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	<title>Think About It... the e-book version &#187; Best Practices</title>
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	<description>Challenging ideas to accelerate the methodical, relentless, continuous improvement of your sales process</description>
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		<title>I Was Wrong About Proposals</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/i-was-wrong-about-proposals/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=i-was-wrong-about-proposals</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/i-was-wrong-about-proposals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:43:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Differentiation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=372</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For years, I&#8217;ve ranted at sales reps and managers about how utterly dumb it is to &#8220;submit a quote&#8221; to a customer.  A traditional quote does nothing more than list items for sale, prices, totals, discounts and net price.  It provides no differentiation whatever and reinforces the fact that you have nothing more to offer [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Did Google screw up big time; or did they just transform B2B Social Media into a MUST-DO-NOW?</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/did-google-screw-up-big-time-or-did-they-just-transform-b2b-social-media-into-a-must-do-now/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=did-google-screw-up-big-time-or-did-they-just-transform-b2b-social-media-into-a-must-do-now</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/did-google-screw-up-big-time-or-did-they-just-transform-b2b-social-media-into-a-must-do-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=344</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood When your customers and prospects start their research in anticipation of buying something, they go right to Google, right? Do they find you? Unfortunately, probably not. They only find you or your company when they specifically include you in their search. Do you want to rely on them to do that? Are [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Maybe I really DO want to appear to be an order-taker&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/maybe-i-really-do-want-to-appear-to-be-an-order-taker/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=maybe-i-really-do-want-to-appear-to-be-an-order-taker</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/maybe-i-really-do-want-to-appear-to-be-an-order-taker/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood Technology has changed everything. It used to take multiple face-to-face sales calls to get a prospect up to speed on the potential value of our products and services. More importantly, those calls enabled us to acquire a broad, deep understanding of their issues, requirements and problems. Now, web 2.0 makes our info [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Take a SWOT at all your key customers</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/take-a-swot-at-all-your-key-customers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=take-a-swot-at-all-your-key-customers</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/take-a-swot-at-all-your-key-customers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:23:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=268</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood There is a reason some concepts stand the test of time. They work! The notion of analyzing customer strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is one of those concepts you can&#8217;t afford to ignore. The logic underlying SWOT analysis is so obvious that it&#8217;s often easy to lose sight of its power and [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Experience is not a substitute for the pre-call plan</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/experience-is-not-a-substitute-for-the-pre-call-plan/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=experience-is-not-a-substitute-for-the-pre-call-plan</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/experience-is-not-a-substitute-for-the-pre-call-plan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:23:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=252</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood Every now and then it&#8217;s a good idea to re-visit one of those &#8220;everybody knows that&#8221; concepts and do a hard-nosed self-assessment regarding our personal sales performance. Always, always pre-plan every sales call, right? Scheduling and getting a face-to-face call with a decision maker is a non-trivial exercise. Well executed calls on [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>You might be a reactive sales rep&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/you-might-be-a-reactive-sales-rep/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=you-might-be-a-reactive-sales-rep</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/you-might-be-a-reactive-sales-rep/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:47:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood Rapid reaction to customer issues is critical. It&#8217;s an essential component of a sales rep&#8217;s responsibility that cannot be ignored. We all know, however, that the &#8220;eagles&#8221; among us take a leading role with their accounts. To use a cliché, they&#8217;re proactive. They avoid the comfort zone of reactive activity. Which are [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>So you learned something. So what?</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/so-you-learned-something-so-what/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=so-you-learned-something-so-what</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/so-you-learned-something-so-what/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:44:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=182</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood About fifteen years ago, I ran across a paper written by Arie De Geuss, then chief of corporate planning for Royal Dutch Shell. In it, he made one of those pithy observations that really capture the essence of sustained excellent performance. Insightful as he was at the time, it&#8217;s just not enough [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>What are the sales practices most highly correlated to continuous sales growth?</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/what-are-the-sales-practices-most-highly-correlated-to-continuous-sales-growth/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=what-are-the-sales-practices-most-highly-correlated-to-continuous-sales-growth</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/what-are-the-sales-practices-most-highly-correlated-to-continuous-sales-growth/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:07:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=156</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood It&#8217;s one thing to make decisions without all the facts. It&#8217;s quite another thing to make them without any. No sane business person would expect to be consistently right relying solely on judgment. But sales execs do it all the time&#8230; Write down your top three answers. Don’t rack your brain. The [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do you know what your best practices are?</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/do-you-know-what-your-best-practices-are/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=do-you-know-what-your-best-practices-are</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/do-you-know-what-your-best-practices-are/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:12:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=67</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood All too often, good ideas get stuck in the &#8220;talking&#8221; phase. Their real value can only be realized after implementation and measurement of effectiveness. Continuous improvement methodologies like Business Process Management, Six Sigma, etc. have become so widely endorsed because they are based on common sense and produce results. While very few [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The &#8220;Loss Review&#8221; got lost&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/the-loss-review-got-lost/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-loss-review-got-lost</link>
		<comments>http://ypsgroup.com/tai/best-practices/the-loss-review-got-lost/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:17:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Todd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ypsgroup.com/tai/?p=60</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Todd Youngblood Check your calendar. When did you last participate in a loss review? You know how effective (and important) it is to learn from your own mistakes, right? Virtually every sales manager I talk to agrees that conducting a Loss Review after a significant &#8220;non-win&#8221; is a good idea. The logic is simple. [...]]]></description>
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