Being invisible to people around you can be deadly in any profession, but particularly in sales where career opportunities are hotly contested by the high energy sales crowd. Being invisible guarantees that you will go unnoticed and take yourself off the career advancement path. Sales people can stand out from the crowd, but it’s not by ... Read Post

If you’re in sales and hear that you must be ’ready to embrace changes’ and you think ‘Oh! Again?’ you’re not alone, and it only gets worse. See why and how sales people can break habits most effectively and handle new demands and opportunities in your sales job. “Change is the only constant,” as the Greek ... Read Post

According to research from International Data Corporation, 75% of CFOs and CIOs at global organizations say that they have trouble using data to make decisions. One reason for this challenge is that while data is readily available, it is often lacking context; this is where the skill of storytelling helps connect disparate pieces of data ... Read Post

Picture this: you’re meeting with your dream prospect. It’s the meeting which took months to land, the one which could lead you to make your challenging sales goals this year. As the conversation progresses and the prospect shares more about what he needs, you start to develop an uneasy feeling that what you have to ... Read Post

Faster than you can say Benedict Cumberbatch three times fast: In sales, you’re only as valuable as the data you’re operating upon. You may dive as deep as the shallow end of the kiddie pool. The true sales hunters will dive 10,000 leagues deep below the ocean and know what their prospects had for breakfast ... Read Post

As high-tech was taking off in Silicon Valley, a friend introduced me to the CEO of one such company.  It was with great excitement that I accepted the sales job. I was the sole salesperson and was given the opportunity to drive business single-handedly.  It was a treat to be working with brilliant people. The ... Read Post

It would be difficult to imagine a business-related headline more crushing than this one: “Santa Failed.” But that’s exactly what the media was saying about Toys R Us in 2000, when the now defunct retailer failed to deliver on its promise of pre-Christmas delivery to thousands of online customers. The resulting press was devastating and ... Read Post

“Building Trust and Rapport” was the headline in an invitation I received in the mail for a full day sales seminar being held at a local hotel. The small print listed trust and rapport as a “necessary sales skill,” but it caused me to ponder: is building trust and rapport a learned skill or an ... Read Post