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Archive for June 2009:

Several relevant captions come to mind for this cartoon…

nudist colonyOption #1: Given the current state of the economy, Zebras are getting even tougher to identify… BUT, they are still out there for the picking, stripes or not.

Option #2: Selling using the Zebra methodolgy enables a refreshingly “bare-naked” level of honesty between sales person and prospect.

Option #3: Don’t let these mohawk-clad horses fool you… Real Zebras always have stripes, so don’t waste your time or theirs by trying to convince yourself otherwise.

No matter which option you chose, they’re all equally relevant. Feel free to comment with any clever captions you may come up with!

Finally, I want to mention that this week Zebra Jeff and I had the privilige of once again being guests on Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate Radio program. This was our third appearance on Jim’s show, and we had a fantastic time talking sales shop within him once again. Check out the audio from that interview here: The impact of social media on selling in the future? You can also check out our past appearances on Jim’s show by clicking here: Selling to Zebras on The Small Business Advocate.

Complex Sales and Selling Strategies – June 12, 2009 Edition

Well, here it is… the very first edition of the blog carnival I will host on this site on a periodic basis (read: currently undecided as to exactly how often). Rather than talking at you all 100% of the time, I feel that hosting the Complex Sales and Selling Strategies Blog Carnival will add greater value for readers of the Selling to Zebras Blog by including submissions from a greater variety of sales industry colleagues.

Welcome… to the June 12, 2009 edition of Complex Sales and Selling Strategies.

Acheiving Global Domination

Chad Koser presents The Universal Symbol for Struggle: My brief summary of the 2009 Wisconsin Entrepreneur?s Conference posted at Selling to Zebras Blog, saying, “The ultimate goal of every sales business: Achieving Global Domination!”

Hugh Thyer presents Systems posted at Sales Come First.

Account Penetration & Business Development

Adrian Ma presents Evolve your business by increasing the size of the pie posted at The Corpus Callosum.

Interviewing

nissim ziv presents Sales Manager Interview Questions| Sales job Interviw Questions posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Sales are an integral part of any organization. Logically speaking, without sales no company can exist. Therefore, it goes without saying that the person handling the sales of a company (i.e. sales manager) will go through a lot of tests and scrutiny before he or she actually land the job.”

Recession & Tough Economy Proof Selling

Peter cantelo presents 53 Kick Start Your Headlines Templates posted at vivavi.co.uk.

Peter cantelo presents Top 6 Cash Flow Improving Sales Strategies posted at vivavi.co.uk.

Sales Challenges

Randy Cantrell presents Effort & Focus (And Their Enemies) posted at Bula! Life Is Good..

Business

Joshua Seth presents How To Write Your Book In A Month posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “I don’t have to convince you that writing a book can really boost your business do I?

A lot has been written about that already. You know that writing your own book will give you instant credibility in your field, opportunities for publicity in your business, and a way to presell your customers with educational content that will lead them back to you as the person they know, like, and trust to solve the problems you address. So why haven’t you done it yet?”

Jacques presents Making Money On Twitter posted at Monkeyprofit, saying, “The easiest way to make money on twitter”

Jacques presents Twitter Tips And Abbreviations posted at Monkeyprofit, saying, “Thanks”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of complex sales and selling strategies using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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The Universal Symbol for Struggle: My brief summary of the 2009 Wisconsin Entrepreneur’s Conference

ramennoodlesThis week Zebra Jeff and I attended the two day 2009 Wisconsin Entrepreneur’s Conference, hosted by The Wisconsin Technology Council.

The short:
One of the very best events I’ve ever had the privilege to be a part of with regard to obtaining new ideas and learning new strategies to grow your business. I have not felt so inspired and revitalized in some time.

Slightly longer and more specific:

1. We were treated to possibly the best speaking presentations I have ever witnessed, which was given by Robert Stephens, CEO, Founder, and self-dubbed “Chief Inspector” of Geek Squad…  “Cheif Inspector” because, ‘he owns the business, so he can chose any title that he wants.’  (check the wiki on the Chief Inspector and his Geek Squad) It’s hard to summarize in words exactly why Robert’s presentation and speaking style were so effective, but in a flurry of descriptive cliches and buzz words, he was: relevant, engaging, timely, inspiring, entertaining, simple, effective, and ANYTHING BUT cliche. A few key points from Robert’s presentation:

1. I stole the universal symbol for struggle/Ramen noodle catch from his presentation. A perfect icon for his presentation, and one that captures here the spirit of both the presentation, as well as the man himself. Not since I heard the phrase ‘the smile is the only universally understood communication’ some time ago now have I played witness to such a perfect observation.

b. We are currently undergoing a, “New Era of Radical Transparency,” which will eventually give way to an Era of Authenticity in the business world. As such, to not only get or stay a step ahead of the curve as a business, but simply to survive, BRUTAL HONESTY is now a MANDATORY REQUIREMENT…  which leads me to the next observation I’m strongly adopting (OK, stealing if I’m being honest) from Robert;

iii. The real goal of any business, and sales business is simply this: WORLD DOMINATION. This is the paramount example of the kind of honesty that will be required to do business in the future, and another compelling example of Robert’s ‘appear so crazy in my business decisions and direction that my competition will not possibly aspire to follow me until I’m so far ahead of them that they can’t possibly catch up.’  Which, incidentally, happens to be one of the potential key’s for acheiving WORLD DOMINATION in your own business.

There are actually many more simply awesome examples of what we witnessed during Robert Stephen’s presentation, as well as the Wisconsin Entrepreneur’s Conference as a whole, and I may blog about some of those in the future as well… but for now, I don’t want to detract from any of the above by getting long-winded. To close by again paraphrasing Robert: ‘Keep it simple, basic, classic, real, and honest.’  My observation is that those words are as real as the man himself.

-ZC

 
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