You were expecting a call from your prospect yesterday and it never came. Immediately, the speculation in your mind begins to torment you. “What happened? Why haven’t they called? What did I do wrong?” Every question points you toward a feeling of loss. This is the voice of resistance and it’s your first mental hurdle. […]
I was introduced to Don Sanders through a mutual friend at lunch one day. Don and his co-author had written a book called Cut the C.R.A.P. and Resolve Your Problems. Kinda catchy, isn’t it! As psychologists they found that many of their patients could solve their own problems if they could just get beyond 4 […]
Providing constructive feedback to the people I coach can be challenging for several reasons. For my students, it can be difficult for them to receive feedback from someone they’ve just met! They know I’m going to point out areas in need of improvement. This creates feelings of exposure and vulnerability. Here’s how I approach the coaching in 4 steps. As a […]
I saw my son walking out to the garage one evening. I said, “Hey, where you going?” He replied, “I’m going to change out the distributor on my car.” Just so you know, it was obvious he didn’t learn that skill from me! I’m good to change your oil, but anything involving a wrench on the car […]
Imagine an audience of 1,500 medical device salespeople in Las Vegas at their national sales conference. The speaker is introduced as a leading authority on cardiovascular disease. She begins with a request, “I want you to look around. Look at the people around you. In particular, look at the person to your left, your right, the person […]
“Play it safe.” “Don’t risk too much.” “Don’t let others know you’re struggling. Just act strong.” “Fake it because you know you’ll never make it!” You hear that voice whispering to you? That evil voice? Yes, I said evil. It’s the evil voice that convinced you to wear that mask in the first place. What would the […]
You’ve probably heard the expression before… if people don’t get things done it’s either because they don’t know what to do or they don’t know how to do it. Good sales managers know that setting a goal (what to do) for the team is important to drive success. But the best sales leaders know there is more to it […]
Have you ever had a prospect become non-responsive right before you close the sale? Have you ever experienced a failure and wondered how you could’ve prevented it? You can avoid the potential paralysis of these situations by leveraging three forms of reasoning. I’m not a scholar of classic rhetoric and I don’t pretend to be one on […]
This past election cycle brought out the worst in many of us, including the candidates, at times. One observation I had is the candidate’s use of rhetoric to persuade. One logical fallacy they both used was presenting opinion as truth. The truth may hurt, but unchecked opinions can mislead. Both Hillary and Trump (as well as the […]
I recently finished the book, Change Anything by Kerry Patterson on how to create lasting change. Patterson and his team discovered 6 key elements required to achieve transformational change. When we think about changing our habits most of us think it all depends on will power. “If I’m strong enough, I’ll be able to make this change.” Patterson points out […]
