Have you ever been accused of not being a good listener?  If your answer is “no”, it is probably because you were not listening to the person (typically a family member) who enthusiastically shared this little gem of wisdom with you. 

As it turns out, the act of li...

In today’s commoditized world, it is very difficult for prospects to ascertain how one provider’s products and services are different from another’s. The reality is that most often there is not a lot that is different.  And, in those rare exceptions where there is some...

Italians are famous for using gestures. As they speak about food, or love, or even laundry detergent, they exude a sense of energy, passion and excitement through their hand movement.  It is believed that centuries ago, gesturing was a way to compete for attention in o...

Have you ever been in the audience of a presentation in which the speaker stands before a slide that is populated with 12 point font, a bunch of numbers, a graph and says something like "I know you can't read this, but...?"

This approach is not particularly engaging, is...

Last month I had two speaking engagements with the same company back-to-back.The senior business leader who was scheduled to kick-off the session had a flight delay, so he asked his sales manager to step in for him. He returned to introduce me to the second audience hi...

There are two types of questions in a sales presentation.  One is when a prospect asks a question to genuinely seek information.  The other is when a prospect masks a potential objection in the form of a question.  It is often difficult to distinguish one from the othe...

Sitting in the audience of a small business presentation, I held my breath as the speaker paused and then panicked.  It was clear from the start that she had memorized her presentation. She was doing all right until one word escaped her.  She repeated the sentence agai...

We all have them.  The one or two questions that we dread we will be asked by a client or prospect.  It could be the question about how many clients you cover.  Or it could be the question about the recent negative press, or maybe the one about a service or capability...

“Differentiation" is a term frequently used in sales. Salespeople have been trained to search out, and sell, their "points of differentiation," and buyers have been wired to ask how one competitor is different from another. 

In complex sales, I think we are all asking,...

Yesterday, when I was about a quarter mile from my house running a quick errand, I realized I had left my phone on the kitchen table.  I immediately hit the brakes and began what would have probably been a five-point turn on the narrow road. I suddenly stopped somewher...