Published in December of 2009, these posts highlight the importance of working today to gain sales in the future.

Have you ever had a sale that closed really quick?
One that resulted in a core, loyal, customer that will gladly act as a reference and give you referrals.
How did you make that happen? I will argue that you had two things working for you timing and a relationship.
When you have the right timing the sale [...]

As a fan of Asterix the comic* book as a child, I grew up with much of my fascination with ancient history coming from exploring some of the wonderful comic adaptations of historical events and characters. It was particularly so with a specific Asterix comic adventure where the indomitable Gauls were up against the fearmongering [...]

We’re all familiar with the old proverb, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  What we usually overlook, though, is the first part of that verse: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”  No, this isn’t a theology lesson; it’s a universal law.  Plant orange seeds, you get oranges. Plant apple seeds, you [...]

Professional Service Firms are probably the least likely of all businesses to know what their results next March are going to look like. Most professional service pipelines look rather more like a cliff edge than they do a smooth flow.
Part of the reasons for this are inherent in the nature of professional service businesses. There’s [...]

Your March sales will be the result of all of the activity you have taken in Q4 – 2009, not between January 1st and March 31st, 2010. This article outlines some of the ways we can change the way we think about these dates to ensure we have planted the necessary seeds to harvest results later.

NCAA Basketball has a tremendous impact on my schedule starting now.  I’m looking at the schedule, kind of planning my time backward.  According to the NCAA Basketball site, final selection is on March 14, Opening Round Game is March 16, Fourth Round Completes on March 28 and the final four on April 3rd and 5th.
I’m [...]

When I first heard my North American sales friends speak of how your March sales were determined by what you did in December, my first thought was how lucky some people have it if they only have to think of sales 3 months in advance.  And I realized that as an international sales person used [...]

Selling is a profession of immediacy. Commission salespeople get paid for what they sell today. The presence of weekly, monthly, and yearly sales goals stresses the need for immediacy. Given all the attention on the “What have you sold for me lately” mentality of

ummm…. so March sales?
Please stop telling me about your stupid pipeline.  I know you have all the answers teed up for me.  I don’t give a @#$%…
I’m not your mom or you sales manager so stop pitching me on how amazing your three month selling cycle is.  Frankly I don’t care.
I am sure your pipeline [...]

Journal entry: December 3, 2009
“My calendar is full and my sales are on track. Looks like I’ll end the year ahead of target. This means my boss will finally stop bugging me to get my sales on track. After several years of developing my client base, I’m making headway. That means I can finally relax [...]