In the world of customer support, skills matter – and, for the most part, these skills will go largely unnoticed by customers, of course, unless they are absent. That is to say, a customer is more likely to notice poor customer service skills before they recognize someone for their superior skills. But, regardless, it should ... Read Post

The urgent importance of the elusive C-suite executive is a pervasive misconception that leads to wasted time, effort and money. Read Post

Interview with Frank Cespedes, Part 2 Frank Cespedes teaches at Harvard Business School, and is the author of Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors that Drive Effective Selling (Harvard Business Review Press), which was cited as “the best sales book of the year” (Strategy + Business), “a must read” (Gartner Group), and ... Read Post

“If only HP knew how much HP knows, we would be three times more productive,” Hewlett-Packard CEO Lew Platt said. Had Mr. Platt been referring to his sales organization, he would have increased the multiple. Sales teams possess immense knowledge – from finance, marketing, strategy, product engineering and customer support to street smarts about customer ... Read Post

Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” If you want to be a genius at prospecting, the inventor’s insight explains how to do it. The key to successful sales prospecting is preparation: The more thoroughly you vet your suspects, the richer your ultimate prospecting list will be — making you ... Read Post

Without confidence you are twice defeated in the race of life – Marcus Garvey Confidence comes from clarity of thought. It comes from self-reflection and self-awareness, and also often comes from painful lessons learned. Confidence transmits itself quietly–not with bluster and noise but with an inner calm. Still waters run deep, and confidence built on ... Read Post

Today, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions are everywhere. It has been suggested in recent data that CRM systems have been deployed in 90 percent of companies with more than 11 employees. The percentage drops to below 50% in enterprises with less than 11 employees. We must take into account, however, that just because a company ... Read Post

Continuing our series on the comparison between the American War of Independence and today’s world of sales and commerce, let’s now take a look at the key difference between the American Continental Army and the British Army of the time, and how that difference totally applies in today’s sales environment. For a moment, let us ... Read Post