Generated by All in One SEO Pro v4.8.8, this is an llms-full.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Productive Strategies, Inc. ## Posts ### [B2B Selling vs. B2G Selling: What’s the difference?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/b2b-selling-vs-b2g-selling-whats-the-difference/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***Are you selling business to business or business to government or both? There are similarities but also differences that need to be recognized to optimize your results.*** ![B2B Selling vs. B2G Selling: What’s the difference?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture11.png) Readers of this column know how difficult it is to make a major business-to-business, or B2B, sale. Sales cycles are long, there are multiple decision-makers, competition is fierce, buyers attempt to commoditize your offering, and there is a lot of price pressure. Business-to-business sellers must create value within the sales process as a way to clearly differentiate themselves from competitors. Those of you who also sell business-to-government, or B2G, know that this niche can be even more difficult. In addition to all the challenges of B2B selling, other obstacles you face are politics and multiple overlapping procurement decision-makers who tend to be even more risk averse than their counterparts in the business world. I have been on client calls with government buyers a few years from retiring who are not about to take any risk that could disrupt their current employment—even when a superior solution offers potential savings. --- What also makes B2G selling more difficult is that many procurement officers won’t allow discovery to take place or to entertain suggestions for changes to the specifications that might be valuable to the government. In business, if a manufacturer receives an inquiry to make a part he might go back to the buyer and suggest ways to drive down cost: thin the wall sections, eliminate a part of a subassembly, make design suggestions to speed up the assembly process. In business situations the buyer will often protect those ideas so the manufacturer is the only one quoting to the new desired specifications—in effect, rewriting the original request-for- proposal (RFP) specifications. In government when buyers do accept suggestions they often open up the bidding again with revised specifications. That allows all bidders to requote to the revised RFP. We talk about the strategy of short-circuiting, or sabotaging, the RFP process in our book, [B2B Selling: Business-to-Business Marketplace Insights and Observations](https://www.amazon.com/B2B-Selling-Business-Business-Observations/dp/B0D4B252WH). ![B2B Selling vs. B2G Selling: What’s the difference?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture13.png) ***Ask Yourself:*** - Do you respond to inquiries and RFPs simply by submitting prices? - When you suggest alternative specifications do you ask that the buyer protect your intellectual property and not share your creative ideas with competitors? One time a quality control representative disqualified a low-cost producer we were bidding against. Whether you’re selling B2B or B2G your sales process must be strong enough to persuade the buyer that you’re the source that will give them the greatest value over the life of the program. You probably can’t provide that kind of value by quoting the lowest price. **Ask Yourself:** - Is your current sales process educational but fails to be persuasive so that the buyer finds ways to disqualify other bidders? --- ![B2B Selling vs. B2G Selling: What’s the difference?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture14.png) **To truly grasp the challenges related to B2G Selling I suggest reading the book Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Changing the Future of War by Raj M. Shah and Christopher Kirchoff.** These two authors were asked by Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense under President Obama, to open a Department of Defense procurement office in Silicon Valley. Secretary Carter’s objectives were to enable the Pentagon’s procurement process to apply or adapt some of the procurement capabilities of Silicon Valley. A secondary purpose was to integrate leading technology from the commercial sector into solutions our troops could use to gain leverage in battle. The book is fascinating, especially in explaining how the latest technology is already changing the way wars are fought. Even more interesting is following all of the difficulties the authors faced in persuading the Pentagon to change its ways. Imagine the sales challenges when the Secretary of Defense accepts your initiative with a $13 million dollar budget approval and days later a Congressional staffer removes your funding from the current funding bill. This type of interference makes B2G much more complex than B2B, in part because the obstacles might have little or nothing to do with price or value. The book is also entertaining. One of the authors recounts flying his F16 over the border of Iraq and Iran without knowing where it was. Today’s map technology was not then available to F16 pilots. How he crafted his own solution to the problem makes the book not only educational but highly entertaining. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Small Assignment, Big Impact](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/small-assignment-big-impact/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **How our smallest assignment last year helped a start-up business grow and influenced an industry.** **Last year after a talk I gave at the Small Business Expo on Business to Business Selling (B2B)**, a woman asked for my card because she wanted to meet to tell me about her business and learn more about mine. When we eventually got together she shared that her start-up company’s goal was to console consumers who had suffered the loss of a loved one directly, as she had. But my talk had inspired a new idea: assist funeral homes to improve their services by showing more empathy to their customers who were struggling as she was. I sensed that my talk gave her confidence that, despite the challenges, her business could succeed. What I didn’t realize was that this small assignment for a start-up would eventually have such a big impact on her business as well as an industry. ![Small Assignment, Big Impact](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture15.png) As we got to know each other, she shared what had inspired her to start her company in the first place. When one of her sons died from a seizure, she was surprised—even appalled—at the lack of empathy the funeral home expressed to her and to the rest of her family. As a Black woman, she knew the problem wasn’t discrimination. She knew what that looked like, and besides, the funeral home was run by a Black family. She realized that they just didn’t seem to know how to express empathy. Her son’s ashes came to her with the death certificate and nothing more. Not even a letter thanking her and expressing their sorrow at her son’s death. There was absolutely no sympathy, just a transaction to bury her son. She decided to start a company to honor her son and help other families receive the empathy his family had not experienced. The solution was a service called The Memory Box. The business would help funeral homes communicate the empathy she had so desperately needed but didn’t receive. And they would do it on a continuing basis over a significant amount of time but especially on meaningful dates—the deceased’s birthday, for example, or the anniversary of their death. She put together a series of gifts that would arrive on key dates to help the family see that their loved one was not forgotten. The first gift sent out from the funeral home to the family is a wooden box with the loved one’s initials on it. The box can be used to house items that recall meaningful moments from the deceased’s life. --- **Need Behind the Need** We often talk with our clients about not only meeting the apparent need of customers, but also meeting needs behind the needs. In this case the need behind the need for funeral homes is their inability to differentiate from competition. ![Small Assignment, Big Impact](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture16.jpg) Our engagement with The Memory Box was threefold. First, to help her see the value of selling to funeral homes versus consumers. Second, to help her create a sales process she could use both when calling on prospects and when exhibiting at national conferences of funeral directors. Finally, we coached her on using the sales process within her booth at trade shows. To build a sales process tailored for her, her business, and the industry she was targeting, she enrolled in **FOCIS®**, our popular consultative sales training course. The sales process was soon tested with several funeral homes including the one that provided services for her son. The results were very favorable. She then used her FOCIS® developed sales process at an industry trade group meeting and she was “the hit of the show,” she told us. The prospects she talked with decided they would use The Memory Box to differentiate themselves from competitors and provide the program to their customers without charge. The final value in the sales process was to help the funeral industry prospects to realize how poorly they have communicated empathy to their customers both at the time of service and on future anniversary dates. This was perhaps the smallest assignment we were given in 2024, but in many ways, it has had outsize value for our client, her customers, and the families that experienced loss. --- **The Five Levels of Marketing** **Level One: Sales** To help businesses grow we apply our Five Levels of Marketing Model. Level One is Sales, and improving the sales process is fastest way to increase revenue in the short term. The Memory Box was operating on Level One. With our help, the company developed stronger consultative selling skills and a custom sales process targeted for their product and their market. A key element of the consultative sales process is discovering the true needs of a prospect. The Memory Box’s key discovery was learning the need behind the need: funeral homes didn’t know how to differentiate from their competition. The Memory Box serves their market by meeting that need. Here’s overview of [The Five Levels](/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing/) with additional tips on Level One—Sales. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Five Levels of Marketing - Level Five: Vision Sets the Course](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing-level-five-vision-sets-the-course/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Begin with the end in mind and you’re on the path to long-term success.** To date we have covered the Sales, Information, Tactical, and Marketing Plan Levels. Although the fifth level is the last to be discussed, it is often what sets a business in motion when it is founded. Today we will illustrate marketing to support a vision by discussing two very successful businesses. Years ago, I had a conversation with Mike Keiser, founder of Recycled Paper Greetings (RPG) and now famously known as the golf course developer of Bandon Dunes and other world-class courses. ![Vision Sets the Course](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture17.png) When I met Mike his greeting card business was already a big success, but he had not built any golf courses. I asked him how his business started, and he shared with me that on Earth Day in 1971 he and his good friend, Phil Friedmann, were discussing how they could start a business that supported the environment. At that time, celebrating Earth Day by launching a business that sustained the environment was novel—and exciting. They asked themselves what kind of business they could enter that enjoys high margins, low risk, and supports the environment. They decided upon greeting cards, a market then dominated by Hallmark. To reduce risk by avoiding expensive overhead they decided to pay independent artists a commission on how many of their designed cards were purchased in the market. The sales effort consisted of getting retailers to offer both Hallmark and RPG greeting cards. The fundamental marketing vision could be written on a napkin: Environmentally friendly, high margins, low risk. ![Vision Sets the Course](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture18.png) Another example I have written about for years is Southwest Airlines because at the time they entered the market in 1967 most if not all of the major airlines were losing money. Also, many new airlines had failed, including ones with experienced owners who had been very successful in other fields. One example is the Pritzker family, well known for its Hyatt hotel chain. Southwest had a vision that clearly differentiated it from other airlines, especially at the beginning. That vision was a focus on simplicity in each cost center: - Other airlines flew from city A to B to C to D. Southwest would choose two cities and fly between those cities several times each day. Mechanical, weather, or other problems affected only those two cities, not a longer route with multiple destinations. - Other airlines flew several different kinds of aircraft. Southwest flew only one Boeing model. This meant it was easier to swap one plane for another if needed, and maintaining a parts inventory could be much less expensive. - Other airlines performed their own maintenance. Southwest realized that to gain competitive advantage they needed to outsource maintenance to the airline that did it best, Lufthansa. - Operationally Southwest focused on keeping their planes in the air with fast boarding procedures that avoided another issue of the legacy airlines: expensive systems for assigning seats. Southwest also maximized the time their planes spent in the air by flying between cities with the most predictable weather conditions. - Southwest created a unique culture driven by the personality type they chose to hire: people who had a good sense of humor and would say funny things to entertain and relax passengers. - The culture sported low-cost, more casual uniforms, including khaki including shorts that replaced more elaborate, varied, and formal uniforms of the major airlines. - At the beginning Southwest didn’t even allow checked baggage. - The vision basically was to create a low cost option for people who wanted to travel from one place to another reliably, efficiently, and at a low cost. We have met businesses that had a very thoughtful vision and this in itself was enough to create success. Over time the other levels of marketing begin to appear as the business grows, but it often just starts with a vision of how a new business will differentiate from the rest of the market in a way that will be valued by its customers be they business or consumer. What is your vision for your business? How will it be different? How will it create unique value? I used examples here of visions created years ago because now we have had sufficient time to look back and measure long-term success. That is what is so valuable about the fifth level of marketing, it has the potential for long-term sustainable success. Finally, be sure to keep these **Five-Level Model Marketing Takeaways** in mind: 1. The fastest way to **increase revenue in the short term** is to improve the sales function on Level One. This means stronger consultative selling skills, the development of custom sales processes, and productive coaching. 2. Effective use of **Level Two information** can significantly leverage your salespeople’s time and boost their productivity in Level Three tactical sales campaigns. 3. The most efficient way to obtain competitive advantage is to **market one level above your competition.** If they are marketing on three levels, you differentiate by marketing on four. 4. The goal is to **gain sustainable competitive advantage** on all five levels and at the high end of each one. 5. There are many ways to market successfully using the Five Levels Model. The first step in getting started is to **identify which level you’re currently on** and how well you’re doing. Improve on that level and test other levels as it makes sense to find the best combination for your business. **Please get in touch** if you’d like to discuss any of the five levels and how they’re working—or not working—for your business. We’re at and 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Five Levels of Marketing - Level Four: Planning the Work, Working the Plan](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing-level-four-planning-the-work-working-the-plan/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The axiom *“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”* is fundamental to creating a marketing plan that works. That’s what Level Four: Marketing or Program is all about. As a reminder, the Five Levels of Marketing are (1) Sales, (2) Information/Data/Analytics, (3) Tactical or Campaign, (4) Marketing or Program, and (5) Vision/Strategic. We’ve explored each of the first three levels in separate columns in August, September, and October. They are available on our website’s Productive Insights collection. ![Planning the Work, Working the Plan](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture20.png) On Level Four successful firms create a plan to document all the details. Along the way questions are asked and answered in the plan. - Who shall we target? - How will be segment the market into the most attractive targets? - What is our offering be it a service or a product? Developed by marketing guru Phil Kotler, this classic question approach is also known as the Four Ps of Marketing: Price, Position, Place (distribution), and Product. Sometimes Packaging is included when a consumer product is involved. There are several reason a written plan is valuable. First, it clearly documents the firm’s intentions and allows everyone to see the directions the firm is taking. This “open book” increases the odds that the various functions of the firm will be in alignment. It also enables you as a manager or executive to look back from time to time and hold yourself accountable. - Did you achieve the goals and objectives set forth in the plan? - If not, why not? - What can be done now? - What can be done during the next campaign? When we create plans for companies we start by understanding what they are currently doing on all five levels. We find that some firms, even very successful ones, operate only on one level. While they can be successful, they typically do not enjoy competitive advantages, or at least not sustainable ones. If you currently don’t have a plan and wish to create one here, is a good way to do it using a two-step process: **Step One** is straightforward but critical, and it might even seem simple: document the actions you are taking now on each of the five levels. The best approach is to regard this step as a “*quality improvement audit,*” in which you’re trying to root out inefficiencies. Such audits carefully document every step in any process, including marketing. A marketing example might be to make sure an email database is fully functional—that is, the emails actually exist and will receive whatever messages you might be sending. It would be impossible to test every address. In that case, statistically valid sample can be used. Also, “*seeding*” the database with email addresses that come back to you will reveal whether the email distribution “*engine*” is doing its job. **Step Two** is to develop a list of marketing areas you need to take advantage of. Each offers an opportunity to differentiate your company from the competition. There won’t always be such an opportunity, but it’s important to check and then you’ll know where your process is similar or maybe even the same. **Target Market:** Geographic: Determine scope (national, regional, international, local) Size: Are you targeting by number of employees, for example, or by sales? Vertical Market: What business are these prospect in? Is it right for your product or service? Micro Level: Which prospects in each of those areas have the problem or problems that we best address? **Lead Generation and Prospecting:** Will we rely on marketing to generate leads, or prospecting by the sales force? Or prospecting some other way: social media, for example, or distributors? What will the prospecting process look like in each case and as a whole? **Discovery**: Who will create the discovery questions that will enable the salesforce to efficiently identify the prospect issues and help all parties decide on what is best for market and then for each customer? The questions will likely be different. How will you discover both the need and the need behind the need? **Qualification**: What is the best process to use to qualify leads and then prioritize them? **Demonstration**: At which step in the process will your salespeople demonstrate your product or service? It’s critical it be done at the right time— not too early and not too late. What assets will be part of it including samples, plant tours, and case histories. **Presentation**: How will you ensure that presentation is prospect-centric, not seller-centric. Critical to that is using information learned in the discovery process effectively. How will you do that? **Closing**: What details will make up your closing process and ensure that it is customized for each prospect? **Follow-up**: Effective follow-up for leads and servicing existing accounts requires a staffing plan. Prioritization of both existing customers and prospective ones is fundamental to being sure the information you find is actionable—either correcting and improving or decreasing or increase the amount it’s used. **Analysis of Lost Opportunities:** How will you learn why you won and why you lost? Will the analysis be in person and who will do it—the salesforce or an unbiased third party? Of course there is no limit to what can be covered in a plan. Keep in mind that all of the topics above are like a chain and success or failure might well turn on the weakest link in the chain. We have seen firms that grow quickly but fail to scale to serve that growth in all areas of the firm. The result is often evident when a major account is lost, and you realize that one department—design, tooling, quality control, engineering, production—is left behind. The plan should include documentation of how you will scale. ![Planning the Work, Working the Plan](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture21.png) A good example is Federal Express. The company grew from one fundamental idea into a major international corporation. The key reason? It had an operational growth plan based algorithms that signaled when to hire a new employee, when to buy a van, when to add a truck, and when to add an airplane. The basic approach is to start small, begin documenting what you are doing and want to achieve, and then improve the plan on an annual basis. Finally, be sure to keep these *Five-Level Model Marketing* Takeaways in mind: 1. The fastest way to increase revenue in the short term is to improve the sales function on Level One. This means stronger consultative selling skills, the development of custom sales processes, and productive coaching. 2. Effective use of Level Two information can significantly leverage your salespeople’s time and boost their productivity in Level Three tactical sales campaigns. 3. The most efficient way to obtain competitive advantage is to market one level above your competition. If they are marketing on three levels, you differentiate by marketing on four. 4. The goal is to gain sustainable competitive advantage on all five levels and at the high end of each one. 5. There are many ways to market successfully using the Five Levels Model. The first step is to identify which level you’re currently on and how well you’re doing. Improve on that level and test other levels as it makes sense to find the best combination for your business. **We have an extensive list** of other types of data that can be used to market at the higher end of Level Three. Just get in touch if you want to discuss additional data points that can help drive revenue. We’re at and 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Five Levels of Marketing - Level Three: Tactical Sales Campaigns in the Field](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing-level-three-tactical-sales-campaigns-in-the-field/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *Using intelligence from prior levels leads to revenue-building sales campaigns on the ground in real time.* **In the past two months** we’ve written about the Five Levels of Marketing—specifically about Level One: Sales and Level Two: Information / Data Gathering. Now, we’ll discuss Level Three: Tactical Sales Campaigns, which is fun because it’s a payoff level. We use information learned on Level Two and leverage it with Level One sales activity. In other words, on Level Three we take action to build revenue based on the intelligence gathered on prior levels. ![Tactical Sales Campaigns in the Field](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture22.png) **Here are the four main actions of a sales campaign:** 1. Establish goals or objectives for the campaign. 2. Define start and stop dates for the campaign. 3. Identify which people, tools, and marketing assets to use in the campaign. 4. Identify ahead of time what success looks like. **As an example,** suppose we’ve identified in Level Two medical device manufacturing as a fast growing, attractive market for our company. Our first goal is to develop two million dollars in new business in the next two years in Texas, a state where we have very little penetration but a lot of potential. To do that we first bring our sales team into the state for a week. Each day we call on medical device firms taken from a list we developed as an asset during our work on Level Two. The sales team had access to the list a few weeks in advance so they could set up meetings with the target list. Each morning we video conference with sales team members at work in different cities and discuss what we’ve learned the day before and what to keep on doing or what to try differently. Each afternoon during a second video conference, we debrief and discuss lessons learned that day, sharing successes and failures **Our second goal** is to generate enough business to justify hiring a full-time salesperson, or adding a manufacturer’s representative for the state. It is easier to hire good people if the territory is already softened up with some new business. **Our third campaign goal** is to determine whether the week of selling in Texas has proven to be a successful approach. Then, if so, we decide whether to do it again in another state. If it is successful this one state focus might become part of the Level 4 marketing plan. We might try different states for medical devices, say Illinois; or we might try a different vertical market the next time, say home appliance manufacturers. Remember, each of the five levels builds on prior levels. The key is to increase sales by beginning with the levels you’re already operating on. To gain competitive advantage begin marketing on higher levels than your competition. The goal is to **gain *sustainable* *long-term* competitive advantage** by marketing on all five levels. **As another example,** a firm I worked for earlier in my career was a Tier One supplier to Ford, so the quality level was approved for automotive supply. One of our goals was to attract more Tier Two businesses with which we could achieve higher margins. Knowing that carburation was going to be replaced by fuel injection we also knew that new tooling would be required. Our opportunity was to become suppliers to firms that we didn’t currently supply—firms such as Holley, Lucas Cav, and Walbro. ![Tactical Sales Campaigns in the Field](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture23.png) We decided to target carburetor manufacturers both inside and outside of the automotive sector. Part of that campaign involved building a list of carburetor manufacturers, part of it involved building some sales support materials that helped us convey our differentiation from competition, including the fact that our quality program was already approved by Ford. We also had a products competitive advantage in tool life which would be valued by OEMs making high volume for fuel injection. We called on each manufacturing company and shared our plan to become a major fuel injection parts supplier. We used consultative selling techniques and a strong sales discovery process to convey, first, that we were focusing on their market and, second, because our tooling lasted longer than our competition’s we could offer considerable cost savings over time. Every manufacturer that was making the transition from carburetion to fuel injection would have to retool, so tool life would become an important buying motive. Through discovery we were able to help the prospect calculate the potential savings from our tooling versus competition. We ended up winning three of the four accounts we targeted. The campaign was a big success. Finally, be sure to keep these **Five-Level Model Marketing Takeaways** in mind: 1. The fastest way to increase revenue in the short term is to improve the sales function on Level One. This means stronger consultative selling skills, the development of custom sales processes, and good coaching. 2. Effective use of Level Two information can significantly leverage your salespeople’s time and boost their productivity in Level Three tactical sales campaigns. 3. The most efficient way to obtain competitive advantage is to market one level above your competition. If they are marketing on three levels, you differentiate by marketing on four. 4. The goal is to gain sustainable competitive advantage on all five levels and at the high end of each one. 5. There are many ways to market successfully using the Five Levels Model. The first step is getting started is to identify which level you’re currently on and how well you’re doing. Improve on that level and test other levels as it makes sense to find the best combination for your business. **We have an extensive list** of other types of data that can be used to market at the higher end of Level Three. Just get in touch if you want to discuss additional data points that can help drive revenue. We’re at [**pkrone@productivestrategies.com**](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com) and 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Five Levels of Marketing - Level Two: Putting Data and Information to Work](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing-level-two-putting-data-and-information-to-work/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***Tracking key types of data each month provides insights that can build a highly productive marketing plan.* In a prior *Productive Insights* blog, we introduced our ***Five Levels of Marketing*** model. This column will focus on Level Two, where we see a range of data and information that can be used to leverage the sales effort. Before getting into details about Level Two, we’ll share a story that will help illustrate the Five Levels. Suppose that 50 years ago you were a slide-rule manufacturer. If your objective was to increase revenues you could take action on each of the levels. ![Putting Data and Information to Work](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture24.png) **Level One: Sales.