Articles
Explore over 350 articles that will help you grow your client relationships and improve your personal effectiveness.
Eight Cringeworthy Questions You Should Never Ask
I’ve heard this a hundred times: “There are no bad questions.” Sorry, but there are indeed bad questions. And, there are good questions that go bad when used at the wrong time. For example: “Why?” It can be a great question—or a critical, negative one if used improperly. Here are eight questions you should avoid: […]
Read article
Great Relationships Start With Great Client Selection: Three Filters You Should Use
What percent of your most vexing problems are created by just a few of your clients? It’s probably a high number. Let me put this more positively: Have you noticed that if you start with the right client, everything is easier? The sale goes faster. The client is more trusting. You partner well together. You’re […]
Read article
Tomorrow’s Client Meeting Starts Today: 14 Questions to Get You Ready
A client meeting doesn’t start when you walk in the door and say good morning to your client. Rather, it begins a day earlier, as you mentally prepare and reflect on how to make that meeting a success for both of you. Too often we are preoccupied with ourselves: with a key message we’re trying […]
Read article
How to Dramatically Increase Your Impact and Satisfaction
Reframing Work and Life #6: The Personal Impact Matrix We would all like our work to be satisfying and meaningful. And to that end, there is an entire industry of books, life coaches, and assessments dedicated to helping people discover what they should really be doing. The dramatic story you may have read about the […]
Read article
The One Thing that Kills Personal Learning
Have you ever met someone at an event or party and asked them lots of questions about themselves—and, consequently, learned some interesting things from the conversation? But then, you realized they were utterly incurious about you, and never asked a single thing about yourself? In the end, they learned nothing from the encounter. Their lack […]
Read article
6 Reasons Your Client Says “I Don’t Have Budget”—and 16 Ways to Get It
Combating Your Clients Number One Excuse “We don’t have the budget for this” is a phrase anyone who works with clients has heard many times. It’s one of the four fundamental objections in sales, which are: No need (“We just don’t need what you have to offer.”) No urgency (“It’s interesting, but the timing is […]
Read article
Technology and Relationships: Where Should You Spend Your Time?
Reframing Work and Life #4: The Intimacy Matrix For many years I have avoided the topic of technology and relationships. Partly, because often the “hot” technology this year becomes a dinosaur next year…yes, I still remember MySpace, which was going to take over the world. And partly, because the basic ingredients of trusted relationships have […]
Read article
Choose Ambitious, Bold Clients
Reframing Work and Life #3: The Client Aspiration Matrix There is an unreservedly important but often ignored quality that you should always look for in your clients. It is called ambition. Boldness is another way of putting it. Many executives simply want to do a “good job” while maintaining the status quo. Usually, but not […]
Read article