Blog Feed: Sales and Management Blog

It’s Time We Get Right with Our Words

Published on 2012-05-18 11:35:22

Almost every sales seminar or workshop I go to and the majority of sales books I read at some point talk about the need to address the prospect’s or client’s emotional side; that sales, all sales, are at their heart emotion based decisions.  And with that statement, for many the doors to manipulating the prospect [...] > read more

Book Review: The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out

Published on 2012-04-30 14:31:05

What are some of the most difficult challenges in social media in recent years that you can think of?  Would being put in charge of social media for a company in the middle of a death spiral like GM be one of them?  I’d sure think so—trying to help turn around the image of a [...] > read more

Sales Lessons from the Two Best Sellers I’ve Ever Seen

Published on 2012-04-23 10:10:09

I wrote this post about four years ago and am bringing it back as a reminder that what we do really isn’t nearly as complicated as we sometimes make it out to be.  In essence all we need is a solid process and a good understanding of human nature, both of which we can learn [...] > read more

Lessons for Sellers from the Unsocial Media

Published on 2012-04-11 16:14:56

Is it just me or are others finding that they’re getting more and more brazen sales solicitations of various kinds from their new “friends,” “followers,” and “connections” than in the past? It seems that when I friend or follow or connect with someone I’m far more likely now than in the past to get a [...] > read more

The Bittersweet Necessity of Tension and Conflict in Your Organization

Published on 2012-04-02 14:10:59

“Donna, I’ve sat through three of your team’s executive meetings, one board meeting, and a couple of regional meetings.  One of your company’s biggest problems is there’s no conflict.  No one is challenging anything in the company.  Everyone gets along just fine, but it seems that everyone has taken getting along to the point that [...] > read more

Book Review: Power Questions by Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas

Published on 2012-04-01 17:05:20

Despite what many think, selling isn’t about being the guy who “never met a stranger,” or the person who’s the life of the party, or even the person that makes friends easily.  Selling is about connecting with people, listening carefully to uncover needs and wants, and then solving those needs and wants. In short, selling [...] > read more

George Orwell’s Negative Influence on Sales Language

Published on 2012-03-28 10:35:03

The coincidence of timing: My friend Dan Waldschmidt published a post yesterday on why words matter.  After reading my post on how words a misused, I’d encourage you read Dan’s to see how words should be used. What words do you use to describe yourself and your products and services?  Are there words you intentionally try [...] > read more

Four Common Destructive Sales Management Styles

Published on 2012-03-26 13:42:42

I’ve had the privilege of working with many new managers whose company hired me to help them transition from seller to manager or to work with existing managers to become more effective.  One of the recurring issues I’ve discovered is a misunderstanding of what a sales manager is. Whether I’m working with a newly promoted [...] > read more

Can It Get Any Stranger?

Published on 2012-03-23 11:37:10

We humans are funny animals.  We tend to do the same things over and over, no matter what the consequences.  Although we are admonished to learn from our mistakes, more often than not we continue to make the same mistakes time after time.  Maybe not the big obvious mistakes, but the little ones that we [...] > read more

Guest Article, Sales Lead Brownouts Produce Sales Dips Wihin Three Months, Leading to Pipeleine Failure, by James Obermayer

Published on 2012-03-18 10:04:03

Sales Lead Brownouts Produce Sales Dips Within Three Months, Leading to Pipeline Failure.1 by James Obermayer “Companies often decide to curtail lead generation spending because cash flow slows and sales stagnate.” Please reread that last sentence.  Does it make sense?  It should read: “Companies that curtail lead generation spending because cash flow slows and sales [...] > read more

Act the Part to Become the Part

Published on 2012-03-14 16:13:54

I often hear complaints from both new and experienced sellers that they don’t know how to become successful.  The key questions is always, “what do I need to do to become successful?” When I ask, most say that they have some very successful sellers in their company, while others indicate that although they may not [...] > read more

Guest Article: Sales Secrets from Baja California, by Jeff Beals

Published on 2012-03-12 09:51:44

Sales Secrets from Baja California By Jeff Beals To unearth the age-old secrets of sales and marketing, I journeyed 2,600 miles to Cabo San Lucas on the extreme southern tip of Baja California Sur. Actually, it was just a vacation. But during what was a carefree trip spent mostly on the beach and in margarita [...] > read more

Your Attitude Is Showing–Is It Killing Your Sales?

