Stephen Covey said that you can’t just teach by example and by having a good relationship with the members of your team. You have to teach explicitly. This is true, but you also have to know your team members well enough to specifically address their strengths and weaknesses. Join them in the field. If you…
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Sharing your game plan with others is an excellent way to keep yourself accountable. The feedback you receive will be invaluable. Who are some people, either on your team or otherwise, who can look over your game plan? What will each of these people bring to the table? Encourage them to share their plans with…
If you have serious weaknesses in your field, then your work may not be right for you. Of course, it’s worth taking some time to turn your weaknesses into strengths. Your focus, however, needs to be on building your strengths and capitalizing on them. Spend most of your practice time here, and you’ll see more…
Don’t stick to a memorized script. Instead, go where the conversation leads you and the customer. If a customer has an exciting job, I will ask him or her to tell me a story about some memorable event or other. I want to know details, interesting details. I once met with a prospect who was…
“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.” – Ray Bradbury
Is it still a good metaphor for professional sales? Jacquelyn Smith thinks not: How do you craft an effective sales pitch? First, ditch the “pitch”—or at least neglect the traditional meaning of the word. It basically describes what salespeople used to do—throw information at prospects hoping to sell a product or service before the buyer…
Obviously you can’t make an entire turnaround in your behavior over the course of just one day, but you can and you absolutely must begin taking steps today towards your goals. A plan or course of action does you no good unless you take a step and then another and then another. However, you need…
Passion is not something that a leader can teach, as if he or she could impart the information and then give a test to see how well team members understood passion and embodied it in their work. Rather passion is the result of a person doing the right job or having the right career. It…