I first published this discussion six months ao. Since then, I have had more and more discussions with my clients about their pricing strategies and being squeezed in this market. In a lean economy, many sales and business development people feel obligated to discount their prices; at least, the discussion of price and where it fits in the sales strategy becomes more … [Read more...]
Ten Tips to Earn Stimulus Money Contracts
Federal dollars from the stimulus package are slowly making their way to state and local governments, which will award contracts for all kinds of goods and services with this money. Money that was formerly spent in the for-profit sector is now being spent by government entities. If your business is not prepared to tap into this fertile source of contracts, it is time to … [Read more...]
Five Sure-Fire Ways to Irritate Your Prospects
I am a hot weather person—can’t tolerate cold, or even chilly, and love hot whether it’s dry or steamy. Yet every summer, when the outdoor temperature finally gets comfortable for me, I have to deal with the battle of the air conditioners. Yesterday I walked to lunch in gorgeous weather for mid-summer—82 degrees, slight breeze—from my perspective it was perfect. The … [Read more...]
Two items in the news really grabbed me this week. I blogged about them at my home blog, but today I want to talk about how they are related. First, I received an invitation from Forbes magazine to join a new site called Forbes Woman. I was angry and insulted when I visited the site because I thought it was not about primarily about women in their roles is business … [Read more...]
About Competition and Sales
On June 4th, I hosted the Whale Hunting Women Summit in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event provided inspiration, motivation, and direction for the more than 165 women who attended. As part of my own presentation to the audience, I talked about what I see as the movement from a culture of competition (a 20th century idea) to a culture of collaboration (a 21st century idea.) I … [Read more...]
4 Great Women Bloggers
I've been on my "virtual blog tour" for one month now. This is an activity in which on every business day, a blogger or radio host invites me to be interviewed or contribute a guest post. Several hosts have invited me to be "present" in their blog space for several days. The purpose of my tour is to promote my new book Whale Hunting Women, and Nikki Leigh of Promo 101 is … [Read more...]
Sales Lessons from the WNBA
Just about one year ago I personally “discovered” the WNBA—the Women’s National Basketball Association—as embodied by my local team the Indiana Fever. I say “discovered” tongue in cheek, because the Fever celebrate their tenth season this year, so I can’t claim to have been out in front on noticing them or attending to the powerfully good sports entertainment they … [Read more...]
How to Stop Scaring Big Prospects
Whale cultures can be maddening to smaller, more entrepreneurial companies. Have you ever been selling into a very large company and left meetings perplexed because they would not make a decision that was so clearly in their best interests? How can you explain their reluctance? How can you bring them to a decision? The nature of big companies and government agencies is to … [Read more...]
Susan Boyle and What She Means For Us
The past week has been defined for me by Susan Boyle's phenomenal performance on Britain's Got Talent. Can't tell you how many times I have watched her sing "I Dreamed a Dream" on YouTube, tears streaming down my face every single time. I'm reposting below an entry that I wrote yesterday for my own blog. Let me just back up a little. As a woman coming of age in the early … [Read more...]
Five Ways to Power Your Boat
Since I started writing for Women on Business, I've focused on particular women's issues and perspectives. But I have not introduced you properly to Whale Hunting, which is my company's system to grow your business fast by selling bigger deals to bigger customers. So that's my topic for today. When you are a smaller company selling to other small companies, you can conduct … [Read more...]