Editor’s Note

We all have heard of stories of heroic struggle of great men and women against odds, survival and eventual triumph that have always inspired people, given them hope, courage to fight, and urged them to stand for themselves and the cause they believe in.

The Wealthy Leader: My friend, the richest man you’ve never heard of

I first heard about Bill Bartmann in the late 1990s. I was working on a book, The Stuff of Heroes: The 8 Universal Laws of Leadership and was seeking interviewees of outstanding leadership to illustrate the eight universal laws in my book. I came across an article, “The Richest Man You’ve Never Heard Of” in the September 1t, 1997 issue of Inc magazine. Bartmann was truly a hero because he fought hard to take care of his people and to do the right thing.

Sales and Service Excellence January 2017 Advertisers

Write Content That Facilitates Buying Decisions: Data vs. decisions

Because of your sophisticated tracking and targeting, you know who’s reading your content. But do you know why they’re reading it? And how are you accessing those who could/should buy but are ignoring the articles you are sending them?

Sales Time Management Tips: Being effective vs. being efficient

Does this sound familiar? You have more customers to take care of, more variety of products and services to sell, more information to manage, and more meetings to go to today than you did a year or so ago. Welcome to the compressed, chaotic job that is the life of the sales person in the 21st century. It's more difficult to be an effective sales person today than ever before.

What Role Do Employees Play In A Brand’s Customer Experience?

The brutal truth for any brand to face up to is that they all have a customer experience, whether they like it or not. The choice is whether they manage it or not, and one of the biggest influencers on that experience are the people who interact with customers at each and every touch point; your employees.

Learn Your Productivity Cycle To Sell More: Tackling the day's toughest task

In any given situation, the person who always knows best about what will keep you most productive is you. As often as you can, you want to work with your internal rhythm so that you get the best of yourself. For example, if you've been seated for twenty minutes or so, it's best to get up and stretch, even if for a few seconds. Your veins need this and so does your heart.

The Professional Enterprise Sales Process Steps: Part 4: Using a U.S.P. to differentiate *you*

As you plan your enterprise sale, you’ve figured out who to talk to (in the December issue of Sales and Service Excellence Essentials). You know that you want to focus on the benefit at the individual customer sees it. How do you get the conversation started? As always, it starts with taking the customer’s viewpoint and working from there.

How To Build Marketing Pillars As Strong As The Parthenon ?

Dating back to Ancient Greece and Egypt, monumental structures have relied on the strength of stone pillars, working together to support an immense amount of weight and pressure.

Making Your Sales Message Memorable: 8 tips that add value to your pitch

Some salespeople are silly enough to think that if they talk longer, they add more value or get their point across more effectively. Actually, any prospect or potential buyer you ask is eager for your pitch to be presented as efficiently and memorably as possible.