November 2017

Beatles: 10,000 hours of performing to be great – who has 10,000 hours and such talent?
Fighter Pilots: Can listen to combat instructions on the radio while they’re engaging an enemy plane in a dogfight while paying attention to the controls – who has that rare set of skills?
Vince Lombardi: "Only perfect practice makes perfect," – how can you practice perfectly in an imperfect world?

Yogi Berra apparently said, “In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is.” Whether or not Yogi actually said this, it sits well within his canon of malapropisms. More importantly, there’s a keen truth to the phrase: practice is about action, not theoretics.

If you’re implementing account-based marketing, you’re likely well aware that your success in attracting and converting your target accounts hinges on customizing your communications. There are, of course, tiers of customization required, depending on the size and importance of these accounts.

If your reps are not having customer conversations that include critical thought, the chance of getting that person to do something different is slim. Lateral thinking can change the outcome of a sales call.

If you are thinking of asking your sales reps what to use as incentives for hitting quarterly numbers next year, don't. They can't tell you because they don't know. Here's why and what you can do about it.

Fast-growing U.S. companies will likely need on-the-ground sales teams planted in foreign geographies to expand revenues and support overseas customers. Europe is a popular first stop for foreign expansion, but launching in Europe is a whole new ballgame compared to simply expanding at home.

Many families adopt an “agree to disagree” policy at Thanksgiving in an effort to keep discord off the festive table. That’s a good strategy for the holiday, but it's not an effective approach for companies to use when departments like sales and marketing can’t see eye to eye.

Too many business leaders make a similar mistake by neglecting the alignment between the external message of their brand and the internal office culture. The key to driving your brand onto a road of corporate success is getting your internal and external messages to share the same story.

The conversation about who owns the customer experience is over and should be intertwined throughout the entire company, including customer care.

On average, about half of salespeople meet or exceed quota. Here are some thoughts about managing to each salesperson's number as they close the year and prepare for a new one.