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Introverts Do It Better
Throughout my career I have encountered stellar salespeople and snake oil salesmen. The difference between them is like night and day. Snake oil salesmen are the salespeople who are in your face,...
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Build Your Listening Muscle
We know the importance to our health of building our muscles and working on them every day. Well, building our listening muscle is equally important to our business. Yet this is a muscle that often...
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Pointers on Hiring a Marketing Firm for Your Small Business
I’m not here to tell you which marketing firm to use. Rather, I’d like to offer you some pointers on what to look for when hiring a marketing firm. I believe the search starts with you. Ask yourself...
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Conflict Avoidance Strategies That Work
In any business relationship there exists the possibility for conflict. It’s like Yin and Yang – there’s good and there’s bad. Many years ago I worked for a company where everyone knew the CEO was...
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Leadership Lessons Learned From Reality Television
Before I begin, I’d like to clarify that I understand that we only see what the editors want us to see on reality television shows. My discussion here is based on what we see. When I watched the...
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The Value In Sales Reports
When you are a sales rep who works for a large company, you have a sales manager. That sales manager most likely has you filling out reports on your activity. And if you are like most sales reps, you...
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Harness The Power Of Imperfection
The other day I read an email from Sally Hogshead of Fascinate, Inc. regarding the link between flaws and influence. According to her, it is your flaws that set you apart. This got me thinking about...
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Reverse Customer Service Strategy
I recently had a fascinating experience with my cellphone service provider that was a great example of reverse customer service. And it went a little something like this. . . My children and I started...
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Sales Lessons From The 2012 Election
What I am about to say is not a political statement. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I look at the results of the 2012 election through the prism of business and sales practices. To me, there...
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Don’t Go Postal
Regardless of the legislation and regulations surrounding the U. S. Postal Service, there are business lessons we can learn from its experiences. 1. Plan for Change Nothing in business remains...
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Use Empathetic Design to Provide Value to Customers
Tonight I was watching 60 Minutes and saw a story about a company called Ideo. They use ‘design thinking’ to solve problems and create products. According to the CEO, David Kelley, they study human...
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How To Focus Your Social Media Marketing
With the recent end to the LinkedIn Answers section, I found myself feeling frustrated with the various social media sites. It seems like every time I get a handle on a site, they change it. Those...
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Know Thyself: How Self-Awareness Impacts Your Sales
Sales is about relationship building. Gone are the days of explaining, cajoling and persuading people to buy what you have to sell. With competition greater than it’s ever been, salespeople are well...
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Turn Virtual Negativity Into Real Loyalty
Last week I spoke to a business group about the power of Facebook. During the conversation, someone asked me about reputation management and dealing with negative comments. My belief is that we should...
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Systems That Build and Grow A Business
Keeping track of activity is a common challenge for small business owners. We wear many hats and are responsible for many things. One of the places where we fall down is with our sales process. I am a...
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Maintaining Control of the Sales Process
Staying in control of your sales process is a big part of sales success. It’s easy to let emotion or distraction or someone else derail you if you aren’t careful. Maintaining that control comes from...
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Motivation Makes The Sale: Stay Optimistically Focused
One of the most challenging aspects of sales is staying motivated – especially in the face of objections or rejection. A lot of salespeople engage in distraction or busy work instead of productive...
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How To Become An Overnight Sensation
You’ve heard of them in every field. Overnight sensations make people stop and say, “Wow, what a lucky break!” However, if you look at their history, their success is anything but overnight. These are...
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Don’t Prospect Strangers Via Email
Of course, you have to talk to strangers in order to network, prospect and grow your business. However, too many small business owners and sales people are using email to prospect strangers and to do...
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How You Can Actually Kill A Sale
There are various reasons why people don’t buy from us, or don’t buy again. However, there is one huge deal killer and it is lack of trust. Lack of trust can instantly kill a sale. If your prospect or...
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