** You might decide to hire more salespeople or improve the sales results of your present team by training them in consultative selling skills and building a custom sales process. **Level Two: Information/Data/Analytics.** Let’s assume you’ve discovered through research that a very high percentage of slide rules are purchased from high school and college bookstores around the time school starts each year. That piece of intelligence can help leverage Level One by pointing the sales team to the identified target, campus bookstores in this case. You also learn that a small percentage of slide rules are graduation gifts. This information might direct product development as you will see below. **Level Three: Tactical or Campaign.** Perhaps you run a tactical campaign. Every week you mail a promotion to school bookstores (yes, via snail mail here) and let your salespeople know which schools receive the mailing each week. This heads-up further leverages your sales team’s time. **Level Four: Marketing or Program.** Pause here and segment the market based on buying motive. Then develop a targeted marketing model for each segment with product attributes: Basic for students (functional yet low in price); as a high-quality gift for business managers, with a leather case and a higher price; and professional for the engineer or scientist using the slide rule on the job every day. You could go along just fine investing in any of the first four levels until the electronic calculator was introduced. At that point your market could be significantly impacted, and the survival of the firm could be at stake since future unit sales will now be under attack. Had you been marketing on **Level Five: Vision**, however, you probably would have anticipated slide rules being replaced by calculators and taken strategic actions. That might mean selling the company or partnering with an original equipment manufacturer of calculators (you know the market; they know the product). A third strategy could be taking control of the product yourself either by buying and reselling it or by manufacturing it. **To determine which end of Level Two** you are marketing on now, ask yourself how you use data and information in the marketplace or within your firm. Here is a short list of possibilities: - Buying motives for your product or service learned from surveying current clients, prospects, and lost prospects. We find our clients can identify only about half the reasons customers buy from them. - Data you collect as part of providing your service that can be gathered, analyzed, and sold into the marketplace. Perhaps your entire business becomes collecting data and re-selling it. - Information such as formulas that help your prospects understand the cost of the status quo. We helped a client develop an algorithm to calculate the cost of medication waste at senior living communities. Our client offered a significantly more efficient packaging system that saved money but needed a way to convince their prospects. - Our formula used rules of thumb related to average prescription prices, frequency of prescription changes, number of skilled nursing beds, and types of packaging. Using the algorithm with data *supplied by our client’s prospects,* the amount of medication wasted by packaging could be calculated quickly on the spot and compared with our prospect’s packaging costs. This type of data creates value for prospects. In this case, they know that medication waste is costing them money, but they typically don’t know exactly how much. - Information that each month tracks your current 12-month total sales divided by the prior 12-month total sales. For instance, divide the total sales for the 12 months ending September 2024 by the 12-month total sales ending September 2023. - Do that every month to remove seasonal differences and put that data into a visual to illustrate your real growth rate. This straightforward way of looking at sales can be used both for forecasting and for inventory control. Optimizing those two categories improves customer experience and can drive growth. **Finally, be sure to keep these** Five-Level Model takeaways in mind: 1. The fastest way to increase revenue in the short term is to improve the sales function on Level One. This means stronger consultative selling skills, the development of custom sales processes, and good coaching. 2. Effective use of Level Two information can significantly leverage your salespeople’s time and boost their productivity. 3. The most efficient way to obtain competitive advantage is to market one level above your competition. If they are marketing on three levels, you differentiate by marketing on four. 4. The goal is to gain sustainable competitive advantage on all five levels and at the high end of each one. 5. There are many ways to market successfully using the Five Levels Model. The first step is to identify which level you’re on now and how well you’re doing. Improve on that level and test other levels as it makes sense to find the best combination for your business. **We have an extensive list** of other types of data that can be used to market at the higher end of Level Two. Just get in touch if you want to discuss additional data points that can help drive revenue. We’re at or 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Five Levels of Marketing](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-five-levels-of-marketing/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***Try putting the Five Levels Model to work to help you determine the best combination to grow your revenues and your business.*** Over the years it has been helpful for some of our clients to have us organize their sales and marketing activities into a model. Our model breaks down marketing into five distinct levels. Once we complete this assessment we can suggest how to improve the levels a client is already engaged in and help them market on other levels that best support their growth. In this column we will present the Five Levels Model and provide some insight into where you might focus time and money based on your current objectives. The Five Levels 1. **Sales: Prospecting, qualifying, discovery, presentation, demonstration, proposal writing and closing** 2. **Information/Data/Analytics** 3. **Tactical or Campaign** 4. **Marketing or Program** 5. **Vision/Strategic** Some companies operate only on one level, some on two levels, and some on all five. As an example, we have one client that simply had a sales function (Level One) and a vision of what they wanted to become (Level Five). In ten years they grew to $60 million in revenue before they marketed on any other levels. They didn’t use data to leverage their sales effort; they ran no tactical campaigns to focus on a targeted group for a limited amount of time to test a promotion or product idea. They didn’t have a marketing plan, but they grew steadily because what they did do they did well and did it consistently. That included the delivery of their services and products as well as their limited marketing. Another example is when we observe salespeople who spend all their time prospecting, and little or no time following up with meetings to strengthen the discovery part of their process. We worked with one salesperson who was making 18 sales calls a day and selling nothing. We cut him back to three calls a day and showed him how to make effective use of the additional time he now had. A final example is the law firm that lost five major opportunities in a row. In each case, they were given two-hour presentation opportunities to compete for major pieces of new business, and they used their time to convey “why us.” Over a few months we developed a process that was heavily weighted toward discovery (that is, learning the prospect’s issues), confirmation of the discovered intelligence, short sections for Q&A, and finally why us. They won the next five opportunities, which were worth millions of dollars in business. Here is a way for you to begin thinking about where your business development team with respect to Level One: If your current sales process is to show up and offer a solution with a canned pitch, you are at the low end of Level One. Your process is educational—basically, “why us”—but probably not persuasive. This process may work in a small consumer sale but will be far less effective in a complex business-to-business sale. Here are some specific signs that your selling skills and process are at the low end of Level One: - Winning percentage for competitive opportunities is too low - Too few first meetings - Giving away too much intellectual property within the sales process - Too much focus on price and terms - Difficulty turning social situations into business opportunities with grace - Low win rate on large, request for proposal opportunities. Score yourself at the high end of Level One if your sales process is mostly built on prospect discovery and working that discovery into presentations, demonstrations, and proposals. This approach goes way beyond identification of pain. You have a customized process that becomes more customized for each prospect you meet with. Here is another example of a successful company that is focused only on their sales and their vision. It is a software as a service firm developed to create an operations dashboard to help professional firms better understand how their business is doing. The idea for the business came from the founder seeing a need for more and better information in her own profession. She not only recognized that she lacked information to manage her company better, but at conferences she heard the same need being expressed by others. That led to the vision of creating a dashboard to leverage information hidden within the practice. The founder put together a group to create a dashboard customized to meet her needs and the needs of the other professionals in her firm to better support clients. Once they had the product and a strong sales process it was much easier to make sales. The company is only nine months old but is projecting a low seven-figure run rate by the end of the year. Almost all of the business is now coming from referrals. Takeaways: - **The fastest way to increase revenue in the short term is to improve the sales function on Level One. This means stronger consultative selling skills, the development of custom sales processes, and good coaching.** - **The most efficient way to obtain competitive advantage is to market one level above your competition. If they are marketing on three levels, you differentiate by marketing on four.** - **The goal is to gain sustainable competitive advantage on all five levels and at the high end of each one.** - **There are many ways to market successfully using the Five Levels Model. The first step is to identify which level you’re on now and how well you’re doing. Improve on that level and test other levels as it makes sense to find the best combination for your business.** In future columns we will discuss other firms that are marketing on different levels and how using the model has led to their success. To learn more about how the Five Levels can help your business grow, please contact me. I’m at or 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Question That Leads to a Positive Decision (The Texas Hospital Story)](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-question-that-leads-to-a-positive-decision-the-texas-hospital-story/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Probing questions work only for so long. Once you know the problems, find out what the cost of not solving those problems could mean for the prospect. And it’s not always money.** Over the years several clients have asked me to observe one of their salespeople in the field to learn what is holding back their sales success. Several times the client has not wanted to risk a current prospect for research purposes so they suggest a prospect for which they believe the chances for a sale are slim to none. In other words, there’s no chance of wasting a good prospect. They don’t necessarily tell me, however, which can lead to some surprising consequences. ![The Question That Leads to a Positive Decision](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture25.jpg) In this case, my client had called on a specific Texas hospital for years without success. Our client’s service is to analyze past hospital billings looking for errors that result in Medicare or insurance companies reimbursing hospitals less than they deserve. A percentage of the captured increase in collected billings is paid to our client as a fee. This hospital had a homegrown system for ensuring billing accuracy. Confidence in their system led them to believe that retaining an outside firm to audit past billings would be a waste of time because no savings would be found. During the call, it became clear that there were two reasons the salesperson was not successful. The first was that he really enjoyed working the top of the funnel and rarely invested time in meaningful discovery in follow-up meetings. Consequently, he spent 90 percent of his time at medical conferences striking up new relationships with CFOs. This tactic was easy for him because he was a past hospital CFO and well aware of the challenges his prospects faced. He also had ADHD, and, as we have written elsewhere, meeting new people energized him. We had already created a sales process for him to make him more comfortable with second and third meetings where important discoveries take place and larger sales are made. Now we were working on making first meetings more productive—in other words, so they would lead to more second meetings or a close. The second reason this sales rep was not successful was that his discovery process was too narrow. His line of inquiry was to challenge the capability of the hospital’s homegrown system versus the system he was trying to sell. He did ask some good questions about potential issues to reveal weaknesses in the hospital’s system. Not surprisingly, in each case the response was negative, “Our system does not have those issues.” As an observer, I could see where the discussion was going. Each side believed they had a better system, and, since no persuasion was occurring, no sale was going to take place. It was clear that the hospital CFO was not going to be convinced that billing errors would be found if he retained our client. Even though he would pay only if our client found errors, he was reluctant to invest time in a project he believed wouldn’t provide a positive return. If you are of a certain age, or watch TV reruns, you might know about the detective television series *Columbo*. Each episode had a predictable formula for each case. Columbo learned all he could learn and was still stumped. But just as he was leaving, he would ask one more question that led to solving the crime. In the case of our hospital CFO, up until this point in our meeting the questions my client’s sales rep had asked were “probing” discovery questions. They identified potential problems with the homegrown system. What happened next was a Columbo moment. It was clear to me that asking more questions to find more weaknesses was not going to be productive. I asked the buyer if I could ask something. “Let’s assume your system is as good as or even better than ours,” I began. That statement was well received, and it moved him from being defensive about his internal system, so I continued: “What problem might you have from using a homegrown system?” “It would not be that we are losing revenue,” he replied, “because as I’ve been saying all along, we think our system is close to being 100 percent accurate.” “But what might be a problem?” I asked. “My only fear is that because we believe so strongly in our system, nobody from outside our hospital has ever seen our whole system,” he said. ”It’s possible we’re doing something wrong beyond billing accuracy that we need to change. We might be violating a regulation that we are not even aware of.” I summed up what I understood him to be saying. “You wouldn’t engage a third party because you believe you have underbilled, but you would invest in an audit so that someone who audits hospital systems all the time might find a red flag outside of billing accuracy?” He agreed, and we left with a commitment to audit his system. The good news was that the audit did find billing errors that justified retaining our client. Even better, there were no red flags beyond billing accuracy. This result was of great value to our client’s newest client. It was only after we returned with the order that I learned why my client had selected this specific hospital for our research: He didn’t want to waste a sales call on a prospect he “knew” was not going to buy. **Main Takeaways:** - 1. If you believe you have ADHD, you can be more successful by scheduling fewer first meetings and spending that time on more second and third meetings with qualified prospects. For our client, that meant cancelling half the medical CFO conventions his sales rep was planning to attend and investing more time following up with the CFO prospects he had already met. 2. When your discovery is not productive, step back and restart at the point the discussion began to be about whose system is better. That’s an argument you are not going to win. 3. Don’t waste years in prospect meetings in which you ask the same questions every time and get the same answers. Either decide that your product or service isn’t right for this prospect and move on—or broaden your discovery to find a need behind the need. 4. In this hospital case, the hidden need was a fear that because no outside vendors had audited their system they might be in violation of regulations that an outsider would spot right away. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Showing Up . . . and Winning The Information Battle](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/showing-up-and-winning-the-information-battle/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Several years ago, I helped a Wisconsin piece-part manufacturer compete for a multimillion dollar opportunity. They asked me who I wanted to take along from their company, and I said the chief engineer, the head of quality control, and a production representative. Day 1: On the plane ride to the East Coast, I let everyone know we were looking for information that would give us a competitive advantage. Without it our odds of winning would be one in three or one in four, depending on how many competitors we were facing. The prospect organized a get-to-know-you cocktail event that evening. There we learned that the project involved a complete redesign of a common household appliance. The prospect’s people were excited because they had already received a large Christmas order from a major retailer. Our team debriefed later. Despite getting to know each of our counterparts from the prospect, we had not learned anything that would give us a competitive advantage. Day 2: We met with departmental leaders, including purchasing. Before the meeting our head of quality assurance had breakfast with his counterpart. He had learned that a design issue had not yet been resolved and was causing intermittent failures in the prototypes. Our prospect’s quality assurance head explained that just before going to one of the vice presidents for budget approval, he and his colleagues were playing with a prototype that failed to function intermittently. They went to the meeting and did get the approval. But just as they were heading out the door the VP asked, “Do we have a working prototype?” The engineers said yes, pulled it out of a briefcase, and handed it to him, holding their breath. He tested it, and it worked fine. “Let’s go,” he said. When I heard that, I knew we had learned something that could help us win the business: our competitive advantage. We started the meeting with the buyer’s procurement team by asking what the project we were bidding on would mean to each of them. We heard a range of responses: - “This project has the potential to help me be promoted from a line manager to production manager.”• “There should be so few quality issues I might be able to go on vacation this year.”• “The bonuses will help me pay for my kids’ college expenses.” Clearly, the success of this program was important to everyone on their team. More Stories about Winning the Business Read similar stories in my new book, B2B Selling: Business-to-Business Marketplace Insights and Observations, which is available on [Amazon](https://cl.exct.net/?qs=ef705f142897915e02fdfded15327343ec1f21925ac7c15d55e7922e7ba84882e520e235630dfc8c9b33742f1f6c691b1b3b838c15370f4f). We asked about what might derail the project. Despite soft questions from us, nobody brought up the problem of intermittent failures that we knew about. Finally, I did bring it up without revealing how we knew about it. The discussion then turned more serious. Not only did the appliance not work, but to make the delivery promised to a major retailer for Christmas, the tooling construction had to be started immediately. But before that the design issue had to be fixed. We said we would like to spend the afternoon addressing the design problem and come back the next morning with a solution, if we could come up with one. Day 3: We were sitting in the buyer’s office waiting for the morning meeting to begin when our competitor called the buyer to see “how he looked” on the program. (We could hear the buyer say, “I don’t know how you stack up. I haven’t made the spreadsheet yet.”) This was a really interesting response for two reasons. First, adding up the piece price and the tooling amortization figure for three or four potential vendors in a spreadsheet would take five minutes, so the spreadsheet probably existed already. Second, and more important, was that even though the person calling was a current supplier the buyer did not tell him about the design issue. The company did not want a lot of people to know about the problem until they had fixed it. We knew about it because we were there. We had shown up. At the meeting with the procurement team, we reviewed what we had learned about their objectives for the project and the need to address the design issue. Before sharing our solution, I asked what would happen if they delayed the project to reengineer the product and missed their Christmas commitment to the retailer. The answer was that they would have a hard time getting an order for the following Christmas. I then asked what would happen if they went ahead and produced the product knowing there would be intermittent quality issues. The answer was that not only would this product have a hard time getting shelf space in the future, but the retailer might also reduce shelf space for other legacy products our prospect supplied. Of course, I wasn’t suggesting they do either of these things. I just wanted them to state the cost of the status quo out loud to emphasize the consequences of not resolving the issue. That in turn would emphasize the value of our solution. We then presented our solution to address the “have to start . . . can’t start” issue. We proposed starting the tooling immediately but staying away from the gear centers, which we believed were the source of the design issue. We also proposed building prototypes with different gear centers to resolve whatever issues there were. The prototype experiment would produce an optimal design in time to keep the tooling on schedule. Everyone was happy, and they asked us to drop by the next morning to pick up the order. Day 4: When we walked into the meeting, we could see something was wrong. We learned that they couldn’t award the contract to us because the approved project plan required them to use a current vendor to reduce risk. Why had we been asked to bid at all then? The plan also called for them to get three bids and one of their current suppliers had declined to bid. Key Point: When this kind of roadblock comes up, it’s important to stay calm and to focus on how to get the ball back in your hands. Before asking them if they could change the plan, I went over everything we had covered since day one: The importance of the success of the project for each person on the team, including what it meant to each of them personally; the importance of meeting the retailer’s demand for delivery in time for Christmas; that we were the only ones that knew of the design issue, and, most important, that we were the only ones with a potential solution. Then I asked if they could modify the plan. They had of course thought of that, but the VP who had approved the plan was out of the country. When this happens it is important to just ask the question that can bring the businesses back to you, in this case: Can we call him to see if he would approve the change? They made the call on a speaker phone so everyone could hear. His response wasn’t surprising. He was first of all unhappy that he hadn’t learned about the design issue sooner and that the vice president wasn’t told before approving the capital budget. Then he summed up the situation: “So what you’re telling me is that, first, we have a design problem none of our current vendors even know about let alone have a solution for. And, second, that you have a potential vendor on the spot who does have a solution and who can make the Christmas delivery date. Is that right?” After a pause, he said, “Change the plan!” We flew home that afternoon with the order. Here are the major takeaways: 1\) The best way to gain an information advantage is to show up and do discovery in person. 2\) If you can build bridges in addition to sales-to-purchasing, such as quality-to-quality, production-to-production, and engineering-to-engineering, you have increased the odds of learning what you need to know to gain a competitive advantage. 3\) When told the business is not coming your way, but you know an order hasn’t been placed yet, keep asking what it would take to bring the project back to you. 4\) Make sure your presentation is “prospect-centric”—that it is about the customer and his issues—not “seller-centric” and only about your capabilities. 5\) If the program is large enough, or important enough, hiring outside resources to get the win can be a sound investment. 6\) When following up on a submitted proposal, don’t ask “how do we look?” That reduces the discussion to price. Please get in touch with us directly at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The New Information Game: Playing to Win](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-new-information-game-playing-to-win/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** When I was president of a manufacturing company, a colleague and I flew to Little Rock, Arkansas, to compete for a contract for a new U.S. Army rocket program. It was a major piece of business with a multi-year contract as the prize. The people seated in front of us on the flight were talking loudly, and my colleague and I gave each other a look that said: “This is our competition.” We got their attention and suggested they might want to keep their discussion to themselves. (Why didn’t we just keep quiet and continue to listen? Well, spying—intentionally or unintentionally—wasn’t the way we conducted business, and it still isn’t.) And we did win the business. The upshot, of course, is that it’s a small, small world, and you never know who is listening, so be careful what you say. On the other hand, sometimes holding key information close to the vest is not the right strategy for the greater long-term good. When customer relationship management (CRM) software came on the scene, many salespeople resisted loading their contacts and other business intelligence into the corporate database. The thinking was twofold. First, it’s “my” hard-earned information. Second, if I’m the only one who has it, the company needs me. Keeping critical information in “my” little black book would make it harder for the company to lay me off. Clearly, this thinking was wrong on both counts. Unless you’re an independent sales representative, that information belongs to the company and even then be sure to read the fine print. And, of course, if you’re not performing or if larger, structural issues come into play, a little black book won’t save you. Companies must insist that salespeople keep the CRM database up to date and hold them accountable. Especially when used in concert with data from other sources, including other sales reps, that information can be leveraged into knowledge that leads to larger sales. You still don’t want the little black book information to walk out the door when a sales rep moves on either on their own initiative or yours. While not all companies think about another, perhaps more subtle component, great leverage also comes in the form of a proprietary sales process that all salespeople should be trained in. That way if a top performer leaves, the process doesn’t leave with them. (Ask us about our popular consultative sales training course, FOCIS®, which helps our clients build proprietary sales processes and trains business developers to use them.) Are your salespeople presenting your company’s product or service accurately? Two examples. We once worked with a company whose people told prospects that they were in the oil business. No, they were not. Their highly effective service was helping to absorb oil off shop floors and disposing of it. The shortcut explanation made it sound like they were in the oil exploration business. Not even close. And not only was that description confusing, but it also called the reps’ competence into question. Another instance that’s perhaps a little more subtle comes from a networking group I was in. Whenever one of our members gave the elevator speech version of his product, he said he provided sexual harassment training. No, just the opposite. He provided sexual harassment prevention training. He was not offering training in how to harass people. Protecting how you’re different from competition can be a valuable investment. For the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group, restaurant design is a key differentiator. Before launching a new concept, the design is top secret, down to details like the tablecloths and the kind of wood that provided the concept’s style and personality. These things were protected with the help of intellectual property (IP) attorneys. At one point we trained the business developers of the company that supplied the wood elements for a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant design—in this case, Maggiano’s Little Italy. The specific elements that made up the various woods themselves as well as how they were incorporated into the design were extremely detailed. You don’t have to be in the restaurant business to take away a key lesson here. We’ve found that too many business owners and executives assume that what they do is not different enough from what their competitors do to set their businesses apart. In some thirty years of working with myriad B2B companies, we have never come across a business that didn’t have important points of differentiation. Your business is different, whether you think so or not, and that difference can be invaluable not only in marketing but also in sales. Keep in mind that information can be discovered and developed in many different and imaginative ways. For example, Subaru reportedly identified a new color for its cars—Cool Gray Khaki—by tracking trends in ski jackets. The insights improved targeting of at least one marketing segment for cars—young, active people—by better understanding what trends they were buying in other areas. In 2018, 18 percent of all the cars Subaru sold were Cool Gray Khaki. Finally, while we all know this cyber information safety tip, it bears repeating—at least from our own experience as well as that of others. If you’re too eager to come up with new insights, you can put yourself in harm’s way by clicking on email links or attached files whose sources you don’t really know. It’s especially important when their appearance mimics trusted sources you do know. We all also know the solution. To determine a source’s validity, call, text, or email that source separately. Some forty years ago, futurist and author of the mega-bestselling book Megatrends, famously said: “We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” That statement might or might not still be true. One thing that is true is that we’ve learned a lot more about how to turn information into knowledge, which makes the information we can absorb without drowning all the more valuable. To learn more, please call us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Becoming a Business-to-Business Top Producer](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/becoming-a-business-to-business-top-producer/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** How can you become one of the very best salespeople and business developers in your industry? A new, complimentary seminar on March 19th can help you find out. *How can 20 percent of business-to-business salespeople* bring in 80 percent of all new business? They’re selling the same brands and the same products for the same prices. They’re probably not smarter, working harder, or luckier than you are. Do they have a secret? If so, what is it? *Why don’t the sales techniques that work* in smaller single-call sales work in the business-to-business market? Why do salespeople think they do–and continue to use them even as they don’t work year after year? *What’s the single biggest problem that holds most salespeople back from being all they could be* ? How do the best salespeople cut their industry’s typical sales cycles so significantly? How do they minimize objections so effectively that they don’t even think about “overcoming” them? **In short, why are the best so successful?