Controlling your controllables is no mere cliché; it's the recipe for a satisfying, effective and full life in sales (not to mention a truly satisfying life overall). Focusing on factors and events you don't control burns precious hours and energy and leaves you with nothing to show for it. What will the boss decide? How will the budget shake out? How will the markets react to the latest world news? What can you do about any of these? Just worry and wait... the two least productive and most frustrating options available. So let's take a quick look at four things you absolutely control every single day.
Look hard at the title of this post. If you sit with it for just a few beats you may see irony, a contradiction in terms ... or you may not see much of anything. But our interpretation of this simple phrase…
As a kid in 1960s Los Angeles I ended up watching the same show every week. The UCLA men's basketball team would play even-up with some other college for the first ten minutes of the game. By halftime,…
The RFP is the Freddy Krueger of the digital buying-selling process. It's the friend from college who crashed on your couch "for a night or two" but ends up staying for 10 months. It's the annoying song that's stuck in our collective heads. In theory, we all want to be rid of it. In spirit and practice it's still very much with us.
Most of the great opportunities to manage aren't scheduled; they come and go in the blink of an eye.
People love secrets and shortcuts. The dirtier the better. That there's a technique, phrase or trick out there that would make the whole sales thing fall into place is a seductive idea. Indeed, sellers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on books, videos and seminars in search of this particular grail over the last several decades. But after selling for my entire adult life and being a voice-in-the-ear for sellers in the digital marketing business for the last 20+ years, I'm here to give away "the secret" - such as it is. Here goes: Discipline, grit and hard work. Lots of it.
In recent conversations and workshops with customers I find myself continually revisiting Simon Sinek's classic 2009 TedX talk, "The Golden Circle,"which is also the key theme in his best-selling book…
Many sellers of a certain age can identify with getting the Heisman, being pushed away or deflected by the customer. (As illustrated by the pose of the famous Heisman Trophy, of course.) When the client or senior agency director says, "Be sure the team sees this," or "Once we have budget we'll take a look at this," they're really just giving you a soft exit. There's no real upside for them to say "This will never happen..." that would just invite a longer conversation. A much safer bet to offer gaudy good wishes as you leave the conference room. It doesn't have to end like this. A couple of strategic changes can help.
All the elements are in place. You've identified the key accounts that you need to land or expand in order to get to your number. You've tallied up the number of deals that need to close per quarter and assigned them each a probability. And you've marshaled all the resources you'll need to get the job done; aligning with other departments and making certain the presentations and demos you'll need to sway the market are in production. Your sales strategy is perfect except for one thing. It won't work.
As I work with dozens of sales teams and hundreds of salespeople each year, one thing is consistently clear: customers aren't reading their emails, and it's pissing them off. It doesn't have to be this way. A salesperson's approach to the customer isn't just a way to start the relationship; it is the start of the relationship. It's where you demonstrate to the customer who you are, what you stand for, and how much you care about his business.
Something pretty terrific happened yesterday at the IAB's Annual Leadership Meeting. Leadership.
There are two moments in particular that I feel are worth calling out; one that I expected and one that…
Over the 20+ years I've known him, I've always thought Rishad Tobaccowala (now with Publicis Groupe) was a national treasure. He has that rare gift of being able to intellectually surround an issue and…
