Savings
No matter what your age, always fill your "retirement" savings plans to the maximum under law: IRA, SEP IRA, ROTH IRA, 401k, etc. Some let you "catch up" if you missed a year or two. Not doing so is one
The Four Phases of A Sale and Proposals Accepted Every Time
The four phases of a sale, within an hour, to create a proposal that's accepted every time: Building trust: Exchange insights about the business, the market, prevailing conditions, etc. Demonstrate that you are an astute business person and can talk
Sorry, I Don’t Remember That Person….
Have you considered asking your executive clients how they will choose people for promotion and special assignments in the future, since the literature shows that most such decisions are made based on observing and interacting with key people regularly in the
Not Wanted: Help
Just because you believe you can help a prospect doesn't mean you should. Building an effective and profitable business means knowing when to turn down business as well as accept it. A lousy client will undermine all the rest of your
What A Coincidence!
Have you ever encountered someone you know in a completely different environment, like an airport, or a restaurant in another town, or a vacation spot? We were in Venice once and my wife heard someone from our home town calling
Did You Refuse My Proposal Because I Insulted You?
The post-election commentary reminds me of what should happen (but usually doesn't) after we don't make the sale: We should explore what we could have done better and stop blaming everyone else. That's the only way to ensure the next
High Quality
You need to have both a high quality offering (products and services) and a high quality buyer (e.g., someone who looks at ROI and not cost, and has money to invest). High quality buyers are almost always people with P&L
Here’s Rule #1
If you have trust and lose it, it's extremely hard to recover it. Similarly, if you have rules but don't enforce them equally, rules are undermined. When the restaurant with a dress code allows exceptions for a special customer or employees
Weak Links in the Chain
My prediction is that companies are going to focus on shortening, localizing, securing, and simplifying their supply chains, having seen the ability to sabotage pagers and other devices shipped to Lebanon from Taiwan. The US is blocking cranes made in China
End Games
I routinely beat a friend at chess until one day he was giving me a great game and suddenly said, "Well, now I'm in trouble." "What are you talking about?" I said, "you're playing better than ever!" "Yes, but I've never gone