December 18, 2009 – 5:18 pm
Get a copy!
You may or may not think it’s a big deal, but back in January, 2001, I made a commitment to myself to write a monthly, short, useful article that would provide value to sales reps, managers and executives. Well, I did it. I published the 96-chapter content as a book in 1/09. Then [...]
December 15, 2009 – 11:20 am
by Todd Youngblood
Regardless of what all the social media pundits say, not everyone needs or should even try to jump on the “thought leadership” bandwagon and use these new tools. It’s more important for sales professionals, managers and executives to ensure that the message:
Highlights value customers can accrue
Reflects what you can actually [...]
December 11, 2009 – 1:41 pm
by Todd Youngblood
Every mentor I’ve had and every sales rep, manager and executive that I admire and attempt to emulate has one trait in common. Each was and is a serious student of his or her profession. After 30+ years in the sales and sales management game, I’ve come to believe that this trait is [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:46 pm
by Todd Youngblood
The idea that any of us is at most six steps away from a connection with anyone else on the planet has been around since the early part of the 20th century. A web conference/conversation with a Bermuda-based client yesterday put the notion in whole new perspective.
And it’s a perspective with HUGE implications [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:41 pm
by Todd Youngblood
I never heard of Dreamland. 24 hours ago I couldn’t have told you it’s in Birmingham, AL. 20 minutes before I parked in front the place I didn’t know it’s a legendary barbecue joint. So how on earth did they convince me to buy three lunches from them?
Here’s the story… Two colleagues and [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:39 pm
by Todd Youngblood
Had one of those flashes of insight today. This time with regard to the effectiveness of social media for B2B sales and marketing. My conclusion is: Social media is fabulous, but only after your prospects and customers are trained on how to use social media. Grunt through the background info here, the B2B [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:34 pm
by Todd Youngblood
I lay no claim to any special or unique ability to craft compelling value propositions. I DO claim to work at it more than most, however. My belief is we all need VPs at 5 distinct levels:
1. Overall Corporate Value Proposition
2. Value Proposition for each Industry Served
3. Value Proposition for each Line of [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:24 pm
by Todd Youngblood
First off, let me make it clear that I firmly believe in e-mail as an indispensable business tool. That said, my buddy’s 13 year old did have point.
So far today, I have received 3 e-mails with LARGE files attached; 2 videos and a pdf. They were all business-related, but in a general sense; [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:16 pm
by Todd Youngblood
For the last 90 days or so, I’ve been asking customers, prospects – actually everyone I talk to – to quickly state the overall value proposition for their organization. I’ve been amazed at the dismal quality of the responses.
Over half fell into what I’ll call the “I dunno” category. There literally were a [...]
