Velocity Mindset
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in business don’t begin with a brilliant answer. They begin with a different question. I recently came across the story of an industry built around companies purchasing life insurance policies from policyholders. Traditionally, everyone viewed life insurance through essentially the same lens: Buy the policy. Pay the premiums. Eventually, the…
Markets are volatile. Budgets are tightening. International tensions are affecting supply chains, energy prices, and business confidence. For leaders, the pressure is real. But here is the brutal truth: Uncertainty does not destroy companies. Inaction does. When fear enters the boardroom, decisions slow down. Investments are delayed. Teams lose confidence. Organizations begin waiting for conditions…
Most salespeople don’t lose deals because of price. They don’t lose because of the competition. And they rarely lose because of the economy. More often than not, they lose because they’re approaching every opportunity with the same linear thinking they’ve been taught since childhood. From the time we enter school, we’re trained to follow the…
Fame can be addictive. Not just celebrity fame. Business fame. Leadership fame. Social media fame. The kind of visibility that makes people feel seen, validated, and recognized. But when attention becomes the goal, direction often changes. People start making decisions for reactions instead of results. They chase clicks instead of contribution. They prioritize visibility instead…
When You’re Down 29, Take the Next Shot There are moments in business, leadership, and life when the scoreboard looks ugly. You are behind. The pressure is rising. The odds look impossible. The people around you may start acting like the outcome has already been decided. But the leaders and teams who ultimately win are…
In the mid-2000s, I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from back surgery when a difficult question hit me: What haven’t I done with my life? And why? When you’re forced to slow down, clarity shows up. I realized that unrealized goals rarely come down to talent or opportunity. They come down to three…
Most professionals ask the wrong question. They ask: “How do I improve what I’m already doing?” High performers ask: “What outcome do I really want to achieve?” That shift changes everything. Because when you focus on activity, you stay busy. When you focus on outcomes, you become strategic. And here’s the real problem… We let…
Things like AI and other issues come second. The first question is: what do you want to achieve for yourself? If you are not happy with what you are achieving on an annual basis, what would make you happy? What would make you feel fulfilled? It has to be specific, and it has to be…
Let’s talk about what’s happening in the market right now: tariffs, inflation, supply chain pressure, price. Customers are cautious. Decisions are slower. And suddenly everyone’s favorite strategy is discounting, because nothing says “premium solution” like dropping your price faster than your confidence. Inside the company, it usually sounds like this: Sales says, “We’ve got to…
Most people think velocity is blocked by outside forces—other people, missed signals, bad timing. The truth is far more uncomfortable…and far more powerful. It turns out the biggest obstacle that gets in our way is internal, and it starts with the stories we create every day. Everything that someone says or does to you, you…
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…
In sales, it’s not uncommon to face certain objections again and again. So how do you turn those common objections into closed deals? Simple: You stop having conversations that are driven by past experiences or fear of the future. Let me explain. In 1980 I landed my first sales job: selling copy machines. But before long…