This interview with David Brandon, the University of Michigan athletic director veteran of one year, may inspire you to look at your business differently.
By what we’ve heard for years in the news about the real estate market in the U.S., you would assume that all companies involved primarily in real estate would be limping along at best. You would guess wrong if you were including McKinley Inc of Ann Arbor in your assumption. ...
We needed a new dishwasher. The old one was leaking and the plates were coming out almost as dirty as they went in. So my wife and I headed out to the local appliance store. You need to know that price was not an issue and that my wife was ...
What is essential for gaining a customer?What is essential for retaining a customer?What when neglected, will lead to losing a customer? The answer to all three questions is “trust.” So, what is trust, and how do you develop it with prospects and preserve it when they become clients? Trust is ...
If our prospects are going to invest in our product or service, then we need to help them discover that their existing situation is inadequate. After all, why would anyone invest in something if there’s nothing lacking with their current situation? Helping prospects discover their inadequacy is sometimes hard to ...
A sales template can be created to capture and systematize the steps of the ideal sales process for a particular product or service. This sales template process is a way to assure that a consistent sales process can be followed regardless of the experience of individual salespeople. In addition to ...
Competition is the reason salespeople and many other employees strive so much. If it weren't for competition, businesses would lack the strongest incentive for change - in new products, new processes, new market ventures, new strategies and organizational development. This competitive impetus is more than self-serving in that it drives ...
Reversing - answering a question with a question - is a potent tool for any sales person, but only if used correctly. Used properly, a salesperson can get a clear understanding of why someone is asking the question so the salesperson can give a better answer, direct the conversation or ...
How many times have you said, “Oh, well. You can’t win ‘em all”? It may be true that you won’t win all the opportunities you pursue, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t win them all. In the context of the saying, “can’t” is a self-limiting belief of scarcity. It ...
One of the most common reasons I hear from salespeople not making prospecting phone calls is they're reluctant to call because they won't know what to say. This reason is used both surprisingly enough for warm calls and for cold calls, too. Now the reason for cold calls is probably ...
Recently I had a successful business owner ask me, "When do you know when your business has finally arrived?" I had wondered the same thing for many years. We all are waiting for that day when the business runs itself. We wonder, "When will I have enough business and repeat ...
Business school and Master of Business programs do a fairly comprehensive job of teaching students economics, finance, business management, business models, marketing, public relations, and even a lot about product placement and pricing strategy. But when it comes to the essential point of transaction, where a business actually meets face ...
A column for inventors, writers, artists, architects or fashion designers that recommended against creativity would be absurd. But, when it comes to sales, creativity can do more harm than good in developing a sales opportunity. While it’s often necessary to get creative solving a prospect's problems, being creative and straying ...
You are on the first sales call and a prospect starts the conversation with, "So, what can you do for me?" How do you respond without presuming to know what this person needs? You may have been taught not to start blathering on about all of your product's features and ...
How do you like the system we now use to screen and select presidential candidates? Is it effective and efficient in delivering the most excellent alternatives? Maybe it’s analogous with the way we are screened as salespeople when we seek to make contact with the decision makers to whom we ...
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com AnnArbor.com's partner news site MLive.com is on a quest to find the best barbecue in ......
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