Productive Insights

What are your objectives for the coming year? It’s a question I often ask people in business, and it’s not just because I’m curious. That question, and the answers, tell me whether our services might help those people to reach those objectives. That question is especially effective as a conversation starter at networking events because most of us generally like

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Q4 is just beginning and with less than 90 days left in the year. Are your sales where they should be? Is your marketing turning up the right leads? Is your growth plan on track? Check out these proven ways to sharpen sales. It’s true. Slow, challenging, or uncertain times call for more investment in sales and marketing, not less. But few businesses bite that

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The summer holidays are over and the winter holidays aren’t yet here. But excitement is in the air because autumn always feels like a new beginning. Make the most of all that energy by energizing your networking. Here are some tips. To get started, let’s ask a question: Is networking the lifeblood of selling? Most business-to-business salespeople we know would say

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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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