The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Over the weekend I saw "Rudy," one of the most inspiring movies in sports. For those of you that have not seen Rudy, it’s all about a person’s passion and persistence to accomplish a dream.

With the passing of Zig Ziglar yesterday, we have truly lost one of the world’s greatest motivational speakers and sales coaches. Similar to other great motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins, Ziglar focused on motivating the masses, and his message reached most of his audience through his popular CDs and "Get Motivated" speaking tours. Recently he had branched out and started a series of webinars and eBooks that have become very popular with a younger audience.

You shouldn’t be satisfied if you nail your objectives 100% of the time. If you hit the bull’s eye every time, you are standing too close to the target. Challenge yourself and your team to stretch—to achieve great things. When you succeed, celebrate! When you don’t, congratulate the team for being willing to shoot for a tough goal. Then analyze what went well, discuss what could have gone better and set your next goal. 

I woke up this morning, dreading the 525,600 Cyber Monday emails I would have to sift through to get down to real business today. It was worse than just Cyber Monday email—since I was out of town for Thanksgiving, I hadn't touched a computer since Wednesday afternoon... which meant I also had all the pre-Thanksgiving, early bird and Black Friday notices filling up my inbox.

One of the most difficult aspects of selling is getting the first appointment with a new prospect. That is a fact, but it shouldn’t be the only focus. Simply getting the appointment is not the goal; the goal is to get a good appointment.

A CMO wanted a PR firm that can get to the point. So they sent out an RFP via Twitter. Asked for responses via Twitter.  

I was at my usual Starbucks getting my usual morning beverage, and while I waited, checked my email as usual. A gentleman in his 70s was behind me asking if I was reading a book on an eReader; apparently he saw me reading one of my lengthy emails and did not know what an eReader looks like.

The holidays are almost upon us, and right behind them looms the New Year! It makes sense to think about what your priorities will be for 2013.

The Center for Sales Strategy's Inbound Marketing Forum was this past week in Atlanta, and I had the honor of being able to attend and to speak at the event.

Take a moment and think about what motivates you to perform more effectively and more efficiently? What makes you WANT to work harder and smarter? What makes you want to give it your all?

What if every time your prospect or customer felt like you were pushing your products, rather than focusing on his business, he transformed into a Hollywood Director and screamed, “Cut. Boring! Let’s talk about MY business!” Assessing your approach to sales, how many times do you think you’d hear that? 

I recently visited my daughter’s kindergarten class as a volunteer. There were many routines the children followed including putting book bags away, sitting crisscross applesauce in circle time, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. But one part of the daily morning routine really hit home. It was called “The Daily Itinerary.”

Come over to my house sometime and meet my kids. You will learn everything you need to know about managing a sales team. How is that possible? Because people don’t change.

At a recent routine doctors’ visit, I was told my blood pressure was normal. It’s always re-assuring to hear this, but as I thought about this a little more, I started wondering... what is blood pressure, and what happens when it’s not normal. Blood pressure is the amount of force that the blood puts on the walls of the blood vessels as it passes through them.