Published on 2012-03-07 10:46:47

Whether we like it or not, whether we want it to happen or not, whether we believe it or not, our attitude toward our job, our attitude toward our product or service, and especially our attitude toward our prospects and clients is telegraphed to our prospects and clients through our voice, our body language, and [...] > read more

Guest Article: Strategic Questions Will Uncover Strategic Opportunities, by Andy Rudin

Published on 2012-02-29 10:53:02

Strategic Questions Will Uncover Strategic Opportunities By Andrew Rudin The late Peter Drucker said “true marketing starts out with the customer, his demographics, his realities, his needs, his values. It does not ask ‘what do we want to sell?’ It asks ‘what does the customer want to buy?’ So, why have so few people figured [...] > read more

In Praise of Failure

Published on 2012-02-26 11:44:59

In today’s politically correct world the idea there’s no such thing as failure has become so popular that it’s a staple of motivational speakers; sports leagues make sure that every kid feels like a success by giving each a participation trophy; schools teach kids that they didn’t fail, they just weren’t as successful as some [...] > read more

Guest Article: To Excel in Selling, by Jerry Acuff

Published on 2012-02-24 13:57:47

To Excel in Selling by Jerry Acuff To excel in selling, you need to continue to sharpen your skills, to learn more about the art of selling and to continue to hone your craft. The truth is that the vast majority of people in any organization, including sales people, do what the company tells them [...] > read more

Guest Article: Meet Them Where They Are, by Diane Helbig

Published on 2012-02-20 09:34:45

Meet Them Where They Are by Diane Helbig Salespeole are as individual as snowflakes. The way they communicate, sell, and build relationships is equally unique. If you want to lead them, you have to meet them where they are. Here’s what often happens in sales departments all over the world. The sales manager picks a [...] > read more

Book Review: High-Profit Selling, by Mark Hunter

Published on 2012-02-14 10:48:16

In the great big world of sales books there are two types of books—those that purport to take the “big picture” perspective of selling and those that are designed to have actual value in the real world by providing real, workable, effective strategies to help sellers and sales leaders improve their performance. And within the [...] > read more

Guest Article: Breathless Business, by Dan Waldschmidt

Published on 2012-02-13 11:58:43

BREATHLESS BUSINESS by Dan Waldschmidt We’ve become a generation of “good enough” business leaders. We’ve traded a relentless focus on being extraordinary for the justification that we are following the rules. That we are doing what we’ve been told we should be doing — college degree, MBA, and 5 year subscription to Smart Business magazine. [...] > read more

Guest Article: Smartening up your message as part of your sales strategy for success, by Colleen Francis

Published on 2012-02-06 10:15:25

How do I help my sales team sell more and be more successful? It’s a question that’s never far from the thoughts of many managers and executives these days. Yes, there are a host of proven lead generation, prospecting and follow-up techniques that can make a real difference in your organization—and I talk about these [...] > read more

Guest Article: Overcoming “Failure to Impact” Syndrome, by Steven Rosen

Published on 2012-02-03 10:13:14

This year was tough; next year’s sales prospects look even tougher. Your boss comes to you and says how can you sustain the sales force? What can you do? The typical response goes like this: You devise several homemade remedies to ensure you do better next year. You develop a plan to do one or [...] > read more

Killer Communication Strategy

Published on 2012-02-01 15:18:01

So many prospects and clients to kill, so little time.  But don’t worry; salespeople all over the world are doing their damnedest to kill as many prospects and clients as possible every day.  Their weapon of choice?  Communication—or more specifically,  communication fraud. I suspect you are like me, getting dozens of emails, phone calls, snail [...] > read more

Guest Article: Are You Client Focused or a Client Vulture?, by Charles H. Green

Published on 2012-01-30 11:55:02

Much has been written about client focus. We hear about sophisticated clients who will leave if we don’t focus on their needs. We hear about the virtues of client loyalty, and the virtues of measurements like client profitability. The key to competitive success is to do a better job serving clients than the next guy. [...] > read more

In 2012 the New Normal in Sales Is . . .

