A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind ~ Albert Einstein



When I was at my peak performance in sales: winning awards ..... my desk was a big huge blob of paper. When I became a leader, I kept my desk sparse and turned off all devices when someone came to me with a problem. When I took a job to pay the bills: I ensured I was surrounded by art: art of beaches, boats or light hearted sayings to keep me motivated. People need to stop trying to be a square peg in a round hole. You are you and your desk habits are your own: * pristine (conveys no nonsense efficiency) * cluttered paper bomb (disorganized scatter head) * lively & personal (keeping things light & disassociate from surroundings) When in fact: * spotless can mean you are organized and efficient * a MESS says: whatever you're doing is more important * tasteful art and super slogans means you are balanced NOTE: I am not a doctor, educated in human behavior, nor am I a psychologist. This is my own take.

Michael McCool - the sales guy

Art by Jeannette Marshall (c) 2019

Do your homework and know your numbers before you meet with an executive prospect




















It is easy to communicate processes with new customers or prospects if you have a highly developed implementation planning focus.  That builds trust.

Do what you say you are going to do and never promise mountains when all you have to offer are mole hills.

You need to be realistic on what you're selling from the eyes of a buyer.

They don't buy on blind wishes unless you can craft a proposal that solves ISSUES or problems.






Be knowledgeable about your product, your industry, you prospect, their industry, their customers, how they market themselves and how they seem to show themselves to the world online.

Go to Quora.com or even Linked In and post a question (with a graphic image whenever possible) asking others about an industry or problems that are typical in that world.

Don't lead in with bells and whistles or a dog and pony show of this speed, feed, process rate, production model ... etc. etc. unless you know that is what your audience is interested in.

Know that you are usually meeting with an audience of one.  You can display competence and credibility when you have done your homework.

CRMs are the ideal way to keep track of all of this valuable morsels of information.  You can use Outlook or a Calendar or Notes type APPs without being fancy dancey .... color coded diaries that allow you to sync work appointments with training and driving the kids to soccer, or a doctor's appointment or parent/teacher interviews .... the reality being you work hard and smart, so that real life has time to fit into your schedule and create a balanced approach.









If you put all your eggs in one basket (one major account customer or client) then you may lose them to a price-hungry competitor chopping at the bit to displace you based on price.  That is risky.  During turbulent economic times, everyone shops, compares to complete the assessment that they still have value in the relationship and how much of a hassle it could be to change from your company.

You can't do that unless you are intertwined with intricate processes of the customer, not who fits into your wheel house.  Someone who will pay top dollar for REAL VALUE is who you should be looking for in that case.

Those sales take a lot longer and too few companies get that or align their sales coverage to compensate for the larger fish.

Do your homework before you even hire a sales professional.  Create a value-attractive career environment for them to want to follow.

The best ones are harder to find.  The ones who are pounding the pavement, making the cold calls, setting up appointments shrewdly, balancing time management with real surprises.





Training is more sophisticated than most Companies are willing to commit.  They think it is about touring around, shadowing someone in the front lines or background, are all important with onboarding, but so is training on your company, industry, realistic research on where the company sits.


LOYALTY is king or queen

This was originally posted on meanderingsABOUT and then reposted on www.optioneerjm ~ where I'm reposting the top posts, as shown by the numbers.


I have set up a way to automatically post content from this blog to www.optioneerjm.com.

I talk about family relationships with Millennial children, more often with daughters than with son (who is more low key).

I don't name names to protect other's privacy.

What I write is relevant, as the numbers show.


Friday, October 12, 2018

LOYALTY is king or [QUEEN of Purchasing, Operations, Design, Communications, her own domaine....READ for MORE




Pure transparency is THE most critical criteria that builds TRUST; trust begets LOYALTY; loyalty creates ADVOCACY.  DO YOU understand the value based on demographics and speak to one, at a time ~ AKA [Also Known As] target marketing instead of mass mktg.

Why should you care?

As you do more things and look up more stuff online, you are creating a definable persona that is geared to your own personal data.

Think of it as your online DNA or footprints to your soul.

Not before long the two worlds could collide [ intellectual will challenge privacy and ownership - less likely copyrighted governance or protection] .... Intellectual Law would be fascinating to learn!


Oscar the Pug | #OscarThePug                          @optioneerJM