Here's a post for baseball nuts: Management by Baseball's A 2008 Billy Beane Lesson in Adaptation. It's lengthy though shorter than the typical baseball game, and connects why the Oakland A's have stumbled in the wake of "Moneyball" other teams figured out the same tricks, to what it means for...
Big sales pitch, product launch, or press conference coming up? Banish your fear of public speaking with MSN Careers' six tips on giving stellar presentations. A couple highlights: Slow down and relax. When presenting, try to maintain a moderate pace -- not too quick or too slow. Start in...
Right now, a lot of people are piling on Eliot Spitzer for portraying himself as being so righteous in stamping out evil even while reportedly seeking out the services of high-priced call girls. People seem to be surprised. But I'm not. I was very lonely out there in the...
As commodity costs have soared, analysts have been pleading with Kraft Foods to raise its retail prices. But the packaged-food giant has hesitated, worried that higher prices would send consumers scurrying to discount brands. Such is the dilemma created when inflation hits during an economic slowdown. ...
Sales presentations to large groups of people are tough to do well. Here's a quick way to assess whether your sales presentation will really close the deal, based upon conversations with presentation guru Terri Sjodin and Harvard psychology professor Stephen M. Kosslyn. Get out your most recent sales...
I was recently talking to Terri Sjodin, author of the bestseller New Sales Speak: The 9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (Wiley 2006). Smart lady. She pointed out that a B2B sales presentation isn't persuasive (meaning it won't drive buying behavior) unless it...
Having just gotten my butt kicked by a virulent form of the flu that's making its way around San Francisco, I've been thinking a lot about sickness and productivity recently. It's a complicated issue. Certainly, there's the battle being waged between your desire to get work done and your desire...
If you want a great referral, you must ask somebody who already trusts you. This seems obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many times sales pros ask for referrals right after making their first sale - even though they haven't yet proven that they can deliver...
Quick: What's green and yellow at the same time? The sun, of course! You can harness its awesome power with the Solio Hybrid 1000, a solar-powered charger designed expressly for gadgets like phones, Bluetooth headsets, iPods, and GPS receivers. Just leave the Solio in the sun for...
In Monday's post, "Better Than Cold Calling" I went through some of the basic ideas about Referral Selling, based upon a conversation I recently had with Joanne Black, author of No More Cold Calling. She gave me a simple, five step process for asking for a personal referral....
My first post (now titled "Better Than Cold Calling") was setting up the ground rules for Referral Selling. Since that's a way to avoid cold calling which most sales pros dislike, so I gave the post a title that seemed like a catchy way...
It's been said repeatedly that B2B sales is all about relationships. However, relationships are difficult to forge when you're cold-calling people who don't know you from Adam. The best way to get into a customer account is through a personal referral. Please note that a...
We remember sitting in a sixth-grade classroom on January 28, 1986, watching the catastrophic events of the clear, crisp morning near Cape Canaveral, Florida unfold on a large television screen. What many saw and remember as the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, barely on its way to the Earth's...
You probably never tell potential clients your real goal in calling them, but you don't need to. They're already aware, because we're all sensitive when the phone rings and it turns out to be someone we don't know. In the old traditional training, we learned the latest techniques for making...
Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every sales person's and business owner's day. With some important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend. This paper explains 7 key ways to jump start your cold...
Cold calling is the process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who was not expecting such an interaction. The word "cold" is sometimes thought of as being used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted...
Trade shows are a great way to demonstrate how your product or service works. It is also a great place where trade enquiries can be generated. More than that, it is also a venue where there can be instant follow-up as you have a potential customer right there as a...
In spite of the popularity of cross training, most people as a rule aren't asked to do something totally out of their field. Yet almost everyone in a corporate or professional setting these days is expected, even required, to give presentations. Public speaking is a profession that requires training and...
Academy Awards come and go, but one thing is a constant: bad acceptance speeches. You may never win an Academy Award, but you may be asked to give an acceptance speech for an accomplishment in your business, your career, your community, or your organization. Sometimes your acceptance speech will be...
Next to public speaking, cold calling might be the scariest thing people try to avoid doing at all costs. It can also be a very effective and underutilized method for career-minded individuals like you to separate yourself from other job searchers who don't think about doing it. Cold call is...
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