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My Walk on Fire
“Yes…Yes…Yes.” I kept repeating it, along with a few thousand other strangers, as I pressed forward barefoot, toward the burning fire. “Make your move!” As...
This Is What Happened When I Completely Changed My Approach to Sales
I had four sales meetings in one day recently. At the end of the day, I spent some time reflecting on how -- and why --...
A B2B Product Launch the Motorola Way
Last week, I helped Motorola Solutions launch the Symbol TC70, its new B2B handheld computer. A product launch is a different kind of live event...
How to Lead a Changing Workforce
No matter what group or industry I’m working with, people want to better understand how to work more effectively across the different generations. A few...
Your Changing Customer: How to Connect With Gen Y
What do your customers look like today? Have you considered what they might look like in 2020? Your customers are changing. Increasingly, millennials (members of...
How Can HR Have More Impact? My Interview with Renee Raming
How can HR become more strategic? Is there an opportunity for HR to have a much bigger impact on business performance? A 2012 PwC study...
5 Sales Tips I Found in a Shoe Box
Today’s post is by Lynn Mandinec, business manager at Ryan Estis & Associates. Lynn works closely with REA clients to design the right program and curriculum to...
We Remember the Story
“Hi Ryan, I wanted to say hello. I saw you speak a couple years ago. I loved the message and I’m looking forward to seeing...
Why Down Time Matters
Everyone is busy. Our inbox, calendars, to-do lists and screens run our lives. Everyone is working a second shift and we don’t take vacations. Life...
IT Business Partnering: Interview with CIO and Author Joe Topinka
Are you in the technology business? In today’s world, the truth is that every company is in the technology business. Tech is affecting every aspect...
Start Obsessing Over Customer Outcomes
If you’re going through your daily activity as a salesperson focused on your end goals (commission, quotas, incentives), you just might be missing a much...
How PrideStaff Created Industry-Leading Growth
PrideStaff is a staffing agency that’s grown more than 30 percent every year for the past four consecutive years. The industry is growing at an...
Which Generation Is the Most Engaged at Work?
Our conventional wisdom about managing millennials is often proven false when we look at the research. In the video below, Modern Survey’s Don MacPherson and...
How To Move The Needle on Engagement and Performance
In the video below, I continue my conversation about engagement and performance with Don MacPherson, co-founder and president of Modern Survey. We consider: What role...
Unleashing Human Potential
How can leaders help employees perform to their absolute full potential? How can organizations capture more of the very best ideas and thinking to fuel...
What I Learned About Myself from Songwriting With Steve Earle
“It’s like I’ve opened a door to a new room. I know I have that room to go into, and I can let the light...
Leading Culture Change with Mike Kirley
How do you create a major culture change at an 88-year-old company in an industry as traditional as accounting? How do you assemble a team...
Every Moment Matters: Interview with Ryan Tanke of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Ryan Tanke lives at the intersection of driving sales and marketing innovation and delivering an exceptional experience for fans. As senior vice president and chief...
6 Quick Tips for Every Sales Leader
Times have changed, and it’s time for sales leaders to take action. Making basic changes to the way you manage and motivate your team can...
Change Happens
Two weeks ago, I arrived at a Top Producer event for a customer. The evening prior to my opening keynote, I attended the cocktail reception...
The Introvert’s Guide to Better Networking
Last week, I was in a room with 300 strangers. I was introduced to a woman who was sharp, outgoing, and engaging. She asked really...
Defining Your Brand DNA
In today’s crowded marketplace, any business that’s going to be successful has to tell a story that is authentic, differentiated and compelling. You need to...
How to Tell Your Story
Denise Strother has used storytelling to transform her business. Two years ago, I was fortunate to connect with Denise after a session I delivered for...
4 Keys to Generating More Referral Sales
How can I generate more referral business? I was asked this question during an event last week. It’s an important question, since we know that...
Is Blogging Worth It?
I’m speaking to several hundred small business owners tonight in Cleveland. When I talk to entrepreneurs about my business and how I’ve used content marketing...
The Four-Day Work Week
“Is there any way you can get me home tonight? Please.” The travel agent replied, “We can try, Mr. Estis. Is everything okay?” She could...
Are You Funny?
The bar was open and the cocktails were flowing. As I moved through the crowd, it looked like it had been going on that way...
“The Epic Keynote” with Speaker Launcher Jane Atkinson
I walked into my first National Speakers Association annual conference in the summer of 2008 and met Jane Atkinson in the lobby. I was deep...
Evolving with Your Customers: 3 Organizations That Get It Right
Visual keynote via Julie Smart, Making Ideas Visible Every week I attend company meetings, user conferences and trade shows around the...
Are College Graduates Prepared to Start a Sales Career?
Copyright Ohio University. All rights reserved. How smooth was your transition from college campus to career? Did you hit the ground...
Productivity and Focus
How many internet browser tabs do you have open right now? How long can you focus on your current task before you check your inbox?...
Productivity and Focus
How many internet browser tabs do you have open right now? How long can you focus on your current task before you check your inbox?...
5 Ways to Build a Winning Sales Culture
How do the best sales leaders create a culture that enables top producers to thrive? In the enclosed video, I map out five leadership keys...
Why the Best Sales Organizations Are Evolving
Buyers look at sales organizations differently than they ever have before. Customers aren’t coming to sales looking for basic problem identification and solution pitches anymore....
How to Shorten the Sales Cycle
The sales cycle is getting longer. B2B buyers spend more time researching purchases, and they’re walking most of their decision journey alone, without the direct...
Selling to the C-Suite
I recently delivered a keynote for the Xchange Solution Provider Conference on Leading Breakthrough Sales Performance. To prepare, my team conducted focus group interviews with...
How to Have Courageous Conversations
One of the fundamental challenges that sales leaders face today is managing performance and creating consistent accountability around performance targets. Addressing and coaching people through...
Stop Whining and Hustle
Last week I was complaining to Lynn about booking three events on consecutive days that will require me to travel to Florida, Las Vegas and...
Five Years Later
I’m in the middle of my own version of March Madness: 9 events in 8 cities over the first three weeks of this month. The...
When Saying “No” to a Customer Makes Sense
Customers -- even your very best customers -- aren't always right. That old adage can quickly take a company in the absolute wrong direction. Saying...
Tapping the Collective Consciousness
Change. Customers are changing, the marketplace is changing, the competition is changing. What does that mean for corporate strategy and forecasting? It means executive teams...
How Sales Auditing Improves Results
As a sales leader, what are you inspecting? Here’s a typical conversation after a sales call: Sales Manager: “How’d it go?” Sales Rep: “Great!” Sales...
The Red Cape Club
Last week, I delivered a keynote speech followed by an open Q&A session. I traveled to a new city, walked into a new conference center,...
Meeting for Impact
Dawn Vivenzio isn’t your traditional event planner. She’s built an innovative role for herself at MassMutual as Strategic Program Manager, planning sales and client services...
If You Want the Job, Take It
This fall, my team put out a job description for a marketing intern. One candidate stood out far above the rest, and the experience drove...
Busy Is the New Fine
You run into a friend in line at the coffee shop. You ask how they’re doing. Five years ago, I can bet their response would...
Finding Momentum in the New Year
A couple of years ago, a friend introduced me to his “January Attack Plan.” It was a system designed to create extreme velocity at the...