Convenience is Today’s Currency

Step away from your marketing role for a moment and consider yourself as an average consumer. Think about how you make buying decisions today. For many people, price is still a significant consideration. But it’s certainly not the only one. Whether it’s true or not, we all feel time-starved. We’re trying to pack in a…

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How “Sales Speak” Limits Us

Every profession has its own language. It’s a shorthand that enables people in the profession to more effectively and efficiently communicate with each other and to get things done. For example, finance types talk about debits, credits, accruals, depreciation, assets, liabilities, and so forth. They have their own acronyms like A/R, A/P ROCA, EBITDA and…

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How “Sales Speak” Limits Us

Every profession has its own language. It’s a shorthand that enables people in the profession to more effectively and efficiently communicate with each other and to get things done. For example, finance types talk about debits, credits, accruals, depreciation, assets, liabilities, and so forth. They have their own acronyms like A/R, A/P ROCA, EBITDA and…

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How “Sales Speak” Limits Us

Every profession has its own language. It’s a shorthand that enables people in the profession to more effectively and efficiently communicate with each other and to get things done. For example, finance types talk about debits, credits, accruals, depreciation, assets, liabilities, and so forth. They have their own acronyms like A/R, A/P ROCA, EBITDA and…

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A Tale of Two Reactions

Social media is a powerful tool, but it can also hand a brand some serious problems that need to be dealt with immediately. Your reaction can make all the difference. When you respond in real time, you can do it well, or you can stumble and fall. When a brand doesn’t deal with the ember…

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Outcome Based Buying

Regardless how we sell, our customers are trying to achieve one thing when they buy. They are trying to achieve some very specific outcomes. Those outcomes may be all over the place—solve a problem, address an opportunity, enable other things to happen. In the case of selling embedded products, it may be to help customer…

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In Praise of Pushy Sales People

I probably should come out of the closet. I’m a pushy sales person. Perhaps some will recommend a 12 step program or some other therapy to make me less pushy. But, to be honest, I like being pushy. My customers and clients, for the most part, appreciate it too—though at some times my pushiness makes…

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What is the Purpose of Buying?

I can imagine the raised eyebrows, the questioning expressions, and the thought, “What the hell is he talking about now? What kind of esoteric journey is he dragging us on?” Some might glibly say, “Well to solve a problem….” Which is correct, kind of…. But most sales people seldom think about the purpose of buying.…

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A Lesson About Home Depot, Nails, and Sales from Bernie Marcus

Before you can own your failure, you first have to know what you’re failing at. True knowledge is a start, not an end. It’s a question, not an answer. When Walmart’s Sam Walton or Home Depot’s Bernie Marcus sought meaningful and productive knowledge, they didn’t attend a seminar, assemble a committee, convene a board meeting,…

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