This is an abridged version of the opening chapter – “The Business Case for Trust” – of the just-published Trust, Inc.: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Value Asset. The book is a collection of 30-plus articles by diverse authors on trust in business. Edited by Barbara Kimmel of Trust Across America, the book covers […]
Let’s get tactical. Friend Mark runs a small coaching business, mainly by himself. He focuses on an intersection of personal and business development issues: helping people get unstuck. The usual approaches to pricing in that business are tried and true. Rates are typically quoted for a month at a time, over a planned period of months. Variations […]
In 2013, finance is the least trusted industry globally. It hasn’t always been this way. Within the industry, it’s tempting to think that trust can be regained by reputation management. Reputation is seen largely as a function of communications or PR departments in 50% of companies in one survey. But it goes deeper than that – deeper even than […]
Trust is a subject full of wise-sounding sayings that often just reflect muddled thinking. “Trust takes time” is one such case. Another is that trust can be destroyed in an instant. But the all time winner for trust obfuscation has to be Ronald Reagan’s “Trust – but verify.” A deceptively simple statement (taken from a Russian […]
George Orwell’s famed 1984 was written in 1948 – 36 years ahead of the title’s date. The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was written in 1968 – 33 years ahead of its title. With a 30-plus year head start, audiences back then saw both works as way, way out there – far enough away that it was really […]
I got to know Barbara and Jordan Kimmel some years ago when they were forming the initial idea for what became Trust Across America, an organization devoted to improving corporate trustworthiness. Barbara edited a book which is about to be published (November 1), called Trust Inc.: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset. This seems […]
This is the final post in a four-part series on Fear in Selling. In the first part, I talked about the importance of dealing with fear in sales. In the second part, I wrote about the four types of fear. In the third part I talked about fending off the sharks of fear. In this last part I talk about […]
This is the third article in a four-part series on Fear in Selling. In the first part, I talked about the importance of dealing with fear in sales. In the second part, I wrote about the four types of fear. In this part I’ll talk about solutions, and in Part 4 I’ll talk about Shark-proofing your market – how to replace […]
There are many ways to think about sales and selling. You can focus on value propositions, sales processes, sales management, motivation, techniques, and models. In this blogpost series, I focus on something else that’s common in sales – fear. In Part 1 I talked about the importance of dealing with fear in sales. Here I’d like […]
This is the first of a four-part blogpost series. In Part 2, we’ll discuss the 4 types of fear. In Part 3, I’ll go over how to fend off the sharks of fear. And in Part 4, you’ll learn how to shark-proof your market and vanquish fear altogether. There are many ways to think about […]
You’ve graduated from Question Obsession 101. You’ve learned not to pepper clients with endless questions or craft that perfect “Keystone Arch Question” expecting miracles. You’re focusing on relationships, creating insights, and empowering clients. But have you fallen into the next trap? The Answer Trap. Many consultants who overcome question obsession swing to the opposite extreme, […]
Question Obsession: The Silent Sales KillerMay 6, 2025 - 5:00 pmHave you counted how many questions you ask in your typical client meeting? Do you find yourself carefully crafting the “perfect” question sequence before every sales call? Are your meeting notes filled with question frameworks rather than real insights? If so, you may be suffering from Question Obsession—a condition that’s quietly sabotaging your client relationships […]