| | | Phoenix Rising | |  Sales | 31 articles |
| Page 1 of 1 | Previous | Next | PHOENIX RISING SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 The Thin Line Between Persuasion and Manipulation What if I said that sales and marketing's job is to 'manipulate' perception in the market? We bend our audiences' beliefs through the stories and information we share, through the brand or image we create, through the sales discussions we guide so carefully. So where's the line between sales and marketing persuasion - and manipulation? If Madoff's story were true - the results real – would it be viewed as manipulation - or persuasive sales and marketing? How did you react when you read the word manipulate? | PHOENIX RISING FEBRUARY 16, 2010 It's the Relationship! Sure, some of what we're taught in sales (and marketing) is useful. The pure goal of sales, and life, is to create VALUE for oth ers. Go-Giver principles are not just for sales. It’s not about you; it’s about them. Go Givers Sell More. Truer words have never been spoken. Whether in business or our personal lives, relationships are all about adding value to other peoples' lives. That universal law is quite simple. We just have a hard time remembering it, much less following it. And so I did. | | | | | |
| PHOENIX RISING DECEMBER 15, 2009 The Path of Least Resistance We filter everything we say or do in our business through lawyers, diminishing our marketing and sales power to avoid some crazy litigation claim. Is it human nature to take the easy way out? I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Wondering if we compromise to bypass the argument if we disagree with our co-worker or let that guy be abusive to his terrified child in the grocery line because we don't want to get involved. Somehow, I don't think that's what our Founding Father did. What happened to our adventure spirit? Then there's our litigation avoidance. | PHOENIX RISING NOVEMBER 22, 2009 Ready, Fire, Aim We cover the proverbial wall with marketing and sales campaigns - assuming something will stick. That's kinda backwards, isn't it? catch myself doing it all the time. get an idea, remember something I need to do, all while I'm in the middle of something else. I'm distracted by the new thought, so I get up to go fix whatever, grab whatever, do whatever, so I can come back and focus. But then sometimes I can't remember where I was going or what I was going to do. 50+ mentalpause may be partially to blame. But not really. Plan, take aim and then do. And who knows? | PHOENIX RISING JULY 15, 2009 A Shiny Needle in the B2B Marketing Haystack So, that could include blogs about any aspect of B2B marketing--online, events, direct mail, SEO, SEM, social media, email marketing, white papers, video--PR, even sales-oriented blogs, as long as they address marketing and not strictly sales. There's so much information available across the web.It's a tough task to find the most relevant content for your own B2B efforts. Even aggregrators compile too much information - making the search for B2B Marketing content feel like that proverbial hunt for the needle in the haystack. Here's the scoop. | PHOENIX RISING JANUARY 26, 2010 A Lesson From a Ski Hill My skis left the tracks in this super glue and the next thing I know - I'm face planted on the groomer with a yard sale all around me. I learned a lesson at Squaw Valley yesterday. It was a rough day. Over a foot of our famous Sierra Cement and more coming down. Sierra Cement is heavy, heavy snow - think skiing slurpies. It changes with every inch - sometimes you move along, sometimes you get grabbed and stop suddenly. It's an art to find your balance and stay down the hill when you're getting thrown all over the place. What was I thinking?" | | | | | | | |
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PHOENIX RISING | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010 Legends
• Our product is just too cool. • We can’t win in that market, so why bother trying. • Our sales cycle is unpredictable, but that’s just our business. • We have to discount to beat that competitor. • Changing plans will just disrupt our business. • We’ll just have to cut expenses to keep profit margins. • We can’t grow in a down economy, everybody is hurting. Legends keep the past alive in our world. That's why they are dangerous. MORE >> -
PHOENIX RISING | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2009 Absolute Power
We promote them with our spending dollars, our votes, our fascination with their lives (and those tabloid sales). Power is an ugly drug, a drug that many of us crave, some of us capture and we all believe we can manage oh-so-well. We point to those who slip and fall on the slippery slope of power, ridicule them and make jokes, knowing that we would never follow in their footsteps. We behave as if those who slip and fall are the exception to the rules. Tiger is NOT the exception. Gosh how I wish he was. We are, after all, human. We're all responsible. MORE >> -
PHOENIX RISING | TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010 The Plan was a Success but the Business Died
When I was first working as a sales rep for computing systems, I was over quota, always. Whether it's in our personal or business lives, we often just plain need to change our plans to be successful. The question is, do we alter our course, or do we just keep going according to plan? tended to stick to the plan - no matter what. was a typical goal-oriented, over-achiever for most of my younger life. Once I dug in, I wouldn't let go. No matter what - I met the goals, delivered on my plan and far beyond. No matter what it took. Now ask yourself. MORE >> -
PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010 Keepers of the Truth
Ask yourself- when was the last time you made a decision based on real-world audience input, instead of the opinions of your executive team, or that engineering manager or sales leader? Reality comes from our markets, not ourselves. seek customer, prospect and partner feedback before I ever begin to brainstorm a strategy. Clients often ask me why I don’t take their word for where they are and what they do. It’s not that I don’t believe them. It’s that I don’t believe any of us can clearly see today’s reality through the eyes of our buyers. MORE >> -
PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009 If you Can't Say Something Nice, SHHH, Say Nothing!
Do you like it when a sales rep starts telling you how bad all the alternatives are except the thing he wants you to buy - his product. Especially if that sales rep is really aggressive. When you talk about your competition – other than when positioning alternative categories vis a vis your solution - you're spending scarce marketing dollars or sales resources on your competition. So says the wise Thumper. Who's Thumper? Ah come on, you remember Thumper. " I loved it as a kid. MORE >>
- Less is More PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009
- The Enemy is Out There PHOENIX RISING | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009
- Stop with the 4 Letter Words! PHOENIX RISING | MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009
- Accentuate the Positive! PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2009
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T PHOENIX RISING | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009
- Is Fear Really the Great Motivator? PHOENIX RISING | TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
- Keep Your Eye on the Revenue PHOENIX RISING | TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2009
- Use eMarketing to Change Your Marketing Game PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
- Use eMarketing to Change Your Marketing Game PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
- The Plan was a Success but the Business Died PHOENIX RISING | TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010
- They Chose Lemonade! PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
- Sales & Marketing - How to Kick Butt Together! PHOENIX RISING | FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009
- Market Launches: Don't Forget to Invite Sales PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2009
- Powering Momentous Launches PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009
- Stop Blaming Marketing! PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009
- The Ugly Baby (Product) Dilemma PHOENIX RISING | MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009
- Stop Blaming Sales! PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2009
- Revenue's Down, Let's Fire Sales PHOENIX RISING | WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009
- Transformation is All Around Us PHOENIX RISING | MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009
- Please Don't Bet Your Business on Those Numbers PHOENIX RISING | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2009
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