This is a response to a salesperson who asked my recommendation for what to read and listen to in order to improve his/her performance. Way beyond that, you’ll gain a greater understanding of how to improve as a salesperson, and acquire one question that can guide your learning for ever.

What may be the single most important predictor of an organization’s long-term business development and survival is that organization’s ability to learn. In a world that is changing more rapidly today than at any previous time in human history, the consistent practice of learning is the only sustainable long-term strategy.

Positive customer relationships are the basis of much B2B business.

But in today’s hyper-competitive economy, relying on your relationships is like trying to paddle through the storm in a leaky row boat – your effort will keep you afloat for a short time, but eventually you’ll find that you just don’t have enough resources to challenge the storm. Relying on your relationships is a prescription for eventual failure.

We’ve all heard about the importance of our attitudes. Usually the directive goes like this; “XXXXXXXXXX, you need to improve your attitude!”

Fortunately, there is a lot more to attitudes than just the oft-spoken refrain to improve ours. Successful people eventually learn how to manage their attitudes.

As salespeople, we love to complain about the competition. Unfortunately, complaining doesn’t do us any good. A better approach is to create a system to learn about the competition. Knowledge of the competition -- not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their patterns and tendencies – will provide you with a distinct advantage, and prevent you from getting blindsided or seriously outmaneuvered.

At its most fundamental level, business is always and only about three things: Money, people and systems.

Effective systems are, at the very least, just as necessary to the growth and health of a business as good people and adequate funds. Good systems are where the company’s financial assets intertwine with the people to produce results.

“Low price, low price, low price.” It’s the mantra that sales people in every industry segment are hearing more these days than ever before. But, is low price the motivating factor in a customer’s decision to buy? Here’s a secret that almost nobody knows, including all those gurus telling you to sell value. They don’t always buy the best value. But, they can invariably be counted on to buy the lowest risk!

There is a pattern of behavior – not learning from the past and continuing the same pattern of behavior that brought on the crises – that is far more prevalent than one might expect. In this session, I provide a way for an individual and an organization to prevent it.

Dealing with prospects is one of the most daunting and frustrating parts of the salesperson's job. In this podcast, I respond to two questions from salespeople about key aspects of this difficult task.  You'll gain some ideas you can use today.

There are certain practices that have such an enormous impact on the company and the market that they call for high-level executive involvement.

One of that handful of activities is the creation of a value-added position (VAP).  Next to the company’s vision, mission and values statements, a VAP contains the most important words an organization can create.  It forms the first impression the market forms of your company, and frequently bounces around in their head like a tune from their teenage years.