Growing Your Business

I’m currently consulting for a fairly large insurance agency. While conducting a one-on-one coaching session with one of their sales representatives, I offered some advice that many salespeople–or anyone for that matter–can benefit from. And it starts with this: Get out of your own way! This was the situation. Zach (not his real name) was struggling. He had some personal …

Several years ago, when I was managing an insurance office, I was interviewing a prospective sales rep who I felt had great potential as an agent. Throughout the interviewing process, she was articulate, impeccably dressed, and demonstrated excellent people skills. I was convinced that I had found a real superstar. Shortly after she was hired, my new agent invited me …

There comes a time when you just don’t feel like working anymore. It happens to everyone. You are certainly not an exception. Rather, it would be surprising if you haven’t felt that way about any of your past tasks or projects.. As an entrepreneur, you would have worked hard to get your business to a level where it is successful …

If you’ve been in business any length of time, chances are you’ve “bonked”—a phenomenon that happens to marathoners around mile 20 otherwise known as “hitting the wall.” Succeeding in business is much like running a marathon: The start is exciting, with the thrill of anticipation swelling as you toe the starting line. You know where you want to go, and …

The only way for a company to find out if its marketing is performing is to doubt everything it’s doing. Instead of guessing, jumping from one initiative to another, hoping for the best, or taking advice without knowing how to evaluate it, start at the beginning by questioning your assumptions, your expectations, your personal preferences, and, particularly, your perceptions of …

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products, and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple: The six-figure sales reps understand the importance of business development and never …

So how do you approach friends and others about the work you do with the goal of getting referrals? One of the major challenges is that they haven’t directly experienced the value of your work. So basically, you are not yet “referable” in their eyes. How do you become referable with them? Obviously, it would be great if they became …

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to have had many people come into my life and take the time to mentor and guide me along my career path. Mentors, like bridge builders, help people go from where they are to where they want to be. Mentors build their bridges not with concrete and steel girders, but with words …

When we hear the word “negotiating,” we often think of closing a big sale or making a big purchase, but negotiating is something that can happen every day with family, co-workers and clients. You are negotiating any time you tell someone that what you want is different from what they are trying to give you. The common goal of negotiation …

Americans spend more than $12 billion per year on the nation’s most pervasive addiction—self-help and the seemingly insatiable desire to be more successful. Like other compulsions, we can’t get enough to satisfy our longing. Every couple of weeks, there’s a new self-help book, video or seminar. Malcolm Gladwell’s latest addition to his shelf of self-help books is totally enticing. It’s …