Relationships or Metrics? I Haven’t Got Time for Both
Why is it that, in today's age of instant gratification, we feel like we never have enough time? Emails fly across our inboxes – we get instant responses. Someone reaches…
Why Listening to Sales Experts May Be Hazardous to Your Sales
A sales expert, I'm not. A trust expert, I think I've become. And it turns out, there's a big overlap. -- One of the interesting points in Neil Rackham's classic…
Wants vs Needs? Dylan and the Stones Weigh in on Sales
Should you sell to someone's wants, or to someone's needs? It's a much-discussed topic in sales. Some say you should sell to wants, not needs. Others say exactly the opposite.…
The Antidote to Resentment
A lot of time is wasted debating the relative merits of "hard" and "soft" skills. The right response is almost always "both," and "it depends." I want to focus here…
Sometimes the Best Marketing Looks Like Sales
I got an email. It was from a 50-ish owner of a small CPA firm – call him “Jose” – with three competing offers to buy his practice, and a…
Trusting your colleagues will make you more trustworthy to your customers
If you’re trying to sell your services, you already know the value of being trusted. Being trusted increases value, cuts time, lowers costs, and increases profitability—both for us and for…
When to Offer a Lower Price
Few decisions in business have such dramatic effects on customer perception as how you handle your pricing – in particular, when and how you offer discounts. People may evaluate your products,…
The Biggest Trust Myth of All Time
A lot of casual bloggers out there – and a few not-so-casual writers, even some famous people – are fond of quipping about trust in ways that at first blush sound wise. …
Are You Selling to Vulcans?
Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans. -Mr. Spock in 'I, Mudd' The iconic Mr. Spock from Star Trek was half-Vulcan, half-human. It's the former we…
When the Client Demands Price Cuts
We've all been faced with that dreaded moment when a potential client – or even an existing one – demands a price cut. While some basics about price cutting are the…