Back in my days as a new franchisee the phrase most oft’ bandied about was, “Fake it ‘til you make it.” I don’t mind admitting I did and on my own I’ve shared that advice to many a business owner, salesperson and client since. Why not? It has its merit, primarily by making sure you […]
Every honest business person would admit to a regret here or there. Sure, some take a “no regrets” philosophy but that’s a rationalization for your conscience and dwelling on regrets is certainly worse. Learning from actions you come to regret is how you grow and gain wisdom. That may be linked to something you’ve done, […]
Of course I’m omitting the most obvious, the not having any goals. If you pursue not having goals religiously then it’s pretty clear you are goal minded nonetheless. We’ll concede also that this path of gaffs are on roads paved with good intentions. There are formalized goals processes, staff meetings, authoritative sounding internal communications, maybe […]
There are many traits that lead to success in sales, one can argue their rankings as variable, industry relevant, male or female, for new or experienced sellers and there are as many ways to add, slice and prioritize as there are traits to have–or not have. To the extent a salesperson, business owner or […]
Every business owner who gives an annual or a holiday bonus wants it to be appreciated. Give it once and employees feel they are always entitled to it. Should a bonus be seen as a gift or is it earned compensation? The first trick to having this process be both a recognition benefit and an […]
I had a recent client find his Eureka idea, “I had no idea how much of sales is about psychology.” I’m happy to quote the father of my former franchise David Sandler who said that selling is a Broadway play performed by a psychiatrist. Sales professionals have long known, by training or by instinct […]
Is saying thank you necessary to employees, co-workers, vendors, suppliers? Absolutely not, there’s no intrinsic obligation to give any extra, seasonal or out of the ordinary thanks, no reason at all…well maybe one. It makes a difference; maybe to the person receiving the “thank you” but definitely to the one giving it. An attitude of […]
Apologies in advance if that old Kenny Rodgers tune is now swirling in your head, albeit with the edit–if you are folding your hand then you need to read a different article! To be a great manager is truly very hard. By almost everyone’s evidence however, there’s plenty of lousy ones out there. Managing people […]
So dust off your VCR and pop in “City Slickers” and fast forward to Curly sharing the secret to life…”1.” That’s right, one thing more than any other is the secret. I’ll spare you the existential version or debate omnipotence or destiny and share that from all I’ve seen there is, in fact, one success […]
Before you pick a definitive argument for which side, art or science, more greatly influences success in sales let me assure the answer is yes! Cop out? Of course, but let me make a case. First though, let’s define professional selling in the broad view, it goes beyond what someone with a Sales or Account […]
