Let’s Meet in April

From the “I wish I’d written down who told me this” department: A friend of my mystery source runs a successful and expanding insurance agency who tells this story: “A guy called me in January and said, ‘My P&C insurance policy renews in February, would you like to quote on it?’ I said, ‘Let’s set … Read more »

Because

The magazine article, torn roughly from its binding, sits on the kitchen counter.  ‘Though unaddressed, its location on the counter indicates it’s for me. Its source and topic suggest whose hands left it there. At once, an invitation and a puzzle. Read more »

Developing the Lead

.…in which we remind ourselves to see for the forest while we’re cataloging the trees. Sunday morning lead sentence in an on-line New York Times article: “COLUMBIA, S.C. – Senator Barack Obama won a commanding victory over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, drawing a wide majority of black … Read more »

A Matter of Intent

“I have some concerns about the documents,”  I said as our conversation began. The documents in question were two contracts running, about 80 pages each.  10 point type. Single spaced. Numbing. He treated my point as an objection he could “handle” by minimizing. Read more »

Credibility

Baltimore, Maryland. 9:30 pm. Friday night. I was shuffling my way down one more jet way to one more airplane. Last leg of my trip home. ‘Though we all felt like cattle in a stock yard chute, the boarding passengers either shuffled silently or mumbled quietly to traveling companions. Not much moo-ing. So, it was … Read more »

Picture Perfect

One of my 55 year old friends invested a month last summer in a photography workshop, one of many steps on her path to mastering portrait photography. Early in the workshop, she asked her instructor: “How will I take pictures that are unique?” Read more »

Out of Gas

Big snow storm in our neck of the woods this weekend.  Second big one in four days. As I woke this morning, the 11th inch was hitting the drive way and, within an hour, falling snow was giving way to falling sleet and freezing rain. Read more »

Developing Expertise

About six weeks ago, we wrote: Whether you’re selling office equipment, mulch, or payment solutions, you are selling your expertise, not your products. Read more »

Happy and Interested

….In which we provide an effective alternative to cold calling prospects for appointments. Which would you rather do? Make 500 cold calls seeking appointments with people you’ve never met and who don’t want to talk to you? Or create a personal marketing program which brings them to you? Read more »

Existential Sales

Over my breakfast egg one morning, I read one of my son’s college application essays that boiled down to a bio-physics angst: “If we’re just clouds of electrons hovering together like so many bees in a swarm, what’s the point of anything?” Read more »

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