Buying And Selling Have Changed

You’ve probably heard the term “social selling” before. People use the term in different ways but it is generally known as a sales technique that starts via a social network like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. If you ask a marketer what it is, they would probably say “inbound marketing” or some other related term. Either way you think about it, social networks are changing how we buy.

The wall of red tape keeping innovation out of schools has got to come down. 

And right now we’re witnessing a surge of entrepreneurs and investors looking to get smart tech tools into classrooms. But it’s going to be a long road.

The (Overrated) Path of Least Resistance

If you're a seasoned salesperson, you have likely heard this "rule" before: "The best time to pick up that phone and cold call prospects is directly after you have closed a big deal or contract." I remember when my boss told me this as a rookie salesperson. It didn't make sense to me. Cold calling sounded like the last thing I wanted to do, regardless of whether or not I did it in the morning or afternoon, before or after a cup of coffee, or before or after I won a big contract.

Why Entrepreneurs Are Different

In a way, entrepreneurs are radicals.  Like radicals from the 1960’s.  Or free radicals in physics.  They change things.  They flit around.  They push us all to consider an alternative approach or lifestyle or behavior.  The great radical Saul Alinsky once said: “Most people do not accumulate a body of experience.  Most people go through life undergoing a series of

The Sales Process

I recently purchased a product. It felt like a necessary purchase to help inform my work and keep me organized. I was excited about getting started with using it. It was really simple to set up the call with a new account manager (as it should be when you want to buy something) and the initial call went well. I decided on the appropriate subscription level. It had all of the bells and whistles I was looking for, but I was nervous about getting everything set up the way I wanted it. Customizing it was important to me and my work.

Last week I called it quits with my current career of working for Chi Cheng, a Taiwanese based electronics manufacturer.  I wanted to share some of my lessons learned from the past ten and a half years working in sales, engineering, and project management.