Why do we do what we do? What causes us to succeed, fail, procrastinate? Is it our environment? Our biology? Our New Year’s resolutions? There’s much debate why our motivation goals fail and how to resolve them. I believe we’re addressing the wrong issues. WHY PROMOTING BEHAVIOR CHANGE CAUSES RESISTANCE Everything I’ve read on resolving […]
Answer these questions to see how accurately you hear what your communication partner intends you to hear, and how much business you are losing as a result. How often do you enter conversations to hear what you want to hear – and disregard the rest? How often do you listen to get your own agenda […]
Like most of us, I assume I understand what my communication partner is saying and respond appropriately. I don’t think about it; I just do it. I don’t realize anything is wrong until it’s too late. But why do I make that assumption? I was never taught how to listen. From kindergarten through university, schools […]
As sellers, we’ve been taught that someone with a need that our solution fulfills is a prospect. But that’s not true or we’d be closing a lot more business and wasting a lot less time following the wrong prospects. Just because we see a need does not mean they A. want it resolved, B. want […]
Our jobs as sellers, change agents, coaches, and managers is to motivate change. Whether it involves a purchase, a new idea, a different set of behaviors, or a team project, all successful change requires buy-in. As outsiders we are, after all, requiring a shift in the underlying status quo – the system – that we […]
Every decision we make, every new job we tackle, every new idea we have, involves change. What is it? Why is it so difficult? I’ve recorded a 6 part series on change: what it is, what it does, why it’s so hard, and what we need to do differently to make it easy. I begin […]
Offering free programs to prospects is a massive waste of resource: not only are you trying to get prospects you don’t know to spend time they don’t have to do something they don’t think they need, it becomes a double sale – you must then discard ‘no-sayers’ from your list of perfectly good prospects who […]
You offer information well before prospects know what to do with it. You offer information well before prospects have assembled their complete buying decision team and have heard all voices to define need. You offer information well before prospects have attempted to decide between a work-around, their current vendor, or the best type of solution […]
A colleague recently said he was waiting for a deal to close. How did he know it would close? I asked. “Because someone contacted me, and we’ve had several discussions. In our last chat we discussed price.” SDM: What percentage of the buying decision team does your prospect represent? A: There are only 4 people […]
Do you attempt to follow up with prospective buyers because they haven’t contacted you when you thought they should? Do you know what is stopping them from contacting you? Or where they are along their decision path – their steps from idea to consensus, from change to choice, that buyers must address – while we […]