Business travel can bring a nice change from the usual office routine, but it also comes with its own set of difficulties. How do you keep up with your sales and workload when you’re on the road? How do you stave off jet lag and travel exhaustion and get the most out of your business trip? With a little self-care …
Are Dream Jobs Important in Today’s World?
Ever since we were little, we’ve been asked what we want to be when we grow up. A doctor? Maybe a firefighter? And as we grew older, we needed to create 5-year career plans, choose our college majors, and take steps to reach our dream jobs. But how many of us have the same goals now that we did 20 …
Consider These Important Things When Adopting a New Pet
How often do you come across puppies and kittens up for adoption and think, “I want you!”? Most people love these furry little companions and will bring a pet into their lives as soon as they can. Once you’ve moved into an apartment that allows animals and you’re considering adopting a new pet, though, be sure to stop and consider …
How to Handle Pay-to-Play Clients
In sales, you meet all kinds of prospects and clients. Depending on your industry, you may run into so-called pay-to-play clients. As the name suggests, these are potential clients who require some form of payment before you can participate in a particular business activity. But isn’t that shady? It depends on who you ask. Lynn and Tina have both dealt …
How Women Can Gain Confidence in Negotiating Raises
Negotiating raises can be difficult or even scary for a lot of people, but it seems especially so for women. Why are so many women reluctant or even afraid to ask for a raise? How can we overcome these feelings? We could have an entire discussion about how societal norms can harm a woman’s confidence and feelings of self-worth. But …
What is Self-Care & Why is it Important?
Do you know how to take care of yourself? We don’t mean just addressing your vital needs – how do you truly treat yourself? All of us need to practice self-care, but sometimes we just don’t know how or can’t fit it into our schedules. What are some of the best ways to exercise self-care? What do you need or …
Recovering From a Misstep
Sales is a tricky business that requires excellent people skills as you build trust with your clients. But no matter how much you’ve mastered the art of sales, you’ll still make mistakes from time to time. What kinds of missteps can occur during the sales process? What about client relationships – are missteps more serious and harder to overcome? Moreover, how …
The Importance of a Village
Regardless of the stage of your career, it’s paramount that you surround yourself with team members that are reliable, supportive, positive, and work well together. How can you choose the right people to work with? How do you find an environment that inspires your best work? Do you recognize the true importance of a village? You know what they say: …
Physical Tools of Liberation
What tools have been liberating for you as a woman? We’re not talking metaphorical tools, here… What have been your physical tools of liberation? Have you ever used a hammer or an electric drill? Have you ever built or fixed something on your own? While there’s the common trope of the “handyman” who can take care of his home with …
Focus on Customer Needs
In sales, your customer needs should be important to your organization. While this should go without saying, it’s easy to lose sight of your customer focus. How do you improve your customer focus and relevance? How do you talk to your customers and truly listen so you can ensure you’re fulfilling their needs or providing something they lack? Sales experts …
Purposeful Discomfort & Career Growth: Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Oftentimes, the only way to grow is to get outside your comfort zone. Likewise, it’s not surprise that purposeful discomfort goes hand in hand with vigorous career growth. What is purposeful discomfort? It starts with learning a new skill, flexing your work paradigm, and experiencing new concepts or foreign ideas. You may feel a bit out of balance, and it …
Consider These Tips Before Leaving The Nest
Moving out is a huge step in anyone’s life. How do you know when you’re ready? What should you do if you’re not? Once you’ve decided to rent your own home, there will be plenty of logistics to sort out and plan for. On top of this, how will you handle the emotional impact of leaving the nest? Whether you’re …
Demonstrate Sincere Interest in Your Clients
In sales, demonstrating sincere interest in your clients, or worthy intent, is invaluable. It’s how you build stronger, lasting relationships with your clients. Worthy intent in professional sales is all about building relational capital with your prospects and clients – the practice of making a deeper connection with the individuals you work with. You accomplish this by shifting the focus …
The Secret of Getting Ahead is Getting Started
Mark Twain has widely been attributed as saying that “the secret of getting ahead is getting started.” His words ring as true now as they did a hundred years ago: If you want to reach your destination, you have to take that first step in the right direction. While this is true across all aspects of life, it’s especially important …
We All Make Bad Decisions. Why is it So Hard to Admit It?
We all make bad decisions from time to time. So why is it so hard to admit our faults and that we need to change course? Why do we sometimes think they have to live with those bad choices? As much as we all hate being wrong, avoid the urge to dig yourself a deeper hole. Here’s how you can …
Solution and Relationship Selling: What’s the Difference?
What is the difference between solution and relationship selling? Which sales method will be most effective in your approach? Most sales efforts will fall into one of two categories. Knowing your product or service, your clients, and your sales objectives will help you determine whether to offer solution selling or relationship selling. Different skills apply to each method, though. So …
Relationships, Personalities, & Friendships in the Workplace
Relationships in the workplace can be tricky. Should you befriend your co-workers, or is it better to keep the relationship strictly professional? How can you develop strong relationships with your co-workers to build a solid team? How do you determine whether friendships at work are hurting you professionally? On the flip side, you may have to work with people you …
Sentimental or Useless: When Should I Let Go of Old Things?
For many of us, letting go of old things is difficult. So many of us are pack rats, and we still treasure a lot of the things we hold onto. But do all of these things really hold sentimental value? How do you determine whether it’s worth keeping? How do you decide what’s truly special, and what’s actually useless to …
What is Thought Leadership and Why is it Important?
What is a thought leader, and why is it so important to become one? You may have heard buzz about thought leadership a lot in the past few years, and it’s becoming increasingly important to establish your role in it. Developing your part in this will lead to greater sales success. Indeed, thought leadership can give you an edge in …
Bridging the Generational Gap in Attitudes, Approaches, & Perspectives
Our workforce today is as diverse culturally as it is in the ages of workers. With millennials, boomers, Gen-X, and Gen-Z doing business side by side, it’s natural for there to be some generational clashes. We recently shared a podcast about overcoming differences in communication styles. Now, let’s dive into how we can bridge the generational gap in attitudes, approaches, …