It’s all about relationships. When I started out as a sales rep in New York in 1984 (!), my friend and colleague, John Motley and I were tasked with creating an inside sales desk. We were to call on customers that were not assigned to sales reps via the telephone and make the sales and
One of the workshops I just love to give is one on Temperaments and Interaction Styles. This is fascinating stuff forged over 25 centuries of study going back as far as Hippocrates in 450 B.C. Zing forward to 2013 and people still really enjoy learning about the Myers Briggs based 4 types of temperaments and
I recently gave a webinar on Values-Based Leadership for members of SAMA, (strategic Accounts Management Association). We explored the imperative of values based leadership in the need for corporations to move towards a balance of financial and social profit. We discussed Shared Value, a business approach whereby corporations build business models that leverage their core
The founder of my boarding school, John Corlette, gave a speech, entitled “Our Lives are what we make of them” An excerpt of that speech: Within a few years all you people will be leaving school and setting out on a new chapter in your lives, and it is not going to be as different
One of my clients, Nima Pourshabh, is CEO of Formafina.com, an incredible business that includes internet high brand flash sales as well as b-2-b retail sales and distribution in Brazil. Nima and i were talking about how important it is to stay flexible, to respond quickly to what works and what doesn’t work. He was
If you are struggling with the number of emails that you are getting from your team (often just being cc’d to keep you in the loop) and if you are struggling with how often they need your time to discuss an issue, try this technique. If you have team members whose job scope requires a
Traits of a good sales manager, according to Jack Moore, my father in law: Social skills Slow to anger Don’t get hung up on the small things Broaden your horizons Give your team credit Be perceptive Talk to a person and point them in the right direction Recognize top performers Motivate in small, meaningful ways
They say that making the decision gets you halfway there. I have often seen that to be true – making the decision gets you halfway there, but often in my work with leaders I have found that getting all the way there can be a different story. When we are in the thick of things,
Aggressive v. Assertive Aggressive and assertive are two words that you often hear used interchangeably. But their meanings really couldn’t be more different. In the world of work, these show up all the time. Clarifying the definitions for your team can be helpful. Aggressive people: dominate by using humiliation to control others, they use ‘you’
Customer Experience is half heart, half science. When I was CEO of a multinational in the US, one of our cornerstone strategies was to drive a passionate culture of customer-centricity. My first step was to create a management board position – we created the Chief Customer Experience Officer. This role owned the customer experience and