This simple and powerful two-part question will remind you to focus on what the client is trying to make happen with his marketing before you tell him all about your wonderful tools and big ideas. View post

It probably sounds counter-intuitive, but you can grow your most valuable clients and your most promising prospects by giving them time and attention when you are not trying to sell them anything. View post

The old-school style of generic "features and benefits" selling is not only completely obsolete, it is also the kind of selling that computers can do much better than humans. How much generic selling is happening in your company? View post

All clients, large and small, need your help telling stories that help them build strong brands. The trick is to make sure that every tool in your campaign is customized to reinforce the brand’s valuable point of difference. View post

Because they are new, your new tools will get you the meeting. Because they are new, your new tools might even get you the first order. But it is because they are effective that your tools - new and old - get you the renewal and grow your business. View post

Are you one of the many sales managers that are frustrated that the new tools you need to monetize are not selling? One very likely culprit might be the way you are introducing them to your sales team in the first place! View post

According to the Rule of 10, every new initiative will be met by three people who love it, three people who are never going to do it, and four people that are on the fence. Let's assume the Rule of 10 is true. How do we use it to our advantage? View post

If the Rule of 10 were true - that's the rule that says that for every initiative you introduce in your company, out of every ten people, three will love it, three will never do it, and four are going to sit on the fence to see how serious you are - then whom should the manager focus on first? View post

The sidelines on a basketball court are more than just boundaries. Those lines help coaches become better coaches and players become better players. Makes you wonder how Sales Managers' jobs would change if they had similar boundaries separating their job from the job of the seller. View post

Sales people shouldn't have to guess at what their managers expect from them. Let's eliminate all the vague, subjective ways with which we currently communicate with our sales people and instead engage them in conversations about performance numbers that they can control. View post