Engage your employees in the training process

Companies invest in employee training and talent development programs for one reason: to get results. The problem is that too often they see training as an “event” rather than a process, and they earn a miserable return on investment. See if this rings true. You hire an outside consultant to conduct a two-day training session. […]

The Advisor’s Corner – How Should I, as a Leader, Communicate?

Question: Everyone talks about communication being a problem in our company. As a leader, what am I supposed to do about it? StrategyDriven Response: (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor) A recent Development Dimensions International study, Driving Workplace Performance through High-Quality Conversations: What leaders must do every day to be effective, reminds us in no […]

Jeffrey Gitomer

How is a cup of coffee like a sale? When it’s with a customer!

I like coffee. Dark, black coffee. Espresso. No cream. No sugar. Just dark, black coffee. You? But I look at coffee differently than you do. I don’t “wake up and drink it.” I venture out to a coffee shop and an early morning meeting, and oh, by the way, I have coffee. My goal each […]

The Advisor’s Corner – How Do I Lead Those Older Than Me?

Question: How do I lead direct reports who are quite a bit older than me? StrategyDriven Response: (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor) Indeed, the chances of leading people senior in age and experience to you are quite high given the delayed retirements and demographics we see today. This is not a bad thing; in […]

Jeffrey Gitomer

Windshield time. Before and after opportunities.

All outside salespeople have ‘windshield time’ – the time you spend behind the wheel, or in some form of transportation, going to and from appointments. Windshield time is a critical time both for the anticipation of the sales call and for the aftermath of the sales call. REALITY CHECK: How are you taking advantage of […]

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, part 6 of 6

Leadership Role #5: Managing the Action Cycle When making requests of team members, a leader must set clear expectations and conditions of satisfaction. This allows employees to request the resources they need to fulfill their project commitments. It is then the leader’s responsibility to ensure that these resources (e.g., budget, staffing, and time) are made […]

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, part 5 of 6

Leadership Role #4: Building Followership Leaders require followers who are committed to achieving the mission – ideally people who believe in both the vision and the leader and who want to be there. To create such a devoted followership, leaders must remember that they are also followers – not only in the sense of supporting […]

StrategyDriven Advisors Corner Article | The Advisor's Corner - How Do I Deal with a Calendar Full of Meetings?

The Advisor’s Corner – How Do I Deal with a Calendar Full of Meetings?

How do I deal with a calendar full of meetings that are wasting my time?

Jeffrey Gitomer

Salespeople have questions. Jeffrey has answers.

I get a ton of emails from people seeking insight or asking me to solve their sales dilemmas. Here are a few that may relate to your job, your life, and (most important) your sales thought process right now. Dear Jeffrey, This is my first week in car sales. Can you tell me what sections […]

It’s Your ‘Reputation’ Stupid: the Real ‘R’ in CRM

As the co-inventor of ACT! contact management software, the product credited as the catalyst for the Customer Relationship Management industry, I’m surprisingly not a champion of the concept of ‘managing relationships’ at all. I don’t think entering data, scheduling activities, or even communicating with someone amounts to ‘management’ in any meaningful way. Even if the […]