Failure to follow-up will lessen loyalty.

Lower loyalty will sink sales.

Fanatical follow-up will radically grow sales.

So, how can we make follow-up priority #1? We elevate fervent follow-up by acting fearlessly.

In my experience, here are the most common reasons why we fail to follow-up: Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes I freeze at the keyboard. I get all fired up to craft an article or create a keynote, and nothing flows. Just prior to settling in, I had great intentions and big ideas. So, why the work stoppage? Occasionally, I suffer from FONNS (aka. Fear of Nothing New to Say).

Have you ever experienced FONNS?

Throughout my career, I have written countless messages of motivation and education. I have been humbled as many times by readers and viewers who expressed heartfelt gratitude after consuming a nugget that triggered life-changing transformation.

What was a common practice to me turned out to be catalyzing to them. Read the rest of this entry »

No app, widget, web site, software, hardware, lap top, desk top, upload, or download does justice to gratitude.

The computer doesn’t have innate gratitude. We tell it to express gratitude through automated emails and silly GIFs. These are one dimensional, heartless, unremarkable expressions that we glance at and delete in a flash.

There is no substitute for when the human being is feeling gracious, expresses thanks, and offers a return of kindness. These are multi-dimensional, heartfelt, significant expressions that we feel and retain forever.

I am entirely unimpressed when I receive bland, uninspired, monotonous emails (and robot calls) attempting to thank me for my business. Read the rest of this entry »

“It’s your fault if I buy from you or not. One way or another you will influence me!”

Last time I shared my seven reasons for NOT buying from you. Today I share why I WILL.

Get a roomful of salespeople together and ask them to sell the same exact product. Rinse and repeat this exercise, and the results will astound; a handful will achieve sales supremacy consistently. The Law of the Vital Few is always accurate.

Mark my words; the over-achievers would not conduct hard-sales techniques by pushing their will on others through fast talk and calculated scripts. In fact, they politely ended sales calls when they were convinced the shopper was not a fit for the product. Read the rest of this entry »

I am in the market to acquire something. You are one of many businesses offering what I need. It is your fault if I buy from you or not. From the moment I shop you online, correspond via email, chat by phone, or meet in-person – the judgement begins.

One way or another, you will influence me. It’s your fault if I buy from you or not.

I will buy what is best for me from who is best for me. Many others sell the exact same thing that you sell. Rub me the right way or the wrong way and the outcome is determined. Influence is everything.

These seven areas of influence will win me or lose me in the end. I am judging all consumer touch-points: your online presence (including web and social sites) and how you communicate with me in chats, emails and phone calls. Read the rest of this entry »

“Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Is it safe to say that you have attended a record-breaking number of online presentations this year? What percentage of the speakers kept you rapt? How often did your mind wander and the message minimize? I am betting that most went on too long and transformed you too little.

I wonder how many hours we have wasted collectively sitting through remarkably dull and woefully ineffective speeches. Our most precious commodity is time. We can never get those unproductive minutes back. Read the rest of this entry »

“… it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner.” – Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World

I miss being alone on center stage. I miss the sharpness of the spotlight and the vastness of the venue. Most of all, I miss the people in their seats curious with anticipation. They think, ‘who is this guy, does he have a clue about the challenges in my world and will I feel any different when he’s done?’ Read the rest of this entry »

You’re in the midst of a fabulous conversation when, all of a sudden, it comes to a screeching stop. The prospect goes dark on you.

A combination of emails, texts, and voicemail messages fail to return a reply. You are flummoxed and flabbergasted.

You analyze the sequence of events leading up to their disappearing act. By all indications, your follow-up was phenomenal. You stepped up, and yet the prospect stepped out. Your head shakes in disbelieve and disappointment, as you wonder what could have possibly gone wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

Conventions have ceased. Sales meetings have suspended. Coffee shop confabs have dispersed.

We’re all in danger of losing our networking knack!

Commerce continues with or without us. Victory will go to the versatile virtual networkers.

What’s your plan? Read the rest of this entry »

What new skill sets are you working to acquire these days? With all the pivot-preaching prevalent, I wonder who is dreaming big and who is doing big? Inspire me, please!

Skills don’t come in pill form, but can you imagine if they did? The upside would be the instant, one-step mastery of a new skill set. The downside would be the instant, one-step mastery of a new skill set.