** More important, how can you become a top producer yourself? On March 19, at noon (Central) you can get answers to these questions and more during a live Small Business Expo webinar I’m presenting: “Becoming a Business-to-Business Top Producer.” It’s a service of Small Business University Online, which offers seminars on business topics presented by leading industry experts. **Phil Krone is the founder and president of Productive Strategies, Inc.,** a marketing and management consulting firm he founded in 1993 to help companies, not-for-profits, and professional services firms define and reach their revenue objectives. The company is located in Northfield, Illinois, with clients throughout North America and Europe. Based on his real-world selling and business development experiences and research, he also developed a proprietary consultative sales training course called FOCIS®, which teaches the behaviors of the very best salespeople–the 20 percent who bring in the 80 percent of the business. The course also develops a customized sales process for individuals, companies, and professional service firms. **A graduate of Duke University with a BA in psychology, Krone holds an MBA** from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Before founding Productive Strategies he was president of a manufacturing firm. He is a founder of the Die Casting Development Council, a trade association dedicated to expanding the market for its process. Krone has contributed to various trade publications and business magazines over the course of his career and writes a monthly marketing and sales column for 10,000 readers. He is the recipient of the Gullo and Trieber Award for marketing excellence and the Austin C. Lilligren Award for service to manufacturers. A sought-after-speaker, Krone has addressed many groups including the Precision Metalforming Association, the Legal Marketing Association, the North American Die Casting Association, the North American Recycling Institute, the Forging Industry Association, the Kellogg Alumni Entrepreneur Conference, the Polyurethane Manufacturers Association, the Investment Casting Council, and the Commercial Development Association. Popular topics include “The Five Levels of Marketing”, “Collective Marketing Programs for Trade Groups”, and “Using Sales Representatives to Help You Market at Higher Levels.” **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Much Bigger Sales: How to Make Them Happen](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/much-bigger-sales-how-to-make-them-happen/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Are you competing for larger sales but just not winning them? Help is at hand.** One of my favorite success stories is how we helped a pharmacy benefit management company break through to win much larger sales. PBMs serve as third-party administrators of prescription drug programs. The CEO of this particular PBM called us, explaining that he didn’t need our help with getting more or better leads. He and his team were seeing attractive opportunities at the top of the sales funnel. His issue was twofold: He was not winning enough of the opportunities he had—and he virtually never won the really big ones. His current annual sales revenue was $1 billion. His team’s largest sale to date had been $100 million. **We talked through that issue** and some others to see if we might be able to help. We agreed that our firm could make a difference. The CEO, Mark Thierer, and nine of his top sales people enrolled in our FOCIS® Consultative Selling program. We have a unique way of teaching consultative selling that involves teaching a theory that we then tailor to specific companies, markets, and the services or products being sold. We spend months helping our clients develop the most revealing and targeted discovery questions that create value for the buyer while building trust in the seller. **In the fourth and final session** of the class, Mark said he was going to pull a lead out of the funnel at random, use the sales process the 11 of us had spent three months developing, and report back on how things worked out—or didn’t. He also asked all of his FOCIS® trained staff to do the same thing. When he contacted the prospect he heard something that all of us in sales have no doubt heard more than once: “We are very satisfied with our current source, and we have some time left on our current contract with them. But we also have an open-door policy for learning about new suppliers and hearing new ideas. You are welcome to come in and meet with us but keep in mind we are very satisfied without our current vendor.” “This is great,” Mark said to himself and his staff. “This is clearly a long shot, but I’ll get practice in trying out the new sales process Phil has helped us develop.” **Long story short:** Mark had a solid meeting during which he learned several key things about the company that made him sure that his company would provide real value for what he hoped would soon be a brand-new client. “This was easily the most informational and persuasive sales call I have experienced in several years,” he told us. “The prospect brought many of their internal business owners to the meeting, each of whom was an expert in their specific area. It was such a pleasure to learn so much strategic information from the client.” Continuing to apply the FOCIS® sales process, Mark found himself called into several more meetings over the next 12 weeks. At the fifth meeting, the prospect confided to Mark that they would normally put this type of project out for bid because they often found that worked to their advantage. And for this project they had estimated that a bidding process would save them $50 to $100 million on the expected $1 billion contract—that is, $1 billion a year for five years. But Mark’s meetings had persuaded them that partnering with Mark’s firm to develop a custom product sooner rather than later would yield significantly more value to the entire enterprise. **“More than ever I’m a big believer** in the FOCIS® process,” Mark wrote us later. “It really worked! Thanks for all your help in reshaping our selling process.” Why Mark so pleased? It had turned out the client was right and the client benefited significantly. And Mark’s company did, too. Sales jumped from $1 billion to $2 billion, and its largest sale increased to $1 billion per year from the previous $100 million. His firm, SXC at the time, was named Fortune Magazine’s fastest-growing publicly traded firm for 2011. In the next few years, SXC expanded and acquired other companies. Mark asked us to train salespeople and other business development people in those organizations. By 2016 SXC had grown to $20 billion in revenue and changed its name to Catamaran, eventually being purchased by United Health Care. The name changed again and the company is now known as Optum. Mark has written us a few times thanking us for helping them pivot. He has pointed out that his company had a great product, they made good acquisitions, and they had innovative technology. But he believed that the company would not have made such a leap and grown so quickly without the upgrade in selling skills and the new, stronger sales process our training provided. **Welcome, Ron Lintz!** We’re extremely pleased to welcome Ron Lintz to the Productive Strategies team as a senior consultant. A proven sales and marketing professional, Ron has served as a representative, director, and vice president of sales and marketing for more than 40 years. His expertise spans several manufacturing industries and markets, including non-automotive small engine fuel systems; technical, engineered custom plastic parts; non-fuel-related blow molding for furniture, outdoor and consumer products, and vehicle components, and applications for the switchgear, transformer, and electrical controls markets. He has led teams responsible for North American key accounts and new business development, achieving annual sales of more than $100 million. He sees his selling experience aligning well with the highly competitive, price-sensitive markets Productive Strategies clients face. Ron has represented Walbro, The Plastics Group (TPG), and Western Industries-Plastic Products Group, among others, serving such accounts as John Deere, Arctic Cat, Square D, and Allen Bradley. **Please feel free to get in touch** with questions or comments about this column or about how we might support your sales and marketing efforts. I can be reached at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Yes, You Can Differentiate a Commodity](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/yes-you-can-differentiate-a-commodity/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Here’s how. Research what your market likes and dislikes about your product, understand specifically why customers come to you, and, the old standby: “think creatively.” A producer of a graphite oil additive for the car dealership market was taking the company in a new direction and knew they needed to build a much more effective sales organization. They had recently sold their manufacturing capability to focus only on the graphite additive. They were sure it had great long-term potential there. They had come to us for help because they had a fundamental obstacle: slow sales—very slow sales, in fact. It took six to eight sales calls and more than a year to make a single sale to a single dealer. And the volume was minuscule compared to what they needed to achieve their goals. They were also concerned because they were selling a pure commodity and believed they were at a serious disadvantage. Could they differentiate themselves from competitors? After hearing their story, we knew two things. We could help them increase their sales through consultative sales training and revamping their sales process. We had never met a company that couldn’t differentiate itself in a productive way. We just needed to find out how. That would come from market research and insight into the market. Why, specifically, wasn’t our client getting the sales they knew their product warranted? We suggested that we talk directly to dealers. What was their perspective? Why didn’t they buy a product that made their cars run more smoothly—and their customers that much happier? The results were eye-opening. The dealers were not enthusiastic about the additive and for good reason. If they used it, they would have to raise the price for a very straightforward task—changing the oil. But if the price increased even a small amount, the dealers said, their customers would find other sources, and there were many other sources. Franchises specializing in oil changes were a special challenge (think Jiffy Lube) not to mention the myriad service stations and other “garages” that routinely offered oil changes along with other service maintenance. The dealers didn’t see the product as helping them at all. In fact, they were sure it would hurt them. This insight was critical. We had already observed our client’s sales process. It consisted of talking to service managers while they were multi-tasking in, under, and around cars; dealing with mechanics, and explaining the work to customers. That didn’t leave much time for conversation with reps selling a product the dealership didn’t want anyway. Consequently, the sales success rate was low, and the sales cycle was long and not productive. Eventually, the service manager would buy a case of the additive, but strictly for use on cars that weren’t running smoothly. We wanted the additive to be used in every car the dealer had—either to sell on the lot or to service in the shop. The graphite product increased lubricity to reduce friction and would, the company assured the dealership, enable a car’s engine to last longer. We also discovered that the reason winning the battle against the quick change shops was so critical is that a customer who comes to the dealership on a regular basis has a 20 percent greater chance of buying a car from that dealership. We reported to our client that there was good and bad news coming out of the interviews. The bad news was that dealerships didn’t like the product because it made oil changes more expensive for their customers. The good news was that we learned the high value dealers placed on customer retention: regularly returning customers meant increased car sales. The solution was not only sales training but also repositioning the product as a key tool for retaining customers—that is, to keep them coming back. We told them we were going to make them a customer retention specialist. Our client had so much faith in their product that they offered to put a 100,000-mile warranty on the engine at a time when most factory warranties offered much less. The customer just needed to come back for regular maintenance on a recommended schedule. In other words, they kept finding themselves in the dealer’s showroom looking at the latest models. We all know how much fun that is. The more sophisticated sales process yielded bonus results, too. Prospect meetings moved from service bays and working mechanics into conference rooms with dealership owners, sales managers, and service managers. These executives would be shown the value of buying 40 cases a month and not charging customers for the service. The twin goals were to keep those customers coming back and to sell more new cars to regularly repeating service customers. Guess what? It worked. Early in the product repositioning and sales training, I was meeting with our client when a salesperson called in with early results from using the new product positioning and sales process. Instead of the previously typical one-year-one-case sales cycle, the sales rep reported a sale for 40 cases on the first call. Quite a turnaround. The dealer wanted to put the graphite additive into every oil change without additional cost to the customer. And there was a bonus as a result. Eventually, the dealers developed a new triple-threat program that included the engine warranty as well as towing and tire services. After a customer bought a car, the dealer would invite them to a conference room to explain the new program and also upsell other products and services the dealers rarely had the chance to describe. The bottom line is that the company was able over the past twenty years to sell a pure commodity, the graphite additive, with strong margins, leading to 20 percent annual growth. To learn more about how we can help your sales teams think creatively, contact us at 847-446-0008 X-1 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Sales Reps and SMEs Working Well Together](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/sales-reps-and-smes-working-well-together/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Team selling with subject matter experts can be the best sales experience you’ll ever have–or the worst. Training and practice for sales reps and SMEs can benefit everyone, especially the prospect. Over the years, I’ve sold with nuclear power-plant engineers, lawyers, real estate developers, software designers, and other highly talented and knowledgeable subject matter experts, or SMEs. There’s nothing like the success that combines a strong sales process and consultative selling skills with great technical information and insight. When subject matter experts (SMEs) and salespeople call on prospects together, things often go swimmingly. In fact, when they’re using a sales process they’ve created together, a skilled consultative sales rep and an SME make up the most powerful sales teams we see. But when they don’t, sales calls can drown in a flood of misguided communication that results in frustration for prospects, sales reps, and SMEs alike. **What happens?** Three players are in the game: the decision maker, the sales professional, and the SME. When the sales process works smoothly, the players know what the goals are and operate professionally as a team. True, some prospects don’t understand that the goal of a professional sales team is the same as their goal: determine whether a product or service meets their needs—or doesn’t. It’s the salesperson’s job to guide the process and get everyone on the same page, which doesn’t necessarily mean getting the sale right then and there. And the sales rep is in a good position to do that with SME support. “There are several reasons that SMEs can move the sales process forward,” says Ronald E. Wajer, CMC. He’s president of Business Engineering, a division of R.E. Wajer and Associates, Inc., in Prospect Heights, Illinois. “They understand the product or service. They might have worked on the design, and they believe in it. They’re the people who can answer technical questions on the spot.” The sales rep must also watch for challenges SMEs might present. “While great at technical and educational communication, they aren’t always as familiar with persuasive approaches,” Wajer explains. “They can be less interested in identifying customer wants and needs, and they might not be open to suggestions about improving their work.” On the other hand, decision-makers—the prospects—think in terms of implication. They are asking themselves: “If I buy this product or service, what will it mean to my business?” Subject matter experts think in terms of “Here’s how” because that’s what they love and what they’re good at. Unfortunately, much too early in the process, SMEs tend to tell prospects, “Here’s how our product works. Isn’t that great?” Bridging the gap are the sales reps. If they have well-developed consultative selling skills, they are in discovery the moment they walk in the door, if not before. They don’t tell; they ask. They want to know what a prospect’s objectives are in connection with their product or service. Then, if they can help the prospect appreciate their product’s value, a technical expert can be indispensable to sealing the deal. An SME reassures the prospect with detail: “Yes, our product is extremely effective—here’s how and why.” **How can business developer-SME teams** achieve success during sales calls? We’ve found that three things come into play. 1. **Customized Sales Process:** The most important factor. Years ago we taught consultative selling skills to business developers at a utility and created a sales process tailored to them and their industry. When the salespeople first understood the basic principles of our program, they insisted that their SMEs—engineers, in this case—receive the same training. Their rationale, paraphrased, was that “otherwise \[the SMEs\] will jump in and undo everything we are doing in the sales process.”An effective sales process must draw intellectual property from the SMEs that sales reps can use in specific ways to learn a prospect’s objectives and issues and to build trust. But the consultative sales process we teach goes way beyond simply identifying needs or “finding the pain.” It involves an inventory of potential issues the solution addresses, the implications of those issues, rules of thumb to gain perspective, and stories to help educate on the issues. 2. **Skill Level and Clear Roles:** Once the sales process is in place the sales rep-SME team has to decide how to execute it. Effectiveness here depends on the relative skill level of both the seller and the SME. At the beginning they may want to make calls together at the front end of the process. Later it may be possible for the sales person to work alone until the sales process has been advanced to the point technical expertise is needed. In that model, the SME takes center stage near the end to answer final questions and help close the sale.Even before products are designed, SMEs can benefit from time in the field talking with current customers or prospects. “Have an engineer meet with and listen to customers,” says Wajer. “Formal sales training programs can also help because SMEs can learn why understanding customer needs for functionality and satisfaction are critical.” 3. **Pre-Call Planning and Practice:** The sales process should be reviewed before the first calls so that decisions can be made about who goes along, who is the lead, and what role a second or third person plays. More pre-call communication among the team members improves effectiveness. A few minutes of role playing can work wonders. Two other important factors also influence sales rep-SME teams: the compensation system and the level of trust within the team. The compensation system must establish who makes initial contact with the prospect, who helps sell the product or service, and who performs the work—that is, supplies the deliverable—once the sale is made *as well as* how each role is weighted for compensation and incentives. If this breakdown isn’t standard, team members should negotiate splits on their own with each other. SMEs, especially, will come to value the sales rep’s ability to speed up the sales process without calling on them until necessary. End result: SMEs can do more of what they love to do—implement the solution! Trust with sales-SME teams comes from working well together and can take time to develop. An efficient sales process, however, will accelerate both building trust and building sales. **Sales rep-SME team members** can be extremely productive if they know their roles in the sales process and how to perform them. Please tell us about your experiences and ideas at 847-446-0008 X-1 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com . We’re always learning, too, especially from the marketplace. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Back to School, Back to Business](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/back-to-school-back-to-business/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **The summer holidays are over and the winter holiday** s aren’t yet here. But excitement is in the air because autumn always feels like a new beginning. Make the most of all that energy by energizing your networking. Here are some tips. To get started, let’s ask a question: Is networking the lifeblood of selling? Most business-to-business salespeople we know would say “Yes!” Networking makes up a large part of what we do here at Productive Strategies, not only to keep the prospects coming but also to “stay in touch,” “keep current,” and *learn* as much as possible about what’s going on “out there.” In just about any form of networking, at least in our experience, the fundamental operating principle is “Give Before You Get.” But how does it all come together? The fundamental thing is that superior networking can’t be done well at the last minute. Conscientious networking takes commonsense, commitment, and consideration for other people. Well, the secret is to do what the best shoppers do—you know, the people who have just the right birthday or holiday gifts bought, wrapped, and otherwise ready to go well before the big day? The good news is that their secret really isn’t really a secret- it’s just common sense, commitment, and consideration for other people. The secret is to *always be shopping.* Not buying, mind you, but shopping: Paying attention to what’s being offered, what the best prices and values are, and, most importantly, which gifts might be right for which relative, friend, or business acquaintance. Online or brick-mortar, it doesn’t matter. When you see something that’s “just right” for someone on your list, you’ll know whether you can buy it with confidence. The same thinking applies to superior networking. It cannot be done well at the last minute. Conscientious networking, just like conscientious shopping, takes commonsense, commitment, and consideration for other people. But, just like being able to completely enjoy the holidays because all gifts have been gotten, it does pay off. Consider these networking best practices to be our early holiday gift to you. 1. **Listen—and ask questions.** Amid social chit-chat, what might someone be telling you, either out loud or implied? When people say “Business isn’t great but OK,” for example, are they really saying they are having problems—marketing, sales, operations slowdowns, supplier issues? You can’t know without asking, “What do you mean?” Whether you learn something that benefits you directly isn’t the most important thing. At a minimum, you’re keeping current and fostering a relationship. Plus, you might learn something that can benefit someone else, something you can give before you get.” 2. **Think purposefully about your contacts.** This group includes the obvious—customers, prospects, suppliers, colleagues. But it also includes others that might not come so quickly to mind: friends, social acquaintances, relatives- people you’ve met recently, even people you’ve *just* The same thinking applies: What do they need and want? Who do you know that they might help? Either end of these pairings can also be people you’ve just met. (Think “degrees of separation.”) 3. **Make the Match!** Introduce your complementary contacts. These introductions don’t have to be formal or detailed. A quick e-mail works or an offer to set up a breakfast or lunch. You don’t have to foot the bill, and you don’t even have to be there. But you can sit in if you think it would help them or you. At an event, you can even get people together you’ve only just met—“Bob, I think you and Joanne have some things in common.” No need for you to say anything else or hang around. Just walk away. **Key Point:** It’s important that you sincerely deliver value without expecting anything in return. If this sounds familiar, it’s because you also know it as “paying it forward” or, stretching the concept a bit, as a “random act of kindness.” Finally, thanks to neuroscience, a relatively new but especially valuable tool is on the networking scene: the associative cognitive mindset . What does that mean? An associative mind is one that sparks ideas when there is a stimulus, such as a stated need or objective. Ever notice that some salespeople have a knack for “keeping the ball rolling” in sales calls or conversations by bringing up related topics? Some can even tell appropriate jokes. Know why? It’s because these salespeople have an associative cognitive mindset. They hear something, not just in sales calls, and they naturally think of related things— sometimes jokes or stories. It’s just the way their minds work. **Warning:** Once you see that you’re advancing serious business interests be careful not to let interesting side trips take you away from discovering what you need to know to make a sale. If you feel that happening, just ask a sales-related question. Bonus point: If you’re asking, you’re not telling. At the next level, the same associative thinking enables some salespeople to create value for prospects and customers. That’s because when they hear about problems, they associate that problem with a solution—and often with a solution provider they know if they don’t have a solution themselves. That provider is usually someone they’ve met before, but it could be someone that a colleague, friend, or customer has complimented or endorsed. The source can even be something you’ve read or heard online. **Key Point:** Some networking gurus are born with an associative cognitive mindset. It’s a talent. But you can also develop it as a tool—a skill—by practicing it. Every time you meet someone, for example, actively think about other people with similar interests you could introduce them to. Or simply do it for anyone you talk to, even people you already know. (It’s one of the things we teach in our popular consultative selling course, FOCIS®.) From time to time—or, better, regularly—review your customer and prospect lists to see what connections pop up. Consider these networking best practices to be our early holiday gift to you. 1. **Checking the attendee list,** if possible. See whether you can help two or three specific individuals who are going to be there. You don’t have to know the exact issue an attendee might have. Just prioritize meeting those people whose businesses might benefit from your products or services. Keep in mind that you might know someone else who could help them or other attendees. We sometimes find it useful to introduce ourselves and set up appointments ahead of time. 2. **Coming up with conversation-starting topics and questions.** These can target individuals or simply of general, though professional, interest. Being prepared with something to say gives you an answer to the too-often unsettling question of “What do you say after you say hello?” Here are a few examples. **At professional events:** What brings you here today? What are you looking to get out of this event? What other, similar events have you been to? **At social activities or less business-oriented events:** How do you know (the host, honoree, or speaker)? Do you know very many people here? Are you new to the neighborhood? **To learn more** about how to customize your personal approach to networking, just contact us at 847-446-0008 or [pkrone@productivestrategies.com](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com?subject=) . