How to create stories to drive action

Great storytellers can cut through the noise and produce tremendous value for organizations at a very low cost. Telling a solid story is just as essential as developing a great product. One of the most important roles to fill when trying to build a passionate community is that of the storyteller. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #059: Time

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This template will help you communicate urgency in acting. The hourglass image is great to represent the pressing need to take action. Read more

How to facilitate a meeting that gets things done

Have you ever felt like you were imprisoned in a meeting? Many people have. Most meetings in corporate America gather great minds around the table. The challenge is getting everyone’s ideas to surface in order to move to consensus and take action! Read more

Try an online white board for your next virtual meeting

“Online collaboration.” Easy to say, harder to do. Yes, we have Skype and Web Conference solutions like GoToMeeting, but how do we replace the white board where so many good ideas happen? Movements like White Board Selling embrace the interaction that happens when using visuals to tell a high-impact story. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #058: Hurdles

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This template will help you communicate challenges of all sizes. We often say we have to get over a hurdle. Here you have images to represent those hurdles. Read more

Pabst Brewing tips on selling

Beer sales person? Really, companies need a sales person to sell beer? Yes, and it is a competitive business, where shelf space is at a premium. I recently got to talk to Chris Steflanci, Pabst Brewing. After years at Heinekin leading the sales charge, he has landed at what I would think of as my father’s beer. Read more

Experience can earn trust and win the sale

The age old question: Is it easier to teach someone to sell or teach someone about the product and company selling the product? I talk to a lot of heads of sales, and often I hear them opting to hire proven sales professionals with a history of exceeding quota and then teaching them the product or service. This makes sense unless your customers expect otherwise. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #057: Under the Hood

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This template will help you communicate how something could and should be re-engineered. What’s under you hood? Is it a hamster on a wheel or a shiny new V8 engine? Read more

Learn how to sell from an artist with a story

Would you take business advice from an artist dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt? You would if that artist takes found objects and turns them into large-scale, abstract paintings that sell for $200,000. Why so much? Because this is the story about the people, places and things involved in this artwork. Any sales professional could learn from Mark Bradford. Read more

How to change people’s behavior

I have been traveling the past week while also preparing to present at the 2011 Senior Sales Executive Conference. My topic is, “Driving Collaboration and Effective Change Initiatives.” I have been using Tom Kelley’s Advice and thinking like a traveler. When we travel, we open our eyes and see things we may not usually see. I was looking for signs of people driving change. Read more