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

Empathy is an emotional intelligence skill. Put simply, empathy is the ability to “walk a mile” in someone else’s shoes. It requires paying sharp attention to know what another person thinks or feels. An enormous influence skill, empathy is not often covered in sales books or sales training courses. Why? Because the word just sounds ... Read Post

Great news, it’s a sales win!  The contract is signed and implementation plans are in place. Is it time to move on to the next sale? Not so fast. The best next step, often overlooked, is a retrospective or lessons learned meeting with your new customer.  A retrospective is an opportunity to look back and ... Read Post