By Andrew Sobel When you meet with a senior executive, there’s one factor that usually determines whether you get a follow up meeting: Have you added value for time? It the client benefits from your conversation, you’re on your way. If…
By definition, serendipity is unforeseen—you can’t plan for it. Another synonym is “good luck.” When it happens, it feels great: A former client calls you out of the blue and within a few days you suddenly have a major new…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and emotions. It is essential to building good relationships, both at work and in your personal life. People who don’t exhibit empathy are viewed as cold and self-absorbed, and…
Legendary GE CEO Jack Welch recently passed away. He once said, “Only satisfied customers can give people job security. Not companies.” I’ve taken the liberty of paraphrasing and updating this for my own readers to “Only enthusiastic clients give you…
Ask, don't tell: This is a book that will transform your conversations – and maybe even your life.
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