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The Power Of Habit

The Tom Sullivan show on Fox Business introduced me to Charles Duhigg [http://charlesduhigg.com/]. Promoting new book The Power Of Habit, his interview was a good one. He kicked off with this attention-grabber: > 45% of daily behaviours are not decisions, but habits That’s our brain trying to

Almost Always Connected

Over the past six months I’ve worked intimately with a terrific bunch of people. They’re a technology company, so just about everyone there has all the toys. Mobile phones, tablets, ultrabooks. You name it. Even the reps have not just one, but two cell phones each. So what

Changed Will

A seasoned pre-sales tekkie gave me a good saying the other day, happily fresh to my ears; > a mind changed against their will is of the same opinion still I like it. And not just because it rhymes (always a winner with quotes). I’ve worked recently in tandem

Happiness Results In

Well. GDP and all those other economic indicators are yesterday’s irrelevance, right? A year ago I blogged [http://salespodder.com/happiness-oh-happiness/] on how the UK sought to get to grips with this by surveying the nation’s contentment. It struck me at the time how rarely we seek to

Solar Panel Genius

A story to make us oldies all feel unworthy. I came across it watching NY1. 13-year old Aidan Dwyer appeared to have improved solar panels. His inspiration was sparked by looking at trees. Specifically their branches. If that’s how nature captures the sun’s energy, then why don’t

Unsocial Hours Calling

Enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining lunchtime watching English sport in Brooklyn the other Saturday. I was in the company of a New York based technology seller. Over a brunch bagel, he let slip quite a revelation. He had spoken to Warren Buffet. On a cold call. That lasted 45 minutes. It

The Money Tree

I love hearing stories about sales management (suffered?) when people first started out in sales. This one comes from a New Yorker. He began in telesales, a fair few years ago. His boss used to pick up the telephone and wave it about. > This phone is your money tree.

Prospect Response Times

Here’s something I learned the other day from a former rep there. Apparently, Motorola used to measure ‘customer service ratings’, and their salespeople’s effectiveness, in part by the response times of their customers. One outcome of this managerial method, was that whatever news you had for clients, you

Cold Call Bullpen

A one-time widget seller told me a fascinating piece of history the other day. Huge firm Arrow Electronics used to have what they termed a bullpen. Their American HQ sales office was by all accounts a fairly intimidating place to work. Investment in fixtures and fittings was not high on

Is Price Pitching A 20% Loser?

Working with a technology sales team recently, they were bemoaning that a contract won today would shrink by a quarter by the time of renewal next year. Yet in a world seemingly fixated on cheapness, they felt the value they provided gave both a merited premium and an offer of