Published on 2012-01-27 13:20:07

As with the beginning of almost every year we have a number of commentators and pundits proclaiming what the “new normal” is. We’re told that the old normal was the government strove to keep unemployment below 5% and that the “new normal” is going to be to try to keep unemployment below 7%. We’re told [...] > read more

Guest Article: Avoiding the Activity Trap, by Jeb Brooks

Published on 2012-01-24 10:01:21

Avoiding the Activity Trap by Jeb Brooks Many salespeople make the assumption that activity leads to results. “As long as I’m doing something,” they argue, “results will come.” This is a mistake. It’s the best way to get stuck in the activity trap. The activity trap occurs when you begin working too hard to make [...] > read more

Dealing with Uncomfortable Questions from Prospects and Clients

Published on 2012-01-23 11:20:27

Once again we are in the middle of the presidential political season.  For the next few months the Republicans will have center stage as candidates wrestle with one another to gain the Republican nomination to run for President.  Once that contest has been decided the focus will shift to a tussle between the Republican nominee [...] > read more

Guest Article: Recovery: The Conflict Resolution System, by Dr. Tony Alessandra

Published on 2012-01-18 13:11:49

Recovery: The Conflict Resolution System by Dr. Tony Alessandra No matter how good the relationship is, people are going to run into problems.  Consequently there should be a system in place to make it easy for customers to tell you when they have a problem as early as possible.  The earlier you find out about [...] > read more

Today’s Reading Assignment: The US Declaration of Independence and Constitution

Published on 2011-07-04 08:10:24

Below are two of the most incredible documents ever created by humans. Argued, written and ratified by a group of men the likes of which hasn’t been seen since–and probably never will be again. Although many have come after them seeking t > read more

Is LinkedIn Producing the Results Sellers Want? Help Us Find Out

Published on 2011-06-27 14:36:25

While we had an enthusiastic response to the Twitter survey, I’ve received a ton of email from folks asking me to get the survey on LinkedIn up as there seems to be a great deal of interest in seeing how other sellers are using LinkedIn and what th > read more

So That’s How Sellers Are Using Twitter!

Published on 2011-06-25 11:23:14

Although the survey is still up and accepting responses, there has been great consistency in percentages on all of the questions since virtually the first day the survey opened.  Based on that consistency, I’ve decided to go ahead and present the > read more

Get Rid of Your Seagulls Before They Devour You

Published on 2011-06-22 10:34:57

My wife Debbie and I have an 18 month old grandson, Colton.  Knowing that we’ll soon be watching animated movies with him, we’ve been catching up on them every chance we get.  Not having watched them much in the last twenty years or so, I’m a > read more

How Do People Really Use Twitter? Please Take a Short Survey

Published on 2011-06-16 12:41:31

A few weeks ago I, in conjunction with Richardson Sales, produced a general survey on how salespeople are using social media.  Although the results were most interesting, we didn’t have the opportunity to get very deep in our questions about any o > read more

Understand the Four Pillars of a Referral and You’ll Get More and Better Referrals

Published on 2011-06-11 12:56:31

At first glance, a referral is a pretty simple thing.  For most salespeople, managers, and trainers, a referral is just a name and phone number that a client has given the salesperson once the salesperson has completed the sale and has done a good j > read more

Guest Article: “Let the Customer Define Value,” by Michael Boyette

Published on 2011-06-06 07:42:30

� Let the Customer Define Value by Micheal Boyette The idea that salespeople must add value for their customers seems obvious. But what does added value really mean? Free technical support? Extra bells and whistles? Playoff tickets? Does it mean > read more

Hey, Now, Just Who’s Qualifying Whom Here?

