Monthly Archives: April 2010

A Salute To Creativity And Customer Focus

April 29, 2010 – 1:43 pm

Ingenuity and creativity are everywhere.  No matter what the obstacle, somebody will figure out a way to deliver what the customer wants.

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Creativity, Differentiation, Video | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Sales Food For Thought

April 29, 2010 – 9:22 am

Well worth the listen.  A discussion about “Targeting” and other sales tools, techniques and research from a friend of The YPS Group Frank Hurtte.

(Excerpt 3:56)
Click here to listen to the complete interview.  Thanks for the insight, Frank!

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices | Tagged | Comments (0)

Dunbar’s Number. Should A Sales Rep Care?

April 27, 2010 – 6:42 pm

According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, 150 is the “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships.”  Simply put, you can’t have more than 150 friends and business associates.  Establishing that 151st contact causes a weakening of some other relationship.
Obviously, it’s not quite that cut and dried.  [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Develop Relationships, Metrics | Tagged , | Comments (4)

The Insanity Of Protecting Your So-Called Proprietary Knowledge

April 26, 2010 – 7:58 pm

First a chain of logic, then a case in point… (I’ll assume you possess valuable knowledge.)

Fact: The more valuable the knowledge you possess, the more valuable you are to your customers
Fact: As more customers and prospects realize you have valuable knowledge, the more they will seek your advice and the more they will buy [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices, Learn! | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Quick Thought

April 25, 2010 – 3:48 pm

Mark Twain at his finest…

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Differentiation, Quick Thought, Video | Tagged | Comments (0)

A Year Old Sales Best Practice Probably Isn’t

April 24, 2010 – 8:53 am

If the sales practices you use on a regular basis are the same ones you were using last year or 2, 3, 5, 10 years ago, they probably no longer deserve the “best” label. Don’t get me wrong, just because something is not a “best” practice doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not an “excellent” practice. [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices, Continuous Improvement | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Remember KISS? (Are you sure???)

April 23, 2010 – 4:57 pm

Sometimes the “obvious” is not so obvious.  What seems perfectly clear to me – because I work with it day in and day out – might be terribly confusing to normal person; i.e., customer.
A colleague’s focus on “Minimalist Marketing” along with references in a “Quick Reference Guide” to things like discharge/recharge/refresh mode, trickle vs. standard, [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices, Video | Tagged , | Comments (4)

The 2nd Best Learning Tool There Is

April 22, 2010 – 12:11 pm

Every sales rep, manager and executive must have, use, add to and delete from an RSS Reader.  It’s a truly outstanding means to feed your brain and ensure a habit of life-long learning.  In my view, it’s the 2nd best one out there.
Given their power and how long they’ve been around, I had assumed pretty [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices, Continuous Improvement, Develop Relationships, Social Media | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Little Things Can Make A Huge Difference (Ask Beethoven)

April 21, 2010 – 7:11 am

We all know it’s true.  Little things really can make a huge difference.  But we all cut corners – all the time.  We’re busy.  We have challenging goals.  We’re tempted to let the little thing slide.
Next time you find yourself starting that slide, listen to the following audio clip.  It’s only 44 seconds, and will [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Best Practices, Differentiation | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Help ‘em learn faster to sell more

April 20, 2010 – 7:26 am

There was a time when I believed that teaching and selling were virtually the same thing.  In many ways they are similar, and I’ve used the approach successfully quite a few times.  Fact is, the more a prospect knows about the applications of your products and services, the closer you are to closing a deal.  [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Posted in Continuous Improvement | Tagged , , | Comments (2)