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Build Bridges to Build Sales](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/build-bridges-to-build-sales/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Who should control** prospect and customer relationships to maximize revenue? The obvious answer—the salesperson—isn’t necessarily the right answer. While someone must lead and manage an account, controlling all aspects is not the best use of a salesperson’s time. For larger accounts, especially, building as many bridges between buyer and seller as possible is almost always the best way to serve both sides—and to maximize sales for your side. Surprisingly, too many companies fail to take that approach. “Never go into an account and think that you can see the total picture,” says Ron Lintz, formerly director of sales for several large manufacturers. “We can each scan the horizon, but the view for every individual and what we each see is just a little bit different—even more so from the other side of the lake” where the customer sits. Lintz calls this tactic “horizon selling.” If you don’t take on this wider perspective, Lintz says, “You are selling with tunnel vision. \[You can’t\] depend on a single contact or department to advance your efforts.” This should come as no surprise, he laughs. How often does everyone in your organization agree on anything? “That’s as rare as a frog’s hair.” Before founding Productive Strategies, I was in manufacturing. One of our customers, Holley, supplied 100 percent of Chrysler’s fuel injection systems. That’s right—all of them. Our role was to produce throttle bodies, which act as the lungs of an engine. They “breathe” for a vehicle by providing the air an engine needs to come alive when a driver steps on the gas. Even pedal to the metal won’t work if the throttle body doesn’t. One year Holley invited me and our regional sales rep to their Mississippi headquarters for a two-day vendor conference. The idea was to update the company’s suppliers on Holley’s quality program, ordering system, plans for the future, market conditions—and, most important for us, how vendors might fit in. **We decided to crash the party** and brought along all of our management team—engineering, quality, manufacturing, plant, and other key functions—eight or nine people. (We did give Holley a heads-up, and they were thrilled.) It turned out that we were the only vendor to show up with more than sales and top management. Over the top? Not in this case. It proved valuable for us and for Holley. Our relationship lasted for years. And the more-the-merrier tactic helped all of our salespeople understand they would do better if they controlled only the aspects of their relationships that really made sense for them to control. In other words, where they could add more value than anyone else. For the most part, top producers already know that they need to have multiple relationships in a customer’s organization. Sales is always in the loop, of course, and there really is no downside. Building multiple bridges between your company and your prospects and customers can lead to long-term, sustainable business. Salespeople who don’t actively foster those relationships, and encourage others on their corporate team to do the same, are missing opportunities to better understand needs in the present and to anticipate them in the future. Walk into a high level meeting at McDonald’s, for example, and you’ll be hard-pressed to separate McDonald’s managers from those who work for Coke, Procter & Gamble, or any other of the fast-food giant’s suppliers **Smaller companies can also benefit** from working side by side with customers, though it can require some investment. One of our clients decided they wanted their leadership discipline to be customer intimate. (The three market leadership disciplines are customer intimate, product leadership, and operational excellence. A determined company can own one of the disciplines, rarely two. Three? Tougher even than horse-racing’s Triple Crown.) To develop customer intimacy, the chief engineer began visiting his counterpart in another state each Friday. The first major payoff came a few years later when our client was invited to locate a new facility next to one of the customer’s plants. The second came when the customer expanded its operations in Mexico. Our client was invited to place a manufacturing operation in the customer’s Mexico plant. All of the result of the bridge building started by a committed engineering leader. **Another advantage occurs** when it’s time to renew contracts—or not. The multiple advocates you’ve nurtured over time can clearly explain why the low bidder is not necessarily the best choice. Each of them can testify—with specific facts, figures, and experiences—how you created value that would not have been present had the firm selected the low bidder. If multiple relationships are not in place that level of support from the customer’s management team may be missing. Plus, as more than a few of our clients have told us, the boost in corporate camaraderie that comes with welcoming others into the sales process is immeasurable. That might explain why half the people we train in our popular FOCIS® Consultative Selling course are business development hunters and the other half are people who don’t sell but who are critical to bringing in business in other ways—marketing, engineering, customer service, even top management. . **To learn more, please get in touch** with me at [847-446-0008](tel:8474460008) Ext. 1 or e-mailing . Meanwhile, keep scanning the horizon, not only to find new customers but also to build new bridges with customers you already have. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Take Off Like Top Gun](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/take-off-like-top-gun/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Are you feeling a “need for speed” right about now?** If so, that probably means one of two things. With just six months to go in the year you might not be on track to meet your sales goals. Or, maybe you see an opportunity to surpass your goals and put even more points on the board. Getting on either track won’t be as easy as zooming off in a jet fighter like Tom Cruise in the original Top Gun or in the current one. You’re not Maverick (or Tom Cruise), and we aren’t either. But what you can do is use your own need for speed to take off like Maverick. And we can help. A client once asked me whether speed was that important in selling, and I asked him why he wanted to know. “Well, you and I just talked on Monday and you’re already back on Wednesday with a proposal,” he said. “Does a fast response really make a difference in your market? Do you think it makes a difference in my market?” My very fast answer: “Yes, speed is important. Yes, it certainly makes a difference in my market, and, yes, I’m sure it does in your market.” For the record, it probably makes a difference in any market. **Here are three lessons on speed from McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc:** 1) Be fast to follow up on a problem, 2) Be fast to get to the decision-maker, and 3) Be fast to recognize the potential and act on it. He followed his own advice and gave the rest of us fast food. Buyers expect speed, and sellers must provide it. How quickly a seller can deliver a solution has, in many businesses, even become a differentiator. Buyers have too many other places to go, and, thanks to the Internet, they’re well into the buying process when they get there. By the time they get to you, they’ve already done a lot of your work, the marketing and the educating parts, at least. Now, you have to do the persuading and selling parts. The efficiency of the sales process is critical. **If you’re in a business-to-business** consultative selling market and you don’t feel a real need for speed, step back and take stock. Speed does matter. Not simply because in business faster is almost always better but because of why faster is almost always better. “Sooner rather than later” delivers more value to your prospect or client. That in turn generates more value for you. And delivering value within the sales process is what consultative selling is all about, at least in our experience. The good news is that delivering value often starts with something simple, such as saving time for a prospect and for yourself. Here are six other examples in which speed delivers value and why: 1. Responding to inquiries—to be there before your competition 2. Getting in the door for a first meeting—to learn whether you can help and, if so, how 3. Being seen as an expert—to build confidence 4. Completing proposals and then presenting them—first, to get the sale, and, second, to help the prospect better understand the challenges involved 5. Beginning an assignment once you have it—to begin delivering more value quickly 6. Completing an assignment—well, that’s the whole idea. One value speed delivers in each of those examples is building trust. Stephen R. Covey, in fact, popularized that thinking when he wrote, “Business is done at the speed of trust.” Further, he wrote that it’s the “one thing that changes everything.” You can’t get much more important than that. **“Out-discovering” your competition** does take time. But it’s time well spent: Learning what you need to know to help the prospect see the value of your product or service is critical. You gain an information advantage that, if used skillfully, is much more important than most sales people realize. Unfortunately, most sales people struggle simply to gain an information advantage, let alone use it. Better discovery allows you to show the prospect the value of your service or product. That’s much more persuasive than telling your prospect how valuable it is. And you can get more efficient in your sales process by doing something that sounds counterintuitive. In our popular consultative sales training course, FOCIS® we teach “slowing down the sales *process* to speed up the sales *cycle* .” What does that mean? **Here’s an example.** A new client had just begun our FOCIS® course and had scheduled a 20- minute, out-of-town meeting with a prospect. Such a short meeting, especially if travel time and money are involved, just didn’t seem worth it to us. When he asked us to help him prepare, we suggested that he schedule a 90-minute meeting (he had a cooperative prospect) that would slow down the sales process but help him get the information he needed to make the prospect’s decision-making process move faster. When the meeting started, the prospect was satisfied with his current national provider. By the end, however, he was highly dissatisfied because he realized he didn’t know what he didn’t know about how much more value he should be expecting. When the original contract expired, our client got the business. Twenty minutes would have been a “hi-how-are-you-nice- to-meet-you” meeting during which our client would have learned nothing to help him make the sale. Slowing down the sales process, however, gave him virtually everything he needed. More important, it gave the prospect everything they needed to see the real value our client offered. **So turn that need for speed to your advantage** and reach your goals by the end of the year. Give us a call at [847-446-0008](tel:8474460008) Ext. 1 to learn how our consultative sales training and services can help over the next six months. We also perform lead generation and marketing services targeted for your products, services, and markets. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What’s Different about Differentiation Today?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/whats-different-about-differentiation-today/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The answer is a head-scratcher, but it’s true: Nothing—and everything. Differentiation has long been a watchword in business. But recently, amid pervasive disruption and fierce competition in many markets, our clients and prospects seem to be more concerned than ever about knowing exactly how they’re different and then how to leverage that differentiation. You can feel the urgency. The main worry is that they will become commoditized and fall prey to eroding margins. Other worries are that the speed at which business is done now means commoditization and diminishing profits are likely to strike fast and hard and that no defense exists to fend them off. We hear this concern expressed in two basic ways. First, “Our company isn’t all that much different than the companies we compete against.” Second, “The market doesn’t understand the value our differentiation brings.” Two different problems requiring two different solutions. Good News #1: No matter what you think or what prospects (or maybe even customers) tell you, your company is different. In nearly 30 years of helping businesses and professional services firms grow the topline, we have yet to come upon a viable business that cannot differentiate itself in meaningful—and revenue-generating—ways. The roadblocks are usually that executives don’t know how to identify points of differentiation or don’t know how to develop or create them. Sometimes it’s both. Good News #2: Even companies that do know how they’re different and better too often don’t know how to communicate the value of that differentiation in the marketplace. And that means they can’t get paid as well as they ought to get paid for the value they provide. Companies and firms whose business developers do know how to communicate their value not only sell more of their product or service but can also sell at higher prices. To see where you stand—right now—take a moment to answer a fundamental question: Which problem is bigger? Your company truly does not create differentiated value and is, in fact, a commodity or close to it. OR Your sales force and other business developers don’t know how to communicate the value your company does in fact offer and—this is critical—get paid for it. Have you decided? Great, then read on. We have solutions that, in many cases, go hand-in-hand with and reinforce each other to achieve stronger results. First Problem: Really, our company just isn’t all that different. Well, really, we don’t believe it, and you and your team shouldn’t either. But if you do, it’s a problem that has to be solved sooner rather than later. Here are steps you can take yourself, or with the help of outside professionals, to uncover differentiators that already exist or identify areas that have potential to become differentiators. We’ve guided clients down this path to increased sales and stable or improved margins. We know it can work. First Solution: Develop a routine that gleans fresh information from the sales force. Doesn’t it just make sense? You want to help your customers and prospects. Well, who has the most contact with those groups? The greatest chance of learning about new problems, trends, and changes in direction? The sales force, mainly, but also other business developers you might have. Understand which market leadership discipline matches your company. And then own it. The three leadership disciplines are customer intimate, product leadership, and operational excellence (low-cost provider). No company can excel at all three; few can excel at one and also even be very good at another. It’s essential to invest resources in the right one. Do formal market research to see what the market likes—and doesn’t like—about your business. In this step, you’re trying to learn two things, as specifically as possible: why customers do buy from you and why prospects don’t. Which needs does your company meet exclusively, which do competitors meet exclusively, and which does no one meet? We’ve found that managers know only about half the reasons customers choose their company over competitors—and are often surprised to learn about the others. Explore, individually, how your company’s attributes or skills might contribute to differentiation. The issue of time alone offers several possibilities—faster or more accurate delivery times, more efficient product development or time to market, taking the time to solve customer problems completely and in a way that makes customers happy they told you about their problems. And then there are physical attributes or functions to consider: location, product size, type and quality of materials or finishing, documentation (to satisfy regulators, for instance), project management, and others. These aren’t the only ways to determine how your company is different, but they’re a good start. To learn more, just give us a call at 847-446-0008. Second Problem: We don’t know how to communicate our value in the marketplace. This problem is all-too familiar. The solution comes in two parts. They’re known as marketing and selling. Second Solution: Strong marketing and a strong sales process. Marketing must target the right customers with the right messages. If it does, your company’s visibility and credibility in the marketplace will increase. Then, when “sales” makes contact in whatever form—face-to-face, on the phone, on-line, even with good old snail mail (still effective, by the way)—prospects will be much more likely to recognize your company’s name and to respect its work. Your strong sales process must equip your salespeople with superior consultative selling skills and an approach customized for your company and industry. That will enable them to compete in the increasingly tough business-to-business arena. The very best salespeople—the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of all new business—do in fact do things differently than their less successful counterparts. Our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, has helped hundreds of salespeople and professionals develop the skills and the behaviors that can help them become the best in the business whatever that business is. The customized sales process they develop during our FOCIS® course enables them to use their new skills to sell more and shorten the sales cycle. It can also enable your company to charge higher prices. The reason is that prospects will more clearly understand just how your offerings will make their companies better. And that will enable them to charge higher prices, too. Marketing and selling are both necessary to growing the topline: “Marketing gets you to the door. Selling gets you the deal.” We can help you understand your company’s true differentiation, and then we can help you sell it. If you’d like to discuss your business growth goals and challenges, please call 847-446-0008 or e-mail . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Team Selling Magic: Sales Reps and SMEs](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/team-selling-magic-sales-reps-and-smes/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** An old joke defined experts as “people who know more and more about less and less until they know all about nothing.” If that joke were ever funny, it isn’t any more. That the word has become an almost meaningless communications cliché is bad news. Real-life experts are no joke because they’re critical to our well-being today and tomorrow. They deserve respect and gratitude. And salespeople who work with subject matter experts (SMEs) know that firsthand. When SMEs and sales people team up to call on prospects together, things often go swimmingly. In fact, when using a sales process they’ve created together, a skilled consultative sales rep and an SME make up the most powerful sales teams we see. But when they don’t, sales calls can drown in a flood of misguided communication that results in frustration for prospects, sales reps, and SMEs alike. What can go wrong? Decision-makers think in terms of implication. They are in “So what” mode about whatever you’re selling: “If I buy this product or service, what will it mean to my business?” Subject matter experts think in terms of “Here’s how” because that’s what they love and what they’re good at. Unfortunately, too early in the process, SMEs too often tend to tell prospects, “Here’s how our product works. Isn’t that great?” Bridging the gap are the sales reps . If they have well-developed consultative selling skills, they are in discovery the moment they walk in the door, if not before. They don’t tell; they ask. They want to know what a prospect’s objectives are in connection with their product or service so they can answer the all-important “So what?” question. Then, if a sales rep can help the prospect appreciate the value their product brings to the table, a technical expert can be indispensable to sealing the deal. An SME reassures the prospect with detail: “Yes, our product is extremely effective—here’s how and why.” Over the years, I’ve sold with nuclear power-plant engineers, lawyers, real estate developers, software designers, and other highly talented and knowledgeable SMEs. There’s nothing like the success that combines a strong sales process and consultative selling skills with great technical information. How can business developer-SME teams achieve that success? We’ve found that three things come into play. Customized Sales Process: The most important factor. Years ago we taught consultative selling skills to business developers at a utility and created a sales process tailored to them and their industry. When the salespeople first understood the basic principles of our program, they insisted that their SMEs—engineers, in this case—receive the same training. Their rationale, paraphrased, was that “otherwise \[the SMEs\] will jump in and undo everything we are doing in the sales process.” An effective sales process must draw intellectual property from the SMEs that sales reps can use in specific ways to learn a prospect’s objectives and issues and to build trust. But this approach goes way beyond simply identifying of needs or “finding the pain.” It involves an inventory of potential issues the solution addresses, the implications of those issues, rules of thumb to gain perspective, and stories to help educate on the issues. Skill Level and Clear Roles: Once the sales process is in place the sales rep-SME team has to decide how to execute it. Effectiveness here depends on the relative skill level of both the seller and the SME. At the beginning they may want to make calls together at the front end of the process. Later it may be possible for the sales person to work alone until the sales process has been advanced to the point technical expertise is needed. In that model, the SME takes center stage near the end to answer final questions and help close the sale. 3. Pre-Call Planning and Practice: The sales process should be reviewed before the first calls so that decisions can be made about who goes along, who is the lead, what role a second or third person plays, and so on. More pre-call communication among the team members improves effectiveness. A few minutes of role playing can work wonders. Two other important factors also influence sales rep-SME teams: the compensation system and the level of trust within the team. Trust with sales-SME teams can take years to develop. If new people rotate in and out too often, trust simply cannot be in place. It can, however, be accelerated by experts in building trust, either from inside a company or outside. Our popular consultative sales-training course, FOCIS® uses a process that builds trust not only with prospects but also among sales team members. The compensation system must establish who makes initial contact with the prospect, who helps sell the product or service, and who performs the work—that is, supplies the deliverable—once the sale is made as well as how each role is weighted for compensation and incentives. If this breakdown isn’t standard, team members should negotiate splits on their own with each other. SMEs, especially, will come to value the sales rep’s ability to speed up the sales process without calling on them until necessary. End result: SMEs can do more of what they love to do—implement the solution! While we’re not experts in sales compensation, we can point you toward proven professionals we know who are. Just ask us if you are looking for that kind of assistance. Sales rep-SME team members can be extremely productive if they know their roles in the sales process and how to perform them. What we are describing here may sound complex and difficult to implement. But we’ve found that in practice the opposite is actually true. Our FOCIS® workshops are designed to upgrade skills, transfer intellectual capital from experts to beginners, and create unique sales processes that both the salespeople and the subject matter experts are comfortable with. We know this is also true because sales reps, SMEs, and other business developers who have completed our course have told us so—and because they’ve backed it up with five-star Google ratings. Please tell us about your experiences and ideas at 847-446-0008 X-1 or pkrone@ productivestrategies.com . We’re always learning, too, especially from the marketplace. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Manufacturing Is Back!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/manufacturing-is-back/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Have you ever stared into your refrigerator, increasingly desperate to find food or drink that you know is there? Has your significant other ever strolled by and said, “Oh, it’s right there, right in front”? Well, it can be the same way in business. Your business isn’t a refrigerator, and we’re clearly not your significant other. But we might see things about business development that you can’t—even though they’re right there, right in front. US manufacturing-related construction spending reached its highest level ever last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 8. And there are real lessons here for salespeople, marketers, and other business developers. Three years ago this month, for example, we ran a column suggesting that manufacturing should never have left the US in the first place. The reason, we contended, was that even though there were clear advantages to offshoring such as reduced labor costs, significant disadvantages were also clear, right there, right in front. An all-too-real example was potential supply-chain disruptions. More to our point, the sales effort for leaving was more effective than the sales effort for staying. In other words, the “don’t go” side sales process failed. (See Offshoring and the Failure of Selling.) The key failure was that the “please, stay” sales process was more educational than persuasive. And the unfortunate truth is that educating, not persuading, is how 80 percent of the salespeople who come to us for help currently sell—or, try to. Keeping in mind that every manufacturer’s situation is different, the facts about offshoring were clear but the implications of those facts were not. It’s the salesperson’s job to guide any prospect to discover those implications—bad and good. Our popular FOCIS© Consultative Sales Training course teaches just how to provide that guidance and get the sale that you—and your product or service—deserve. Here are some other “right there, right in front” recommendations that we can help you implement. Get the Right People in the Right Seats In Plain Sight: Your “customer-facing” employees. Opportunity: Matching talents to jobs in a new way . Getting the right people in the right seats is basic. But is it always done well? Not by a long shot, in part because determining “fit” is hard. Maybe some of your inside salespeople might make better customer service reps, for instance, and vice versa. And it’s best to know that before new ones are hired. One pushing-the-envelope way is to understand more specifically why your top performers are so good and intentionally match that “business-performance DNA” in new hires. This approach goes a long way to determining fit before hiring. We work with a firm that is a leader in that kind of assessment, which can also reduce turnover across all functions. Just ask. Introducing a New Product? Develop a Custom Sales Process In Plain Sight: Your salesforce. Opportunity: Significant gains from a customized sales process. Ever wonder why a great new product doesn’t hit its projected sales targets or, worse, why the rest of your sales slump at the same time? It’s a surprisingly common issue. We’re called in frequently by prospects and clients who have created or developed new products and services and are surprised by how difficult it is to sell them. But there is a good reason. The sales team has become more transactional and less consultative. Question is, How do you fix the problem? We have helped firms of all sizes get past this roadblock to growth by teaching a sales process customized to industry, company, and products and services. Train Your Sales Managers In Plain Sight: Talented salespeople promoted to sales managers. Opportunity: Leveraging that talent in new roles. Does this idea sound like a revelation? If it does, you’re not alone, but you ought to be. A common practice is to promote top sales reps to sales managers. Not so common is training them to be sales managers instead of salespeople. But the payoff from training can be big. Managing isn’t selling, and motivating yourself is not the same as motivating others. Star athletes don’t necessarily become star coaches. Top producers don’t always know why they’re on top; they just “do it.” We offer a course for sales managers who are graduates of our FOCIS® Consultative Selling program. It leverages the customized sales processes we help their sales teams develop. We can also put you in touch with a firm that covers sales management training more broadly. Align Marketing, Sales, and Operations In Plain Sight: Marketing, sales, operations. Opportunity: The payoff of true alignment. Isn’t it obvious that these three business development musketeers need to be on the same page? Apparently, not. We see many examples in which they aren’t even in the same book. Just one example: Marketing drops a promotion that sales doesn’t have the details on or, worse, doesn’t even know about. Sales can’t answer customer questions. And, quite possibly, operations isn’t prepared for an onslaught of orders. Such misadventures are surprisingly common. The good news is that we have a practice area focusing on resolving just these kinds of issues, including a half-day program and ongoing services. To learn more about how to identify—and leverage—resources to build the topline, please get in touch with us at 847-446-0008 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com. Talking with us costs nothing. Unlike many complimentary offers, we’re sure it’s worth a lot more than you pay for it—in fact, you might say it’s another marketing and sales opportunity hidden in plain sight. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Nature and Nurture: Making Lead Generation Pay Off](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/nature-and-nurture-making-lead-generation-pay-off/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do your sales leads have the right DNA?** Do you know how to make the most of it? We do and can help you get there, too. Today, popular psychology holds that the personality of an individual human being is shaped not by genetics or by environment alone but by an uneasy collaboration of both. ![Making Lead Generation Pay Off](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture26.jpg) We’ve found that similar collaboration applies in business-to-business selling. To be promising, sales leads first need the right pedigree. They must come from the market a company sells to and face the problems a company’s product or service can solve. They must have the DNA of prospects that become buyers. That just seems to be good commonsense, right? But if as a salesperson you’ve ever received “hot” leads passed on from advertising campaigns or other promotions, you know that good sense in lead generation doesn’t seem to be all that common. Salespeople can be understandably skeptical of lead generation programs because they find too many of those leads just aren’t buyers. **But maybe sales reps don’t have that quite right.