The Selling Power Of Personalization
“Trust every man, but always cut the cards.” – American Proverb A fundamental principle of selling is that customers will buy more if they feel they know you. Understand that and you will be a much more powerful businessperson.The principle is true for all selling, . . . from telemarketing…
READ MOREMaking A Success Of Your Business Or Yourself Is A Matter Of Making Decisions
“Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? What sinews are those? A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions.” – Juvenal, from Epictetus Some of the decisions you face are major. (Should I quit this job and go into business for myself?) But most…
READ MORECan You – Should You – Value Knowledge In Dollars And Cents?
“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way down.” – Milton BerleI make it a point to limit my observations to what I know from experience. Thats because I am skeptical of theory. Not that I dislike abstractions. On the contrary, Im a sucker for them. And…
READ MOREMake 3 People Smile
“In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes so.” – John LillyIn my experience, there are basically three types of salesmen. The bully, the charismatic, and the invisible man.The bully succeeds by pressing you so hard that you make a purchase…
READ MOREWhining About Favors
I recently intercepted a memo from a partner of mine that asked a business associate for a favor. It was a nothing-much memo regarding a not-all-that-important request but I intervened because I thought it could hurt business. Mutual back scratching, as Ive often said, is a big part of…
READ MOREA Strategy For Making Your Life More Productive
“Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through. Face it.” – Joseph Conrad There is a happy development in the otherwise gloomy world of self-help. Gurus are getting tough. Although this well-intentioned terrain is still cluttered with self-empowerment mongers who use lazy, unfocused thinking, gimmicky ideas, and…
READ MOREMaking “Quickness” Your Business – And Personal – Goal
“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.” – La Bruyere (1688) Last week, we talked about some of the things Jack Walsh did to supercharge GEs lagging performance. Of those I mentioned, the one I like best (perhaps because it…
READ MOREAsking For Help
“A fool can ask more questions in a minute than a wise man can answer in an hour.” – American proverbThey are driving in a strange city. He misses the exit. A half-hour later, they are wandering unfamiliar streets. She wants to roll down a window and ask directions. He…
READ MOREStrengthen Your Writing Skills By Building Your Vocabulary
“When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” – Goethe Whatever you do, wherever you go, you will always be judged on your speech. How you articulate your thoughts indicates your intelligence, your disposition, and your breeding. Even in the U.S. where informal diction and a colloquial prose style…
READ MOREHow To Be Successful Without Turning Into A Bastard
”You cant achieve anything without getting in someones way.” – Abba Eban, diplomat As you climb the ladder of success, you are going to bump into some slow-moving, not-moving, and backward-moving fellow climbers. How you get around them will determine both how high you climb and how good you feel…
READ MOREBreaking Through The Pain
Yesterday, my older boys and I had a breath-holding contest. It was my idea. I had just been trounced by the two of them in an underwater-propulsion contest. (Imagine human torpedoes bouncing off pool walls. Holding our breath? You just want to do something you can win at, No.2 son…
READ MOREThe Secret Of Inertia
When we talk about selling, we speak of greed and fear, but never of laziness. Yet laziness and its many emotional cousins (lethargy, indolence, inertia, and procrastination) can make a big difference to your companys bottom line. I was reminded of this yesterday morning. My colleagues and…
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