Thanksgiving signals the official rounding of the corner for wrapping up the business year. While never an excuse that I’ve subscribed to (or let my sales reps use), it can be extremely challenging to “do business” at this time of year. It’s all downhill after turkey day. Holiday parties, office

If you’re in my salespeople posse, around this time of year, we start talking about getting through the Holiday season as productively and profitably as possible. Inevitably, the talk comes up about To Gift, or Not to Gift customers at this time of year. I have strong opinions about this

Here’s the situation: your company’s brand message is either attracting or repelling customers—plain and simple. In other words, your brand is doing one of two things: Enticing people in; compelling them to explore your company, products, and services OR (And this is the worst possible thing that could happen) You’re

I’ll admit, I’ve done it before. In my sales career, I’ve been frustrated and tried to get a buyer to respond with something compelling but in my haste, I’ve sent the “Just Checking In” email. Have you received one of those? Or sent one? Hi Bill, How’s everything going? I’m

Dear Salesperson, It’s time for a heart-to-heart. I do appreciate your questions. I do. But I find myself giving the same answer over and over and over: “How do I get buyers to listen to me? I can’t seem to get their attention, a callback or response.” Many of you

I hear sellers and business owners tell me they “Don’t want to be too pushy” at least 5 times a week. Trust me, if you have to say that, you’ve never been “too pushy”. Many of us have had negative experiences with salespeople that have a bulldozer mentality. They’re not

There is a great commercial out now that reminds about what the true meaning of “selling” should be. It’s a Capital One pitch for their new “Capital One Cafes,” where they point out that all banks look and feel the same. Their novel idea is to provide a relaxed, easy

Many sellers approach sales calls for business development with some anxiety. I can completely understand that feeling. In spite of good, better, and even amazing efforts, if you’ve been in sales doing business development for a while, you’ve been on the receiving end of grumpy prospects, hang-ups, yelling, or otherwise

How excited does your prospect get when they see your email pop into their inbox? Wouldn’t it be great if they had a Pavlovian response and immediately expected to see something cool, interesting, or insightful when they clicked on your message? Sadly, most clicks on sales messages—especially cold or following

About a year ago, I researched some software to execute some processes in my business. This was a significant investment for me—more so in scaling my business than in price—it was an important decision. Between three options, I chose the one that had the best features for me and the