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Willpower & Personal Performance

Peter Svenneby Leaders, Salespeople, Trusted Advisors 2 Comments

“There are 3 types of strength” I tell my kids.  “Physical strength, intellectual strength, and the strength of your willpower.”  I’ve been telling them this because I see them stuck in a lot of the frustrating patterns of behavior that I also see in myself… and that I’ve been working on continuously for years.  So much of our performance in our jobs and in our roles in life will ultimately be tied to our strength of will.  For a lot of my customers and coaching clients, their will is tested most when they move from an operations or technical role (engineering, consulting, etc.) into a role with sales responsibilities.  It is very often willpower, not knowledge, that limits our performance.
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How Attitude Influences Communication

Peter Svenneby Sales Managers, Salespeople, Trusted Advisors Leave a Comment

“Attitude” is a funny thing. We often talk about attitude, refer to it, judge it as “good” or “bad”, and yet it is very difficult for us to really get our arms around what it really is. In situations involving persuasion, tact, diplomacy, etc. we are all aware there is a right attitude for the situation and a wrong one. Continue reading →

Don’t wish it were easier… Wish that you were better.

Peter Svenneby Sales Managers, Salespeople, Trusted Advisors 5 Comments

I heard a quote years ago that shifted the way I look at challenging situations.  It was such a formative idea in my personal development that I thought it might be a good blog entry.  The quote was on a CD by a speaker named Jim Rohn called “The Art of Exceptional Living”.  I can still hear Jim’s unique voice ringing in my head when he said “don’t wish it were easier… wish that you were better!”

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Becoming a Trusted Advisor… Relative Seniority

Peter Svenneby Leaders, Sales Managers, Salespeople, Trusted Advisors 4 Comments

There’s a lot of rhetoric available about how to become someone’s trusted advisor. It is a coveted position to be in – both in terms of how it strokes our ego as well as being a prime position from which we can grow our relationship (and our role/business) with that person. From my experience in coaching some very smart people, I’ve noticed that being smarter doesn’t particularly create the trust, credibility, or relationship you might seek with your counterpart.
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Conversation vs. Information Exchange

Peter Svenneby Leaders, Sales Managers, Salespeople, Trusted Advisors 1 Comment

One of the fundamental fallacies that I’ve observed in selling is the idea that information is the key reason people buy from us. I have watched the sales people, sales engineers, techies, and executives I coach share with their prospects how great their technology/process/approach is, how superior their features and benefits are, how the speeds and feeds are this and that, and continue with a litany of details about the product or service in question. It is as if they believe the information has some magic ability to cause the prospect to buy. It isn’t so!!!
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What you DO vs. What you CREATE

Peter Svenneby Leaders, Salespeople 1 Comment

I had an interesting conversation yesterday that really illuminated the distinction between the work that we do versus the value of that work to our customers.  I was discussing a potential new project with a large customer – a global consulting and outsourcing firm.  We got to talking about a competitive vendor who may also be considered for doing the project – a much larger and more established firm with deeper reach into my client (and with cheaper prices). 
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The “Truth” is Irrelevant in Sales

Peter Svenneby Sales Managers, Salespeople 1 Comment

The truth is irrelevant in sales.  So are the facts.  For the most part, all of the “information” we’d be inclined to focus upon conveying is pretty much irrelevant.   Why?  Because from the perspective of the buyer, all of our (the vendors’) so called truths, facts and info sound fundamentally the same.  Even when we DO achieve some strategic or tactical advantage over our competitors, it only lasts a short time before their marketing department and their smart sales people figure out how to counter our claims.  And the buyer is left wondering “Who’s really telling the truth?” 
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Leading Through The Storm – Replay

Peter Svenneby Leaders, Sales Managers, Salespeople Leave a Comment

Click image for PDFThanks so much to everyone who participated in the free “Leading Through The Storm” webinar on September 22nd!  We had over 100 people in attendance and the feedback has been great.  Here is the audio replay for those of you who missed it, or for those of you who wish to share it with someone else.  The …