Published on 2011-06-03 10:09:59

Recently I wrote an article titled “How to Take the Sting Out of the Price Question Early in the Sale.”  In the course of the article I argued that it is natural for a prospect to ask about price–and often to do so too early in the sale, b > read more

Guest Article: “Change Your Words, Improve Your Results to Increase Sales,” by Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Published on 2011-06-01 07:49:53

Change Your Words, Improve Your Results to Increase Sales  by Leanne Hoagland-Smith Change or die writes Alan Deutschman. Yet many small business owners including crazy busy sales people continue to do what they have always done and then complain ab > read more

How to Take the Sting Out of the Price Question Early in the Sale

Published on 2011-05-31 08:57:50

“So, how much will it cost?” “What would something like this run me?” “We have a very limited budget.  I don’t want to waste my time.  What’s your fee?” “Sounds to me like you’re talking about a lot of money.  Before we go any > read more

In Honor of Our Fallen

Published on 2011-05-30 08:45:05

Last Thursday another seven US military members were killed in action. Whether they’re called wars, military actions, or police actions, our military men and women are under the constant strain of working to keep us safe and to safeguard our freedo > read more

Book Review: Social Boom: How to Master Business Social Media

Published on 2011-05-29 10:12:29

Jeffrey Gitomer’s newest book, Social Boom: How to Master Business Social Media (Pearson Education as FT Press: 2011), comes at a time when the debate about the value and uses of social media for salespeople is reaching a crescendo.  So far 2011 h > read more

Book Review: How to Market to People Not Like You

Published on 2011-05-25 14:15:18

When I received How to Market to People Not Like You: ‘Know It or Blow It’ Rules for Reaching Diverse Customers (Wiley & Sons:  2011) in the mail I wasn’t sure what to expect based on the title.  Was this going to be a course in PC etique > read more

Hoovers and LinkedIn Team Up to Make Prospect Research Easier

Published on 2011-05-23 16:02:15

 I suspect that you are like most sellers in that you have to find and connect with high quality prospects.  I also suspect like more sellers you find that difficult and very time consuming. I have yet to see a purchased leads list—no matter the > read more

How to Turn Referral Partnerships from Wishful Thinking into Business Producing Machines

Published on 2011-05-22 09:07:55

Are you like most sellers finding it more and more difficult to break through the noise and connect with quality prospects?  Are you finding prospects putting up more and more obsticles to keep you and your message out?  When you do finally get thr > read more

Are You BS’ing Yourself with Your “Prospecting” Activity?

Published on 2011-05-21 10:32:26

 Over the years I’ve spoken to salesperson after salesperson who is frustrated, angry, and depressed because although they’ve invested heavily in trying to make their sales career a success, all they have to show for their efforts are little to > read more

Guest Article: “Identify and Develop the Competencies that Lead to Success in Sales,” by Sean Conrad

Published on 2011-05-18 13:26:55

Identify and Develop the Competencies that Lead to Success in Sales by Sean Conrad   One of the questions sales managers often ask themselves is how they can get their entire team to produce like their star performers do. You might be surprised to k > read more

Bust Your Slump: Fast Track Referrals to Fill Your Pipeline in 30 Days

Published on 2011-05-10 10:40:09

This is one of the twelve strategies presented in my newest book, Bust Your Slump: A Dozen Slump Busting Strategies to Fill Your Pipeline in 40 Days, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any fine bookseller.   Referrals are difficult for most s > read more

Register for the 2011 Sales and Marketing Success Conference

Published on 2011-05-09 08:15:13

Article first published as ‘http://technorati.com/business/small-business/article/help-japan-and-attend-one-of/ Help Japan and Attend One of the Web Sessions of the 2011 Sales and Marketing Success Conference Beginning Monday, May 9 > read more

Financial Advisor: You Must Match Your Message with Your Desired Image

Published on 2011-05-08 11:04:47

The typical financial adviser will spend over 650 hours a year studying their profession through reading professional books, blogs and other publications, attending on-line discussions and webinars, going to seminars and conferences, listening to CD > read more

The Civil War, General Patton, and Sales Technology

Published on 2011-05-03 09:35:04

The United States is just launching a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, the bloodiest war in US history.  Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the war and talking to a few historians and I’ve begun noticin > read more

Book Review: Slow Down, Sell Faster

Published on 2011-04-27 09:21:38

As a seller, do you want to slow down your sales process?  Making your sales cycle longer than it currently is sounds crazy doesn’t it?  What can happen if you slow down your sales process?  Well, the prospect could change their mind if they’r > read more

Book Review: Strength Based Selling

Published on 2011-04-26 08:38:18

Are all sellers the same?  Of course not.  There is no such thing as the prototype seller.  Great, successful sellers come from all types of backgrounds; no two have exactly the same strengths or weaknesses; some are extraverts, others introverts; > read more

Are You Just a Piece of Trash to Your Client?

