Are your client relationships growing, staying the same, or shrinking? How much influence do you really have over the direction they take? The answer to this second question is, I believe, a whole lot. While many factors influence whether or…
The CEO of a Fortune-100 company I was advising got an unexpected call from the CEO of their largest technology supplier. The technology company CEO said he was going to be in New York City the following week and wanted…
One of my clients, a global consulting firm, wanted to build a relationship with a Fortune-50 company in the Midwest. This company never used consultants, and my client had virtually no preexisting relationships with their management. However, my client was…
The playwright Oscar Wilde defined a gentleman as someone who “is never unintentionally rude.” Likewise, you never want to have a client relationship end unintentionally and without a sound reason. Unfortunately, relationships often avoidably come to an end. Clients usually just vote…
Everyone would like more of their client’s business—more “wallet share.” But few are willing to invest the time and effort to do what it actually takes to earn that additional share of their client’s expenditures. The strategy to gain more…
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…
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 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…
Ask, don't tell: This is a book that will transform your conversations – and maybe even your life.
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