I was just reading a book called the Power or Habit by Jack Hodge. The primary narrative of the book is that we, more than anything else, are defined by what we do, and close to 90% of what we do is determined by habits both good and bad. I am not sure how he determined the 90%, but we all know … Read More
Jack’s Big Aha!
It’s never a bad idea to look at strategic principles through the lens of proven business leaders such as Jack Welch. Jack started at GE as a chemical engineer in 1960 and by 1980 he was promoted to CEO where he proceeded to grow the company from $26B to $130B with a market value of $410B. To learn more about … Read More
Building Trust
Trust is elusive, and it is one of most critical components of why people buy. Buyers must trust that what they are buying provides the expected value. However, trust plays a different role based on what the buyer is purchasing and how that purchase provides value. For example, when it comes to purchasing simple commodities value is often tangible and … Read More
Establishing a Culture of Performance
Having discussed the internal drivers of sales culture, the next step is to explore what leaders can do to establish a culture of performance. Since culture is largely defined by human behavior and decision making, it’s important to understand there is no one size fits all approach. The variability within the three internal drivers makes that clear. Companies have unique … Read More
What Drives Your Sales Culture?
In the last blog article, I discussed how the Global Workforce Study on workforce culture reported the highest level of employee dissatisfaction in the study’s 23 year history. Employee dissatisfaction can be especially damaging to a company’s sales culture, threatening client relationships and overall company growth. There are many companies that have compelling products and services and good people to … Read More
Attitude Reflects Leadership
Anyone in management who has seen Remember the Titans should remember this exchange: Big Ju: Why should I give a hoot about you, huh? Or anyone else out there? You wanna talk about the ways you’re the captain? Bertier: Right. Big Ju: You got a job? Bertier: I’ve got a job. Big Ju: You been doing your job? Bertier: I’ve been doing my job. Big Ju: Then why don’t … Read More
The BP Spill: A Consequence of Bad Strategy
“A company can’t prioritize everything, and while BP was prioritizing PR and acquisitions, it wasn’t prioritizing operations.” Holman Jenkins, WSJ A preventable catastrophe is unfolding along our Gulf shores and much of the region is going to suffer for years. Who’s to blame? The easier question may be who isn’t to blame. However, one thing is clear; a combination of bad … Read More
Why You Should Support Staffing Associations
The audience I am speaking to today are executives and managers that question the value of being involved in industry associations. There are times when I would have been a member of that audience through my years as a staffing executive. However, associations have not only done a better job of providing measurable value to staffing organizations they also play … Read More
Beware the Cassandra Complex
Cassandra was a princess of Troy, who had the gift of prophesy, but who could not persuade anyone because was cursed with a severe credibility gap. Can you imagine her frustration? She knows she is right, but lacks the credibility to persuade anyone. Why should staffing executives be aware of the Cassandra complex? Because they are responsible for defining the … Read More
Are You Selling to the Right Accounts?
An effective sales strategy starts with well defined segmentation of your current and target accounts. However, many companies struggle with defining the right criteria to build an effective account pipeline, which then significantly reduces the productivity of their entire sales process. This post will discuss three examples of how to qualify the accounts you decide to pursue; the existence of … Read More