Johnny makes $10 an hour working for a small chain of pawn shops. Most days Johnny sets himself up in front of one of the shops on the main road with a big sign that says “Cash for Gold.” Johnny does other things at his job, partly to stave off boredom. “Keep it easy. Keep it simple” he says Read More...
We've all had "that's what I should've said" moments. After a discussion is already over, the perfect one-liner, ideal comeback, elegant analogy or consummately constructed point occurs to us. The one parlay that would have made our argument. Golfers have a name for the do-over of a shot that didn't go where they wanted, the Mulligan Read More...
That first face-to-face client meeting is the most important moment in the sales process. There are five stumbling blocks that trip up salespeople in prospect meetings. This article discusses #4 Total Recall. (see #3 - the Lex Luther) The best client sales meetings don't feel like a formal meeting Read More...
The face-to-face meeting with a client, especially the first one, is the single most important event in the sales process. Stumbling block #2 during meetings with new potential clients (read #1-No Traction) takes on the business mantra: "It's not personal, it's just business." If you lose a piece of business with a client to a competitor, does it feel personal? When a startup entrepreneur gets angel funding, do you think it feels personal? When you’ve invested ten years building a team, does it feel personal when that team succeeds or fails? No matter what we think or say, part of being human is that most things that happen to us feel personal Read More...
“That reminds me of French Impressionism in the late 1800’s.” “What are you talking about?” said my future client. “In the second half of the 19th century,” I continued, “the annual Paris Salons controlled the commercial art world. If you didn’t go to the academy and paint in the traditional romantic style, you couldn’t get an exhibition at the Salon Read More...
Gina is a super smart twenty-six year old. She just got her doctorate from Yale University. She wrote her doctorate thesis on the market evolution of a cutting edge tech product. Ultimately, Gina sees herself in academia, but she’s taken a sales job with an established high-flying tech startup that produces the product she did her thesis on Read More...
The French? Really? On the surface, French customer service seems like an oxymoronic concept. Every culture has its code for unlocking customer service. If you use the code, you get better treatment. In the U.S. as you walk the aisles of a grocery store looking for Grey Poupon, what do you say to the clerk in the aisle if you need help? You say “Pardon me” (if you’re in the commercial), or “Excuse me Read More...
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