** It turns out that, according to research by Sirius Decision, as much as 80 percent of leads rejected by sales forces do in fact purchase within two years. If they don’t buy from the company generating the rejected lead, they buy from a competitor. But one way or another they do buy because it’s in their nature as business people to find the right solutions to their company’s problems. So if so many of those leads rejected by sales carry the right DNA to be your customers, why don’t they become your customers? Simple: They probably don’t receive the right nurturing from your company. The truth is that most B2B buyers don’t want to see a sales rep until they are well along in their buying process, perhaps as much or more than 65 percent along. They surf the Web, they read white papers, they talk to their peers, they go to industry trade shows, they review the pros and cons with their staffs. Maybe they even conduct their own studies. When they have done their homework, or if they think their business needs assistance for some other reason, then they are ready to buy. And that’s when you want your salespeople to be on the spot because that’s when they’re most likely to make a sale. --- **One Dollar Feeds** **Three Starving Children** War in Ukraine, strife in Haiti, earthquakes in Turkey and Syria mean that millions more children are going hungry. Feed My Starving Children’s sole purpose is to make sure children like these don’t die of starvation. FMSC needs your help right now to confront these tragic new demands. We’ve long supported this important work, and we’re so grateful that so many of our clients, colleagues, and friends have, too. Learn exactly what you can do today at [www.fmsc.org](https://www.fmsc.org/). Thank-you! --- **Key Point:** Just because they are ready to buy doesn’t mean they will buy from you. That’s where developing a sales process customized for your product, your salespeople, and your market is especially valuable. Call us to learn more about how our popular FOCIS® Consultative Selling Course will help you do just that. Think about it. Many times when salespeople and buyers begin their separate quests for success aren’t they often in direct conflict? It’s simply the nature of some salespeople to go after short-term gain, just as it’s the nature of some investors. (Some salespeople, of course, follow a partnering path from the beginning of their relationship with a prospect.) And it’s the nature of the business-to-business buyer to look for the best return on investment, usually over time, which means taking time to make the “best deal.” **Conflict becomes collaboration** later in each process, however, as opposing objectives become one. When the buyer is ready to buy, the sales person can realize short-term gain by being in the right place at the right time. The trick from the seller’s point of view is to make that happen. Just handing off leads to salespeople, even if those leads have the right DNA, won’t work unless they’re handed off at the right time. That’s where lead nurturing programs come in handy. Also known as “drip” marketing, lead nurturing keeps your company’s name in front of a potential buyer throughout the product research process or until the need becomes great enough for the buyer to take action. The amount of time required is always the amount of time the buyer believes is needed to research a product or service and become comfortable that it will benefit his company. Then, such a buyer is ready to look for the right vendor. And that’s when your salespeople should step in. **How do you know when the time is right?** You may already have a good idea of what a normal buying cycle is in your industry. If you don’t, find out through industry associations or by tracking your own experience. Either way, an effective lead nurturing program will have left potential buyers with a positive impression of your company, not just through the obvious traditional approach of “staying in touch” only to see if prospects are ready. They see right through that and don’t appreciate the time they waste with it. Instead, your program accelerates a buyer’s research process by delivering real value over time. You’ve built up a “trusted advisor” relationship based on delivering value without expectation of immediate return. Buyers do appreciate that. There are many channels through which to deliver value: direct mail, e-mail, phone, social media, podcasts, Webinars, keeping content on your website fresh. A regular reader of this column once got in touch to discuss a possible engagement. “I’ve been reading your columns for two years,” he said, “and began to think about how you might solve some of my company’s marketing and sales challenges. Well, I think you might be able to help with this one.” **Now that you understand more** about the nature of nurture in lead generation, please get in touch with us to learn how lead nurturing can increase your company’s top line. Just e-mail or call me at [pkrone@productivestrategies.com ](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com) or [847-446-0008](tel:8474460008) Ext. 1 **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Basics of Champions](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-basics-of-champions/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Take it from LeBron and Kareem,** a “back to the basics” mentality can make you and your team winners. “Back to basics” has become such a time-worn phrase it almost seems worn out. Almost but not quite. The fundamental things still apply in sports and in business. Even for the very best performers. **Lebron James, who just surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar** as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader this month, has learned that lesson. And so has Kareem. They joined each other on the floor to celebrate after LeBron broke the record Kareem had held longer than LeBron has been alive: 39 years versus 38. LeBron revisited the basics after losing the 2015 NBA championship to the San Francisco Warriors. Usually in the off-season, he worked on specific issues in his play. But this time he broke his game “all the way down to the basics” and started over. As he told Cleveland.com he was “just trying to hone my skills, getting back to . . . the fundamentals of the game.” He believed that if he could do that “not only will I get better, my team will improve.” The next season the Cavs beat the Warriors to become NBA champs. **As a UCLA freshman Kareem** (then Lew Alcindor) and his teammates beat the varsity in the opening scrimmage. Interesting, but not necessarily remarkable. Except that the UCLA varsity was a two-years-running national NCAA champion and the odds-on favorite for a three-peat. And that would be without any of the much-heralded freshmen. (NCAA rules didn’t allow freshmen to play varsity.) In his book, *Coach Wooden and Me* , Kareem tells the story of his first practice at UCLA. Possibly the strongest basketball recruiting class in the school’s history waited to hear from the coach of the decade. “We all leaned forward waiting to tattoo his wisdom on our brains,” Kareem recalled. “Good afternoon gentlemen,” Coach Wooden began. “Today we are going to learn how to put on our sneakers and socks correctly.” Though the words seemed laughable, Coach Wooden wasn’t joking, and we doubt anyone cracked a smile. The message was nothing if not serious—and practical. Basics matter. Fundamentals count. That’s always true in sports. And, really, always in business, too, especially in day-to-day selling **Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Basics in Podcast** Celebrating its first anniversary this month, a video podcast focuses on basic lessons to be learned, too, not about sports but about entrepreneurship. “Twist of Fate: A Small Business Podcast” features entrepreneurs talking about the fateful moment they were inspired to launch a business and to make it successful every day. Driving the interviews is Douglas Younger III, founder and CEO of the marketing company 3steps4ward and a Productive Strategies client. Catch “Twist of Fate” on Spotify (and other platforms) or at [3steps4ward.com](https://www.3steps4ward.com/). **Discovery is key.** Knowing first how to discover whether a prospect will get more value out of the product or service you’re selling than the price you’re charging. And, second, going beyond educating a prospect (that’s what marketing is supposed to do) to persuading that what you’re offering is the solution. That’s where the selling “magic” happens. Which really isn’t magic, by the way, but training and process. Educating is critical but persuading is what helps prospects understand the “three persuasions” they must accept: They have a problem, they know they can’t solve it themselves, and your solution is the best solution. Our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, teaches the fundamentals of selling that persuade—and the next levels, too. It also helps develop a customized sales process for you, your company, and your industry. And, just as Coach Wooden changed behaviors in basketball for the better, FOCIS® changes behaviors in selling for the better. **Coach Wooden knew the value of *teaching* the basics** . Kareem knew the value of learning the basics. LeBron knew the value of revisiting the basics. And even though the lesson may be a cliche, it has power. Witness other great leaders always talking about the value of learning the basics: For example, U.S. Retired Navy Admiral, William McRaven, formerly a Navy Seal and then Chancellor of the University of Texas, focused a graduation speech on changing the world by making your bed.\* **“** Business schools reward difficult, complex behavior…but simple behavior is more effective. **”** *–Warren Buffet* **Sometimes, it’s not just the message that’s simple** . The approach is, too. From day one, Alcoa’s Paul O’Neill talked about safety—and only safety. At a news conference introducing him as president, he answered every question, no matter the topic, with same message: Moving from the worst safety record in the aluminum business to the best was paramount to leaving a bottom-of-the-barrel bottom line behind. *What is your projection for earnings?* “We won’t have good earnings until we improve our safety record.” The simplicity and relentless repetition—“safety first, last, and always”—sent a clear signal to all stakeholders, including front-line workers, managers, executives, board members, shareholders, and the market itself. Did that simple focus work? When O’Neill left 12 years later, the company’s market value had increased to $27.5 billion from $3 billion, net income to $1.48 billion from $200 million. **Coach Wooden was also sending** a simple, consistent message. Even better, he was making it easy to understand its importance. Putting on socks and sneakers incorrectly can create blisters. Blisters lead to players not being ready to play. Players not ready to play aren’t ready to win. The team suffers. A simple, catchy name also helps: “Tug and Snug” reduces the odds of blisters and downtime. Another lesson that rings true in business is that learning fundamentals (and putting them to work) takes process and practice: Do it right, do it right every time. It wasn’t what those stellar freshmen expected to hear from their stellar coach, and it wasn’t why they turned down hundreds of other coaches to play for him. But it was what they got. It was also one reason they went on to win three national championships themselves. **We make the same points in our popular FOCIS® Selling course,** where we teach consultative selling skills and an effective process to put them to work. You can wing it on sales calls, or you can plan them so they are customized within a system that ensures the most success over time. And you can practice. We create sales processes for our clients just as Coach Wooden created basketball processes for his players. **“** It is not a daily increase \[that matters most\], but a daily decrease. Hack away at the non-essentials. **”** *–Bruce Lee* Coach Wooden preached a “basics” philosophy, too: You can’t control the outcome of any game, but you can control your preparation. A corollary is that winning every game in the short term is not the goal. But if you do your best to prepare and execute what you learn, you will win more games (and sales) than your share over the long term as well as your share of rewards. Simple, right? **No business developer completely controls** winning new business. The prospect may decide not to go forward for reasons you’ll never know and that have nothing to do with you or your product. Maybe your competitor offered something you just couldn’t. Internal politics might have gotten in the way. No control there. But you can always control how well you prepare. To learn more about how to improve your business development through consultative sales training and process development, just get in touch with us. We also support three other skills and processes critical to top-line growth: lead generation and appointment setting, marketing and marketing communications, and sales and marketing alignment. Contact us at [847-446-0008](tel:8474460008) , Ext. 1, or [pkrone@productivestrategies. com ](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com). **It’s simple:** We want to hear about your challenges and to offer our thoughts. \* The Make-Your-Bed Speech , 2014 University of Texas commencement, Austin. Admiral McRaven also wrote a book about the value of fundamentals: *Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life… and Maybe the World.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Are You in a ‘Hidden’ Business? Should You Be?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/are-you-in-a-hidden-business-should-you-be/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Sometimes the obvious money-maker isn’t the biggest one. Do you have another business hiding in plain sight? McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc was known for asking MBA students what business they thought he was in. Hmmm. Let’s see. Fast food, maybe, or hamburgers? Yes, Kroc explained, but that’s not all. Kroc knew that the real money was the real estate business portion of his restaurant empire. How so? ![Are You in a Hidden Business? Should You Be?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture27.png) Kroc created a separate real estate company that acquired land and leased it to franchise partners, which make up about 85 percent of the nearly 40,000 stores in 100 countries. In 2020, the company reported $41 billion in property and equipment assets before depreciation.\* The hamburger business was, at one point, a way to pay for real estate that appreciated tremendously over time. Sometimes companies, like McDonald’s, appear to be in one business, but there is really a hidden company within the main business, or at least a hidden reason for being in business. How many businesses are you in, or could you be in? It might be worth thinking about. Here are some more examples. Kitty Litter creator Ed Lowe once thought he was in the “pet business.” After all, he had become famous for “bringing the cat indoors.” (Before Kitty Litter, would you believe sand, newspapers, and sawdust?) But when he plunged into retail as a pet store owner, he quickly realized that he was a cat in a dog-eat-dog world. Even the personal flair for which he was also famous didn’t help. He was really in the manufacturing business, at which he did in fact excel. To say the least, not all second, or hidden, businesses are successful. One of our clients attached additional value to a commodity, a chemical, by adding a warranty. That value enabled the company to grow significantly for 20 years with strong margins. Even though creative, however, that’s not the hidden business. Because of the warranty, our client went one step further and set up a captive insurance firm to hedge the risk of paying out claims on the warranty. Since claims are low—bordering on non-existent—the captive is now worth more than the operating company. They’re in the insurance business as well as the chemical business. Car dealerships are well known as financing operations, albeit with help from the companies whose cars they sell. But a jewelry store? Yes, we know one whose customers often can’t pay full price up front. Helping them celebrate engagements, anniversaries, birthdays, and other meaningful events in meaningful ways has become the most important part of what they do. You could say that this retailer’s hidden business is a truly unusual one. It’s financing joy. Sometimes, the second business isn’t hidden but the motivation for launching it is—or at least isn’t obvious. For example, a private equity firm client that specializes in real estate has seen annual double-digit returns for a decade. The founder invites co-investors to invest on the same basis. He explains that his motivation for this invitation is to enable the company to develop larger, more profitable properties. In this case, as in others, it’s the motivation that’s hidden, not the business. Another client is a developer of hotel and motel properties. To control the risk of being overcharged by construction firms, he created a partnership with a construction expert, and together they formed a new construction company. The construction company benefits from the development work, and the development company benefits from controlling the cost of construction. We also know of a privately owned manufacturing company that employs several family members. The owner wanted to insulate his family from the ups and downs of the manufacturing sector over time. To do that, he capitalized on the talents and real estate knowledge of one of his children. He began buying property unrelated to the primary business and formed a second company. The goal was to create a revenue stream independent of the manufacturing business and ensure his family’s financial security. One way to define what businesses a company is in—and to imagine how you can expand your business footprint—is to look at how the company earns much of its income. Tesla is of course in the business of making automobiles, but, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, that isn’t how it currently makes money: “Tesla is making a fortune selling its surplus regulatory credits to traditional automakers struggling to comply with fuel-economy rules. Last year it pocketed $1.58 billion on \[selling\] credits, more than its $862 million in net profits.” And Tesla is nothing if not imaginative. Founder Elon Musk also envisions turning “every home into a distributed power plant” to generate, store, and deliver energy to the power grid, reports TechCrunch+. In theory, the risks of the current power grid structure would diminish and the U.S. would be more likely to reach its “carbonless” future more quickly. It’s an example of not just creating a new business but an entirely new category. Do you have a hidden business or a motivation that inspired a business either established or just developing? We’d love to hear your story. We can help in any number of ways: brainstorming business ideas, additional revenue streams, and ways to reduce risk. We also offer consultative sales training, calling campaigns, marketing communications, and sales and marketing alignment. Even better, we’re not hiding anything. You won’t have trouble finding us—we’re always front and center at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or pkrone@productivestrategies. com. \*To learn more, see “ McDonald’s Business Case Study ,” October 10, 2021. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Can B2B Telephone Campaigns Still Lead to Growth? Glad You Asked!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/can-b2b-telephone-campaigns-still-lead-to-growth-glad-you-asked/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The short answer is “yes.” A more thoughtful—and useful—answer is “yes, and . . .” Have you ever tried to get new business by “cold calling” prospects on the phone? What about calling customers to see about their current or future needs? Or calling into a new market to gain intelligence about its potential? Maybe you’ve thought about doing these things, or others, but just didn’t know where to start. Here are our thoughts on what to keep in mind, whether you create and conduct a campaign yourself or use outside resources. The most basic of the basics is that calling campaigns work. The critical thing in any direct marketing effort is to manage expectations about the outcome, positive and negative. The bad news is that “response rates” in direct marketing are low. And the proliferation in communications channels in the past decade hasn’t helped to improve those rates. In calling campaigns, a response means someone talks with you about the reason for your call or responds to a message. Another term that’s sometimes used is “conversion,” which means making a sale: you’ve converted a prospect into a customer. The good news is that the fundamentals still apply, regardless of the channel. In selling, for example, even with response and conversion rates under one percent, a calling campaign can still be worthwhile. In fact, the ROI can be quite high, especially when long-term customer value is figured in. If the right product or service is being sold to the right market, gaining even one new client can be profitable. It doesn’t matter whether getting that client takes 100 or even 200 calls. In 27 years of providing business development services, we’ve learned that a cold-calling campaign requires persistence and consistency. Success largely depends on these factors: - How much prospects believe they need the product or service offering - The quality and qualification of the database—that is, calling the right companies and people - How satisfied they are with the product or service they’re currently using - Whether mail or e-mail marketing has “softened the ground” beforehand - Brand awareness and perception - The effectiveness of competitor marketing - Whether there is an “offer” associated with responding to a call - How quickly the calling firm follows with everyone who wants to hear more—the “hand-raisers.” Even if the primary purpose of your campaign isn’t achieved, market intelligence gained in the process can be valuable. Databases can be updated, job changes of key buyers, managers, and executives identified, new information about innovations or market shifts discovered. Over time, simply making your marketplace more aware of your brand—“getting your name out”—will no doubt prove valuable. Recently, in an effort to gain new professional service firm supporters for a not-for-profit and to better understand the market, our firm conducted an outbound calling campaign in a specific state. Here’s a brief look at the process and summary of what happened and, most important, what we learned that can help the organization increase support in the target state and others. (Another point in favor of calling campaigns: results can be extrapolated to other initiatives that don’t even involve calling.) We began with a list of top professional service firms in the major metro areas and eliminated those not meeting key points in the profile. After developing a more targeted list, we learned from websites and making “recon” calls to selected prospects that some other firms on the list wouldn’t be good prospects for other reasons. Of the remaining firms, our calling identified several who “raised their hands” to learn more. Our client’s leadership made follow-up calls quickly—a critical success factor—but did not gain other conversations or conversions. An important piece of information we identified late in the process, however, can be used in future campaigns. In fact, it’s so important that we’ll open our calls with it to raise stronger interest more quickly. And we’ll advise our client to lead with it on follow-up calls. We’ve seen other instances of critical marketplace insights surface in calling campaigns and become highly productive in other initiatives. Another valuable insight was that a broader geographic scope would identify more, interested prospects, expanding the campaign’s target market. That kind of information can increase response rates but can best be gained by contacting prospects directly, in this case by calling. Such knowledge can be the basis for large and sustainable ROIs on campaigns. What You Can Do: Determine how many new customers or clients your company has secured in the past three to five years. Calculate the revenue from each and the likely lifetime value. Identify how those customers became customers (the “channels”). Were they referrals? Trade show follow-ups? “Walk-ins” from internet searches? Then identify demographic commonalities to help build databases. Next, ask yourself: Are we dissatisfied with the number of new clients or amount of revenue? Have they come from just one or two channels or consistently from a small number of partners? If the answer to either of those questions is “yes,” asking one more question is essential: how can we expand the number of channels or the number of partners bringing in business? A different marketing or business development approach might be the answer. And, yes, one of those growth-creating tactics could be one or more telephone campaigns. We provide several calling-based and other lead-generation programs, primarily for business-to-business clients. And we offer calling to do market research, follow-up that you don’t have time for, audience-discovery calls—telephone focus groups, in other words—and other services To raise your hand to learn more, just call us at 847-446-0008, Ext. 1, or e-mail pkrone@productivestrategies.com. We’d love to hear about your challenges and opportunities. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Making Conflict in Sales and Marketing Productive](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/making-conflict-in-sales-and-marketing-productive/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Healthy conflict can lead to healthy sales** —if managers know how to guide the process or get help if they don’t. Children are admonished to “play fair” and show “good sportsmanship”—and rightly so, we believe. They learn, or we hope they learn, to use these principles to guide their behavior and, at least on the playground, to reduce serious conflict. But as adults we know there are times in business when “fierce conversations” and “healthy conflicts” are inevitable, ought to take place, and can often be critical to the success of companies, departments, and individuals. The questions are also inevitable: who, what, when, where, why, and how? Here are some insights we’ve gained over nearly 30 years in business, thanks largely to crucial questions our clients faced and asked us to help answer. We hope they might help you think through some of your business growth challenges. **What to sell?** One client’s sales force focused on selling products with a relatively short sales cycle, a price tag in the low-to-mid five figures, modest margins, and repeat purchasing year over year. Looking for better margins, management added high-end consulting services to the mix, and the sales reps became more than a little concerned. Not only would they be selling services instead of products, the consulting engagements were one-offs, cost more (low-to-mid six figures), and were driven by a much longer sales cycle. A simmering standoff surfaced during consultative sales training we were providing with our popular FOCIS® course. The salespeople felt their steady income depended on emphasizing the lower end products and introducing the higher end service only when the opportunity looked right. Management wanted to emphasize the higher margin services. **We eventually designed a sales process** for each offering. But meanwhile we stopped the training briefly because, in our view, it was critical that top management and the salespeople get on the same page. Which markets the company served and how required internal alignment for the sales training to realize its full potential. Are top management and your sales team aligned on how much time, energy, and money should be invested in selling your various products and services? If not, your sales and marketing efforts probably aren’t nearly so efficient—and profitable—as they could be. **Who Should Sell It?** Some of the most productive debates in a company occur when its direct sales force and its independent sales representatives are directed to become a business development team. We won’t deal here with strategic value of this kind of move. The rationale will be different for every company based on target market size, revenue potential, and other factors. The traditional model is for smaller manufacturing firms to use independent reps during early growth stages. Compensation is on commission, and there is no base salary. The upside is that the arrangement controls cash outflow and ensures that sales costs are proportional to sales revenue. The downside is of course that you are sharing the rep(s) with other organizations, and you don’t know how much time is devoted to your offering. **Key Point: Direct or In-House?** If you are focused on a fairly narrow target, say automotive and off-road vehicles, then you are probably best served with your own office and direct salespeople in the few cities where the OEMs are located. If you are supplying tier one and two suppliers to OEMs across the country, on the other hand, then independent reps might be more efficient. Hybrid models also exist. Part of the decision again rests on cash flow but in different way. Can top management afford to write large checks when high-dollar programs are landed? Finally, if you plan to bring sales in house once large amounts of business are rolling in, consider going direct from the beginning. **What’s Our Best Path to Growth?** We were called in once by a law firm that had been debating—for several years, in fact—two questions. Should they continue their successful narrow practice focus but expand geographically by opening an office in the UK? Or should they expand their practice areas and remain in the US? We helped them design and run a process where we got everyone’s opinion (a very productive approach), helped lead discussions, and ultimately came to a decision. “Most organizations have far too little conflict in their meetings. If your meetings are never uncomfortable, you probably don’t have enough conflict. If they are always uncomfortable, maybe your conflict is not healthy,” says Paul Detlefs, a Chicago-based certified implementer with EOS Worldwide\* ( [www.eosworldwide.com ](https://www.eosworldwide.com/) ). “The leader’s role is to explain why healthy conflict is good and get buy-in to that \[approach\], encourage and mine for healthy conflict in meetings, and model the healthy style of conflict. Great leaders do not avoid conflict or difficult conversations, because they know that \[those two things\] will get the team to where they need to go faster.” **Some other benefits of healthy conflict** have become iconic, thanks to Patrick Lencione’s *The Five Dysfunctions of a Team* . His conclusions are that healthy conflict: - Is a sign of trust and security - Invites diverse points of view - Surfaces potential issues - Builds commitment - Leads to better decisions. Finally, we have facilitated healthy conflict discussions in a merger or acquisition when the salespeople are divided about whether to sell new and old offerings or just the ones they’re used to selling. Some acquisition investment theses, for example, count on salespeople to cover offerings from both companies. Carefully guided discussion about the pros and cons can lead to alignment. We’ve also helped investors ferret out these kinds of conflicts before making an acquisition. If time and resources allow, that’s clearly the best course. Do you know of—or sense—conflicting sales or marketing issues ready to surface at your business? We have a process that identifies the issues, gets them on the table for everyone to see, and facilitates constructive conversations that ultimately bring alignment. **To learn more** just give us a call at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or e-mail [pkrone@productivestrategies. com.](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20monthly%20email%20article.