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The Power of Gen Y |
| 11/10/2008 5:31:46 AM |
| In case you missed it last week, there was a very influential group of people who participated in last week's election--Gen Y. A recent blog "Generation Y: Your Voice Has Been Heard" underscored the influence and the impact of the Millenials. The next generation of leaders, workers, and business leaders are found in Gen Y. They expect to be heard, respected, and... Read More |
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Post Election thoughts... |
| 11/5/2008 5:11:58 PM |
 What a very, very exciting, interesting and historic day yesterday. While this is generally a sales or business blog, I cannot help but take a moment to comment with my brief perspectives on yesterday's events:
--Barack Obama's win captured an enthusiasm and energy I have never witnessed in an election before. It was long overdue, it was needed, and it was very moving.
--It... Read More |
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A Tip to all Sales People...You need to start communicating better!! |
| 10/23/2008 3:53:10 PM |
 Anyone who reads my blogs or participates in my seminars or coaching programs know that I am passionate about the importance of effective communication skills in the sales process. A recent series of questions that I posted on LinkedIn.com reveals that, as a profession, we are still not learning to do this effectively. A simple question, "What is a bad sales behavior... Read More revealed a wide range of responses. Most of the responses focused on the fact that sales people are simply not utilizing effective communication skills to build the connection, listen to the client, or recognize and understand that there is no real business opportunity. Here are some excerpts from those who submitted responses:We all get the idea. If you want to join in on this conversation, please feel free to answer the open question on . The bottom line is that people do not have time for sales people who are more interested in selling their stuff than they are about learning about and solving the real problems of their clients. Until we, as sales people, start doing a better job of this, we are going to keep getting branded as pushy, aggressive, talkers that no one has time for. One of the submissions to this post provides a great close: "" -- Right on Paul, enough said. the Sales Cooke |
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"Damn the Torpedoes, Full Steam Ahead" |
| 10/18/2008 11:54:05 AM |
On yesterday's broadcast of The John Adam Show, host John Adam invited his father, Adam, to inject fresh perspective into today's business environment. Adam, a very successful local business owner provided a very simple, concise message that needs to be shared. For those entrepreneurs who are looking for some great advice and perspective listen to this.
Contact the Sales... Read More |
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Why We Do Not Need to Respond to RFP's |
| 10/14/2008 9:16:32 AM |
| I just stumbled on a great blog by Scott R. Sheaffer, Sales Vitamins entitled "Five Realities of RFP's." This article reasonates with one of my previous blogs ("Another Unproductive Sales Activity-Chasing RFP's"). To Scott Sheaffer's credit, this is one of the best summaries of the RFP Myth I have come across. While I am going to paraphrase his points,... Read More |
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A Unique Way to Keep 'Busy' at the Office--And, The Sales Lessons Learned |
| 10/13/2008 8:24:20 AM |
 The ultimate in office space convenience. How many times do we find ourselves sitting at our desk wishing we were outside, working out or, at least, have the ability to be a little more active? We drive to work, spend long days in meetings and are in a mostly sedentary state at the office. Finding and making time to workout at a health club requires a great deal of... Read More |
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Selling Fundamentals -- The Relationship |
| 10/7/2008 7:43:31 AM |
The following is an excerpt from the book, Cooked Up Sales. (This book is available for purchase at Amazon.com.)
First, the fundamentals
Sales is about relating, learning, and solving. If a salesperson is telling or advocating or pushing, they cannot listen, learn or connect. It doesn’t matter if you’re a great orator. It is not how great your product is. It is not your... Read More |
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Sales...Our Presidential Candidates Are NOT Very Good At It!! |
| 10/1/2008 9:27:18 AM |
 
Watching the endless Presidential Campaign advertisements on television, listening to those negative sound bytes on the radio, and watching these so called leaders debate each other, one thing is quite obvious---they do not have any sales people helping them with their campaigns. The reason I know this--they spend way too much time talking about the "other guy".... Read More |
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Remember Moby Dick...Capturing the Whale can be Deadly |
| 9/26/2008 8:01:04 AM |
We all remember Moby Dick. The story of Ahab and his obsession with the ginormous white whale. In the end, his obsession to capturing Moby Dick, ended his life.
While not nearly as perilous, sales people have the tendency to get caught up chasing the big deals. It becomes their obsession. It becomes the key to hitting forecast, getting that big commission, or... Read More |
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Hey, Uncle Sam can I have a do over? |
| 9/24/2008 8:44:11 AM |
  
Let me understand this, the financial industry takes a hit after years and years of reckless, unchecked financial prosperity and our government wants to rescue it? Yet, the small business owner, the entrepreneur who sweats, toils, struggles, and takes huge personal and financial risks gets nothing? I am confused. Why the mulligan?
Investments are supposed to be risky.... Read More |
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It is time to leave the "nest" |
| 8/25/2008 3:57:24 PM |
| I had a great conversation with a trusted colleague this morning. We talked about the transitions owners make when they are first starting out and what happens when their business begins to grow and generate sustainable revenues. While it is not always wise to generalize, the one thing we noted was that owners have a tendency to become internally focused on the... Read More |
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Do you have "Commission Breath?" |
| 8/15/2008 11:58:27 AM |
I recently enjoyed a lively discussion with a fellow blogger and respected entrepreneur. We were talking about sales behaviors and he referenced how much he dislikes it when salespeople show up with "commission breath." Always one to provide me with a classic, descriptive phrase, I siezed on this opportunity for a great blog topic.
"Commission Breath"... Read More |
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A New Day is Dawning...Social Media joins the Presidential Campaign |
| 8/6/2008 5:49:46 PM |
| This is probably not the first time a Presidential Campaign connected into the social media world. However, it is the first time it came to me so directly. In case you missed it, the McCain Campaign threw out a question on LinkedIn today. The essence of the question focused on what innovation our government needs to be investing in. Whether this was a legitimate... Read More |
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Hey LinkedIn Experts...Writing answers? Read the question! |
| 8/2/2008 9:29:14 AM |
| Last week I was quite frustrated with my fellow LinkedIn Experts. I posted a question on LinkedIn.com regarding Best In Class Sales Programs. The answers I received all referenced Best In Class Sales "Training" Progams-even though the word training did not exist anywhere in my question. Thinking I was not clear as to what I had asked, I had several colleagues read... Read More |
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Hey, Jott this down!! |
| 7/27/2008 11:26:18 AM |
| Imagine that after you finish a sales call you instantly send yourself a short note that captures a summary of the meeting and any future action steps simply by making a phone call. Now you can. Introducing Jott.com. With Jott, you simply make a phone call to yourself and leave a message. With that phone call, Jott takes your message and transforms it into a text and... Read More |
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