sales Archives - Page 11 of 13

Wanna Buy a Fake Egg? Neither Do Your Customers!

I’m a geek.

How much of a geek? I am a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM). Need I say more? IBM has a monthly magazine called The Linking Ring, and there’s a regular column that reviews magic tricks, books, and apparatus. In the most recent issue there is a product review that ends with this sentence:

[quote style=”boxed”]So if you are looking for a fake egg that compresses into a relatively small space and pops back into its ... Continue Reading →

13
JUN
2013

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Customer Service, Producing Results, Sales

Bill Stainton, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, motivational speaker, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Play a Bigger Game

Posted by: Bill Stainton

What would “playing a bigger game” look like in your business? In many cases, it looks pretty much the same as playing a regular game — only with a different mindset. Let me give you an example.

I’m a professional speaker. As such, my colleagues are motivational speakers, leadership speakers, and business speakers. Many of them have information and ...

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30
JAN
2013

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Change, Producing Results, Sales

attitude, Bill Stainton, business speaker, business success, goal setting, goals, leadership speaker, motivational speaker, play a bigger game, sales, success

It’s Okay to Say “No” to the Wrong Customer

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I was at an event recently where one business speaker asserted that there were four words you should never tell a customer: “I can’t do that.” And he had some very good reasons for this assertion:

Your competitors love it when you tell a customer, “I can’t do that.”

It’s music to their ears.

When you tell a customer, “I can’t do that,” you’re giving them an excuse to look elsewhere, and you’re opening a window of ...

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27
MAR
2012

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Customer Service, Producing Results, Sales

award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business integrity, customer service, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership training, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

An Award-Winning Performance…Every Time

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Some of you know that I used to produce a sketch comedy TV show in Seattle called Almost Live! It was on the air for fifteen years, and number one in its time slot for ten straight years. During those fifteen years, my team and I won more than 100 Emmy Awards. At the risk of sounding immodest, we were really, really good at what we did. Our ...

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15
MAR
2012

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Producing Results, Teams

award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business integrity, customer service, exceeding expectations, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Would You Hire You?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Would you hire you?

A friend and I were talking recently about Michael Gerber’s seminal book, The E-Myth Revisited, and that got us talking about the by-now-almost-cliched concept of “working on the business” rather than “working in the business.” The basic idea is that a baker (to use Gerber’s example) decides to open a bake shop, and then spends all her time baking rather than running a baking business. To grossly oversimplify, Gerber is saying that, as business owners, we need ...

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8
MAR
2012

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Leadership, Producing Results, Teams

award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business integrity, customer service, leadership, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Who Moved My Peas?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

First, a status report. My cheese is fine. Nobody’s moved my cheese; my cheese is right where it’s always been.

Cheese, you see, is the reward you get for making it through the maze. It’s the fun stuff. Cheese is:

the glass of wine at the end of the day
the weekend movie
the summer trip to Italy

Cheese is the fun stuff. I’m not going to lose track of my cheese. It’s front-of-mind, and I know exactly where it is.

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21
FEB
2012

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Producing Results, Work Ethic

attitude, Bill Stainton, business integrity, integrity, leadership, procrastination, productivity, running a business, running your business, sales, time management, work ethic

Don’t Be Like Netflix!

Posted by: Bill Stainton

So I got a Roku for Christmas. Now, I know that “a Roku” sounds like one of those yappy little dogs that Paris Hilton would carry around in a purse, but it’s not. It’s actually a very cool little device that sits near your TV and lets you stream movies and TV shows from sources like Hulu and Netflix. And the ...

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10
FEB
2012

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Customer Service, Producing Results

Bill Stainton, business integrity, customer service, exceeding expectations, integrity, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, work ethic

A Success Lesson from Paul McCartney

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I’ve had the good fortune to meet Paul McCartney a few times. And I say “good fortune” not just because it’s cool meeting famous people; I say “good fortune” because of the lesson I learned—and re-learned—from this guy (who, as a refresher to our younger readers, was one of the Beatles).

Think about this: Paul McCartney is arguably the most ...

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30
DEC
2011

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Customer Service, Producing Results, Work Ethic

attitude, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, customer service, exceeding expectations, leadership, Paul McCartney, running a business, running your business, sales

Does Your Business Have a “Hook”?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

You’ve got a nice little business with all the things that a nice little business requires: a great product or service, a company web site, maybe even an expensive sales and marketing campaign. The only problem is, you’re not getting the customers. You’ve built it, but they’re not coming. What’s the problem?

You have no hook.

One of the primary reasons for the Beatles’ enduring success is that, above almost anything else, those boys could write a hook! Some little musical idea ...

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7
MAY
2010

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Customer Service, Producing Results, Work Ethic

Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, competition, creative ideas, creativity, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, marketing, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Are Your Customers Finding You Dispensable?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I just got off the phone with a colleague who was complaining (whining, really) about the fact that nobody seemed to have any money to hire him. It’s the economy, of course. A few years ago, people had money, and he was being hired. Now, it’s dried up. Damn this economy!

To a certain extent, he’s right—things were easier a few years ago. But he was wrong when he said that nobody has any money. Because here’s the truth:

There’s always money ...

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31
JAN
2010

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Change, Customer Service, Sales, The Beatles

attitude, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, competition, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success