Communication

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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Oh, yes, here it comes. But this one is different: It’s about golf! We are often hired to train a company’s new business developersin consultative selling skills and to develop customized sales processes to get them up to speed as quickly as possible. And we love doing it. But sometimes companies ask us to wait to train their current sales team

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The fundamental things apply in basketball, bed-making, and becoming the safest company in America. In 1965, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and his fellow freshmen at UCLA beat the varsity in the opening scrimmage. Interesting, to be sure, but not necessarily remarkable. Except that the UCLA varsity was a two-years-running national NCAA champion and the odds-on favorite for a

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The right discovery skills plus the right delivery skills build the confidence your sales reps need to deliver powerful presentations that persuade prospects to buy.   Prospective clients sometimes call us with a “sales presentation problem.” Translated, that means executives or managers have noticed that their salespeople don’t use the beautifully produced, loaded-with-information, and probably expensive PowerPoints that management has

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Business is more of a struggle today than ever, but there is also more reason for hope. You just have to look for it. We’ve always had a glass half-full mentality, maybe even three quarters. That’s not surprising, of course: We teach consultative sales training and customized process development. Down-in-the-mouth just doesn’t work in selling. But how can anyone maintain

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We’ve long been writing about ADHD, when managed effectively, as being an opportunity for salespeople who have it and for the companies they work for. But new questions keep coming up. For example, what can you do when your competition is your prospect’s untreated ADHD-like behavior? In our experience, ADHD can cut at least two ways for salespeople: They have

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Will the perceived decline in the value of face-to-face communications accelerate in the new year? Worse, will it accelerate a real decline in your sales performance? Recently the Wall Street Journal reviewed the book Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection by Oscar-winning film and television producer Brian Grazer*. The review, “Put Down the Phone,” explained how the book offered guidance on dealing

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Quite a bit, as it turns out—whether you’re selling, fundraising, or just wanting to communicate more effectively. What is a “top producer”? We define top producers as the 20 percent of business developers who bring in 80 percent of all new business in for-profit companies or professional service firms—law, accounting, architecture, engineering, and others. But the term also applies to the

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This time of year, especially, giving and receiving command a lot of attention. In business we all pursue these activities throughout the year, though perhaps more along the lines of “give and get” or “give and take.” Unfortunately, business in general is too often perceived as emphasizing the getting rather than the giving. That’s not surprising, but is it fair? Even though a common thread

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Over the past 23 years business developers and others participating in our courses on consultative selling, consultative negotiating, and increasing referrals have demonstrated a wide range of coach-ability. Here’s how a few approached coaching, both giving and receiving. We hope you’ll gain some insight about yourself, your team, and using coaching to gain-and keep-an edge. Practicing What You Preach: The coach who

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