Published on 2011-04-21 07:48:01

Whether you know it or not, your database of current and past clients is your best source of new clients.  “Prospecting” for a new client is time consuming and expensive.  If you can find a way to increase your sales without the time commitment > read more

Master Your Sales Conversations–And Close More Sales

Published on 2011-04-19 07:25:52

Ever feel like your sales conversations don’t go as well as you would have liked? Perhaps there was something nagging at you that made you think, “I could be doing something better. Something to win more and bigger sales, but I’m not sure what. > read more

2011 Sales and Marketing Success Conference—Improve Your Skills and Help Japan at the Same time

Published on 2011-04-15 08:48:05

Get out your calendar and start making plans for the week of Monday, May 9 through Friday, the 13th.  During those five days you’ll have the opportunity to attend up to 35 incredible webinar sessions—7 every single day—presented by 35 of the t > read more

A Tale of Three Villages

Published on 2011-04-14 14:42:40

This was related to me by a sales executive—I’ll refer to him as Robert–who swears it is a true story.  Although I have his permission to use his name, I’ve chosen not to for as you will see, the story is not complimentary to the company > read more

Results of the 2011 Richardson/McCord Training Social Media in Marketing and Sales Survey

Published on 2011-04-11 09:07:49

It has taken a bit of time and a lot of effort, but we finally have the 2011 Richardson/McCord Training Social Media in Marketing and Sales Survey results. Some will be surprised, some won’t like the findings, and others will find they confir > read more

Let’s Stop with the Stupidity and Start Dealing with Real Problems

Published on 2011-04-05 08:46:07

Don’t know if you’re aware of it or not, but obviously you’re wasting your time trying to make a living in sales because: Cold calling is dead. High pressure sales tactics are dead. Consultative and solution sales processes are dead. Salespeopl > read more

Book Review: The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts by Mike Brooks

Published on 2011-03-31 09:33:36

Almost everything in selling can be controversial.  Does cold calling work or not?  What’s the best sales process to use?  Should you even use a sales process?  Are referrals and word of mouth marketing related or are they totally unrelated mar > read more

Book Review: Business Fitness by Dawn G. Lennon

Published on 2011-03-25 14:00:18

Seldom do I review a book that was released several years ago.  But when I receive a copy of a book from one my readers who thinks enough of it to send it to me to read—and it wasn’t written by them, well, that certainly indicates the book merit > read more

Using Social Media to Help You Generate Referrals from Clients

Published on 2011-03-22 13:59:41

Referrals. We all want them. Yet most of us don’t get very many quality referrals.  Instead we get the occasional name and phone number that we call a “referral” to someone who either has no need or want for our product or service, or couldn > read more

Richardson and CSO Insights Offer Free Sales Effectiveness Report

Published on 2011-03-18 09:38:42

Richardson is offering a complimentary copy of the CSO Insights report, “Sales Performance Optimization: 2011 Key Trends Analysis.” The report is based on a 20 minutes online survey that was completed by 2.000 companies.  Manufacturing companies > read more

Five Keys to Generating High Quality Referrals

Published on 2011-03-15 09:52:57

From the time we enter the sales industry we’ve heard that referrals are by far the best prospecting and marketing method in existence.  Yet, very few of us actually get very many high quality referrals.  Certainly some of us manage to get a name > read more

The Changing Face of Professional Sales Leadership: A Roundtable Debate Wednesday, March 16

