SuccessfulWorkplace

Would you want to sit through your own presentations? I’d like to think I would but the reality is that most people wouldn’t ask themselves that question before putting together their next ‘killer deck’. That’s how we get to where we are. Now take into consideration the problem of virtual presenting, where we don’t see […]

I just read Daniel Goleman’s piece on storytelling & leadership. I thought about all my own lessons learned as a sales manager; and how easy it was for me to stop doing the things that served me well as a salesperson, when I became a manager. You know those times in life where you catch […]

I was always curious how some people, the very few, get others to open up and reveal themselves, while the majority of us struggle. The sales training industry has given us the ‘diagnose/prescribe’ model, as a way to get other human beings to open up. But does it? Maybe it’s not about diagnosing/prescribing? What if […]

Marketing and Sales have long been at odds over whether it’s better to generate a large volume of leads or if it’s better to generate fewer, higher quality leads. Anyone involved in Sales or Marketing today, however, knows that the volume game is over. But the question still lingers: How do you get Marketing to […]

I remember years ago watching Steven Seagal come back from a coma to kick Senate butt in Hard To Kill, and the particular scene where he scribbles an old proverb on the toilet seat that the anticipation of death is worse than death itself. Of course, it was a self-fulfilling prophesy, the evil senator is […]

I remember the pain of writing essays in high school. It went something like this. Draft a 3 point, 3 to 5 page first draft by hand. Type the draft up using my Brother typewriter. Turn it in. Get the comments from Mr. Jones, my English teacher. Make manual corrections. Type it up again. Repeat. […]

Enterprise software is an enormous marketplace chock full of good, bad and ugly ways to buy and sell. It isn’t easy to be on either side, but it can be very rewarding for those who get it right. I’m invested in making sure it is done right. A constant challenge? The product demonstration. The ‘demo’ is […]

A book summary of Why Killer Products Don’t Sell by Ian Gotts and Dominic Rowsell on Amazon as hardback or Kindle You’re a major corporation with a track record of strong sales for your current product range. You’ve worked long and hard to produce a unique, innovative product that you know the market needs. It […]

I read a blog posting this morning in HBR on ‘Change Leadership‘. It was basically: “Here are the 10 bullet points you leaders must know on how to affect change below you…” Really?!? I’m 41. I spent the first 15 years of my career being “below”: just doing, trying to get ahead: get promoted, head-down ‘just doing‘; […]

On Monday night, Brene Brown spoke at my daughter’s school in front of about 300 parents, faculty & staff. I was so excited going into the evening… I’m gonna have a chance to hear her speak live, plus I’d be able to meet her in person. Her talk was awesome. It was all about vulnerability, shame, […]

Selling is tricky business. The more you strive to be authentic, the more you’ve missed the point of actually being authentic. I have an old Navy buddy who used to jokingly say, “The key to life is sincerity. Once you can fake that, everything else is easy.” He had a short career…he was even too […]

The “in” thing in the sales world these days seems to be story; everyone is preaching story. And for me, to talk about the power of story requires a story of my own… I often get reminded of the real power of story through everyday, little encounters. Last month, my Grandfather, Jack, celebrated his 90th […]

…you won’t anyway. People are actually pretty tough to influence and most people are fairly set in their ways. But don’t worry, companies are built and elections won on influencing just the part of the population that is available to influence. It becomes extremely important, then, to figure out what ’thing‘ will affect that segment that is […]

How is it that we all missed the boat all these years on what’s important? Our most basic human need is to connect with each other; to connect with our ideas and beliefs. Isn’t that something that we, in the sales profession, should strive for? My personal story I was never given permission to go […]