Don’t serve the founder of Starbucks Peet’s CoffeeI had a chance to attend the Los Angeles leg of Howard Schultz’s national book tour launching Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. I’m a big admirer of Schultz’s leadership style and corporate vision. Read more
Tag Archives: sales
New Sales Enablement Ideas – SAVO’s AMPs, Part 6 – Subject Matter Expertise Promotion
Who are the critical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) inside your organization? If you’re like most companies, there are far more than you think. Leveraging this army of expert insights can make the difference between success and failure. Identifying and promoting their knowledge isn’t easy – but it is critical to your sales team’s success. Read more
How to prepare for “cultural fit” questions, Part 2
Last time, I raised the question of how to prepare to interview in a way that illustrates the all-important cultural fit with a company. What makes this a complex issue is that having a strong set of values that guide your actions and explaining those values are two different things.
Before the interview, think about your values
The big interview is approaching… How did you land it? Someone may have referred you. You could have submitted a resume to an online job site. Or, you may have been tapped on the shoulder and asked to go for the big promotion in another division. No matter how it began, you are there because — on paper — you are qualified. Read more
The art of the tell, Part 3
This is the third in a series of lessons from Peter Gruber, a producer and executive producer of movies such as Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing and Flashdance, which have earned over three billion dollars worldwide and more than 50 Academy Award nominations. Read more
The art of the tell, part 2
In the last post, I shared stories from Peter Guber, who has long relied on purposeful storytelling to motivate, win over, shape, engage and sell. His executive and entrepreneurial accomplishments have made him a success in multiple industries. Today’s post extends Peter’s lessons! Read more
Listening to the customer and taking action: Dell
What does success look like? Why do you put your customer front and center? Those were the questions Andy Lark of Dell opened with when presenting in front of more than 500 customer experience advocates at this year’s Net Promoter conference. Read more
Hardwiring sales training for business results
It’s not uncommon for a learning a development team to brand themselves as an internal university, but Oakwood Temporary Housing can be proud to be delivering on that message. The internal Oakwood University has been recognized as one of Training Magazine’s Top 125 for the 5th consecutive year! Read more
Persistence can pay off in sales if you do it well
If you are in sales, at some point someone has told you that “persistence will pay off.” There is a difference between stalking your client and persistence. The stalkers are the ones that make customers say, “He just won’t leave me alone.” Persistence is admired when a prospect describes the seller as always there to help in the decision process. Read more
Reinventing the wheel: Zanes
Have you ever been in a retail store and thought about what it would be like to own the store? Chris Zane experienced that feeling. He was a Connecticut high school sophomore and decided he wanted to buy out the owner of the store. Read more