Develop Relationships – Todd Youngblood's "SPE" Blog

Category Archives: Develop Relationships

“I Don’t Know.” – A Great Answer

June 26, 2010 – 8:28 am

Thanks for coming back! Please use the comment function below to let me know what issues are on your mind and what you’re thinking about. RSS Feed Here’s my contention: Finding yourself frequently acknowledging, “I don’t know,” is a signal that you have become a superior sales rep. Huh? Before you conclude I’ve finally lost [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Also posted in Differentiation | Tagged Differentiation, Networking, Serve | Comments (2)

What type of power are you up against? (…and how can you wield your own?)

June 10, 2010 – 6:40 am

Perhaps it’s not politically correct to talk about the role of power in business. We all know, however, that dealing with and wielding power is a day-to-day reality for sales reps. Step one is understanding the four fundamental types of power: Position Power – derives from rank and/or authority. The title “CEO” carries more power [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Tagged Leverage, Power | Comments (0)

Be a Why-ner!

May 8, 2010 – 2:18 pm

Guest post by Rick Howe, CEO of The Knotts Company Be a Why-ner! What is your best question when you are engaging a customer through your selling process and their buying process? Even though I am no longer on the front lines selling, I am still a salesman at heart and when I listen to [...]

By Rick | Also posted in Best Practices, Learn! | Comments (0)

All Sales Reps Will Blog (…except for the ineffective ones)

May 6, 2010 – 9:32 am

The first draft of this post started with the recommendation that all sales reps should start a blog. After pondering a bit on the reasons behind the recommendation though, it became clear that a prediction was more appropriate. All sales reps will blog. I’m not sure when the prediction will come to pass, but, with [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Also posted in Best Practices | Tagged Best Practices, blog, Share | Comments (8)

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 [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Also posted in Metrics | Tagged Metrics, Relationships | 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 [...]

By Todd Youngblood | Also posted in Best Practices, Continuous Improvement, Social Media | Tagged Best Practices, Continuous Improvement, RSS, Social Media | Comments (4)

Develop Relationships With An E-Rep?

March 1, 2010 – 7:38 am

It’s a long-time truism in sales that it’s essential to develop relationships with decision makers based on credibility and trust. And obviously an electronic or E-Rep, a web-based alter ego, would not help with that… WRONG!!!

By Todd Youngblood | Also posted in E-Rep | Tagged E-Rep, Relationships | Comments (0)