Published on 2011-03-11 08:30:06

Wednesday March 16th 2011 12 noon EST/5PM GMT FREE to REGISTER: HERE Recently published research suggests that the average tenure of a sales manager is now just eighteen months! These are pretty alarming findings, and during the course of this six > read more

Guest Article: “The Ultimate Sell: 5 Insights on Closing the Job Search ‘Sale’, by Brendan Cruickshank

Published on 2011-03-09 08:28:36

The Ultimate Sell: 5 Insights on Closing the Job Search ‘Sale’ by Brendan Cruickshank I heard someone saying the other day that he could be the greatest salesman the world has ever known…if only someone would hire him! I found this > read more

Book Review: Make What You Say Pay, by Anne Miller

Published on 2011-03-08 12:45:49

Although most of us use metaphors in our everyday conversations, we tend to use them as ineptly than a toddler trying to hit a ball with a bat—we hit one on occasion but most of the time we aren’t even close to hitting the mark.  Ah, but those f > read more

Bust Your Slump–The Benefits of Digital Media

Published on 2011-03-07 10:55:32

Isn’t the digital world grand?  No waiting days or weeks for stuff to be delivered.  And the discounts companies can offer are amazing! Now, thanks to digital media, if you aren’t bringing in the sales you want or you’re in an honest to goodn > read more

SalesCrunch.com Lists the Top 50 Sales Blogs

Published on 2011-03-06 12:28:16

SalesCrunch follows over 200 of the best sales blogs each day! This is obviously far too many for any normal human to filter and process. So when Hubspot posted their Top 100 Marketing Blogs using the new groups feature in Blog Grader last week the f > read more

Guest Article: “How to Set Goals That Will Excite You,” by Daniel M Wood

Published on 2011-02-26 09:10:03

How to Set Goals That Will Excite You by Daniel M Wood  Anyone will tell you that setting goals is required for success. “If you do not know what you want, you won’t have a reason to go after it.” Your motivation stands in direct relation to y > read more

Guest Article: “Your Customer’s PIR: Price Investment Ratio,” by Mark Hunter

Published on 2011-02-23 10:58:37

Your Customer’s PIR: Price Investment Ratio by Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter”* Have you ever really considered how price affects your customer with regard to their *perceived benefit*?  Too often, we use a simplistic approach to de > read more

Process: Can Success Really Be Just Mechanical?

Published on 2011-02-22 08:33:19

Today you hear some version of the same message almost everywhere you turn: “What makes a company successful is process . . . . [successful companies] find a formula that works.” “You simply cannot be successful in complex sales unless you have > read more

Reality or Unfounded Hope? SalesDog.com Poll Finds Salespeople Optimistic About Sales In 2011

Published on 2011-02-17 08:50:48

 ****I wasn’t thinking when I posted this, so let me now clarify–The first half of this is my analysis, the last half (after the dashed line) was taken straight from a SalesDog press release.  Sorry for not making the distinction earlier–sins > read more

Free Roundtable Discussion: The Changing Face of Professional Selling Thursday February 22, Noon Eastern

Published on 2011-02-15 09:21:26

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change” - Charles Darwin   Whatever got you where you are today will not be sufficient to keep you there. A rapidly changing > read more

How Salespeople Use Social Media Survey

Published on 2011-02-11 06:48:18

Richardson and McCord Training have teamed up to develop a research report on whether or not salespeople are using social media in their sales and prospecting efforts; if they are using, what platforms are they using and how effective it is.   All > read more

Try to Impress the Prospect–Lose the Sale

Published on 2011-02-09 11:11:40

Knowledge should be one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox.  Knowing how to use specialized industry vocabularies should also be one of our basic and power tools. In reality, for many of us, knowledge and specialized lingo are powerful—in c > read more

Survery Says Possible Sales Talent War Looming

Published on 2011-02-08 10:47:40

My friend Jeb Blount for Sales Gravy sent me the following this morning and I think it well worth being published here.  I encourage you to go get a copy of the report. As we enter 2011 the economy is showing real signs of recovery. Savvy business l > read more

