Short Hiatus

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything new in the last week or so.  I’m still alive and well, but I am taking a short writing hiatus to reinvigorate my juices.  If you have any topic ideas you’d like me to cover please let me know. Thanks! Ryan Tweet

Is Your Product Viewed as a Commodity? – Part 2

Last week I talked about a few situations where commoditization of the product or service you sell may be to your benefit in the sales process. This week I want to take a look at a few situations where you should do the inverse. If your product is already viewed as a commodity you may want to decommoditize (yes, I’m making up a word here) it to give yourself an advantage over your competitors.

Is Your Product Viewed as a Commodity? – Part 1

Let’s first define the term for our purposes: A commodity is a good or service that has demand, but there is little to no difference across competitors’ offerings. Basically, I could buy Widget A or Widget B, from different companies and tell little to no difference in the product. In just about every case, my decision on why to buy Widget A over Widget B is based on something other than the widget itself.

Finishing FAB

This past weekend I was chatting with a friend who just started in the world of sales about my previous article. They had covered using FAB during their sales training, and we were talking about the application of the presentation.

FAB: Reloaded

I’ve read three separate articles this week about FAB, and all three of them talk about using the FAB like it’s the be all end all of sales techniques. I wrote about Features, Advantages and Benefits (FAB) last year HERE, but it was only the first part of an eight part series (All eight articles are complied HERE).

Dealing with Bullies

When you were a kid did you get picked on, or were the target of bullies?  When we were kids we didn’t have all the concern about bullies that exists in schools today.  We all learned how to deal with people that tried to throw their weight around, regardless of whether or not they had [...]

Anecdotally Speaking

I love to use stories and anecdotes while I’m coaching. I find it’s easier for me to communicate my point via stories and anecdotes. This is probably the case because I am a visual learner, and being able to envision and imagine a story helps me to get my head around concepts. Here are some DOs and DON’Ts I’ve found helpful while using anecdotes and stories for training. These help you avoid looking like a cheeseball, and keep your audience focused on your message rather than on making you look better.

How Bold are You?

I just finished a book called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and I loved it. The book made me think about quite a few things including:

* How my past affects my actions and thoughts today
* How little things you grew up with linger in your mind, and how simple things like smells can trigger memories
* How a lack of action or boldness creates regret today

Are You Too Hands-On?

I was thinking back to one of my early managerial mistakes today as I was writing a cover letter. I recalled how my lack of patience not only cost me time in the long-run, but it also cost me trust of my employees, and many missed development opportunities. I initially believed that my job was to keep my sales team focused on sales by keeping their plates clean of other minutia. I was so hands-on it was scary in hindsight.

Is Your Ego Driving Your Decisions?

We are all guilty of occasionally, if not often, allowing our ego to be the driving factor of why we make a decision. Do me a favor, and think back over your last few ego driven decisions. I’ll wait a moment for you to do that…