And the Winner Is Low Price. Wait – No…
It's a time-honored business strategy – low prices. Michael Porter codified Low Price as one of three generic competitive strategies, but it's not like it wasn't already commonsense in every…
DON’T Always Exceed Expectations
Like most people, I enjoy a good positive surprise. Whether that's something as simple as getting an unexpected discount at the grocery store, snagging a last-minute table at a popular restaurant,…
Clients Don’t Buy Solutions, They Buy Problem Definitions
You're familiar with the old idea that people don't buy products, they buy solutions – not drill-bits, but holes, in Ted Levitt's classic formulation. This idea became closely allied with the commonplace…
Bleeding Trust from Every Sales Interaction
If there's one guaranteed head-nod, bromide, platitude that most marketers and salespeople would agree to, it's that trust in the seller positively affects buyer behavior. Conversely, companies we don't trust…
Is Your Lead Generation System Causing You to Lose Clients?
Much sales literature talks about sales in terms of processes. A key process element is lead screening, or lead qualification. And that process is often described in terms of efficiency.…
The Business Case for Trust
Be honest. When you think of growth and profitability, is trust the first thing you think of? I doubt it. The things that often come to mind when we talk…
The Art of Listening: Establishing Trust without Saying a Thing
Buyer Psychology Ask a client what they want, and they'll tell you "expertise; credentials; someone who'll meet my needs." Ask them what their needs are, and they'll tell you. But…
Living Inside a Pariah Company
Last week I wrote a very critical blogpost about Volkswagen. I was, of course, hardly alone in doing so; the scandal has created tremors beyond even recent examples. But in the days…
How Bad Thinking Can Lead You to Discount Your Prices
I originally wrote this post way back in 2009. And even though it's been six years - the message is just as relevant. Keeping with the theme of sales and the…
What’s So Different about Trust-based Selling?
What’s the purpose of selling? Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Try Googling It – you’ll get “the purpose of selling is to gain revenue,” or “the purpose of sales is to…