Top Sales World Publishes Free EBook Featuring the Top 10 Sales Articles of 2010

Published on 2011-02-03 10:42:10

The Top Sales World has just released a free eBook featuring the Top 10 Sales Articles finalists of 2010.  Selected from the hundreds of sales articles published each month, Top 10 Sales Articles selects the 10 best sales articles published on vario > read more

Are You Connected? You Can Be With New Social Media Aggregator

Published on 2011-02-02 13:44:15

Do you have contacts on LinkedIn?  Followers on Twitter?  Friends on Facebook?  Contacts in Gmail?  Do you have appointments with some of these contacts?  Do you try to keep up with their blog posts, tweets, birthdays, job changes, and other act > read more

Think You’re Meeting and Exceeding Your Client’s Expectations? You’re Fooling Yourself

Published on 2011-01-30 12:53:16

Everybody seems to love buzzwords and phrases.  Buzz phrases are everywhere—in our daily conversation, in advertising, and in our business communications.  Someone comes up with a pity statement that sounds great and the next thing you know, that > read more

Trust on Decline Unless You’re Recognized as an Expert Study Finds

Published on 2011-01-28 08:50:39

Leanne Hoagland-Smith suggested I take a look at a very interesting post by Steve Rubel that draws attention to some recent research his company, Edelman, the largest PR firm in the world, has done in the area of trust.  His findings are most intere > read more

Is It Really a 2.0 World for Sellers?

Published on 2011-01-25 08:33:55

The hype is everywhere: if you’re a salesperson or company without a blog, you’re totally out of today’s marketplace and are losing position to the competition hourly because unlike them, you’re not establishing your image as an expert; if yo > read more

Guest Article: “Could You Be Selling More? You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask,” by Art Gould

Published on 2011-01-22 10:31:26

Could You Be Selling More? You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask by Art Gould The slick, fast-talking salesman is a thing of the past. He has taken his place on the shelf right alongside the slide rule, the telegram, and the VHS movie tape. > read more

Guest Article: “Don’t Get Trapped In Too Small Commitments,” by S. Anthony Iannarino

Published on 2011-01-20 09:42:12

Don’t Get Trapped In Too Small Commitments by S. Anthony Iannarino Getting in with your dream client can sometimes be the most difficult part of any deal. To get in, you may lower the commitment level so that you are asking for a commitment that is > read more

Book Review: How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime

Published on 2011-01-14 13:54:06

Selling in the real world is very different than the selling theory one often encounters in sales books.  A great many sales books—maybe the majority—are fluff filled wastes of time or pretentious tomes with little or no real world application. > read more

Guest Article: “40 Ways to Manage Your Time Tips,” by Josiane Feigon

Published on 2011-01-12 13:21:47

40 Ways to Manage Your Time Tips by Josiane Feigon 1.    Turn off the email alert and instant message functions on your computer when you are making calls during peak hours. 2.    Don’t check your personal email during work hours. 3.    Re > read more

Truth, Trust, and The Masks We Wear

Published on 2011-01-10 09:43:48

“No, Paul, I didn’t spend any time prospecting yesterday.  I woke up and just didn’t feel enthused; didn’t want to be here.  Whenever I force myself to prospect when I feel that way, I always feel like I’m wearing a mask trying to be some > read more

Guest Article: “The Five Steps To Successful Sales Communication,” by Nick Morgan

Published on 2011-01-07 10:21:18

The Five Steps To Successful Sales Communications By Nick Morgan The sales world has accumulated many myths about what makes for success, especially in the tricks and techniques for communicating during the sale — a huge part of any sales process. > read more

Guest Article: “Brandwashing?,” by Roger Dooley

Published on 2011-01-06 09:41:20

Brandwashing? by Roger Dooley I’ve been hearing the invented word “brandwashing” for years now, but this combination of “branding” and “brainwashing” received new exposure when the New York Times suggested it as a synonym for neuromarke > read more

Seller, Get Your SPAM Out of Your Prospect’s Email Box

Published on 2011-01-02 10:51:51

Do you use email to try to connect with new prospects?  If you do—or if you’re thinking about starting—you might want to take into consideration what one of my clients had to say about prospecting through email: “I used to get an occasional > read more