Trust-based Networking and the Paradox of “Collateral Benefit”
A (seemingly) simple question: What is the goal of business networking? The goal of most business networking is to make new connections in order to get more business. The goal…
Tell Your Client Why They Don’t Need You
No, I'm not crazy. (Well, not because of that headline, anyway). It's actually a serious admonition. Here's why, and how. ---------------------- I suspect you want your clients to trust you.…
Don’t Let It Ruin Your Day
Is your child driving you nuts with their self-destructive behavior and refusal to listen to your hard-earned wisdom? (Alternatively, are your parents driving you nuts with their constant attempts to…
Question Obsession: The Consultant’s Nemesis
Do you go into sales meetings – even meetings with your existing clients – with a slew of prepared questions? Do you constantly find yourself asking question after question in…
A Better New Year’s Resolution
Eleven years have passed since I first wrote the following thoughts on New Years resolutions. Frankly, it was good. And frankly I haven’t been able to write a better one.…
Trust & Leadership
Lisa McArthur, one of our esteemed consultants, tackles the topic of Trust & Leadership and provides practical, actionable steps you can take today to start improving both. --- Into every…
It’s Always Risk-on for Selling
In the financial trading community, there is a concept called "risk-on, risk-off," or RoRo for short. It refers to the general market sentiment at a point in time. Simply put,…
Don’t Confuse Your KPIs with Your CSFs
I spoke with BigCo, Inc. They wanted their B2B salespeople to become trusted advisors. They felt (correctly) that greater trust levels with their customers would result in greater intra-customer market…
The Traveling Salesman? Or the Prisoner’s Dilemma?
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a classic conundrum in game theory. It purports to explain why two people might not cooperate, even if it is in both their best interests to…
Don’t Be a Social Selling Lemming
You probably have a social media presence. You might even call it a social media strategy. But is it really strategic? Or is it just a lemming strategy—making you…