It’s fascinating how business buzz words and phrases pop in and out of use. Here are a few: “At the end of the day”, “core competency”, “think outside the box” and “take ownership”.
Listening Between the Notes
In listening to music, we love to follow a great melody. Whether it’s a piece we know or one that’s new to us, we enjoy the return to the “chorus” that the verses inevitably come back to. We do that just by active listening. It strikes a chord in us and connects us to something deep within us.
Explaining the Unexplainable
Making sense of the seemingly random things that happen in business and in life is just part of human nature. It’s how we’re wired. When a significant sales opportunity is lost to a competitor, that instinct goes into hyper-drive. There is a lot of explaining to do.
Authentic vs Artificial Intelligence in B2B Selling
With all the attention given to AI and machine-learning driving business processes, are we at risk of losing sight of the need to apply authentic human learning to improve results? With so much focus on AI, we tend to overlook the meaning of the leading word of that phrase, “artificial”.
The Four Perils of Denial
It’s commonly said that business-to-business (B2B) companies have a similar marketing challenge to those in consumer (B2C) categories. After all, they say, it’s still ‘people’ making decisions. That’s only partially true.
The Dangers of Survey Fatigue
Why Associations need to be wary of this alarming trend
It’s a trend we all experience. Each day your inbox is carpet-bombed with survey appeals, “Tell us how we did” or the old-school appeal, “Give us your two cents”. It’s almost comical, but sadly is not funny – it presents a major challenge to your feedback loop with members. The more survey requests they receive, the less likely they are to respond to yours. What’s Driving the Issue?
Avoiding the Pain
Why It Hurts So Much to Lose a New Business Opportunity and how Win-Loss Analysis May Help
Owning Growth: Four Key Success Factors for Innovators
Let’s face it, we all want to grow. Regardless of company size or business category, growth is your goal. And yes, you want to be smart about it. Certainly M&A strategies can play a role, but what about organic growth? Whether you are expanding your product or service offerings or entering adjacent markets, before you begin deploying resources around the new opportunity, consider these four critical guidelines:
No Pain, No Gain – Why confronting sales setbacks is better than a quick recovery
When you lose a deal you thought was yours, it hurts – a lot. So, you quickly jump back into the fray, pursuing other potential deals. Afterall, as the old adage says, “Sales is a numbers game”, and if you just focus on putting more deals in the funnel, you’re bound to win the opportunities you’re supposed to win. Right?
Wrong!
Solution Selling into Enterprise Accounts
Whitewater rafting. It’s kind of a Colorado thing – like Subarus, Tevas, and dogs. That crazy pin-balling off boulders, both seen and unseen, as you hurtle downriver tossed about by ever-changing rapids, rises, and drops, can leave you wondering how you’ll ever make it to the takeout.