Success
To increase your closing ratio, a good story can help. It may sound obvious, but customers are often moved by how your products or services have helped others. Testimonials from clients enhance your credibility factor—and you can increase it further by providing a case study that demonstrates your products or services in action. A good case…
I love golf, but what I haven’t always loved is the cooler I used for carrying water and ice when I played. It was clumsy to carry and open. Everything about it was awkward. I know this is a small complaint in the scope of life, but that’s not the point. Small Things that Make a…
Moving might not have anything to do with sales and leadership, but messaging sure does. Whether you’re a leader or a salesperson trying to influence somebody, the first thing you have to do is create a connection that allows prospects or employees to hear what you have to say. Making Communication Count Effective communication addresses…
Everyone dreads calling a customer to say they can’t deliver what they want when they want. Who wants to deliver news like that? No one does, and that’s where the trouble really starts. The worst mistake people make in business is not communicating the bad news. When you avoid the pain of giving someone a heads…
When I wrote the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Customer Service, we interviewed people at companies with exemplary customer service. As a part of the process, I spoke with Hertz’s vice president of reservations in Oklahoma City, and he shared a story with me that I have not forgotten. Hertz did a survey of top…
I had the joy of spending this past Father’s Day with my daughter, and at one point she told me about a difficulty one of her friends was experiencing. She wondered if I could help him with a deal he hadn’t been able to close. From the conversation with my daughter, I concluded that he…
Pessimism tends to get a bad rap. In fact, top-producing sales execs exercise a fair degree of pessimism. It is the sales reps who are overly optimistic that often fall short of their goals. The sales execs who make pessimism work for them think about potential obstacles and then leave no stones unturned to make…
If you want to influence others, gain new customers, or increase your sales to current customers, selling change is a key skill to master. The better you are at it, the more velocity you will gain in closing more sales—faster. Customers are often reluctant to make changes due to perceived risk. Whether you want someone…
The saying goes that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that is simply not true—and science confirms it. According to recent neuroscience findings, the brain has a great degree of plasticity, which means it can be retrained. While it is easier to learn new things at a younger age, there is still sufficient plasticity for adults…
A client recently shared with me that they had conducted a sales presentation by using the process outlined in my book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way. Afterward, attendees said it was the best presentation they had ever been to. Talk about differentiating yourself. How did they do it? By engaging the participants…
Did you hear that Rolls-Royce announced this week that it is building five brand new buildings on its main manufacturing site in England? So, I ask you, what was the driver for making this huge, expensive decision? Many of you would say it is to build new cars. That is far from the truth. The reason…
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In today’s world, the pressure to quickly deliver innovative solutions can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. Just ask Boeing. Its recent spate of mishaps is causing it a lot of problems. From increased regulatory pressures to safety concerns to customers, fliers, like me, worrying whether or not the Boeing plane they’re on is actually going to get…
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Do you know that sometimes you have to go slow to go fast? Recently, I installed a new productivity software program. And like many of you, I figured I knew immediately what I had to do, so I didn’t bother reading the instructions. After two painful hours of trying to get the software to work…
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As we’ve all seen for the last year or two, there’s been a lot of shoplifting. A pack of thieves breaking into stores, stealing massive amounts of merchandise, and leaving before the cops come. If they’re caught, they’re back on the streets in a couple of minutes. Shoplifting has gotten to such a high degree…
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I want you to meet Alex. Alex is a van driver who picked me and a few of my colleagues up from the hotel in Albuquerque this weekend to take us to the airport. It was a seven-minute ride. During the ride, Alex asked us if we had traveled to many different cities and ordered…
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If you truly want to keep your competitors out of your accounts, you must become part of the inner woven fabric of your client’s organization. Consider that loose piece of thread sticking out of the bottom of your sweater, and you start pulling it. All of a sudden, you inadvertently pull apart the entire sweater.…
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A few years ago, I was taking a self-improvement course in New York City with a good friend of mine. After the program, we returned to my condo in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on the 10th floor. Now, my friend is an accomplished pilot. He flew overseas commercially for a major airline and was a…
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This past Sunday, we had a great Super Bowl with an overtime win—the San Francisco 49ers against the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams had two different styles of quarterbacks. One of the reasons both teams made it to the Super Bowl was because their head coaches leveraged each quarterback’s strengths. Coach Andy Reid, with the…
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In 2006, I collaborated on a negotiation book with famed negotiator, Herb Cohen. Herb has a saying that negotiation is a game, a game that both sides want to win. Yet, most people lose velocity in their efforts to negotiate a deal because they are married to getting the deal exactly the way they want…
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So, before you go asking for the deal, do you know your POPs? POPs stands for Points Of Power. Yesterday, I was coaching a young lady who needed to ask for a significant deposit, and that was giving her a little bit of agita. So, I asked her: “Is this a repeat client?” She goes,…
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