Both missions and revivals try to attract converts, but they work in different ways. The "downtown mission" of movie lore attracts people by offering food and shelter. And, usually in unspoken exchange, they seek to convert these people. A revival directly caters only to those people who want to be converted. Which one is more like selling today?

Do you own the compelling content on your web site? One of the key things that you want to make sure of when developing a site is that the most interesting information on your site lives on your site. That is, don't have lots of links from your site to other sites. Chances are that you'll never get them back to your site once they leave.

I just talked to a prospective client. He's in a B2C services market and his only marketing or advertising right now is direct mail based on purchased lists. This used to work fine, with decent ROI, but it doesn't anymore. So, he's naturally looking around for other options. How to respond?

Many salespeople take a "logical" approach to sales. They think of themselves as engaged in an argument (not in the sense of "argumentative"). The prospect doesn't think that their solution is required. The salesperson does. The salesperson sets out to convince and persuade the prospect to adopt his/her position. The backbone of this approach is logical argumentation. But, the question is "does logical argumentation work in sales?"

It's a common occurance. Sales people in the field spend a good deal of time creating their own sales tools. This can range from editing the corporate "deck" to writing and designing entire ads or brochures. Why does this happen? Probably not for the reason you think.

Most B2B companies want to increase their revenue. And most of them do it by increasing sales effort. This can take the form of adding staff or increasing advertising. The question is whether this is the best approach.

When you need new sales, there is usually a period of decision. You need to decide how you're going to do it. The first impulse of most business leaders is to hire new salespeople. But, is this the best choice?

Sales managers and VPs have a tough nut to crack. They have to get a bunch of people to sell more. The focus of this effort is usually on getting the people to work harder. I would suggest that their focus should be on making the salespersons's job easier.