I surveyed a sales team recently – prior to a Skills Building session on Pushback, Objections, and Negotiation – and asked them some of the most common obstacles they face in business development. Their answers didn’t surprise me, but one of the things about their answers that I pointed out really made them think –...Read More

Hello friends. How are we doing in these are strange and uncertain times? I’ve spent the last two weeks working with sales teams that scrambled to go remote and figure out a new selling strategy, empathetic and compassionate messaging, and how they can best help their clients and customers. From email communication, social media, and...Read More

I love stacking up my summer reading list. Whether it’s an audiobook I listen to while driving or a good old paperback page-turner that gets covered with sea salt and sand, I’m planning my list as Memorial Day and Summer is right around the corner. What’s on this year’s list? A mix of business, skill...Read More

Back in 1988, Stephen Covey wrote his best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People which was a global phenomenon in the self-help genre selling over 25 million copies. Covey’s introspective advice struck a nerve with people who wanted to master success in their personal and business lives. The lessons he laid out were...Read More

How many times have you been “pitched” to or sat in a meeting with someone blathering on about the “Features and Benefits” of their products? I say “blathering” because that’s what it feels like when someone is sitting in front of you talking about their product, their features and what THEY believe are the benefits....Read More

As the topic of probably 1/3 of all conversations and certainly 1/3 of all social media posts, this election is truly remarkable and will certainly be dissected 7,432 ways in the history books. What I think is remarkable from a sales vantage is how these Presidential Candidates are masterful in their communication and the response...Read More

As we wind down summer activities, the nation gets ready to send our children “back to school” which euphemistically means, back to learning, studying, and progressing. I’ve found that this time of year is an excellent time to ramp up my own learning and focus on business growth – both to finish the year with...Read More

Recently, I handed over my email address to a sales technology company and much to my annoyance, my phone number, name of my company, title, and headcount – to download an e-book of “sumthin’ or other” (it was so memorable, I couldn’t tell you the details of what or why I opted in). The promise...Read More

“A Fool with a tool is still a Fool.” So says the outspoken social selling evangelist, Jill Rowley. Jill was one of the first 100 employees at Salesforce.com and has pioneered social selling, challenging the modern sales pro to keep pace with the modern buyer. I completely agree with her. A fool with a tool...Read More

This post evolved from a conversation with a colleague, Gina Trimarco, of Pivot10 Results, a leadership, sales, and service trainer, a studier of people, and a fantastic business sage. Gina uses analogies and metaphors in much of her training and coaching so I challenged her to take part in our March Madness Business blogging and...Read More