-
2 months ago | 
tbbwmag.com | Jim Marshall |Ari Honarvar's Page |Debbie Lundberg |Jo-Lynn Brown
If you’re reading this, you already know that sales can be a challenging business—constant rejections, numerous dead ends, endless price quotes and proposals that often don’t lead to anything. It’s tough work. When a prospect doesn’t buy, the blame often falls on them. “They weren’t really interested but acted like they were. The timing wasn’t right. It’s a bad economy. They already have a supplier. Our price was too high.” The list goes on.
-
Nov 3, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Bridgette Bello |Jo-Lynn Brown |Debbie Lundberg
Recently, I shared my personal story about adopting our newest family member. If you remember, she was a rescue who was living in a car with her siblings and was matted, underweight and didn’t really know how to be a house dog. And, as a friend pointed out, she wasn’t – at all – cute. But we chose her anyway.
-
Oct 7, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Jim Marshall |Joelle Paban |Debbie Lundberg |Lucinda Honeycutt
If you’re a sales director, or manager, you already know you have one of the most difficult and demanding jobs in business today. Motivating and holding your people accountable, training and coaching your team, generating reports and managing your customer relationships, putting out fires and being held responsible for hitting a company or departmental revenue goal is often a thankless role requiring long hours and all-too-frequent sleepless nights.
-
Sep 19, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Ari Honarvar's Page |Jim Marshall |Joelle Paban |Debbie Lundberg
Last week, an entrepreneur I know well was speaking at a private mastermind group I’m a part of and as he was talking about how tough things have been for him lately, I looked around the room and saw a lot of heads nodding. Now this guy has always run a pretty efficient company with healthy profit margins, so to hear that he was struggling was a surprise. It was even more surprising though, to see so many other entrepreneurs say they’re going through the same thing lately.
-
Sep 16, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Debbie Lundberg |Joelle Paban |Lucinda Honeycutt |Jim Marshall
Dear Debbie:A few months ago, you shared how to be a sponsor and speak up. I love it and, yet, sometimes when I get feedback, I get embarrassed and don’t know how to respond. How can I express my regret, and embarrassment, without making the other person feel awkward?
-
Sep 16, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Jo-Lynn Brown |Lucinda Honeycutt |Jim Marshall |Debbie Lundberg
Summer is hot and so is burnout. By this time of the year, the heat, and the mood, in the office, and outside, feels like it would melt gold which, fun fact, has a melting point of 1,948°F. Executive assistants have been in the cubicle crucibles for the last seven months firing on all cylinders to keep up with you and the team. Much of this, ironically, includes prepping you for some downtime to cool off somewhere (anywhere but the office) to unplug with friends and families.
-
Sep 16, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Jim Marshall |Lucinda Honeycutt |Debbie Lundberg |David Phelps
If you’re in sales and new business development, you know that your job consists of three primary functions: selling (including presenting your solution to a prospective customer or client, then closing for a commitment), servicing the account once you’ve closed it and prospecting for new opportunities. By far, the activity that many sellers find most distasteful – and will often go to great lengths to avoid – is prospecting for new business.
-
Aug 2, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Jim Marshall |Debbie Lundberg |Joelle Paban |David Phelps
So, here we are in August – what some people refer to as the “dog days of summer.” Temperatures and humidity are through the roof, many of your clients, customers and prospects are on vacation and those deals you thought were going to close in June or July just haven’t happened. This time of year a typical business development progression for many sellers looks something like this:The first half of the year finishes strong, with sales at or ahead of projection.
-
Jul 12, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Jim Marshall |Joelle Paban |David Phelps |Debbie Lundberg
(Reader Alert: This article is about golf; if you are not a fan or a participant – or have little patience for those who are – please feel free to turn the page.
-
Jul 2, 2024 | 
tbbwmag.com | Joelle Paban |Jim Marshall |David Phelps |Debbie Lundberg
As a recruiter, my first go-to candidate is someone who has depth, personality and has navigated some real-life experiences. Many times though, they have little-to-no college experience. This begs the question: Should a job requirement for an executive assistant be a college degree?
