1: You are stuck.

“If only your prospects knew as much about your company and its solutions as you do, they would buy from you, right?” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

Not so fast, the authors suggest.

Erik and Tim emphasize the importance of finding your unique story and point of view as a salesperson. This is essential … continue reading

1: “Every Saturday, a siren goes off in Tim’s quiet suburban community, signaling that it is noontime. No one gives it much attention around town,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their terrific book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

It’s just the “noon whistle,” people say.

But the same siren is also used to signal a severe weather emergency.

“As a result,” the authors note, “the same … continue reading

1: “If you’re like most sales professionals, you think a successful client relationship is one in which everyone is always smiling,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

You intuitively believe your job is to keep clients happy, as if being well-liked is the goal.

You send birthday wishes. You inquire about their kids. You do whatever it takes to … continue reading

1: Did you know that Babe Ruth began his baseball career in 1914 using a 54-ounce bat?

“That’s a big bat,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

“For those of you who are not familiar with what’s ‘normal’ for baseball bats,” the authors note, “most professional baseball players today use a bat that weighs between 31 and 35 ounces.”… continue reading

1: Skip was complaining to his boss, Fred Kofman, that he wasn’t getting the service he needed.

Earlier in his career, Fred Kofman had cofounded Axialent, a consulting firm. Skip was the manager of the Sydney-based Asia Pacific subsidiary.

“The firm’s operations center was located in Buenos Aires,” Fred explains in his book The Meaning Revolution, “where we ran administration, finance, marketing, executive assistance, and materials production. It was … continue reading

1: Advertising legend David Ogilvy was a maverick.

“Unlike the typical, predictable, and egotistical advertising that most agencies produce to promote themselves, David ‘gave’ his genius away,” Jeffrey Fox writes in How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients.

David didn’t beat his chest and proclaim the greatness of his firm Ogilvy and Mather.

“Instead of writing about himself,” Jeffrey notes, he “gave … continue reading

1: The prospective client says, “The motor is too loud.”

Or, “I don’t like forest green.”

She is objecting to the noise of our product.  Or, the color.

“Rainmakers welcome customer objections,” Jeffrey Fox writes in How to Become a Rainmaker, “because they know objections are simply the way customers express their desires.”

When we’re told: “Your price is too high,” we know our prospect’s objective is to … continue reading

1: Chris Voss was in a bind. 

After serving as the FBI’s chief hostage negotiator, he had decided to go into business for himself.

The good news?

For his first consulting project, he received the honor of training the national hostage negotiation team from the United Arab Emirates.

The bad news? 

Chris was serving as a subcontractor.  “The prestige of the assignment was tempered during the project by problems with … continue reading

1: In 1977, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat strikingly advanced the Egypt-Israel peace treaty negotiations when he made a surprise speech to the Israeli Knesset.

As negotiators, there is a lesson we can learn from this dramatic gesture: Be aware of opportunities to pivot to non-monetary terms. 

The FBI’s former chief hostage negotiator, Chris Voss, notes that this “generous gesture that did not involve making any actual concessions but did … continue reading

1: Imagine we are preparing for an important negotiation.

Do we make the initial offer or encourage the other side to do so? 

Yesterday, we looked at FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss’s advice: Refrain from making the first offer in a financial negotiation.

If we do so, there is a possibility we will leave money on the table. “I’ve experienced many negotiations when the other party’s first offer was … continue reading