Okay, we could bang on these sellers for not doing everything possible to understand my needs, offer solutions and get a deal done. But, I am more interested in this observation. . .<< MORE >>

The day was a little warmer and sunnier than March usually offered. My team had advanced to the Elite 8 and I had just closed a sweet deal with the local electronics store. I was pretty pleased with myself. ... << MORE >>

I didn't hear Dick coming. Normally, he was whistling or greeting people as he walked through the sales bullpen. But, with my hands holding up my face and my eyes closed, I was oblivious. << MORE >>

Dick looked around the room to make sure that his audience was still tuned in. As usual, I was on the edge of my seat.<< MORE >>

I noticed that she was using the yellow icing knife in the green icing and was now unwittingly making a blue gingerbread man. I glanced at the cookies in front of her and saw a Santa with one eye, an elf with what looked like a bloody knife wound in his chest and a black star. When she reached for another color of icing, I grabbed her glass of eggnog and took a swig.<< MORE >>

"My sales meetings just aren't as good as the ones you used to run when I was an Account Manager," I explained to Dick over the phone. "Would you have some time after work to give me some ideas about making them more effective?" << MORE >>

The room pulsed with the energy of the forty-person sales force - gathered to meet the new sales manager. Jody found a seat in the back corner where she could both observe and fail to be observed. << MORE >>

"As long as a person accomplishes some of their goals along the way I'm willing to give them an unlimited number of failures without labeling them a failure" I explained.<< MORE >>

Just as its appropriate to create deadlines for prospects and clients where natural deadlines may not exist, it is also appropriate and effective to create finish lines for sellers.<< MORE >>

Dick often used a question as a way to get into a topic. The correct answer was always a polite 'no' because then he could launch into a monologue. His monologue would include a story and an example and then a call to action. Lesson absorbed, I would head out to conquer the world of radio advertising sales.<< MORE >>