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Author Archives: David Shedd
We Need to Spend “Alone Time” With Our Skip Levels
As leaders, we need to spend time on a regular and consistent basis with our skip levels. What is a Skip Level? As we move up in our organizations, we become ‘managers of managers’ with both direct reports and … Continue reading
The Advice Not Taken
Lose Weight…Eat More Fruits and Vegetables…Exercise More. We all know what we have to do in order to improve our health. That is easy. The difficulty lies in taking this advice and actually following it. Likewise in business, there is … Continue reading
Business Success by the Numbers
What numbers lead to business success? 0 – As in 0 /0 (zero injuries and zero accidents). In any company, the safety of employees and customers each and every day should be of highest concern. 1 – As in … Continue reading
We Need to Deal with Our Non-Performers Today
Dealing with non-performers is likely the most uncomfortable (yet necessary) task in building a winning team. Truth be told, few of us enjoy disciplining, remedial coaching, and terminating employees, especially those that we may work with on a daily basis. … Continue reading
An Open Letter From Your B2B Customer
Dear Mr. or Ms. Sales Manager, I am writing to remind you that I need you. You and your salespeople provide products and services that I need to help me succeed in my business. Unfortunately, many of your salespeople do … Continue reading
Building Accountability
A dirty little secret in business is that most organizations lack accountability at all levels from the leader to front-line management to individual employees: Assignments are not completed as promised Problems are left half resolved Phone calls are not returned … Continue reading
Be Easy to Do Business With
In a previous blog, Lessons from a Customer, I related my experience in dealing with 106 companies while I moved from Arizona to California. My conclusion was that most companies provide inadequate customer service and make it too difficult to … Continue reading
Five Questions to Ensure a Successful Sales Call
In his book, Spin Selling, Neil Rackham defines the four outcomes of any sales call: Win – the customer makes a firm commitment to buy Advance – the sales process moves forward towards a decision Continuation – the sales process … Continue reading
Getting Things Done
A crucial success factor for business leaders is getting the right things done. Visionary leadership, brilliant strategy formation, and outstanding man-management are all for nothing if we cannot execute and get done what we need to get done. I offer … Continue reading
Do We Spend Enough Time Selling? – The Cost of Chaos
We have and need salespeople in order to sell, that is, in order to move deals forward. But, how much time do our salespeople really spend selling each week? Rick McPartlin, the CEO of The Revenue Game (and someone with … Continue reading
To Sell More, Sell Less
Today’s customer is overwhelmed with too much information and not enough time and attention span to digest it all. As such, the best salespeople have evolved and simplified their sales approach to be more responsive to over-burdened and over-saturated customers. … Continue reading
3 Fundamentals of a Customer Service Culture
Having a true customer service culture depends on each individual employee. Each employee is focused on solving the customer’s problems Each employee strives to help the customer succeed in their business Each employee supports and helps their fellow employees
Leadership Restraint
Contrary to popular opinion, a successful business leader does not need to: Have all the right answers and be the smartest person in the room Be involved in every matter and make every decision Overwhelm his or her subordinates with … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Focus, Leadership Restraint, Leadership. Less is More
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Let’s Train Our Sales Managers
The all too common refrain in sales and sales management is: When you promote your star salesperson into a sales management position you lose a good salesperson and gain a lousy sales manager. But why? Why do we have so … Continue reading
Posted in Sales and Marketing, Team / People
Tagged Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training
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Metrics in Business – User Beware
“I used to believe that if it doesn’t get measured, it doesn’t get done. Now I say if it doesn’t get measured it doesn’t get approved… you need to manage by facts, not gut feel.” General Jon Michael Loh, USAF … Continue reading
Clarity
With so much going on in our companies today, our employees have a large number of competing priorities as they do their daily tasks. What is most important? What should they focus on first?
Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution, Personal Success
Tagged Business Leadership, Clarity, Communication, Consistent Execution, Focus, Goals, Objectives
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We’ve Gotten the Sale…Now What?
The customer has said yes. He or she will buy our product and service. Now what do we do? 1. Shut Up and Get Out As Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire Mayor of New York City, puts it so well: First, … Continue reading
To Communicate Better, Communicate Less
Today, we are all overwhelmed with communication of one type or another– too many and too mixed messages from our supervisors, too many E-Mails, too much information. In trying to absorb and process the daily blitz of messages and communication, … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Communication, E-Mail Management, Leadership
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Employee Training and Managerial Development for Free!!
More than ever, companies need to train and develop their employees and managers. As such, countless billions of dollars are spent on seminars, executive education, speakers, etc. The results, however, have been underwhelming. The dirty little secret is that, done … Continue reading
David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 