It\'s September, also known as back to school time. My neighbors and I escort our children to the bus stop for the first day of the new school year. However, we\'re puzzled about the location of the bus stop. It isn\'t in the same place that it was in prior years. Instead of the children walking down the street, just a few houses, they now had to cross two, very active streets to get to the bus...
After a lengthy screening process, the hiring committee feels they have found the right sales candidate for the company. Now comes the tricky part, how do you design an offer and go through the offer stage of the process without damaging the relationship with the candidate? Damaging? Many companies are not prepared to go through the offer step of the process and, due to that, damage the...
You\'ve told everyone that you are having a seminar, tele-seminar, webinar, etc. As a strategy to gain visibility, you invested in Google Ads and Facebook ads. You\'ve promoted to your database and posted the event on your website. You\'ve blogged about it. Yet, you look at your registrant list and it is not at the level you had hoped. Hey, you know your stuff! You\'re an expert on this...
One of my favorite hobbies is playing baseball with my kids. I'm very involved with their Little League teams and volunteer to help teach baseball skills to the kids. My 7-year old son, Steven, is playing his first year of coach-pitch baseball. Prior to that, he played T-ball which is a very different game.
One day at practice, I was pitching to the team of 7-year olds. Boy after boy came up...
The compensation plan changed again. The revolving door of company executives spins out of control. You look at the corporate direction and you'd like to give the CEO a compass so he can find his way. Concerned, you've decided that today is the day that you will peek your head over the cubicle wall and see what other opportunities are out there. After all, you've been successful. No need to go...
When I speak to business executives, one of the challenges I often hear is that their sales team is not doing the things they feel are most critical to the success of the company. I then ask to see their compensation plan. After a thorough read, I share my impression of the message of the compensation plan and ask if this is their intention. That's when things get scary! They look at me blankly...
The other day my nine-year old daughter and two sons (seven and five years old respectively) were playing with neighborhood friends. Out of the blue, my two sons came running home upset because the girls in the group told them they didn't want to play with them. I was puzzled. Wasn't my daughter also in the group? How could she allow these girls to tell her younger brothers that they couldn't...
My wife Sharon and I dated for exactly two years before I proposed to her. Over our two year courtship, I got to know her likes and dislikes. I understood her goals in life and her aspirations. She knew the same about me. On July 24, 1996, in the White House Rose Garden (true story), I asked Sharon to marry me. She excitedly agreed. What might have been her response if she didn't feel like she...
Close your eyes. Think of the perfect mate. Are you done? Close your eyes again. Think some more. How long is your list of requirements of the perfect mate? Are there five of them? Ten? Perhaps, you have twenty. Think about your list again. Are each of those really requirements of your ideal mate? Or, are those desired attributes? On which items are you willing to be flexible? For example, some...
It's a great day at Newman Industries today! For the last month, they have been actively recruiting a hot candidate to join their sales team. Today, Steven Harmon agreed to join them. They see him as a true rainmaker. The recruiter and sales manager share high-fives. Mission accomplished! Spike the ball in the end zone. The job is done! The competition was fierce for Steven, but Newman...
