Many people address everything else but themselves. In financial terms, people often -- especially in these hard economic times -- serve their creditors, and if there's something left, then it's left for them. And that actually perpetuates that situation -- you continue to serve your creditors. If, on the other hand, you paid yourself first -- set aside 10 percent of your pay and begin to build a nest egg, and then use the 90 percent that's left to take care of everythin […]

Sales leaders, how often do you coach your team on uncovering and handling client objections, concerns and doubts? It's a crucial part of having quality opportunities in our pipeline, yet many of us don't take the time to make it part of our regular management routine. At Ninety Five 5 we refer to these as "Yellow Lights" because unless we slow down and address them we will more than likely lose the opportunity (after needless wasting time, money and effort) or be i […]

Publicly traded companies are driven by the one clear goal: To create greater shareholder value.  Important decisions about strategy and operations are all ultimately weighed against the criteria: “Will this help to boost the stock price or not?” Privately held companies, by contrast, have no such clear mission. Leaders of these companies are continually faced with difficult choices and often need to evaluate alternatives using their own moral comp […]

I recently was in Denver, the home of "The Big Blue Bear." The piece is titled "I see what you mean." I can't say that my interpretation of this cool art is accurate, I can only tell you I like it. The bear is looking at us from outside the building, much like we look at interesting animals in a zoo.We are interesting creatures and many of us love to people watch. It's fun, interesting and ever-entertaining.I thought this was a good thought to focus on. […]

I've noticed that a lot of salespeople overcomplicate their selling environment by focusing on every possible to do of a particular sale.  I have found that if instead I focus on the 1, 2 or 3 most important sale advancing to do's -- selling becomes very simple. At a high level, the job of a sales pro is to talk with people to find alignment of interest or not -- and if there is alignment work through what has to happen in order to decide let's do busin […]

Have you ever seen a hypnotist on stage who appears to gain control over volunteers from the audience?  Some of those stage shows can seem pretty far-fetched.  A subject hears a whistle and all of a sudden, they are clucking like a chicken. In his experiments with dogs, Pavlov proved that conditioning is possible and that a stimulus can bring about a specific response.  Humans have a choice, however, and can elect to choose how they respond to differ […]

There's only so much you can do! Ask yourself, "Of all the things I could do today, what are the one or two most important to get done?" Consider taking this thinking to the next level; what are the most important tasks/projects I need to get done this week, this month, this quarter, this year? Often when I am feeling overwhelmed, I ask myself, "OK, what is the one thing I can do -- personally or professionally -- that if it gets done, will put me back on track?&quo […]

I love the seasons -- all of them. Most of us associate seasons with change. So what season are you in and what change would you like to make? As humans we have this incredible thing that's been gifted to us -- choice. We can choose the change we want. We can move, adapt, create, shape and form the world we desire. What is it you want?Choose your change, make a plan and then execute.  Adapt as you go, modify the goal when necessary and keep moving forward.  You […]

How many times do you make a decision to change something and fail to make any meaningful progress?  If you have not kept a New Year's resolution, it may make sense to do a gut check. Is the change you are making one that inspires you to action? Maybe you have not fully bought in to what needs to happen. Whenever you attempt to make a major change in your life, it makes sense to consider how you can change the way you think so that you can change your behavior.&a […]

Salespeople commonly struggle with the question: "What makes your company the one I should do business with? What makes you different?"The way they (or most) respond is predictable. And it's actually laughable. But it's highly predictable and very common. When a salesperson, sales executive or business executive hears that question they usually say -- without knowing anything about the customer -- something like: "Our differentiation in the marketplace is&h […]