If we took a magic pill to achieve it, how would we value it? The only heavy-lifting needed is a glass of water to wash it down. I don’t see any real sense of accomplishment in such a trivial task – nor any personal, professional, or spiritual growth happening. Read the rest of this entry »

Salespeople with the greatest intentions establish the weakest connections by failing to uncover primary objections. If you’re engaged in one-on-one sales and want to sell more, try asking me what I DON’T want.

By nature, we salespeople are eager to please and excited to share. Embarking on talk tracks of fabulous features and benefits is how we are trained. So, after asking standard set-up questions cleverly designed to lead customers to say what we already assume they want from us, we slide right into confident sales mode and start heading for the finish line. Read the rest of this entry »

“When we fail to stop, drop and roll out next-gen strategies, we end up out of touch and out of business.” – Stuart

It’s easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of the day. On bad days, we rush to put out the little fires that pop-up. On good days, we rush to put out the big proposals that pop-in. Inevitably, our workplace becomes a pop-culture meaning we are perpetually focused on whatever is popping that day.

The good news is that we somehow manage to get the job done. Read the rest of this entry »

“Too many businesses are caught in this unthinkable, unpredictable dilemma: to pivot or bust.”

Today’s hot business buzzword is pivot. Webcasters, podcasters, bloggers and vloggers are charging us to change. For the insatiable entrepreneur, to pivot is practical. For the contented entrepreneur, the pivot is painful.

In the midst of this pandemic, it is clear to see which businesses are riding a sales boom and which have sunk low in unthinkable gloom. Both must pivot to survive. Read the rest of this entry »

“In the bleakest of business times, in this year of the pandemic, they picked me!”

By all accounts, the ambitious business people are busy pivoting and persevering. I understand how challenging it is to stay poised and positive in a pandemic. Fear and uncertainty dampen tenacity. It would be so easy to expect and accept less.

Aiming lower and achieving our mark is not as fulfilling – emotionally or financially. Read the rest of this entry »

“We can’t escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us in all our exciting adventure; it is not an anchor holding us transfixed to one spot.”

– Dr. Susan Jeffers, Feel the Fear… and Do It Anyway

Training wheels cut the risk of falling off a bike. They provide little kids a sense of safety and confidence. Read the rest of this entry »

“Having the right four bucket lists will grow your business exponentially!”

A CLIENT is someone who has just purchased from you. A CLIENT is someone who has purchased from you in the past. A CLIENT is someone who is ‘in the funnel’ and about to buy. What if I told you that only the first statement is true? Read the rest of this entry »

On October 3^rd, I will do a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and finish with a 13.1-mile run. I write you from St. Petersburg, FL, training for a St. Jude Memphis Ironman 70.3. To all who saw my May 17th Facebook post while on my Southwest MEM/MDW/TPA flight and wondered why and where Stuart was flying to, now you know.

I’ll tell you what it is like to fly when most others are choosing not to fly right now. This article is not about what it’s like to train for an event that most others do not choose to do, ever. I’ll save that story for another day. Read the rest of this entry »

“When your face is fuzzy and voice is tinny the message you hoped to give cannot be received.”

Suddenly everyone is ZOOMING. I love it when brand names convert to verbs, don’t you? I have been using GoToWebinar for umpteen years. Adding the ‘ing’ creates a six-syllable verb that just doesn’t cut it. (Try it: GOTOWEBINARING). Bottomline, they both put the power of virtual meetings within everybody’s reach, professional speaker or not. Read the rest of this entry »

“Now is the best time to play catch-up!”

Business owners, in all categories, are kicking themselves for not finishing certain projects prior to the pandemic. A handful are experiencing an uptick in sales and are struggling to keep up. The rest are wishing their phones were ringing and emails were dinging. Read the rest of this entry »

“We’re just looking.”

What would you give to hear that today?

In a non-pandemic world, most salespeople would hear that and wince. Unless you’re selling booze or bath tissue, I bet you’d give anything for a few good tire-kickers right now.

Sorta makes you appreciate all those walk-ins that you typically classified as time-wasters. That’s my point. Read the rest of this entry »

Businesses are running in reverse. Clients are cancelling. Prospects are pausing. Shoppers are shuddering. Owners are struggling to stay standing as sales are disbanding.

In between the refunds and rebooks, these owners switch roles and become consumers. We lop off the luxuries, reconsider the non-essentials, reschedule, and reduce. And so the spiral goes.

I have been paying close attention to how businesses Read the rest of this entry »