Sales
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You Can’t Sell Everything to Anyone (or, The Car Analogy)
My sales rep: “They just want us to build ten hours of training for $10,000 and they need it in a month.” Me: “That’s ridiculous. Did you tell them we don’t do that? Did you explained why they’ll get better results from our approach and why we charge $500,000...
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B-to-I? Redefining Your Client’s Buying Criteria
This week’s edition of Bloomberg Businessweek has an article about magazine publisher, Richard Beckman, and his efforts to revitalize The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and other media properties. I read with interest and some amusement how Beckman says he invented the term “B-to-I”. Most are familiar with the term B-to-B...
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How to Keep the Account When There Is a Changing of the Guard (or, Success Is Easy #1)
A friend of mine recently took over as the CEO of a small business, which has millions of dollars in deposits with their bank. He told me that he has been on the job for three months, and nobody from the bank had ever contacted him to introduce themselves,...
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Every Startup Needs a Sales Lizard
The cofounders of an internet startup were pitching me for angel money recently. Typical story…about a year old, burned through their first $3 million dollars. No revenue, out of cash, and looking for $3 million more. I noticed they had several competitors, many which seemed to be generating more...
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How to Land a Major Publisher (or Sell Your Toughest Prospect)
It seems like everyone has the dream of writing a book someday and I’m often asked how to get a book accepted by a major publisher. Penny Sansevieri recently wrote a spot-on post for aspiring authors, How to Get a New York Publisher. Key points: 83% of Americans want...
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There are only two ways to sell more stuff
Everybody wants to sell more stuff—especially in this economy. It’s not complicated–you only have two options: 1) Sell new stuff to existing customers 2) Sell existing stuff to new customers So you have to make a choice. Do you want to find new people to buy what you have,...