Phil Krone

Who should control prospect and customer relationships to maximize revenue? The obvious answer—the salesperson—isn’t necessarily the right answer. While someone must lead and manage an account, controlling all aspects is not the best use of a salesperson’s time. For larger accounts, especially, building as many bridges between buyer and seller as possible is almost always the best way to serve both

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Are you feeling a “need for speed” right about now? If so, that probably means one of two things. With just six months to go in the year you might not be on track to meet your sales goals. Or, maybe you see an opportunity to surpass your goals and put even more points on the board. Getting on either track

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  The answer is a head-scratcher, but it’s true: Nothing—and everything. Differentiation has long been a watchword in business. But recently, amid pervasive disruption and fierce competition in many markets, our clients and prospects seem to be more concerned than ever about knowing exactly how they’re different and then how to leverage that differentiation. You can feel the urgency. The

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An old joke defined experts as “people who know more and more about less and less until they know all about nothing.” If that joke were ever funny, it isn’t any more. That the word has become an almost meaningless communications cliché is bad news. Real-life experts are no joke because they’re critical to our well-being today and tomorrow. They

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Have you ever stared into your refrigerator, increasingly desperate to find food or drink that you know is there? Has your significant other ever strolled by and said, “Oh, it’s right there, right in front”? Well, it can be the same way in business. Your business isn’t a refrigerator, and we’re clearly not your significant other. But we might see things about

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Do your sales leads have the right DNA? Do you know how to make the most of it? We do and can help you get there, too. Today, popular psychology holds that the personality of an individual human being is shaped not by genetics or by environment alone but by an uneasy collaboration of both. We’ve found that similar collaboration applies

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Take it from LeBron and Kareem, a “back to the basics” mentality can make you and your team winners. “Back to basics” has become such a time-worn phrase it almost seems worn out. Almost but not quite. The fundamental things still apply in sports and in business. Even for the very best performers. Lebron James, who just surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as

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The short answer based on the resurgence we saw in 2022 from our own clients is “Yes.” A more thoughtful—and useful—answer is “Yes, but is a calling campaign right for my business?” Have you ever tried to get new business by “cold calling” prospects on the phone? What about calling customers to see about their current or future needs? Or

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To increase revenue and build your business in 2023 ask the “twelve questions of selling.” Creating value for your customers, prospects, and colleagues is perhaps the best business gift you can give them. A particular set of business development and communication skills is the key. Do you and your team have them? This time of year giving and receiving command

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Highly productive networking, for one thing. But exactly how does that work? Here are some answers, an unusual opportunity to put them to work—and just in time for the holidays, too. The holidays are already on the horizon, and they offer many business and social opportunities for productive networking. Our recommended mantra—”Give Before You Get”—is in tune with the season.

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