Posts tagged as:

Sales

A Word To Recruiters From HR

November 27, 2009

Over the last several months, I have developed relationships with executive search and recruiting professionals on Twitter. Michael Long, Meghan Biro, Jacqui Poindexter (executive resume writing), Mike Ramer, Stephanie Lloyd, Bill Boorman and Brian Shumaker, are people I greatly admire in this arena.  The conversations I have with these folks are always enlightening and inspiring. [...]

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Vampires Friends And Sales

October 29, 2009

So I’ve got a couple of friends who are emotional vampires. Take “Sherry” for example. We started out as great friends! We’d laugh together, shop together, support each other and just hang out. Something started changing though. Sherry started having drama in her life. Serious drama. This happened, that happened and “it’s so terrible.” Over [...]

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Is Honesty The New Authentic

October 5, 2009

How many times have you heard the word “authenticity” in the last seven days? If you are online or went to any of the social media/tech conferences last week, I bet you heard it a bunch. The messages “be yourself”and “be authentic” are the mantras, of social media evangelists. It is the 2.0 way of [...]

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A Little Sales Kick In The Pants

October 1, 2009

I do a lot of networking and relationship building and what I ask everyone (people I know and people I don’t) is “How’s business?” I do that because I care and because I’m really interested in their response. Most everyone I speak with lately has said that their sales are down. And not just down, [...]

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The Tattoo On Your Forehead

September 29, 2009

There are a lot reasons people get tattoos. For some, it is to have a memorial of someone they love. In other parts of the world, it is to demonstrate a person’s move from being a child to being an adult. Gang members get tattoos to show affiliation with a group of people. But most [...]

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Please Dont Like Me

September 17, 2009

This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie “Ocean’s Eleven.” This is where Rusty (played by Brad Pitt) is instructing the newbie Linus (Matt Damon) how to con the casino owner. Ever felt that way? Just like Rusty, well-meaning people in your life will tell you what you need to do to be [...]

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Could Should or Want (Target Market Part 2)

September 10, 2009

In my last post “Are You a Crystal or a Magnifying Glass” we talked through the importance of having a laser-focused, clearly defined target market for your products or services. The next step is actually defining it. News Flash Defining your target market does not begin with market research, demographic analysis or a business plan. [...]

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Are You A Crystal or Magnifying Glass™

September 8, 2009

There is a common theme emerging among my business coaching clients; it is a death knell that most fail to recognize. What are the symptoms of this downward progression? A sense of being overwhelmed Frustration that sales haven’t significantly increased, despite time and effort The inability to clearly and powerfully articulate what they do These [...]

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Touchy Feely A Legitimate Business Strategy

August 24, 2009

August 21, 2009 – Day 5 Today was the last day of the five-day Disney Institute program; I learned a great deal about Disney and how they do business. A friend of mine challenged me to distill a week’s worth of learning into a single sentence applicable to business owners. I’ve thought about it quite [...]

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Rational Or Emotional Decisions At Disney

August 21, 2009

August 19, 2009 – Day 3 When I heard that the Disney Institute was going to take us through new employee orientation (called “Traditions”), I was skeptical. I’ve been in the HR field for over 15 years. I’ve participated in and facilitated countless orientation programs and I was not looking forward to this. Surprisingly, I [...]

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Walt Disney And Leadership Filters

August 20, 2009

August 18, 2009 – Day 2 What would your cup of joe taste like without a coffee filter? Filters on camera lenses create astounding camera effects. There are filters that do really important jobs: water filters, chemical filters and even nuclear filters that provide ventilation for flammable gas mixtures in nuclear waste containers. Filters do [...]

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The Secondary Guest at Disney World

August 18, 2009

August 17, 2009 (Day 1) – 5:35 pm This was the first day of formal training in the Disney Institute program. We are getting a behind-the-scenes peek at what Disney does that makes them so successful. After six hours of training, it is a little difficult for me to decide which golden nugget I should [...]

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The Fight Club Guide To Selling (Part 2)

August 11, 2009

Fight Club is one my favorite movies and stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. It’s pretty graphic at times, but the truth is there are some great lessons to be learned from it about life and believe it or not – about sales. Lesson 1 – It Takes Pain to Win “Without pain, without sacrifice [...]

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Why Not

August 3, 2009

The Power of “Why not?” Who would have thought that two simple words, when phrased as a question could contain so much power. Many courageous people asked themselves this question (most likely in the face of resistance) and the world has not been the same since. Think about these statements and the passion with which [...]

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Mirror Mirror On The Wall

July 27, 2009

You’ve got things to do, so let me get straight to the point. You need a brand. I’m not talking about a logo, website or business card. I’m talking about you and your professional brand.  Why? Because there are a million widget makers, tutors, coaches, accountants, restaurant owners, recruiters, etc. You are in an ocean [...]

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The Fight Club Guide To Selling (Part 1)

July 12, 2009

Look, there are a few things we need to straighten out about sales. If you’ve been advised to tell everyone you see or meet about your product,  you’re in trouble. If an “expert” told you to keep pushing, even though the person you’re talking to is disinterested, take the ebook you bought and feed it [...]

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Ten Reasons NOT to Use Social Media

July 7, 2009

Are the leaders at your company resistant to using social media? You’re not alone. In fact, it is a trend. Business leaders should be asking legitimate questions about cost of implementation, how to handle the time commitment, what to do if they are in a heavily regulated industry and who should represent them online. Let’s [...]

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Things I Learned My First Year in Business

June 30, 2009

Not too long ago, I celebrated the anniversary of my first year as a business owner. I have been in the business world for many years, but this was a celebration of my independence, an affirmation that I have what it takes to do it on my own. My first year was a tough one. [...]

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Brand Building for Your Bottom Line – Burger King, Butts and Branding

June 30, 2009

Burger King, Butts & Branding Most everyone knows about branding in the context of commercials, brochures and logos. But in working with my clients, I have found there is a gap in understanding what professional branding is and how powerfully it impacts a business’ bottom line. So this is the first in a series of [...]

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How a Cat Killed a $5k Deal

May 20, 2009

What I’ve learned about cats is that most people either love them or hate them. Whether you love them or leave them, there is one thing we all must agree on when it comes to cats – they do what they want to do, when they want to do it. It’s called feline indifference. You [...]

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