5 MUST ASK QUESTIONS TO IDENTIFY THE BEST TALENT FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION By Amy Hardin No amount of sales management and training will make up for hiring a weak sales person – unfortunately, it happens too often. Interviewing sales professionals is especially challenging.  Really liking a candidate is not enough because most sales professionals are [...]

WHY PUSHING QUARTERLY SALES DOESN’T ALWAYS YIELD REVENUE INCREASES By Bill Harrison Some sales organizations are organized, goal-oriented, and process-driven – most, however, are fairly disorganized and unfocused. An easy way to tell great sales organizations from average sales organizations is to measure where managers spend the majority of their time. Is it at the [...]

TURNING DORMANT OPPORTUNITIES INTO NEW BUSINESS By Stephen J. Kirchoff and Tom Camp Many executives are discovering new systematic ways to identify and leverage “lazy assets” into growth and revenue opportunities, new businesses, or competitive advantages that meet unmet/unknown needs in direct or adjacent markets. Turning lazy assets into new opportunities offers a variety of [...]

METHODS FOR DEVELOPING THE EAR OF YOUNG MANAGERS By David Downey Two guitarists were playing and singing to diners in a crowded outdoor restaurant under a moonlit sky. “I can’t see which one it is,” my wife told me, “but the guitarist playing the lower melody line is tuned flat.” Odd, it sounded fine to [...]

By Bob Barker Early in the life of the company most CEOs find that generating revenue and managing cash drive every decision. When revenue eventually starts to flow, it can be exhilarating. You reach breakeven, then turn slightly profitable, and at this point it’s easy to believe that just turning the crank on sales is [...]

By Dr. Keith Owen, Ron Mundy, and Frank B. Falkstein For years experts have said to be successful companies should put the customer first. That advice is wrong. There can be no successful customer focus unless the foundation of employee focus is in place. When companies build an employee first culture, they outlive and outperform [...]

Despite the famous quote “Good is the enemy of Great,” when it comes to hiring sales people, many employers have given up trying to distinguish the good sales people from the great sales people. They just don’t want to hire any more bad sales people.

Bad customer service is a symptom of what’s wrong with business today. Empowering employees to correct problems on their own is a great solution.

Stop worrying about what you can’t control, and start focusing on what you can.