Being Human in Business

About

In this conversation, Mikel Lindsaar explains how StoreConnect revolutionizes e-commerce for growing businesses by putting it directly inside Salesforce. He unpacks what it means to “be human” in business, both in team building and customer experience, and delivers a bold reframing of “scope creep” as a signal of failed discovery. The episode is packed with tech insights, operational strategy, and timeless wisdom for founders, consultants, and marketers alike.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

1. “Be Human” in Business:🙋 “Be Human” = building trust. In customer experience, team management, and sales—people want to deal with people. Even in B2B sales, you are not selling to a business, you are selling to individuals.
   
   And especially in B2B, buyers are often first-timers under pressure. They often have never bought software or professional services before, and maybe they will never again - so you have to be aware of the person and guide them through that process. They don’t want jargon—they want empathy, honesty, and real help.

2. Controversial take: Scope Creep is more accurately called Failed Discovery

   
   Scope creep is rarely due to flaky clients—it’s usually about mismatched assumptions. In any project there are “unknown unknowns” that have to be accounted for and anticipated. As a consultant or project manager, you have to uncover that as soon as possible. And if you are a consultant, realize you are in the best place to uncover these hidden assumptions.

   
   Most clients don’t know how to articulate what they want. That’s the consultant’s job to extract. Good clients will want you to succeed and understand there are always elements that need further definition. As a consultant you have to be transparent about changes and account for those upfront with contract flexibility to allow for small changes. Large scope creep either needs to be prioritized over other elements, or staged out into forthcoming phases.

📘 From the Bookshelf:

You can find Mikel’s book True Team on Amazon. It’s about creating high-performance teams grounded in empathy and ownership.

Keep an eye out for Mikel’s upcoming book: Customer Commerce — focused on human-first digital business.

🛍️ What is StoreConnect?

StoreConnect is a Salesforce AppExchange product that combines the best of Shopify and WordPress directly into Salesforce built for small to medium businesses looking to scale without hiring massive ops teams or integrating endless plugins.

🧱 Why It’s Different:

Unlike most e-commerce platforms, StoreConnect reads and writes directly to Salesforce—no daily syncs, no third-party integrations.

Ideal for companies that want custom workflows, complex B2B commerce, or multi-brand operations.

🔐 Security + Compliance Benefits:

Built entirely on Salesforce’s trust platform

SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliant (with HIPAA coming soon)

Reduces security vulnerabilities from 3rd-party plugins

🧠 “Every plugin you install is another security risk and data silo. We eliminate all of that.”

🚀 Scalability:

Starts at ~$500/month and allows your business to scale to $500M+ in revenue with no re-platforming.

Perfect for brands expecting rapid growth, or those tired of rebuilding their stack every time they level up.

💬 Best Quotes:

“People don’t want perfect PR speak anymore. They want to hear from you—a real human.”

“If you’re doing business without heart, you're replaceable.”

Podcast with Mikel Lindsaar

🔗 Where to Learn More:

Connect with Mikel on LinkedIn or via the StoreConnect site: https://getstoreconnect.com/

Offer

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In this portal you will have access to the AI Fundamentals Podcast (hosted by 2 AI hosts!), AI for CRM Certification Experience (replacing Salesforce’s defunct AI cert), and the Agentforce Boot Camp for those wanting a deeper dive and hands on experience building Agents for the world of tomorrow!

Get your free access to my proprietary portal here!