%20) --- \* *EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, is a set of concepts and tools that can help entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses. Paul Detlefs can be reached at paul.detlefs@eosworldwide.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Boost Your Top Line to Boost Business Value](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/boost-your-top-line-to-boost-business-value/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Here’s how to do it.** Productive consultative sales training and process development can make the difference. **Do you know IRV?** If you’re a business owner or senior executive, you should. Why? One thing small and middle-market businesses are all about is increasing their value. And IRV is a straightforward way to use sales to increase that value in three ways—and to track it. Companies that invest in sales training and sales process development expect revenue to increase. That’s basic. It’s why they invest in improving their sales team’s persuasive selling skills and processes. They can expect a lot more if the training and process development is customized for their business creating long term results. **What advantages** does a business with a higher valuation have? Sales are measured as “the top line,” which is of course an easy way to see results, good or bad. But how else can a stellar top line improve your business? One way is to increase the valuation of your company. A higher valuation can help you not only with longer term strategy, if you plan to sell, but also shorter term: Banks like companies with higher valuations because it reduces their risk. A proven, predictable sales process reflected in the top line makes your business more attractive to any investor or buyer. **How does it work? Say hello to IRV.** The IRV formula is the foundation of how professional M&A firms value a company, a first pass in effect. Professional valuations take a lot more into account, of course, and use more sophisticated math. But IRV is a good friend because the numbers are handy and the math is straightforward. It can also be used to show the results of investing in sales process improvement. As you will see, the investment can increase revenue and reduce risk to increase corporate valuation. **V = I / R-g** **IRV’s numerator is I,** which = Income—that is, some representation of earnings. The simplest number is the topline, but more typically adjusted EBITDA is used or seller’s discretionary earnings. **IRV’s denominator is R – g,** where R = Risk, or the discount rate, and g = Growth. Typically, g is the long-term growth rate of the company. **V stands for Value,** which increases when an effective, formal, and customized sales process is in place. Here’s what happens: 1. **Income increases** as the success rate in winning more business increases, both from more, smaller pieces of business as well as larger ones. That in turn helps to retain your best salespeople and other business developers. 2. **Risk decreases.** It’s clear how better consultative selling skills can improve income. But how does coupling skills with process reduce risk and so make the denominator smaller? A consultative sales process developed in our popular FOCIS® sales training course does several things, among them: - Your best salespeople get better—and tend to stay with you. - Or, if they do leave, your sales process does not go with them. In other words, you have a corporate sales process in place whose success doesn’t depend on one individual’s capabilities and personal sales process. This also reduces risk. - Penetration of larger customers goes deeper, which means their switching costs are higher. - Your differentiation—why you’re better than your competitors—is communicated more clearly and effectively. Your customers know why they chose you, and prospects learn why they *should* choose you. - The capability to close larger sales increases. (After taking FOCIS® one of our clients closed a sale eight times larger than its previous largest.) - Access to decision-makers becomes easier. - The gap between the top producers and the rest of the team shrink. Also, outside variables—a pandemic, for instance—won’t have the same impact because a strong sales process is as effective on-line as it in face-to-face meetings. **Key Point:** Transactional selling just doesn’t travel well in an on-line environment. It depends too much on the interpersonal dynamics of the sales representative. Transactional salespeople too often rely too much on their personality to do the job. But that doesn’t work nearly so well on-line—or as well as creating value for the prospect in any environment. Creating value is what successful consultative salespeople know how to do. To create value, you need skills and process, not personality. 1. **The long-term growth rate** begins to rise year after year, decreasing the denominator even more, because a stronger sales process results in increasing levels of revenue (leading to growth) and reduced risk. Try plugging some numbers into the formula from your business. See how much valuation changes not only when income increases but also when risk decreases and the long-term growth increases by just a point or two. We have seen clients significantly grow the value of their businesses by investing in sales process improvement. **“As a valuation expert,** my knowledge of IRV combined with Productive Strategies FOCIS® sales process allows me to easily demonstrate the ROI of my services,” explains Jim Bates, a partner at Jackim Woods & Co., a leading middle-market mergers and acquisitions advisor. “This shortens my sales cycle and increases my closing rate. But the best part is that every client becomes a success story.” Bates is also a partner at a boutique M&A company, Sports Club Advisors, a sister firm of Jackim Woods. Sports Club focuses on the sports, fitness, and leisure industry. He is the co-author of *Business Valuation for Dummies* in the popular series. **If you want to learn more** about how we can help you increase the value of your company, just give us a call at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or e-mail me directly at [pkrone@productivestrategies. com](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20monthly%20email%20article.%20). In any event, if IRV does become a friend, be sure to say hello for us. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [An Often-Overlooked M&A Tool: Sales Integration](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/an-often-overlooked-ma-tool-sales-integration/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Companies spend all sorts of pre-M&A time on alignment. But what about after the merger or acquisition deal is sealed? There is still work to be done, especially in sales. When companies make acquisitions, they have a lot to do, from identifying redundancies in staffing, processes, and procedures to selecting which survive and which can be reduced or eliminated. Even in the face of so many critical issues demanding management’s attention, one study showed that 30 percent of M&A executives surveyed ranked sales the most important piece of the integration puzzle to get right. In addition, the study noted that “integrating sales forces ranks among the hardest parts of a merger to execute.”\* Yet integrating sales teams is often overlooked, especially how efficiently a common sales process can speed up the integration process and the realization of the investment thesis. Over the years we have observed companies that have optimized sales after an acquisition as well as those that have struggled—or even failed. Here are three scenarios—two thumbs up and one thumbs down. Thumbs Up: In this first scenario a company makes a strategic acquisition in its own field, in part because the companies offer different solutions the market needs. Marketing and selling the combined product offerings would now, in theory, be much more efficient. But what’s the key to making that work? We’ve found that creating a highly productive, common sales process customized for each company’s objectives and challenges is fundamental. Here are just a few reasons that make getting the sales processes right is critical: Developing the sales process involves salespeople in the M&A process itself, increasing buy-in and likelihood of success Communication across lines improves product knowledge and insights for both teams Common customers are easily identified and assessed. Joint visits reduce uncertainty among customers and make inroads by competitors more difficult Customers that are candidates for products or services from both companies become apparent Serving those customers efficiently can become part of a joint sales process that will only become more productive over time. Using our FOCIS® Selling program, sales teams not only learn or improve consultative communication skills. They also develop multiple sales processes that can be customized for each product or service offering, each prospect, and each company. The processes we help our clients develop are not canned pitches. They are instead customized persuasion processes that help prospects understand the full value—including both soft and hard benefits—a seller’s solution brings to the table. When the processes are developed, documented, and in place, they also make it much easier for the sales teams to identify the right prospects, or current customers, to begin selling new products. Thumbs Up: One of our clients made five acquisitions in five years. Each time we taught FOCIS® Selling to the new sales teams and helped create a process for selling what the acquired company brought to the market. This replicated the professionalism of each sales team throughout the country, sped up each integration, and helped achieve the investment thesis sooner in each case. The original company eventually grew to $20 billion in sales from $1 billion and was acquired by a Fortune 500 company. The company’s CEO credits our process as a contributing factor. Thumbs Down: In this less efficient scenario, after acquisition each company continues to sell only its products and not those of their now-sister company. Even though some territories overlap, unnecessarily increasing some expenses, that’s not the major problem. The major problem—which too often festers just beneath the surface—is that two representatives from the combined companies may be calling on the same buyers. That can cause confusion and uncertainty, eventually opening the door for competitors who seem more organized, stable, and reliable. An even more unfortunate situation is when a sales rep is calling on a prospect (or customer) who can benefit from a product sold by the new sibling company. But the rep doesn’t know how to identify the need and communicate the value, let alone make the sale. Why? Because the companies don’t share sales processes and profit from the advantages. For example, reps might not even know the other company’s products exist, let alone the problems they solve. The risk of losing any sale is greater or the buyer receives a less-than-optimal solution, eroding confidence and loyalty over time. Having a strong sales process and sales skills is helpful not only for companies involved in a merger or acquisition. It’s an asset helpful to any company. Other challenging situations in which a strong sales process is valuable include when: Introducing a new product Transferring the main sales responsibility from the founder or leader to someone else A small percentage of the sales team is bringing in 70 to 80 percent of new business The sales team is not capable of aligning their sales process to a specific prospect’s buying process. Can we help you? Please get in touch at 847-446-0008 Ext. 3 or at pkrone@productivestrategies. com . We’ll talk with you about your objectives and challenges. Together, we’ll decide on the best next steps for your company. \* Mastering Sales Force Integration in a Merger , Marketing & Sales Insights, McKinsey & Company, October 2009. The next most important were areas behind sales in order were HR, IT, and operations. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Three Leaders, One Lesson](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/three-leaders-one-lesson/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The fundamental things apply in basketball, bed-making, and becoming the safest company in America. In 1965, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and his fellow freshmen at UCLA beat the varsity in the opening scrimmage. Interesting, to be sure, but not necessarily remarkable. Except that the UCLA varsity was a two-years-running national NCAA champion and the odds-on favorite for a three-peat. And that would be without any of the much-heralded freshmen. The NCAA rules change to allow freshmen to play varsity took seven more years. ![Three Leaders, One Lesson](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture28.jpg) In his book, *Coach Wooden and Me,* Jabbar tells the story of his first practice at UCLA. Possibly the strongest basketball recruiting class in the school’s history sat on the bench and waited to hear from the coach of the decade, the coach they all came to California to play for. (As Lew Alcindor, Jabbar moved 3,000 miles, from New York City.) “We all leaned forward waiting to tattoo his wisdom on our brains,” Jabbar recalled. “Good afternoon gentlemen,” Coach Wooden began. “Today we are going to learn how to put on our sneakers and socks correctly.” Though the words seemed laughable, Coach Wooden wasn’t joking, and we doubt anyone cracked much of a smile. The message was nothing if not serious—and practical. Basics matter. Fundamentals count. That’s always true in sports. And, really, always in business, especially in day-to-day selling. Knowing how to discover whether a prospect will get more value out of the product you’re selling than the price you’re charging. Going beyond educating a prospect (that’s a big part of what marketing is supposed to do) to persuading that your product is *the* solution. That’s where the selling “magic” happens. Which really isn’t magic, by the way, but training and process. Educating is critical but persuading is what helps a prospect understand that they have a problem, that they can’t solve it themselves, and that your company is the one they must choose to solve it. Our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, teaches the fundamentals of selling that persuade—and the next levels, too. It also helps develop a customized sales process for you, your company, and your industry. And, just as Coach Wooden changed behaviors in basketball for the better, FOCIS® changes behaviors in selling for the better. Coach Wooden knew the value of *teaching* the basics. And even though the lesson may be a cliche, it has power. Witness other great leaders always talking about the value of *learning* the basics: For example, former Navy Seal and Chancellor of the University of Texas, U.S. Retired Navy Admiral, William McRaven, and his graduation speech about changing the world by making your bed.\* --- “Business schools reward difficult, complex behavior . . . but simple behavior is more effective.” *–Warren Buffet* --- Sometimes, it’s not just the message that’s simple. The approach is, too. From day one, Alcoa’s Paul O’Neill talked about safety—and only safety. At a news conference introducing him as president, he answered every question, no matter the topic, with same message: Moving from the worst safety record in the aluminum business to the best was paramount to leaving a bottom-of-the-barrel bottom line far behind. *What is your projection for earnings?* “We won’t have good earnings until we improve our safety record.” The simplicity and relentless repetition—“safety first, last, and always”—sent a clear signal to all stakeholders, including front-line workers, managers, executives, board members, shareholders, and the market itself. Coach Wooden was also sending a simple, consistent message. Even better, he was making it easy to understand its importance. Putting on socks and sneakers incorrectly can create blisters. Blisters lead to players not being ready to play with confidence or not being ready to play at all. That hurts the team. One key lesson with a catchy name was also simple: “Tug and Snug” reduces the odds of blisters and downtime. ![Three Leaders, One Lesson](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture29.jpg) Another lesson that rings true in business and life is that learning fundamentals (and implementing them) takes process and practice: Do it right, do it right every time. It wasn’t what those stellar freshmen expected to hear from their stellar coach, and it wasn’t why they turned down hundreds of other coaches to play for him. But it was what they got. It was also one reason they went on to win three national championships themselves. We make the same points in our popular FOCIS® Selling class, where we teach consultative selling skills and an effective process to put them to work. You can wing it on sales calls, or you can plan them so that they are customized within a system that ensures the most success over time. And you can practice. We create sales processes for our clients just as Coach Wooden created basketball processes for his players. --- “It is not a daily increase \[that matters most\], but a daily decrease. Hack away at the non-essentials.” *–Bruce Lee* --- There are many other lessons in the book, some that also parallel our teaching. Here’s one more. Coach Wooden preached a philosophy, too: You can’t control the outcome of any game, but you can control your preparation for and execution of every game. A corollary is that winning every game in the short term is not the goal. But if you do your best to prepare and execute what you learn, you will win more games (or sales) than your share over the long term as well as your share of rewards. No business developer completely controls winning new business. The prospect may decide not to go forward for reasons you’ll never know and that have nothing to do with you or your product. Maybe your competitor offered something you just couldn’t. Internal politics might have gotten in the way. No control there. But you can always control how well you prepare. To learn more about how to improve your business development through consultative sales training and process development, just get in touch. We also support three other skills and processes critical to top-line growth: lead generation and appointment setting, marketing and marketing communications, and sales and marketing alignment. Check with us at 847-446-0008, Ext. 1, or [**pkrone@productivestrategies. com** . ](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20monthly%20email%20article.%20) We’re happy to hear about your challenges and to offer our thoughts. \* The Make-Your-Bed Speech , 2014 University of Texas commencement, Austin. Admiral McRaven also wrote a book about the value of fundamentals: *Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life… and Maybe the World.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is Differentiation Really Worth the Effort?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-differentiation-really-worth-the-effort/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you wonder** whether differentiating your company will yield a significant ROI? Maybe you wonder whether your company can be differentiated at all. Most owners, presidents, and CEOs would agree that the short answer to the question “Does Differentiation Add Value?” is “yes.” So, then the focus moves to the question behind the question: “Is Differentiating Our Company Really Worth the Time, Energy, and Money?” Not everybody would answer “yes” to that question, and, in rare cases, they might be right. In nearly 30 years of helping businesses and professional services firms grow the topline, however, we have yet to come upon a viable business that cannot differentiate itself in meaningful—and revenue-generating—ways. And companies and firms whose business developers know how to *communicate* the value of that differentiation increase their odds not only of selling more of their product or service but also commanding premium prices. **Just how does that work?** Here’s how three of our clients make differentiation work for them. **\#1: Creative Thinking.** One client that supplies a pure commodity to dealerships turned its product into an important customer-retention incentive for those dealerships. This commodity had already demonstrated its contributions to effective product maintenance. But after our client helped dealers reposition our client’s product—without changing its function—continued maintenance at individual dealerships became much more attractive. The incentive was simply adding, in effect, a rider to the factory warranty on the product sold by the dealership. Once that incentive began to result in customers returning for new purchases, demand for our client’s product increased a lot. **Key Point:** Keep in mind that demand for this client’s product increased, *even though it was still a commodity* . And still is, for that matter. Differentiating it so that it added new value for the buyer made it a star. In this industry, we were told, continued service at the original dealership translates into increasing the odds by about 20 percent that customers will then purchase the same product—or the latest rendition—at the same dealership. Why? A couple of possible answers are (1) that continued good service increases confidence in all aspects of a dealership, including new versions of products. And (2) positive customer interactions build loyalty, making it easier to stay with a supplier and harder to switch. A next-level and more complex differentiator our client developed was to create a captive insurance firm to cover the risk of extended warranty claims. Our client has seen steady growth over 20 years thanks in part to the work they put into differentiating themselves. **\#2: Tapping Customers for New Products.** Many companies pay lip service to using their sales forces as research arms for product development. In our experience, few really do. Why? Because doing it right and seeing a return does take additional effort and patience, mainly in the form of consultative sales training and consistent processing of the market intelligence the sales force provides. But the payoff can be a significant, and sometimes sustainable, competitive advantage. Two of our software-related clients differentiated by making their salesforces the front end of new product development. We taught them how to use a highly productive discovery process to identify problems that had no current solutions in the marketplace. To smooth the way, we included a process that filtered the new problems so that product development was not overwhelmed by underwhelming ideas. This same competitive advantage—created in different industries—helped our clients become the fastest growing in their markets. **Key Point:** Isn’t using your sales force for market research just commonsense? In a business-to-business environment, who has the most significant regular contact with customers? Usually, it’s the sales force. The caveat here is to make sure that the research is a productive part of the sales process itself, not an annoying add-on salespeople will resist using. Our FOCIS® Consultative Sales Training course, which these clients completed, teaches both sides of the equation. It can improve the performance of just about any salesperson and put others on the path to becoming top producers—the 20 percent of any sales force that consistently brings in 80 percent of new sales. **\#3: More than One Right Answer.** A residential real estate photography firm we began working with just last year has gained competitive advantage using four differentiators: geographic reach, fast film processing and delivery, media variety, and training in quality. That sounds like a lot, but they all work together toward one end: improving the efficiency of a real estate broker’s ability to sell a listing. Getting more potential buyers to visit a property faster is critical to getting a sale. And photography has traditionally been critical to making that happen because buyers want to visualize themselves as owners—in other words, turning a house into a home. This last pandemic year has made visiting properties in person much more difficult and photography much more important, especially video photography, or videography. Our client offers both. Our client is probably the only such firm that works with photographers and videographers throughout the U.S., making it an ideal vendor to large, national real estate brokerage companies. They know they’ll get the same, high-quality service wherever their offices are located. To ensure uniform high quality, our client trains the photographers it works with “personally”—that is, at its headquarters—in the specialized niche of real estate photography. Fast delivery is also ensured because our client operates its own processing services, often with one-day turnaround. Local services can take up to three days. **Key Point:** Still another differentiator this company uses is the process they developed in our consultative sales training course FOCIS®, where they learned how to communicate the differentiated value of their services and get paid for that value. ( Note : Just *telling* a prospect that your product or service is the best solution doesn’t work nearly so well as *persuading* them. That’s what FOCIS® teaches—in person or on a video platform. We adapted and differentiated, too, and can now help our customers improve their sales performance just about anywhere without the cost of being “on site.”) **If your sales team needs help** better *communicating* the value of your differentiation, please consider taking our FOCIS® Consultative Sales course. And if you feel your company or organization *can’t identify its differentiators* or the ways they add value, check out our FOCIS® Differentiation Workshop. Our proven process can help you think about new ways to gain competitive advantage, often sustainable, and put them to work to grow your topline. Just get in touch at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or **[pkrone@productivestrategies. com](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20monthly%20email%20article.%20)** . Thanks! **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Phil Krone on Giving Back: Community Leadership, Manufacturing Careers, and the Positive Future](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/phil-krone-on-giving-back-community-leadership-manufacturing-careers-and-the-positive-future/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Our FOCIS® Consultative Selling Training teaches the value of “paying it forward” in business with colleagues, prospects, customers, and others–without expectation of return. Phil Krone, president of Productive Strategies, lives that philosophy “on and off the court” in his business and community life. In this 15-minute podcast, **Discussing Community Leadership with Phil Krone,** Phil talks with Congiz Karatas, the executive director of Future Institute about the true value of volunteer involvement. The not-for-profit supports high school seniors and graduates as they embark on the next stages of their lives in college and careers with educational, social and career-building workshops, opportunities, mentorships, and financial assistance. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Online Marketing: Hard-Earned Insights](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/online-marketing-hard-earned-insights/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **How can we understand the wizardry** that is today’s marketing–and what it can, and cannot, do? Thanks in part to steadily improving online functionality, marketing has changed dramatically in the past ten years. And, thanks to the pandemic, marketing has changed even more dramatically in just the past year. We’ve all seen it “in the news.” But here at Productive Strategies we’ve also seen it in our relationships with prospects, clients, vendors, and others in the day-to-day business mix. You have, too, no doubt. But seeing, understanding, and applying are three different things. Selling and marketing changes have opened new opportunities for services in our own business and allowed us to advise others on opportunities—and challenges—in their businesses. **So, what have we found, what have we done, and what do we advise?** One new skill-building hoop we’ve helped our clients jump through is to answer a question: How do you take advantage of new channels, both those new only to you or, in fact, new to the world? Ironically, two traditional, tried-and-true answers apply: “It depends” and “very carefully.” ![Online Marketing: Hard-Earned Insights](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture30.jpg) **Many people claim to know** how to optimize pay-per-click advertising, for example. But how many actually do? Surprisingly few, in our experience. And for good reason. While the PPC concept is simple to understand, making it work is not. There are just too many nuances, and the search engines keep changing them by changing the rules. The pay-per-click advertising programs offered by the major search engines are complex. And, not surprisingly, search engine salespeople seem to strive to produce volume, which essentially translates into “more hits.” Accounts, again in our experience, may well be configured mainly to grow sales, yes, but in a way that can be a big waste of your time. **Take our case.** We offer about 30 business development products and services. We focus on consultative sales training and lead generation in business-to-business environments and several support tools, such as marketing, marketing communications, and sales and marketing alignment. So, “sales” are indeed what our prospects and clients are interested in—but “sales” in a specific way: a critical point the search engine we used (and still use, by the way, though more productively) didn’t quite pick up on until we figured out that we had to explain it to them more clearly. **“Today, it’s not about *Get the traffic.*** **It’s about *Get the targeted and relevant traffic.