Get Better / Uncategorized — Comments Off on My wife is smarter than I am
17
Oct 13

My wife is smarter than I am

No, this is not some attempt at earning brownie points or reconciliation. My wife Teresa is just smarter about certain things than I ever will be. She knows when I’m not communicating well with our children. She knows when I’m unhappy with my work or my training. She can tell if I’m excited about something even if I haven’t spoken a word about it. She knows what to say to me when I can’t seem to listen to anyone. Her logic on business and personal decisions is always sound, but she comes at it using totally different thought process that I frankly still don’t understand, but I value and appreciate.

What’s my point? Despite the fact that I’m a relatively intelligent guy, I don’t have all the answers, and I can’t get them on my own. I’ve learned this the hard way, over and over again. With Teresa on my team, I have a significantly better shot at doing the right thing and making the best decisions I can.

Teresa and I are about as different as you can get when it comes to DISC profiles, Meyers-Briggs assessments, and general style. And I’m convinced that it’s the reason we have stayed together and been successful as a team these 30 years.

Business Development / Get Better — Comments Off on What’s your brand?
16
Oct 13

What’s your brand?

Last night at Techmakers (Indy’s oldest and best technology professionals networking event), I really enjoyed the guest speaker, Andrew Curtis of Fuel Visual Media. Andrew spoke on company branding. Brand is what others think of you, Andrew pointed out. Andrew also discussed the fact that a companies have a brand whether they choose to manage it or not! The implications of this idea are far reaching. We all know that actions speak louder than words. What are your company’s actions saying to the marketplace? Do your company’s actions match up with what you believe the brand to be?

It’s not just your company that has a brand. You as an individual have a brand too. And what you think of yourself may not match up with what others think of you. Indy’s Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy and have written a book called Branding Yourself. The book is a call to action on managing your brand.

What’s your brand? Write down what you think others believe about you as a business professional, and as a person. Then go to the marketplace and verify what you believe. Do you have trusted friends in the business world that will give you an honest opinion of how they perceive you? Ask them what they believe your brand to be. Do they match? And does your brand match up well with the company’s brand? If not, the time is now to take action!

Get Better / Uncategorized — Comments Off on Selling Technology in the Modern World
17
Jul 13

Selling Technology in the Modern World

Last night I spoke at Techmakers, one of Indy’s local technology networking groups. I spoke on selling technology in the modern world, and here are the ten keys that have contributed to my success:

  1. Be yourself. People can tell.
  2. Be memorable. Which may be at odds with being yourself. Easiest way is to be an expert. Or smile. Or both
  3. No pitching. If you’re telling people how wonderful you or your products are, you’re probably in trouble.
  4. Ask and listen. Ask questions that challenge prospect thinking. Listen for pain.
  5. See your offerings through the client’s eyes. If you can’t see it, they can’t either. No match is okay.
  6. No premature elaboration. Same as no pitching. Detachment is good. Eager is bad. Same as no pitching.
  7. Drip marketing. Use newsletters and updates on new industry happenings when no current need or when you have a relationship
  8. Activity is everything. Must be talking to new leads, existing prospects, deals in process, and clients. Networking is a key activity that can reach into all phases of the sales process.
  9. Understand the power of networking. It’s the new cold calling. Rainmakers, industry groups, community organizations, sports, and ad hoc groups are the way people are doing business today.
  10. Use a system. Without it, you can’t tell if you’re gaining ground or losing it. Sandler covers everything I’ve talked about today. Trustpointe is awesome.
Get Better — Comments Off on Back to school
08
Mar 13

Back to school

I’m excited to be joining Trustpointe for Sandler Sales Training. Duane Weber, Tim Roberts and Matt Nettleton are great guys. Looking forward to learning from them. My brother-in-law has transformed the sales process in his company using Sandler principles. I’m ready to do the same!

Get Better — Comments Off on Peter Bregman – How to take back your life in 2013
10
Dec 12

Peter Bregman – How to take back your life in 2013

Great video on taking back your time and your life from Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes.

Peter Bregman Video

Get Better / Play Hard — Comments Off on Study: People Who Exercise Have Larger Brains Later in Life – Lindsay Abrams – The Atlantic
09
Nov 12

Study: People Who Exercise Have Larger Brains Later in Life – Lindsay Abrams – The Atlantic

PROBLEM: The brain is a muscle, says every teacher ever. Their point is figurative, but the brain is like a muscle in the sense that it normally loses size with age — in some parts by as much as 25 percent.

METHODOLOGY: A long time ago, Scotland surveyed the intelligence of every Scottish child that had been born in 1936. More recently, 691 of those former children celebrated their 70th birthdays by filling out a survey about their social and intellectual pursuits and their levels of physical activity. Three years after that, they celebrated their 73rd birthdays by undergoing brain MRI scans at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The researchers assessed the brain images for physical signs of cognitive decline.

