Some will recall comic Rodney Dangerfield’s catch phrase. Others may remember Aretha Franklin’s iconic spelling, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. When you respect someone, it’s a verb. When you get respect, it’s a noun. Either way, it has positive connotations. But what’s the connection between respecting someone, and receiving respect from them? Is it a chicken-egg thing? Does one cause the other? […]
In sales, you sometimes hear, “They were pursuing an aggressive strategy – aggressively waiting for the phone to ring.” In other words, sometimes you’ve got to take action. Much the same is true of trust. If you want to be trusted, sometimes it’s not enough just to be trustworthy. Sometimes you’ve got to take action. […]
For many years now I have been a contributing editor at RainToday.com, the premier online resource for professional services sales and marketing. Besides a ton of articles, books, special programs, and online learning forums, they occasionally do some seriously good sales research. They have just yesterday come out with their latest, a report called What […]
Last week, trust was destroyed. Then it was rebuilt. At least, that’s the party line in all the media and the social buzz channels. But it’s not the whole story. The whole story is, unfortunately, not so good. Particularized Trust and Generalized Trust Dr. Eric Uslaner, arguably the world’s leading academic on the subject of trust, […]
Maybe you’ve heard the old line, “Half of advertising dollars are wasted – you just don’t know which half.” Something like that is true in sales – except that you’ve got a much better chance of telling which part to keep. (Many thanks to Chris Downing and Anthony Iannarino for helping develop this thought). The Challenge […]
You know the old line, “If you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” It means we tend to see the world through our own frames of reference. It’s a good reminder to watch out for unconscious biases. And in sales, it shows up in a very particular way. [Trivia tidbit: the hammer/nail line […]
The Associated Press decided to drop the term “illegal immigrant” from its reporting. Their point: the term ‘illegal’ should be applied to actions, but not to persons. It’s the immigration equivalent of, “hate the game, not the player.” Of course, that’s red meat to a lion for some. Senator John McCain said, “You can call it whatever […]
I rarely write blogposts promoting the services we offer. But since we have something new to offer – this is one of those times. Are you involved with issues of leadership in your organization? Then you may be interested in our newest service offering, Trust-based Leadership. And if learning and developments is not your thing, […]
The NYTimes recently published Salesmen in the Surgical Suite, a look at some questionable sales practices in the US surrounding a robotic surgical technology called the da Vinci Surgical System, a product of Intuitive Surgical Inc. The article cites a case of severe damage to a patient due to inadequate training of surgeons, and a variety of documented […]
This weekend I joined a dozen school buddies for an annual golf outing. Now, I took up golf late in life, which explains why I’m pretty much the worst player in the group. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Nobody minds much, except for me; everybody respects everyone else’s level of play. After all, […]
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 […]