* ”** *—Adam Audette* This search engine suggests you provide thousands of words that describe what you do. If you don’t, can’t, or won’t, they will provide those words for you. Unfortunately, they’re seemingly satisfied with words that elicit as many clicks as possible, but aren’t necessarily those that hit the target. We’re satisfied only with *bullseyes.* **You see the problem.** Which we didn’t until . . . we discovered that our search engine salespeople, who tend to come and go too often for our taste, added *hundreds of words* that would attract attention but had very little, if nothing, to do with our work. While we provided such keywords as *consultative sales training, business-to-business selling,* and *B2B lead generation* , the search engine also posted keywords like *sales sales sales* and *best sale ever* . Who checks out words like that? Pretty much everybody. The responses, of course, required us to devote time and energy to prospects who really weren’t prospects. (Taking minimal time and energy, true, but still a distraction that our business—or any business—can ill afford.) But, as usual, we like to see such experiences as glass-half-full opportunities instead of glass-half-empty failures. **![Online Marketing: Hard-Earned Insights](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture31.jpg)So, once we removed the “bad,”** or at least irrelevant, words suggested by the search engine and added more of our own “good” words, we began to see immediate results. We now offer search engine optimization services to our clients because we realize that the “sales support” from the search engines themselves can be inadequate and even many of the consultants in this still-evolving space haven’t mastered the process. We do perform pieces of the work in which we have expertise ourselves—content development strategy, copywriting, and aligning marketing and sales, for instance. But an invaluable piece of our service, we’ve found, is to help clients simply to *find* the SEO expertise that’s right for them and their businesses. Something you could do yourself? Sure, but at what cost? As we’ve learned, and just explained, knowing how to navigate the turbulence of cyberspace marketing can be extremely valuable. --- **“Things don’t have to change the world to be important.”** *—Steve Jobs* --- **And that’s not all: Two things to know about LinkedIn.** First, when you post to LinkedIn your message does not go to your entire network as many people suspect it does. For efficiency’s sake, LinkedIn uses an algorithm to see how many people like and share your post. If there is quick response, and activity related to liking and sharing, LinkedIn sends the post to another group within your network. Recently, our video on sales funnels received more than a thousand views. We did notice that the responses came in waves as the popular video was released to more of our network, and as other people shared our post and got reactions from their network. Second, there are two ways that we benefit from LinkedIn and that you might, too. The first is using it to find people in our network who change jobs. We send out a new edition of the column you are reading now once a month to thousands of clients, prospects, and people in our network. It keeps us top of mind with people who may not have a current need. We take the bounces from our e-mailing and use LinkedIn to find out where people have moved to. Another use is that sometimes we have been unable to find the people, but because we are still linked to their personal e-mail, they see posts we make on LinkedIn. We recently picked up new business from someone who had dropped off our regular e-mail-blast list, but to whom we were still connected. He read one of our posts and brought us some new business. **Finally, *in* with the old.** While recently moving our offices within the complex we’ve enjoyed for the past 25 years, we discovered an embarrassingly large amount of sales support material printed in volume over the years to get attractive pricing. Although we do find that direct mail still works, but not always in the same way, we had in fact cut back on our own mailings. Now, however, we see an opportunity to use these valuable marketing materials, even though our mailing address is not *quite* the same. (Normally, we don’t believe that “close enough is good enough,” but in this case we saw fit to ignore the rule—a good thing to do, occasionally.) Our plan now is to drop a major direct-mail campaign to the thousands of already targeted customers, prospects, and others in our database. That direct mail advertising is not used as much right now means it should attract attention and will yield a good return on investment. At least that’s what we’re hoping. We’ll let you know in a future column. **What experiences have you had with online marketing?** What have you noticed that others might benefit from knowing? Please share them with us and we’ll try to share some of them in this column. **In any event, please get in touch with us** if you’d like to talk about your sales processes and training, lead generation, or marketing or other business development options. We’re still at 847-446-0008 and [pkrone@productivestrategies. com](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com). **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How do they do it?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-do-they-do-it/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***This faith-based not-for-profit achieves 40 percent year-over-year growth for 17 years by applying well-known business principles, one in particular. Why can so few businesses even dream of such growth?*** ![How do they do it?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture7.png) During its first 17 years or so “Feed My Starving Children” (FMSC) assembled and distributed a total of 3 million meals. During its next 17 years that number ballooned last year to a total of 4.8 billion meals. What happened? FMSC’s mission is, as the name suggests, to feed starving children. And the organization does that around the world in some of the most dangerous, desolate places on Earth. They do that with individual, highly nutritious meals with long shelf lives and a remarkable distribution system. At his recent retirement celebration, the CEO for those 17 high-growth years shared what he believes drove the dramatic turnaround. Having been actively involved in FMSC’s efforts as an on the-ground-volunteer and having had FMSC as a client, I’ll share my observations and perspective as well. --- During its first 17 years or so “Feed My Starving Children” (FMSC) assembled and distributed a total of 3 million meals. During its next 17 years that number ballooned last year to a total of 4.8 billion meals. What happened? FMSC’s mission is, as the name suggests, to feed starving children. And the organization does that around the world in some of the most dangerous, desolate places on Earth. They do that with individual, highly nutritious meals with long shelf lives and a remarkable distribution system. At his recent retirement celebration, the CEO for those 17 high-growth years shared what he believes drove the dramatic turnaround. Having been actively involved in FMSC’s efforts as an on the-ground-volunteer and having had FMSC as a client, I’ll share my observations and perspective as well. ![How do they do it?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture8.png) At the last minute, the bishop had to cancel. Just as the CEO was about to get into his car to drive away something made him turn around. He saw a nun standing there, just looking at him. He closed the car door, walked over, and introduced himself. She asked, why are you here? He told her about the cancelled meeting with the bishop and what it was all about. “The nuns were just praying over how we were going to get food to the kids in this slum,” she said, “and here you are.” *Are business success and religious beliefs related?* Clearly, religious faith doesn’t guarantee business success. However, over the past 30 years or so of helping companies grow, I have noticed that a high percentage of the leaders of companies we’ve worked with have strong religious beliefs. It doesn’t seem to matter what the religion is. In addition, from my interactions with business leaders, my impression is that the percentage of those business leaders who express their beliefs is higher than the estimated percentage of the population that attends religious services regularly. ![How do they do it?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture10.png) --- What have I seen that has made Feed My Starving Children so successful in the face of some truly formidable obstacles? My observations—not in any particular order—also correlate well with what makes just about any business successful: 1\. **Strong Distribution:** They partner with very strong organizations around the world in more than 60 countries. The partners are given the food but pay for the transportation and security of the shipments. The partners use the food to support their main mission. Those missions vary but include feeding people and supporting hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other causes. 2\. **Talented, Experienced Staff:** People who succeed are attracted to work and to organizations that have a meaningful, well-defined purpose—such as feeding starving children. If their belief in the mission is strong enough, they go to work for the organization even if they can earn more elsewhere. FMSC attracts world-class talent that will work for fair compensation. 3\. **Management Scope:** Very successful organizations do their best to optimize every aspect of their operations. Coach K at Duke was a good basketball coach, but he was an even stronger chief executive. He made sure he had the strongest recruiting program, the best video system (comparable to those of NBA teams), ready access to the Duke University hospital’s health-care technology to help injured players return faster, and the use of the talents of former players to support training and coaching. In short, he was more than a coach. FMSC does the same thing—that is, working to be the best at every aspect of what they do. One going-above-and-beyond effort has been to help to improve the business practices of their distribution partners. Like many businesses and not-for-profits, FMSC’s partners excel at some things, such as logistics or teaching, but not others, such as general management. FMSC encourages all of Its partners to work together to learn best practices from each other that enable everyone to work smarter. FMSC has also coached them on succession planning to avoid common problems that arise when founding leaders retire or otherwise move on. This issue is one that many successful businesses also face, especially family-owned enterprises. 4\. **Unique Model:** There is no other organization with the model used by FMSC. Other organizations have volunteers who pack food, but I am not aware of any that give the food to partners and ask only that they pay for transportation and ensure security. 5\. **An Army of Volunteers:** Feed My Starving Children attracts more than a million volunteers every year. Those volunteers who donate a couple hours to pack food also become the main source of revenue, thanks to a straightforward, commonsense approach: “Someone else paid for the food you packed today; please donate to buy food for the next volunteer to pack.” FMSC has also leveraged volunteers to run their own fund-raising programs and to speak to companies, schools, and other groups about their FMSC experiences with its programs. A volunteer speaker’s bureau stands ready to answer requests to learn more. I have made such presentations. Other not-for-profits presenting at the same time often comment about how they use paid staff. 6\. **Agility:** When Covid hit and volunteers were not able to get together to pack meals, FMSC pivoted quickly to machine packing, something they said they would never do. But they then moved quickly to set up the necessary equipment to keep the food shipments flowing. 7\. **Raving Fans:** Because its mission is so compelling, FMSC attracts what business consultants call “raving fans.” These are customers so thrilled with a product or service that they spread the word enthusiastically, even relentlessly. Several businesses have responded by donating a fixed amount per sale to support the program. (There’s a good business case to be made for such programs.) If you use an Air-Serv compressor at a service station, for example, you’re contributing to FMSC via Air-Serv. (You’re not paying extra, however.) If you buy a Taco from Tacos for Life, you’re supporting a life-saving meal that feeds a hungry child. In summary I can say that this level of growth is virtually unheard of for any type of organization, for-profit or not-for-profit. Perhaps the key takeaway is that your company or organization can benefit by defining its mission so clearly that people will know exactly what they’re working for and toward. Companies or charities can use that to attract not only the best employees, but also the best customers and the support of good companies. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Your Business: What are the “unknown unknowns”?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/your-business-what-are-the-unknown-unknowns/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **It’s time to find out. Here’s how.** How do you uncover things “you don’t know you don’t know” about your company or organization? More important, how do you determine what they mean for your success now and in the future? **Do you think you know all you need to know** about your company? Probably not. Most business owners, presidents, CEOs, and other leaders are well aware that they have a lot to learn, even about their businesses. More worrisome is that they realize they face challenges they do know about but don’t know enough about—for instance, how much are those delays in shipping actually costing in returns, lost customers, and reputation in the marketplace? Beyond those kinds of unknowns are the “things we do not know we don’t know.” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld uttered those now-iconic words in 2002.\* They have proven to ring true in many areas of life, including business. (In fact, Wharton business psychologist Adam Grant has written a soon-to-be-published book about the real advantages of identifying unknowns: Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know .) **We love to see our clients’ eyes light up** when, through our discovery process, they learn something new about their company, their markets, or their future opportunities. Another thing we love is helping them figure out the specifics—good and bad—of their newly discovered challenges and opportunities. In fact, we’ve developed five different services that help leaders learn valuable, new information about their companies and what to do with it. Here’s how we might you help find important insights to ensure a successful new year. **\#1: The first of these new information gateways** opens during the start-up process for our lead generation and appointment-setting service. Sometimes people are puzzled or surprised by our ability to generate qualified leads with prospects for their business. After all, we don’t know nearly as much about how their business works as they do. Our discovery process is the key. It unlocks details about our clients that enable us to prospect for them much more productively. Our process begins with a three-hour client meeting during which we ask question after question. Once during a start-up meeting with a Silicon Valley technology firm, the president walked in and asked what was going on. He had been standing in the hall listening to the discussion and thought it was the best review of what their business was all about that he had heard. He wanted to see our report when we completed it. Just last month the founder of our newest lead-gen client, a Minnesota firm, wrote us: “Your format has been the most in-depth and eye-opening exercise in marketing for our company since we started. This \[process\] has made me look at things in way that I had never thought about, which has created new ideas and plans on who we sell our services to.” **\#2: One-on-one research interviews** also ferret out “unknown unknowns.” We conduct these with a client’s employees, customers, prospects, and lost prospects. Over the years we have realized that many companies are unaware of certain specific information about their businesses. For example, they don’t know the true buying motives of the different segments using their product or service. We consistently find that our clients typically know only about half the reasons people buy from them. The other half comes as a complete surprise. One client learned that his customers’ most common buying motive—a key, often under-the-radar reason customers buy—was that his level of documentation was vastly superior to his competition’s. Another company never knew that “the need behind the need” that initiated their relationship with one of the Big Three auto companies was that their plant was located in the hometown of the buyer’s mother. The automaker’s executive visited their plant every year the day before Thanksgiving to get a jump on the long weekend. **\#3: Differentiation workshops yield** new ideas, even new business models, for our clients that identify (or create) unique value and differentiate a client from competition. During these highly interactive sessions, we ask questions developed beforehand through staff interviews that help people see new ways to create sustainable competitive advantage. We also help companies sort out and prioritize the many “good ideas” that seem to accumulate at almost all companies. So many potentially profitable ideas never go anywhere simply because they haven’t been fully considered, prioritized, and turned over to an internal champion. Our workshops provide the necessary focus to get that done. **Key Point:** “If I had asked them what they wanted they would have said faster horses.” That famous quote, generally attributed to Henry Ford, makes another point about the importance of making a conscious, organized effort to understand your company’s differentiators. Sometimes the novel ideas are so different from what is in the market that traditional market research might not uncover them. During one of our differentiation workshops an important piece of data emerged. The company was acquiring business at a healthy pace but losing it almost as fast. They had recognized this problem for some time but hadn’t devoted much effort to getting to the bottom of it: How was it even possible? Our process revealed that the reason wasn’t poor performance and quality or high prices or sketchy customer service. Instead, they lost business when their customers were sold to a new, unknown entity—an external factor completely out of their control. But now a powerful strategy emerged from this workshop. They developed a way to know when one of their customers’ retail locations was sold or about to be sold. That became a priority and they soon began signing new contracts with the new owners, often before their competition knew about the sale. It worked beginning a few months after the workshop and is still working. **\#4: A double payoff comes from the discovery questions** we help clients develop during our popular FOCIS® Consultative Selling course. During some 25 years of training sales reps, executives, and other business developers, we’ve seen time and again an especially strong new reality in our clients’ sales process. Our value-creating discovery questions open the door much more quickly to forming relationships, becoming trusted, and being seen as an expert. Every company has unique discovery questions that they rarely know to ask. Our process uncovers the most effective ones and teaches just how to ask them—at the right time in the right order and in the right proportion. As an example: I once asked a law firm if they truly understood their prospects’ objectives. They said yes: they want to win the case. Yes, of course, but did the firm know the second and third level needs behind the needs? Our process helped them unlock those for each new prospect they met. **\#5: Getting sales and marketing on the same page**. This process takes companies beyond just paying lip service to an always good business-building idea to finding its lucrative efficiencies and leveraging the true potential of both areas. Our profit-oriented approach applies quality improvement principles in new ways. Companies always learn things they didn’t know about their processes, their people, and their ability—or lack of it—to generate higher profits. **If you would like to learn more** about knowing what you don’t know about your business—at long last—let’s talk. Contact us at 847-446-0008 Ext 1 or . No need to wait to do it after the holidays either. We’re open and ready to hear about your challenges and opportunities. The internet has taught us all a valuable lesson—there’s no time to waste when potential customers are looking for products and services that you offer. Please get in touch. --- *\*For context, here’s Rumsfeld’s complete quote, which we think is instructive. He made it in 2002 when asked by a reporter about the uncertainties swirling around whether terrorists were being supported by Iraq in their quest for weapons of mass destruction: “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don’t know.”* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Shot! And the Importance of Discovery](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-shot-and-the-importance-of-discovery/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***Asking the questions that give you the confidence you need to win in sales.*** ![The Shot! And the Importance of Discovery](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture5.png) Basketball fans old enough to have watched the 1992 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will remember one of the most iconic plays in March Madness history. With 2.1 seconds remaining, the Grant-Hill-to-Christian-Laettner connection led Duke to an unforgettable 104-103 victory over Kentucky in the East Regional Final game. Duke went on to beat Michigan in the national finals to win the tournament, the first back-to-back championship team since UCLA completed three in a row in 1973. In this short YouTube video, [The Shot](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NQ7dv9WN77o), Grant Hill offers a perspective you don’t often see: what happened behind the scenes in the timeout that changed his thinking from “the season is over” to “we are going to win this game.” And you can see the shot, too! --- **The take-way for me** is the reinforcement of something we teach over and over in our popular consultative sales training course, FOCIS®: how the power of questions in discovery is the driver of successful communications, persuasion, and sales. As Hill points out in the video, Coach K didn’t dictate the play. Instead, he asked Grant whether he could make a good pass to Laettner standing at the free throw line at the opposite end of the court. And, then he asked Laettner whether he could make the shot from the free throw line. They both said “Yes!” The change in confidence from when the players walked to the bench—dejected—to when they walked back into the game—as confident as they’d ever been—was dramatic. It is a perfect example of the difference between education and persuasion when people are speaking with each other. Coach K proved in that moment how important asking is versus telling and how important confidence is to success. **In our FOCIS® Consultative Selling** classes we spend three months learning what the most effective questions will be for each of our clients to use to customize each sales call for each prospect. Canned pitches simply do not work in complex business-to-business selling. ![Grant Hill](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture6.png) **“As I was headed to the bench, I thought our season was over.”** We may only get one meeting with a prospect, so how we use the limited time may determine ultimate success. Our clients usually know everything they need to know about their product or service and their market. They are the experts in that arena. But we’re the experts in knowing how to draw that information out of them so they can write effective discovery questions to determine if our solution is the best option for them and, if so, to persuade their prospects. And we can help you be the experts in selling your product or service. The right questions from a seller at the right times build a buyer’s trust and confidence in the seller and their product or service. This also significantly shortens the sales cycle. Coach K didn’t tell his players what to do. He asked them what they could do—and they answered out loud in front of their teammates. That gave the whole team the confidence they needed to win. Please get in touch if: - Your win rate is too low - Your sales cycle is too long - You give away intellectual property within the sales process - A small group of your people bring in 80 percent of your new business - A glass ceiling is preventing you from winning large opportunities. Call us to arrange a no-cost, no-obligation session where we can learn more about your growth objectives and the challenges you face in reaching them. You can learn how we can help you overcome those challenges to meet your growth objectives. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Where do entrepreneurs get their great ideas?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/where-do-entrepreneurs-get-their-great-ideas/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ***The answer is just about anywhere.*** ***But here are several sources we’ve seen work wonders.*** ![Where do entrepreneurs get their great ideas?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture2.png) **Over the years we have enjoyed watching entrepreneurs realize their dreams of bringing something of value to the marketplace. This column will cover some of our observations, including a guide to how these entrepreneurs came up with their innovative service or product.** **Personality:** The successful entrepreneur will have an almost unrealistic view of reality. They’re told their idea will “never work,” for example, but they make it work. In many cases failure is not an option. Getting another new job is not an option, for instance, so they must be successful in their venture. That leads them to close out or minimize many of the risks that the market presents. The founder of [Nvidia](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/bios/jensen-huang) once said on a podcast that if he had known how difficult success would be he isn’t sure he would have stuck with the effort it took to build the company. Without the mandate to succeed and a willing suspension of disbelief, he would not have gone forward. --- **Here are real cases illustrating what seems to have led to innovation.** **The Land of Can:** A seventh grader in Chicago with allergies that limited her activity became tired of defining herself by what she couldn’t do. She published a book at that young age that focused on what she could do. Today she owns [The Land of Can](https://thelandofcan.com/pages/us-home), a company that has sold books all over the world and has medical experts on her company’s advisory board. Now she’s a freshman at Duke University and recently won an award for her entrepreneurial success. **Based on Personal Experience:** Ron Foxcroft was a referee for college sports and the NBA for decades. Like many entrepreneurs the inspiration for his business came from a problem he faced. As he tells the story in his book, The 40 Ways of the Fox, he was officiating an international basketball game in Brazil when a Brazilian player was fouled. Ron blew the whistle but there was no sound. The “pea” inside the whistle had gotten wet from saliva and failed to function. He hired a designer and together they came up with a whistle that doesn’t require the pea and will always “whistle.” His whistle is now the official whistle of the NBA, the NFL, the NCAA, the NHL, and other professional leagues. Ron’s company, the [Foxcroft Group of Companies](https://www.fox40world.com/the-fox-40-executives), now ships 15,000 whistles a day in 140 countries. Luckily for Ron, Brazil won the contest, but he never wanted to miss making a call again. ![Where do entrepreneurs get their great ideas?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture3.png) **An idea resulting from personal observation** - A straightforward example is the race car driver who brought seat belts to the automotive aftermarket in the early 1950s because he thought the general public should be protected just like he was in a race. - Another is our development of our FOCIS® Consultative Selling course, which was based on two observations. First, the recognition by our prospects that their current sales presentations were weak, and ineffective. In fact, many on-the-ground sales reps admitted they never used the company presentation because it never helped them. Second, our observation that our clients were unaware of how to customize presentations so that they were planned presentations versus canned ones. They also lacked the discovery skills and process to know how to revise content so that it was of value to the prospect. The course has become our flagship offering. - I don’t know what inspired the McDonald brothers to open their restaurant, but Ray Kroc indicated his inspiration for the McDonalds restaurants we enjoy today came from simple curiosity. Why was his employer at the time, Prince Castle of Chicago, receiving so many more “mixer” orders from the brothers’ restaurant than any of its other restaurant customers? (Mixers are machines that make milkshakes.) Once he recognized that the fast food concept could transform the restaurant business, he formed a relationship with the McDonald brothers and eventually bought them out. And then, finally, last year after a talk I gave at the Small Business Expo on Business to Business Selling (B2B), a woman suggested we get together and compare notes about our companies. When we did that, she shared that her start-up’s overall goal was to console consumers who had suffered the loss of a loved one. But my talk had inspired a new, more specific idea with more business potential. She would help funeral homes improve their businesses by showing more empathy to their customers. When one of her sons died from a seizure, she was surprised—appalled, in fact—at the lack of empathy the funeral home expressed to her and her family. Her son’s ashes came to her with a death certificate and nothing more, not even a letter thanking her and expressing condolences. There was absolutely no sympathy, just a transaction to bury her son. She realized that the funeral home simply didn’t seem to know how to express empathy to their customers. The solution was The Memory Box, a business that helps funeral homes communicate the empathy she had so desperately needed but didn’t receive. The empathy would be ongoing over time, not just a one-time effort. The approach is to send gifts to bereaved families to show that their loved ones were not forgotten. She created a series of gifts that would arrive at especially meaningful times—the deceased’s birthday, for instance, or the anniversary of their death. The first gift is a wooden box engraved with the loved one’s initials and designed to hold items that recall meaningful moments in the deceased’s life. Hobby to business: Some inventors have started with a hobby or special interest and then created a product. Avanti R&D was started by June Martino’s husband, an amateur radio buff. Her husband’s ham radio hobby led him to tinker with different forms of antennae. Just as he was finishing the manufacturing his first antennae the CB Radio craze struck. He expected to sell 5,000 of his antennae in his lifetime and at one point he was selling 5,000 per week. (Fun fact: June was Ray Kroc’s secretary and at one point was the second largest shareholder in McDonalds.) So, as you can see, there are many sources of the creation process that lead to innovation and entrepreneurship. How can you get started if something doesn’t easily come to mind? Try brainstorming solutions to problems or opportunities you see in your hobbies or other personal and professional activities. ![Where do entrepreneurs get their great ideas?](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture4.png) **Warning: Here are two things to be aware of.