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 since, I’ve been trying to think in different terms – in particular, what must it be like to be an employee of VW in these […]
A. The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal. Q. What do you get when you assign German engineering the task of developing a high-performance trust-and-ethics violation? If you don’t know the basics of the VW emissions scandal, read up on it here. The basics: on the diesel engine models it sent to the EPA for US emissions testing, […]
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 ever-present fear of losing a sale (thus the reaction to lower prices and the need to face the demands for price cuts), I wanted to […]
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 create a customer.” But there’s a problem with viewing sales that way. If you think the purpose of selling is to add to your firm’s […]
I first published this post on RainToday a little while back. But this is an evergreen topic – one that keeps coming back up into conversation. Especially when people ask me for sales advice. What holds most of us back when a client or a potential client demands a price cut is the fear of […]
You’ve heard the admonition “Always Be Closing.” Should you worry about it? For some of you, the answer may be ‘yes.’ But for many more – fuggedaboutit. Here’s the truth: in some businesses, “closing” is a relevant art. Those businesses are typically highly transactional in nature (e.g. car sales), discretionary and small ticket price (cosmetics), […]
Ever had a difficult client? I don’t mean the client from hell, I just mean garden-variety difficult. Difficult clients come in lots of different flavors. There’s the client who will not take the time up front to share critical information, explore ideas, or otherwise involve you in the early stages of a project. There’s the […]
When you think of capitalism, you probably think of competition as a central, driving force. We have enshrined the value of competition in our antitrust laws. We view competition between providers as a way to increase innovation and reduce costs; in today’s parlance, competition is what yields creative disruption. Adam Smith is frequently (and somewhat inaccurately) […]
This post is a distinctive take on an article originally published on RainToday. —————————————————– When it comes to decoding the thought process behind certain complex business questions, it’s often prudent to accept that “it depends” is the most concrete answer you will get – and move on to deciphering what “it depends” on. So it is […]
The dog and pony show, the beauty contest, the shoot-out. You may just call it “the pitch.” The term is especially common in some industries—advertising, executive recruiting, some law firms—but we all know it. Typically we think of it as an event—a rather formal presentation by several professionals made to several members of the client […]