Let me ask you a question: How many hand-written notes did you receive in the mail in the last week? Or maybe the better question would be: Did you get any hand-written notes in the mail last week? Getting mail isn't too common these days. And I'm not trying to point out how few friends you have. I'm also not trying to start a rant about how letter-writing has become a lost art (which, sadly, it kind of has). I am pointing out the opportunity to stand out that every master networker and salesperson takes advantage of. They send physical, personalized, hand-written notes. Stand Out By Doing What Others Don't In a world … [Read more...]
The Key to Sales Success is this Behind-the-Scenes Comedy Rule
If you have ever watched a skillful improv comedy group in action (for example on the TV show Whose Line is it Anyway?), you've probably walked away shaking your head and wondering how they were able to craft dialog, action, and plot out of thin air with just a few audience suggestions. There's a lot of talent and practice that goes into making it work, but there are also some underlying rules that everybody on stage is following. These agreements allow everyone to trust each other and move the action along. One of them is incredibly important to understand if you want to be successful as a sales professional in our modern, … [Read more...]
You Get Great at What You Repeatedly Do
I'm not a great drummer. I'm good. I'm competent. I'm solid. And even though I'm not actively playing right now, if I practiced consistently for a few weeks I'd be gig-ready again. But still, I'm not great, and it's for a simple reason. I just haven't played enough. Now, I'm a great public speaker. I'm a great writer. And it's for a similarly simple reason: I've done those activities a lot. Someone was asking me how I've written 7 books in the past few years. Easy. I just write and write and write. Since drumming didn't stay a part of my life on a daily basis, I never got great at it. I still love playing, but I'll admit … [Read more...]
Success is a Daily Habit
Drive Your Sales Success with 5 Easy Networking Conversations
I've been speaking and training on networking for years, and in all that time, I've only met a handful of people who feel they really have their hands around their networking. Most people sullenly acknowledge that having better professional relationships would help, but stress that they just don't have the time or attention. Too often we wait until we need something from our network before we reach out. That never works since it comes off as self-serving and desperate (because it is). But you don't have to wait. Even if you don't need anything, in fact especially if you don't need anything, you should be investing in the important … [Read more...]
The Secret Reason to Like Job Anniversaries on LinkedIn
updated January 2022 I've been showing people how to leverage LinkedIn for over a decade. And one of the most consistently maligned pieces of functionality has been the job anniversary notification. Over and over I hear some form of, "Why is LinkedIn gumming up my feed? Why should I care if Bill Jones has been at Company XYZ for 6 years? Does "liking" that really mean anything?" Well, yes it does. The Science of Online Small Talk To explain the value of liking job anniversaries, we have to look at something else that people don't really enjoy: small talk. It's easy to bash small talk. We think that it's an awkward and … [Read more...]
There is Humor Everywhere
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