Articles
Explore over 350 articles that will help you grow your client relationships and improve your personal effectiveness.
When the Sale Is Stuck: 5 Preconditions for a Client to Buy
Do you ever find that you are slogging through meeting after meeting with a prospect, month after month, without reaching a sale? You have lots of conversations, but there is no forward progress. In today’s economy, there are in fact lots of sales conversations that go on and on without ever arriving anywhere. You can avoid this by asking a series of incisive questions that help you verify if the preconditions for a sale are present.
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A Burden Borne by Few for Many
May 28th of this year is Memorial Day in the United States, a day of remembrance for those who gave their lives in war. My mother and my father both served extended combat tours in World War II. My mother was a Lieutenant in the US Army--a nurse. She followed the troops into the Continent from D-Day onwards.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 1): Change the Relationship Environment
How do you get a breakthrough in a relationship? How do you take it to the next level? There are a number of actions that will help you do this. Over the next 15 blog entries or so, I am going to highlight these one by one.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 2): Connect Personally
How do you get a breakthrough in a relationship? How do you take it to the next level? There are a number of actions that will help you do this. Over the next 15 blog entries or so, I am highlighting these one by one. Some are simple; some are very challenging. All help you move in the right direction.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 3): Help them Personally
How do you get a breakthrough in a relationship? How do you take it to the next level? There are a number of actions that will help you do this. Over the next 15 blog entries or so, I am highlighting these one by one. Some are simple; some are very challenging. All help you move in the right direction.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 4): Help Your Client through a Crisis
How do you get a breakthrough in a relationship? How do you take it to the next level? There are a number of actions that will help you do this. Over the next 15 blog entries or so, I am highlighting these one by one. Some are simple; some are very challenging. All help you move in the right direction.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 5): Confront problems or mistakes
Providing early warning to clients about real or potential problems–whether you created them or the client has made them (or is about to make them)–is more than just good practice. It’s absolutely the right thing to do. And it will distinguish you from other service providers who are too insecure and timid to confront them.This includes telling your client when you think his or her organization is making the wrong move.
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Relationship Breakthroughs (No. 6): Get Clear Feedback
IBM has historically been a large vendor to this company. Some years ago, the CEO of IBM, Sam Palmisano, calls up my client’s CEO and suggests they get together to talk about their relationship. They set a date in a week’s time. The CEO then calls his executive who manages the IBM relationship and asks how they were doing. The relationship manager telephones his counterpart at IBM—repeatedly—over the course of a week. He wants to discuss things with him. He never gets a returned phone call. Nothing.
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