** **The cure without a disease:** We have seen many “cures” for which there is no disease. Just because something is cool in design or concept doesn’t mean there is a true need, which is required to be successful. **The disease with a cure but without a strong sales process:** Even if an idea does fulfill a practical need doesn’t mean you will be able to sell it. The world is getting by now without your idea, and you will need a persuasive as well as educational process for helping the world appreciate its merits. All of these stories of entrepreneurship are examples of value being created by something new. But to see something of value make it in the marketplace it’s important to create value within the sales process. We teach that there are 20 ways to create value for a prospect before they experience the solution. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How do you fill the top of the funnel?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-do-you-fill-the-top-of-the-funnel/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** There are many ways to generate leads—cold calling, networking, outsourcing, and more. Here are some examples from the field. ![How do you fill the top of the funnel?](/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Picture1.png) **No other business development activity is more diverse than how salespeople get leads for the top of their sales funnel.** We have had clients who have never made a cold call, and we have had clients who get 100 percent of their leads from cold calling. We have clients who spend a large amount of time networking, and some who never network, let alone spend time and money trade shows, webinars, conferences, and seminars. Some firms rely exclusively on word of mouth and referrals; others don’t. There are companies whose marketing results in so many leads that the salespeople do not have to prospect. And there are companies that rely only on their business developers finding their own opportunities. --- **Here are some case histories that might give you ideas of how to diversify your lead generation.** ***Big Ticket Item, Long Product life, Limited Market Size:*** One of our clients has outsourced appointment-setting and lead generation to us for more than fifteen years. The client manufactures capital equipment costing millions of dollars. But they don’t look to us for the quantity of leads we can identify. Instead, they want us to identify leads they would not have known about without our ability to efficiently and effectively survey the market they sell to. For this client, finding even one new opportunity per month—or even quarter—for them to quote is extremely cost effective and valuable. By calling two hours a day for an entire year we can survey this client’s entire target market. There are several objectives of this calling program. For each call, we first want to learn how well the prospect’s current equipment is running. Do they expect to replace it in the near future and if so when? Second, we want to remind prospects that even if they are using a competitor’s equipment they can still use the parts we manufacture for many applications. Finally, we want to build brand recognition for our client to keep our client top of mind so that when a prospect’s procurement department has a need they will call us directly. They won’t have to wait until we call them as a part of our annual market survey. We’re building a sustainable relationship for our client with prospects’ procurement professionals—the people who make purchases. --- ***I recall one prospect telling our caller, “You must have ESP. I was just told this morning to start getting bids for new equipment.”*** We didn’t need ESP because our process made us “clairvoyant.” We might have talked to a hundred people that week, but to the prospect it was perfect timing. In summary, outbound calling to set sales appointments is most effective when the product or service is a big-ticket sale, and the target market is clearly identified. A good list also boosts our odds because we know we’re reaching companies and individuals who will almost always need our client’s services sooner or later. The life cycle for this equipment is 10-20 years so staying in touch annually is critical to success. ***Selling to Professional Service Firms:*** Another client is a national leader in providing disability and other forms of insurance as executive benefits for highly compensated partners. In twenty years, she has never made a cold call. How is that possible? She is an active networker who has developed the skills needed to form business and personal relationships. One of those skills is knowing that successful—that is, productive—networking is understanding that before you can expect others to help you, you need to help them—or at least sincerely try to. Another skill is making sure people you network with know and understand exactly what product or service you offer—and how your knowledge of the market creates value for your clients. This specific information makes it easy for those in your network to spot opportunities for you and to make referrals. It’s important, too, that you make the effort to get that same information from those in your network. That makes It easier for you to help them. ***A Manufacturer Calling on Architects:*** One of my customers for years was a manufacturer that sold hardware and other materials that became part of the ventilation system in commercial and industrial buildings. The president’s way of generating interest and business was to go on the road for three weeks at a time. He would call on architects and persuade them of the value of specifying his products into designs for new construction. The dollar value of the primary product that was specified by the architect was moderately high but having the product specified over and over for years has created large payoffs. By offering to ship same day to job sites via UPS, the company had differentiated itself way before a current expectation of overnight service.. They also offered some accessory products that were high margin. Some of the products could be bought in a local hardware store at a lower price, but once the construction crews got used to making a phone call and receiving the goods on the job site the next day they paid higher prices for the convenience. Have you recently considered how you might increase both the number and the quality of your leads—and, eventually, the volume or margin of your sales? The stories we’ve related here are a good source of ideas and might even spark new ways to run your business. Spend a few minutes with each case and brainstorm how the behavior might apply to what you do. Here are some additional thoughts - Maybe you need to increase the number of referrals you are receiving - Perhaps you need to know how to generate a greater return from your investments in trade shows, webinars, conferences and seminars - It could be that you need to become a better networker, cold caller, or persuader. We consult and train on all of these areas and would be happy to speak with you about how you might change the way you’re generating leads, perhaps by being more efficient or by testing some new approaches. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Virtual Selling in the ‘Now’ Normal: Win or Lose–It’s Up to You](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/virtual-selling-in-the-now-normal-win-or-lose-its-up-to-you/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The medium has changed but the message hasn’t: Deliver value during the sales process. That’s what top producers have always done, it’s what they still do, and it’s what you can do, too. Now, with less in-person selling, knowing just how to do it is more important than ever. Winning and losing—really? Is that the best way to play the sales game? Is that the best way to think about yourself or your team? True, the reality in our highly competitive business world is that there are winners and losers, especially in sales. But those words imply a go-big-or-go-home mindset that doesn’t work day-to-day, especially in sales. Worse, they lead to unrealistic expectations, too often depending more on enthusiasm to “get the W” than on skills and process. **Greater Advantage from Consultative Selling, Especially Now** The jarring move away from face-to-face selling to screen-to-screen selling means that business developers who have developed the skills and the processes for effective consultative selling will be at an even greater advantage than those who haven’t. Key Point: Enthusiasm will always be essential, but it’s harder to communicate on-screen and so is less effective. A probably more useful mindset in sales than win/lose is that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. But—and here’s the big takeaway—you can always get better. So, what is the most productive way to sell now? What behaviors will help improve your sales performance and that of your team? Check out these comparisons between consultative selling and transactional selling. Then you can decide. **Who Will Be More Productive in the “Now” Normal?** **Better: Consultative** **Much More Productive** - Creates value within the sales process - Uses value creation within the sales process to build relationships - Strong communication and listening skills leverage time and reduce the sales cycle - Builds trust quicker. Leverage the reduced time now available - Communicates expertise effectively with persuasive communications that focus on the prospect - Less negotiating on pricing, terms, and anything else that gets in the way of the sale - Doesn’t “overcome” objections. Minimizes or eliminates objections - Has multiple sales processes leading to planned, customized presentations, demonstrations, showings, and proposals - Tells stories strategically at the right times to make a point that advances the sales process - Spends most of the time in the middle of the funnel doing discovery and learning what they need to guide prospects to a tailored solution - Sales process is equally effective in person and on virtual platforms **Worse: Transactional** **Much Less Productive** - Creates value only in the transaction - Relies too much on using personality, social situations, social connections, entertainment, multiple meetings over time to build relationships - Weak communication and listening skills waste time and extend the sales cycle - Difficulty building trust when not selling in person - Doesn’t know how to communicate expertise except through self-promotion and talking up their company and its products - Too often has to negotiate pricing, fees, terms, and other issues - Causes objections and wastes time trying to overcome them - Relies on canned pitches that do more educating than persuading - Tells stories simply to entertain without advancing the sales process - Spends most of the time prospecting at the top of the funnel, shortchanging the middle, and pushing a prospect toward a solution that might not be exactly right - Uses a sales process that is less effective in the “now” normal virtual world. We’ve been training sales reps, CEOs, and professionals in consultative selling and custom sales process development for nearly thirty years. One thing we see time and again is that the very best salespeople—about 20 percent—produce about 80 percent of sales. They rely on developing their selling skills and follow customized sales processes to deliver value during the sales process. That approach is more persuasive than educational, builds trust faster, leads to more advances, and, of course, more sales. Key Point: Once you’ve located areas for improvement, moving from being less productive to being more productive probably won’t be as difficult as you might think. However, it does require training that leads to changes in behavior—doing things differently today than yesterday. Our FOCIS® Consultative Selling course is designed to help business developers change their behavior from less productive to more productive—much more, in fact. It’s already the fourth quarter of an unusually challenging year for business and for living. To learn more about how to finish 2020 strong and to start 2021 even stronger, just call us at 847-446-0004 or e-mail at pkrone@productivestrategies.com. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [From Ray Kroc to You: In Selling, Always a Need for Speed–If It’s the Right Kind](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/from-ray-kroc-to-you-in-selling-always-a-need-for-speed-if-its-the-right-kind/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Three business-to-business sales lessons on fast from McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc: 1) Be fast to follow up on a problem, 2) Be fast to get to the decision-maker, and 3) Be fast to recognize the potential and act on it. Here’s what happened when he followed that advice himself. In 1954, before he built his empire, road-warrior-salesman Ray Kroc drove from Illinois to California to see the original McDonald’s restaurant for himself. As the movie Founder shows, Kroc was confounded: Why was one customer buying so many “mixers”—six at once instead of, say, one? It had to be a mistake. But before he hit the road, he called San Bernardino to find out, jamming nickels into a pay phone. Yes, one of the owners had ordered six mixers, and, yes, it was a mistake. “That’s what I figured,” Kroc said. “What kind of drive-in can make thirty shakes at a time?” The owner’s reply: “Better make it eight.” Then Kroc hit the road—immediately. After several days on the fabled Route 66, he stood in a lunchtime line of about 20 people—“Don’t worry,” a woman said. “It moves fast”—and then he ordered. He had barely picked up his change (15 cents from two quarters) when his hamburger, French fries, and Coca Cola were right there in front of him. He was stunned: “No, no, no. I just ordered.” Soon it hit him: This is what the fast in fast food really meant. **The world of consumerism—and, eventually, business-to-business—was never the same**. Today, buyers almost always feel the need for speed in ordering, in receiving, and sometimes even in paying. Buyers expect speed, and sellers must provide it. How quickly a seller can deliver a solution has, in many businesses, become a differentiator. Buyers have too many other places to go, and, thanks to the Internet, they’re well into the buying process when they get there. By the time they get to you, they’ve already done a lot of your work, at least, the marketing and the educating parts. Now, you have to do the persuading and selling parts. The efficiency of the sales process is critical. **Warning:** But if you use a consultative sales process, speed has to be used in the right way. In fact, we teach slowing down the sales process to speed up the sales cycle. What does that mean? It means taking the time to do more complete discovery than your competition. Having an information advantage as soon as possible is essential. Unfortunately, only about 20 percent of salespeople—the top producers—know how to achieve that advantage. About 80 percent, the vast majority, don’t know how. For example, just asking a lot of questions isn’t enough. The questions have to be the right ones in the right order at the right times and in the right proportions. **We see the value of an efficient and effective sales process** not only for our clients but also for ourselves. Just two weeks ago, after a Google search, a Canadian software development firm called us about our lead generation service. The caller was in Vancouver and I was in North Carolina, where I happened to be working that week, a three-hour time difference. When I got his call, it was late, but we had a productive 30-to-45-minute conversation. He asked for a proposal, and I promised to e-mail it the next day. But, maybe inspired by the selling spirit of Ray Kroc, I decided to work late, process my notes, and get the proposal off that night. It paid off. The next morning, I saw that he had responded, asking to set up a call with his president. We had the call, and they placed one largest orders for lead generation we’ve ever had. Our quick response and second conversation were key factors, I believe, because they enabled the prospect to stop looking for other sources. **Key Points:** 1. Responding quickly to prospects is extremely valuable, even impressive, as long as it is done well. Efficiency here must be synonymous with effective. A fast response sends the signal that you do what you say you are going to do. Could there be a better way to secure a sale and launch a relationship? 2. My late-night efforts paid off because my prospect was also working late that night, most likely looking for more potential suppliers and planning to hear about their offerings the next morning. Ultimately, he didn’t listen to anyone else. By responding quickly—meaning almost as soon as the inquiry came in—I had a competitive advantage. **You can build your ability** to get that competitive advantage, too, but without having to drive for days. Just get in touch with us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . But don’t wait too long. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Risky Business](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/risky-business/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Why don’t we talk more about risk?** It permeates business every day. But at the hundreds of meetings and events we participate in each year—both in-person and virtually—we’ve noticed that risk is rarely mentioned. Maybe risk is too much on our minds. In an increasingly uncertain world, risk is a constant companion that we just don’t pay much attention to. Maybe it’s fear of failing that keeps awareness at bay. Either way, the right attitude is critical. “Don’t be scared to try stuff,” advises Paralympics gold medalist rugby player Mark Zupan. Says La La Land Academy-Award winner Emma Stone: “Be excited to fail.”\* What risks does your business face? How do you identify and deal with them? Here are some of our thoughts. Tell us yours. Contact us with your comments. Gold medals or golden Oscars may not be in our futures, but golden opportunities are. Let’s “try stuff” and go for the gold to start the new year. **Developing New Products:** Developing new products is a classic and significant risk. Traditionally, nine out of ten new products fail, which can be catastrophic to a business in ways much of the public can’t appreciate. The cost of research and development can be extremely high. And even the best hitters in baseball get it right only three times out of ten. How many major league teams would pay top dollar for a .100 hitter? Individual new business products must be homeruns from time to time. You must also be comfortable charging a justifiable price that gives you a fair profit margin. In other words, if the value is there, learn how to communicate that value and get the full price your product deserves. (We can help.) Larger companies reduce their risk because they comb research studies for ideas and conduct their own qualitative and quantitative research. They test products in various markets and conditions. They can explore—and then discard—new products before investing too much. What about smaller companies? A simple tactic some use is to just “ask around” in their markets to gauge the first impressions of a few qualified, honest colleagues and customers. This approach is in fact legitimate qualitative research that doesn’t cost much, if anything, but can be surprisingly useful. It often provides at least a reasonable idea of what to do next—from killing the idea to doing more in-depth research to testing a concept or even to producing a product or launching a service. First impressions are often telling. **Knowing Which Business You’re In—or Should Be In:** Someone buying a bar on Chicago’s north side near Wrigley Field, the iconic home of the Chicago Cubs, might anticipate a low level of risk. Thirsty baseball fans will always be looking for cold beers, and the Cubs will always be a draw . . . until an out-of-the blue pandemic shuts down nearly everything: restaurants, bars, even iconic ballparks. In clinical business-school speak, this unhappy circumstance might be described as “an acute, unknowable external threat.” Ain’t it the truth. After he invented Kitty Litter and “brought the cat indoors,” entrepreneur Edward Lowe thought his future lay in the retail pet-care business. The next obvious step? Open pet stores. Unfortunately, he soon learned the hard way that his business was manufacturing , not retail pet care. Determining where his expertise truly was—what business was he in—might have reduced the risk to zero. In other words, not pursuing the pet-store business at all. **Getting the Timing Right:** Related to the risks of developing new products are the risks of entering new markets. One of those is timing, either too early or too late. Even well-run corporate giants can get it wrong. Cisco recently announced that it is, in the words of The Wall Street Journal (December 29), “pulling the plug on a flagship effort to help digitize the modern city, the latest example of a big tech company struggling to enter a new market.” The article lists other large-company, large-investment risks that failed: IBM’s attempt to bring its Watson artificial intelligence system into industries like health care, Microsoft’s fumble in its effort to break into the hot smartphone market, and Intel’s inability to play a bigger role in augmented virtual reality. In fact, The January 23rd Wall Street Journal reported that IBM, once the largest US company in the 1980s, has been the biggest drag on the Dow Jones Industrial Average since January 1. This despite being in technology, the hottest sector of the economy. That’s a clear indication of how much risk is out there and how hard it is over time to be successful in business. **Facing “Torpedo” Risks—Litigation, for Instance:** Most businesses face multiple risk-generating challenges. For others, a single factor can be critical, even one that’s known. A construction company client shared with us that any issue that results in litigation on a construction project practically guarantees that the project won’t make money. The implications for lawsuits based on design, management, quality control, and other areas are endless. Risk mitigation in this kind of situation calls for superior diligence and quality—and ready access to a skilled law firm experienced in your industry. **Recognizing Red Light Risks:** The current bull stock market offers a good example. But your business can be put on high alert by flashing red lights in your company, your industry, and the markets of your customers and suppliers. Do you know what they are? Are you paying attention? Stock purchases incur at least two kinds of risk—the usual one that stocks can lose value and a second related to the amount of leverage used if those purchases are financed. When the direction of a bull market finally turns negative, margin calls from lenders can result in increased selling to satisfy those calls. Record margin debt traditionally signals that “bouts of volatility” aren’t far away ( The Wall Street Journal , December 28) and greater risk as the market falls further. Flashing Red Light: In November, investors borrowed a record $722.1 billion against their investment portfolios. A fundamental way to mitigate risk is through diligent preparation. Knowingly or not, Zupan and Stone followed a common sports philosophy advocated by both Alabama’s legendary football coach Bear Bryant and Duke’s (also legendary) basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Coach K: The will to prepare to win is as important as the will to win. A key factor in productive preparation is training and other hard-work processes that change behavior to develop and reinforce new habits. We know that’s true, in part, because we train business developers such as sales reps, executives, and professionals in consultative selling. The very best—the 20 percent that bring in 80 percent of the new business—use the same behaviors to sell. But they’re not the behaviors that less productive business developers use, because they form a customized sales process that other salespeople don’t have. Building a truly customized sales process is a low-risk investment. It not only helps to sell current products and services but also accelerates the ability to sell new ones and to mitigate the risk of launching new products. We’ve seen too many solid products fail because the company’s sales process wasn’t up to the task of supporting a new product. We know how to mitigate that risk by customizing your sales process. We would love to speak with you about how risk mitigation can increase the odds of success for your next new market entry—and will likely improve the sales of your current products. Be proactive where you can control risk; be prepared for risks you cannot anticipate. To learn more, please get in touch with us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . *\* Stone is not an athlete, and her philosophy doesn’t come from athletics, but it does come from overcoming similar competitive obstacles. Improvisation troupes were her sports teams, she explains. That’s where she learned lessons fundamental to sports: Get knocked down, get back up, use experience and training to get better, power through to the finish. Repeat.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Discovery + Delivery = Much Better Presentations](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/discovery-delivery-much-better-presentations/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Prospective clients sometimes call us with a “sales presentation problem.” Translated, that means executives or managers have noticed that their salespeople don’t use the beautifully produced, loaded-with-information, and probably expensive PowerPoints that management has prepared. “Everything is there,” the managers tell us: “Exactly what we want prospects to know about our offerings and our company.” They’re puzzled: What’s not to like? The good news is that management has identified a specific problem and, even better, that they don’t blame their salespeople. For the time being, they’re confident that their sales team is doing its best. The bad news is that the problem is usually a combination of issues that have developed over time—again, not the salespeople’s fault. Or anybody’s fault, for that matter. Here are the legs of a strong presentation stool. **Leg #1: Content—What You Say.** If you are making a canned, seller-centric “pitch” that is all about your capabilities and not about your prospect’s issues and problems, you are already in trouble. No amount of presentation skills is going to offset the drag of ineffective content. Your presentation will miss the opportunity to create value for the prospect within the sales process. In other words, the process is not consultative. From a training standpoint, then, the initial need is to improve discovery skills, not presentation skills. Our FOCIS® Selling course teaches the skills top producers use to get and stay at the top. Using five different types of discovery questions they uncover the key problems facing a prospect that their product or service can resolve. They also structure the intelligence gained from the discovery process so that their presentations explain the issues in the right sequence and in the right proportion. The right content increases the odds that their presentations are effective in connecting with, and impacting, their prospects. And yours can, too. **Leg #2: Delivery—How You Say It.** The way salespeople share the valuable information and ideas that effective discovery provides does matter. It’s the second leg of the sales presentation stool. Here at Productive Strategies we believe we are experts at teaching business developers how to discover crucial issues and then help prospects understand what those issues mean to their company. Developing specific delivery skills, on the other hand, is something we often turn over to an expert in that area. Delivery communicates not only the problems prospects do know about but also problems they don’t even know they have. It’s essential. “We are only as valuable as the ideas we have to share,” says Mary Clare Healy of M.C.CommunicationCoach. “Focusing on how we share \[what we know\] is critical. Scores of studies show that effective presentation skills contribute to career success.” Effective presentation skills also contribute—a lot—to sales success. One way to improve your presentation skills is to focus on what you already do well—your strengths, Healy explains. Too often, this thinking is not emphasized in traditional communications training. “Many communication training methods focus on what we are not good at, and how we have to do it this way ,” explains Healy. “To be a more confident presenter, it’s critical to come from a positive place and embrace what you do well. It’s the only way to build a communication style that’s based on continued authenticity.” **Leg #3: Confidence—You Can Do It!** Confidence is the third leg of the stool. It comes from feeling comfortable with your presentations based on an effective combination of the content you’ve discovered through your consultative sales process and the communication methods you’ve developed or learned. If you address factors #1 Content and #2 Delivery, #3 Confidence almost always takes care of itself. And keep in mind that in sales a key disconnect occurs because typical presentations emphasize educating a prospect. Presenting becomes all about the seller and the product or service. In fact, especially in sales, presenting should be designed to persuade. It’s the fundamental difference between marketing and sales. Marketing’s job is to educate prospects and attract them to your offerings. Selling’s job is to persuade them to buy and to buy from you. Is your sales-presentation stool solid or ready to topple? To find out, get in touch us at [pkrone@productivestrategies. com](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com) or 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. A 30-minute conversation and complementary assessment will help to give you the answer. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Founders: Want to Grow Your Young Company Faster?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/founders-want-to-grow-your-young-company-faster/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **By Scott Kraege, