The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

There’s a hotel that I return to every time I visit Portland, Oregon because each time I go, I’m delighted.

The best salespeople understand the value of relationships in these four areas:

Last weekend, our family was sitting around the living room, talking… and in the background, The Wizard of Oz happened to be playing on TV. We happened to turn it on just after Dorothy’s house-turned-aircraft made a crash landing on the Wicked Witch of the West. The munchkins, of course, broke out in a celebratory dance and song. We should sing that song, too.  TODAY.

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.