Columns

Here's the kind of training you really need
[Aug. 16, 2006] Salespeople often make the fatal mistake of investing in more “sales” training. Why? If you’re going to take a week of training, and you already have sales fundamentals at your control, and you’re a regular reader of sales books, it’s time for you to jump the fence and convert from selling skills to buying motives and customer understanding. By Jeffrey Gitomer

Have You Created an Impossible Business?
[Jan. 6, 2006] It's easy to think that any business can be successful if you work hard enough, but there are many situations where this just isn't so. Consultants, coaches, and other service professionals often start a business believing that all they need to do is charge a "reasonable" fee and sell "enough" of their time. But unless you do the math to prove or disprove your assumptions, you may be creating a business that can never succeed. Here's what can happen: By C.J. Hayden, MCC

Your presentation may lack power and a point
[Jun. 21, 2005] In a hotel lobby, I passed a seller and a buyer involved in a sales presentation. The seller was engrossed in “making the sale.” He was intensely looking at his laptop computer as he methodically clicked through his PowerPoint presentation. By Jeffrey Gitomer

Will Seminars Get You Clients?
[Mar. 3, 2005] I often suggest public speaking as a powerful way to show prospective clients what you can do. Many professionals and consultants have built successful practices by giving free presentations to associations, businesses, and educational institutions. But what about producing your own seminar, where you arrange the logistics and invite the guests? Does this work as a strategy for landing clients? By C.J. Hayden, MCC

Will Seminars Get You Clients?
[Dec. 24, 2004] I often suggest public speaking as a powerful way to show prospective clients what you can do. Many professionals and consultants have built successful practices by giving free presentations to associations, businesses, and educational institutions. But what about producing your own seminar, where you arrange the logistics and invite the guests? Does this work as a strategy for landing clients? By C.J. Hayden, MCC

How To Get The Respect Your Business Deserves
[Aug. 8, 2004] How to Get the Respect Your Business Deserves The key for your home business to receive the respect it deserves is to run your business as professionally as possible, just like any other business. By Isabel M. Isidro

Unlocking the Value of Your Customers
[Jun. 12, 2004] One of the greatest thrills in business is acquiring a new customer. Many businesses are too caught up in the excitement of acquiring new customers that they do not spend enough time or money on unlocking the value of their existing customer base. It surprises me how often business fail to regard their existing customers as one of their most valued assets. By Kevin Sinclair

Little Things Make or Break Service Success
[May 23, 2004] Next time you walk through your building lobby, take a peek at the badges you give to outsiders. What does it say? Chances are VISITOR is pasted across the front of each badge in big, bold letters. Now ask yourself, what would you rather be, a visitor or a guest? What do you sense the difference is between them? By Bob Johnson

Don't Wait for Tax Time to Look at the Bottom Line
[Apr. 15, 2004] A curious thing happens to entrepreneurs in the spring of every year. They wake up one day and realize they had better figure out how much money they made last year so they can pay their taxes. But wait, shouldn't a business owner already KNOW how much money he or she made last year, last quarter, or last month? By By C.J. Hayden, MCC

Paper Management
[Sep. 10, 2003] Controlling paper is the first step to organization, whether it is business or personal papers. It can be an easy task, providing you WANT to do it and KNOW HOW to do it. I can provide the how-to part and you will need to provide the want-to part. By Cyndi Seidler