Study: People Who Exercise Have Larger Brains Later in Life – Lindsay Abrams – The Atlantic

Business Development — Comments Off on Spending on IT Outsourcing on the Rise – CIO Insight
08
Nov 12

Spending on IT Outsourcing on the Rise – CIO Insight

As businesses stabilize and expand IT budgets, IT outsourcing is on the rise, particularly in help desk support.

The percentage of the IT budget designated for outsourcing services is up 23 percent, on average, in 2012 over the prior year, according to Computer Economics annual outsourcing study, IT Outsourcing Statistics 2012/2013. The report also found Web/e-commerce systems and application development were the two most widely outsourced functions, and outsourcing in that sector is a mature service with a high adoption level, likely to grow relatively slowly, compared with other services.

Help desk and desktop support are the IT functions with the greatest potential for successfully reducing costs through outsourcing, while the functions with the greatest potential for improving service are desktop support and IT security. The study profiled outsourcing activity for 11 IT functions, including application development, application hosting, application maintenance, data center operations, database administration, desktop support, disaster recovery services, help desk services, IT security, network operations, and Web/e-commerce systems.

For each IT function, the company looks at how many organizations are outsourcing work and how much of their workload is being outsourced. “As our analysis shows, IT organizations are beginning to embrace cloud-based applications as well as expand outsourcing of data center operations. Other factors are also supporting decisions to outsource IT functions, including the ever-present desire to reduce costs,” the report said.

Spending on IT Outsourcing on the Rise – CIO Insight.

Business Development / Get Better — Comments Off on Why Sales People Actually Hate Leads | Fast Company
07
Nov 12

Why Sales People Actually Hate Leads | Fast Company

Warm or cool leads generated by marketing are typically just annoyances to sales people–ones that get in the way of their “real” work. Here’s how smart companies handle CRM and their marketing and sales teams to put a stop to the waste and increase revenue.

I have worked with many different sized companies helping them to scale their business. One of the key things I always look at is this: How does the sales force get leads, and what do they do with them?

Generating leads is at the center of most marketing mandates, yet most companies never really take full advantage of their investment in those leads. And when they think about scaling the business, they think they need to generate even more leads. I see too few companies invest in getting more revenue out of the leads they have.

One of the universal truths I have seen is that sales people basically hate leads that are generated by marketing. Unless, of course, the “lead” is ready to buy.

via Why Sales People Actually Hate Leads | Fast Company

Get Better / Play Hard — Comments Off on Baseline – Ten Ways to Keep Moving at Work
06
Nov 12

Baseline – Ten Ways to Keep Moving at Work

When you sit at a desk all day, you’re inviting a variety of health issues. Staying in one position for too long puts constant pressure on individual parts of the body. A sense of discomfort kicks in, and muscle tension increases. You can also damage your blood circulation and decrease metabolism and energy levels—especially after one of those 3 p.m. “cake day” celebrations. Sports scientist Jack Groppel, working with Wellness & Prevention, has overseen research involving the incorporation of regular movement into the routines of employees, with participants indicating positive results. More than one-third, for example, reported high energy levels in the middle of the day. Overall, workers say they also increased engagement and focus. With this in mind, Groppel and other experts suggest these 10 ways to get moving during the day. Johnson & Johnson launched Wellness & Prevention to encourage a healthier and more productive workforce.

Baseline – Ten Ways to Keep Moving at Work

Get Better — Comments Off on How to Harness Your Brain’s Secret Efficiency | Entrepreneur.com
05
Nov 12

How to Harness Your Brain’s Secret Efficiency | Entrepreneur.com

Do you answer emails while on a conference call, or make your to-do list while in a business meeting? You may think multi-tasking is the obvious answer to a jam-packed schedule, but Wellesley, Mass.-based business and wellness coach Margaret Moore, co-author of Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life (Harlequin, 2011), says juggling multiple tasks places stress on the brain and negatively effects your job performance.

“Our brains were designed to focus all of its resources on one task at a time, be it a work project or a personal conversation,” says Moore. Rapidly shifting from a conference call to an email to a meeting means these tasks only get a part of the brain’s resources, and can result in sloppy work, making you feel dissatisfied with your accomplishments at the end of the day. “[When we focus on a singular task], our memory works well, we make fewer mistakes and we’re creative — even brilliant from time to time,” says Moore. Using the brain’s organizational software in the way it was designed can help you to feel more focused and productive.

She offers these tips to tap into your brain’s organizational efficiency:

1. Start your day with mind-calming activities. Just as a runner stretches their muscles before a race, your brain needs to warm up as well. Moore suggests engaging in activities that bring your mind to a sense of calm, whether that’s exercise, deep breathing exercises, listening to music, or just letting your mind wander by doing a crossword puzzle or reading the newspaper while you drink your morning coffee.

2. Schedule “do not disturb” time. Schedule focus periods throughout your day at the times when you’re most creative and strategic. Sustain your attention during those times, focusing all of your energy on the task at hand until you’re ready to move on to the next. Avoid checking your email while you’re working on a task and switch your phone to voicemail to avoid disturbances.

via How to Harness Your Brain's Secret Efficiency | Entrepreneur.com

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