During this COVID-19 crisis, we can all use some lighthearted news/entertainment. This may fit the bill for you. At six o’clock this morning I walked out of my bedroom and saw a large black bear on the other side of…

The Causes of Relational Conflicts Early in my career, I had an important relationship with a colleague at my old firm, but it began to slowly deteriorate. Eventually, he stopped communicating with me and grew bitter—I know because he began…

Do Your Clients See You as an Authority? One of the greatest accolades you can receive from a client is the declaration that you are an authority in your field. Even better still is to hear you are a “leading authority” or…

How long is your sales cycle? How many months does it take to go from first meeting to a paid engagement? Your answer probably will be, “It depends!” But whatever your answer, you no doubt wish that your sales process…

One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons was drawn in 1993 by Robert Mankoff. It shows an executive at his desk, fielding a telephone call from someone who wants to meet him. “No, Thursday’s out” he replies to the caller, adding, “How…

By Andrew Sobel Clients say they want new ideas from their advisors and suppliers. But how do you come up with those new ideas? Read on. (Note: this blog is excerpted from my new book, It Starts with Clients: Your…

By Andrew Sobel After a recent live interview that I did with my friend and bestselling author Dorie Clark, a listener wrote in and asked this question: As an introvert I would love to know from Andrew what are the…

By Andrew Sobel In the last few weeks my inbox has been bombarded with articles about how you need to dramatically change your business development approach in order to sell in a virtual environment. Puzzling Headlines I’m actually a little…

Are you really listening, or just waiting until YOU can talk? We need empathy more than ever Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, and also imagine what they are thinking and feeling. It’s a fundamental skill that…

The current environment is stressing many types of relationships. Clients are being forced to postpone contracts with long-standing providers. Parents and adult children are living under the same roof for the first time in years, at times uneasily. Loved ones…