Creating a positive organizational climate during an economic downturn

Tom Atkinson, Director of Customer Research I interviewed Jim Simmons (a pseudonym) recently.  A sales executive for a leading provider of health insurance plans, he is responsible for leading a sales force of independent agents in New England who offer health coverage to employees of companies through the companies themselves.  A particularly challenging aspect of [...]

Read Full Post »

Capacity Theory

By André Alphonso, Managing Director, Forum India Len Evans was a famous and highly regarded winemaker in Australia.  In 1995 I participated in one of his wine appreciation classes.  During the course of the evening he got his students laughing with his “capacity theory”:  He would open and drink one bottle of wine every day, or [...]

Read Full Post »

What are some examples of ROI metrics?

This question is from a webinar we recently held on Selling in Turbulent Times. For the entire presention, click here. By Jeffrey Baker, Senior Methodology Consultant Forum’s approach to ROI, or return on investment, is to start with what the customer company uses as its most important business metrics.  Often they include metrics that measure [...]

Read Full Post »

Recommendations for probing the client about risk concerns and potential new influencers

This question is from a webinar we recently held on Selling in Turbulent Times. For the entire presention, click here. By Cindy Stuckey, Vice President, Executive Consultant Leader Regarding risk, there are two approaches you might take, either in combination or separately:  Make direct requests for information about risk:  Where are you most at risk?  [...]

Read Full Post »

High-impact questions you can ask a prospect that are related to the bad economy

This question is from a webinar we recently held on Selling in Turbulent Times. For the entire presention, click here. By Jeffrey Baker, Senior Methodology Consultant I offer these answers for those selling to business customers as opposed to consumers.  First, imagine your prospect has told you that only mission-critical expenditures will be approved and [...]

Read Full Post »

Social Networking: A productive endeavor or an attractive distraction?

By Matthew Allen, Project Coordinator There is no question that expanding both relationships and networks is an important activity for any sales leader.  However, as businesses attempt to deal with the forces of today’s economic climate, these two like-minded initiatives quickly jump from important to imperative.  Countless studies implicitly connect these two actions (relationship building [...]

Read Full Post »