As my friend and business associate knows, the snarky title of this post is said with a smile… He IS, however, a little off on his reasoning in a recent post of his own. He begins by saying,
“Engaged in friendly, spirited banter with a business associate the other day. We had just returned from a [...]
Know your customer! Great advice. It’s essential for success. But… Even though it’s necessary, it’s no longer sufficient.
Let’s say the arrow to the left represents all of your customer’s people, processes and resources. “Stuff” goes in the left side of the arrow, gets processed and then products and/or services come out the right. (See Michael [...]
It’s an old habit. When I read on airplanes and come across an intriguing passage or concept, I jot down notes on whatever scrap of paper I can find. While cleaning out my briefcase last night, I came across these two gems. (My apologies to the author – don’t recall the book or article these [...]
CEO of The YPS Group and Dreamland Interactive co-founder Todd Youngblood shares his perspectives on solving the prospecting problem. It’s about establishing relationships with executives, of course, but more. It’s also about creating a body of valuable knowledge the search engines love.
When all is said and done, however, one item really stands out. We all [...]
“Full Service!” “Total Solution!” “We handle everything!” “We are a customer focused company!” Virtually always, statements like these are a load of hooey.
I’ll start with the moral of the story. Don’t claim to be customer focused or full service unless you are absolutely certain you fully and completely understand all the details of the customer’s [...]
Guest Post by Ray Charland of Lead Dog Selling.
The term “Consultative Selling” and it’s underlying concepts were first introduced in the book by the same name published in 1973 and authored by Mack Hanan, James Cribbin and Herman Heiser. Although amended and modified countless times since then and in countless industries [...]
Had a lunch meeting with a sales exec this past Friday, a prospective client. A colleague brought us together and it was the first time I’d had contact with the man. Ever leave a meeting and have this feeling that the other person was somehow different/unique/better in some way, but couldn’t quite put your finger [...]
What’s in it for the customer? From day one of a sales career, the necessity of thinking in that context is crystal clear. Everybody knows it. Everybody believes it. It’s intuitively obvious!!! BUT …sometimes the obvious is not so easy to execute…
Ready for another humbling experience? Here’s your mission… Randomly choose [...]
I’ve blogged before about the work ethic displayed by my client in Mexico. They also have an innate sense of customer-centricity that can provide a lesson to us all. (By the way – I urge you to read this all the way through, AND collect a few case studies from your own team, before you [...]
Knowing your customer’s decision process is critical, but not enough. There’s also the requirement to understand decision criteria and what it is about those criteria that make them important.
