“I really needed to hear that message. I’ve been struggling the past couple of years.” A participant said that after my recent Selling Through Tough Times keynote. The word struggle is chock-full of emotion. Reflecting on previous struggles transports us to a time of suffering. The pain becomes real again. You feel it. You may… Read More 

“No one needs a vacation more than the person who just returned from vacation.” — Elbert Hubbard (American author and artist) There’s a lot of truth to Hubbard’s quip. Returning to the grind is tough. Hopefully you unplugged for a week or two, then bam, you’re back at it. Why are vacations so short? You… Read More 

Fill in the blank. Past performance is no guarantee of _______ results. If you answered “future,” you are correct. You’ve read this disclaimer in your investment portfolio, or you’ve heard it in a financial commercial. Have you ever considered why this disclaimer is so explicitly stated? It’s because we are hardwired to believe future results… Read More 

Agere Contra – pronounced A-Jer-EEE | Con-TRA. It’s a concept that literally means ‘to act against’. It means to intensely react against the force pushing you in the wrong direction. It means to do the opposite of what you are tempted to do. What a simple, yet powerful idea as we enter tough times. Salespeople… Read More 

  Are you a cow or a buffalo? On a recent podcast, I learned that cows and buffalos respond differently to storms. When cows notice a storm, they run AWAY. Cows are slow; the storm catches the herd. Cows continue trying to outrun the storm, which means they stay in it longer. Buffalos are different;… Read More 

Emotion is more persuasive than logic. I recently bought a Jeep (and it was a real mid-life crisis emotional purchase). It was irrational. The Jeep is noisy, its gas mileage is awful, and it doesn’t handle well at high speeds. But I love driving this Jeep. Emotion is why I purchased this Jeep. Emotion is… Read More 

“We’re going to pump the brakes and wait until things stabilize before moving forward.” That’s what a customer recently said to one of my clients. “Pumping the brakes” is a natural response to tough times. Buyers experiencing uncertainty conserve cash and reduce spending. Buyer uncertainty leads to seller uncertainty. Uncertainty often leaves sellers wondering, “What… Read More 

Today it’s official: The U.S. is in recession. And it’s a good thing. As salespeople, sales leaders, and business owners try to navigate this next recession, it’s important to remember that tough times are good. Whether this is your first recession or your 10th, you may have felt that unsettling feeling and anxiety when the… Read More 

The timing couldn’t be better to increase your prospecting activity. With peak demand, limited supply, and rising prices, sellers are making it rain. Salespeople are crushing quotas and cashing checks. This is when sellers become complacent. As Andy Grove famously said, “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” Now is the time… Read More 

“You could get a good look at a T-bone by sticking your head up a bull’s…” Tommy Callahan (Chris Farley) popularized this analogy in the movie Tommy Boy (Paramount, 1995). Tommy tried using this analogy to sell Callahan’s “really cool” new brake pads. Although Tommy butchered the analogy (PUN intended), there is still a powerful… Read More