Once upon a time, my little team won a massive client. They developed excellent relationships with stakeholders throughout the organization. We were doing excellent work, and things couldn’t have been going any better. And then I was asked to…

Today, Andy points us to this idea.

And my inbox today contains an email that says, “I am one of four salesmen in an organization that hates the thought that we might come close to coming across as ‘salesy.’ As a result of these good…

If you want to win your dream clients, you have to nurture those relationships over time. You have to make the deposits that make you known and that make you known as a value creator. Here are 5 rules to help you nurture your dream clients without…

Two teams compete.

Both teams know how their competitor will play. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They will attempt to play their game and prevent their opponent from playing theirs. They will not try to play their…

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

1. Are you willing to tell the truth,…

Your Contact Leaves: Is there anything worse that developing an opportunity, getting it right up to the line, and then having your primary sponsor leave? Yes, there is. Your contact could be replaced by someone with different priorities or who is…

There is an old saying that as a customer you can choose no more than two of these: better, faster, cheaper.

You can deliver better and faster. But delivering better and faster comes with a higher price. It costs more to produce better. It takes…

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

Recently I dropped into a salesperson’s

The truth at any price, even the price of your deal.

Better, Faster, and Cheaper: Don't tell your dream client that you are going to be better, faster, and cheaper. You may be one of those things. You may even be two of those things. But you…

One of the best salespeople I ever managed wasn't at all what you'd expect.

She wasn't particularly attractive. She wasn’t gregarious, didn’t have any real sense of charm, and didn’t possess any natural charisma. No one naturally gravitated…