Recent transformations in the market have put power squarely in the hands of buyers. As a result, the world revolves around buyers and their needs.

That means sellers have to work harder than ever to attract buyers and convince them to purchase — not just once but every time. To forge these lasting customer relationships, sellers must create a world-class customer experience that engages customers and keeps them coming back.

Before I became a business school professor, I worked as a management consultant. One engagement in particular had a profound influence on my career. The project involved working with the Asia-based sales force of a global consumer products company. This company practiced “route sales,” which meant reps spent their days visiting mom-and-pop convenience stores, servicing accounts.

Is your LinkedIn social selling strategy based on FOMO (the fear of missing out)? FOMO is rarely a good reason to do anything in business. Especially if we are talking about social selling on LinkedIn. We all agree exposure on LinkedIn is important, but there can be a negative impact without a clear social selling strategy.

The pandemic has ratcheted up the level of uncertainty for almost every aspect of business including staffing levels, budgets, buyer engagement, supply chain management and more. Many companies are also operating in a hybrid situation, with employees working both remotely and in the office.

From kids to adults, there is something exciting about fear. For many, it’s the unknown. For others, it’s the loss of control. Either way, the exhilaration of fear increases our heart rates, stimulates our senses, and tingles the tiny hairs on our necks and arms. No doubt, this accounts for the popularity of ghost stories, the proliferation of true-crime podcasts, and the endless sequels and remakes of classic horror films. It’s also why the anticipation of Halloween starts in late August.

A few years ago, my team at Inventium completed a strengths finder assessment. I expected my report to tell me that my top strength was something like ‘time optimisation’ (as a similar test had revealed many years ago) or ‘creativity’ - or some other skill that I utilise every day. But no, apparently my number one strength was ‘competitiveness’ (although this would come as no surprise to anyone who has played Settlers of Catan against me).

Leadership broken down into its most basic and practical form can be defined as meeting the needs of people and developing them to their fullest potential.

When employees don’t develop and have their needs met to do their jobs well, they experience low morale, they stop caring, and they stop trying.

Let's all collectively acknowledge that the last 20 months have not been a walk in the park. A global pandemic, loss of jobs, social and racial unrest, political division, vaccine mandates, our own personal tragedies, and the list goes on and on.

Irrespective of industry, the goal of learning and development is almost always the same: identify skill gaps in the workforce and bridge them by equipping employees with the knowledge, tools, and abilities to perform better and meet the larger goals of the organization.

As a leader, developing and coaching others is a necessary skill in my arsenal. Supporting professional growth in others, to me, feels like finding hidden treasure. I can know you have potential, but to help you, I need to discover what exactly it is and what the best pathway for you develop that potential.

The Millennials are a generation who experienced an up-economy during their childhood but a declining one as they came of age. Generation Z is a population that endured a down economy during childhood but are hopeful it will be up as they come of age. The last twenty years have been tumultuous. Over time, culture has evolved. Commerce changed rapidly, and information has increased each year.

Many sales organizations have become overly reliant on their top sales performers to achieve their goals. While it is convenient to say that we “hit our number” at the end of the quarter, the fact that a few top performers carried the team presents numerous challenges.

One thing is certain: To every business on the planet, cash is the equivalent of oxygen. Without cash, your company will suffocate and go out of business. As with oxygen, if you don’t have enough cash, your business will limp around in a zombie-like state, struggling to take advantage of opportunities to fuel growth.

Has the Great Resignation caused you to re-think your sales team hiring practices? If so, you are not alone. In the last 18 months, millions of employees have voluntarily quit their jobs for other opportunities. And the sales department is not immune to this phenomenon. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics*, 4 million Americans left their jobs in July 2021.

Understanding others, how they process information, how they like to receive information, how they like to interact, allows us to build a good working relationship which is critical to persuasion. It is important to note that building a good working relationship is an ongoing process. It means you continue to understand each other so you can communicate well.

What we’ve learned from the sudden shift to remote work is that people are generally quite positive about technology adoption to support their work and learning requirements. Many learning and development (L&D) professionals have scrambled to keep the lights on during the COVID-19 pandemic but, at the same time, they have taken the opportunity to evolve learning experiences into the digital era.

He started out as a software professional, working with multinational companies. Then 13 years ago, Sreenivas Dasari pivoted to something entirely different, helping launch the 7 Food Court along a busy stretch of highway between the south Indian cities of Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The gleaming rest stop offers travelers a place to refuel with hearty local fare like dosas and idlis, while teenagers mill around sipping cold drinks from the Thick Shake Factory.

To-do lists, productivity apps, meditation, morning routines, evening routines -- there are countless ways you could boost your productivity. But, according Richard Branson, the most important one is this: Exercise.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching and long-lasting implications for individuals across all aspects of life – health, family, work, and more. Given the impact the pandemic has had on employees, many organizations were prompted to examine the support they provide to them. According to Gartner’s 2020 Well-Being Benchmarking Survey, over three quarters of the 77 U.S.

Communication is a critically important part of doing business, but not everyone comes equipped with flawless communication skills. In fact, many professionals struggle when it comes to effectively interacting with business leaders, other employees and prospective customers. Unfortunately, the cost of bad communication habits could be the loss of career opportunities, potential clients or business deals.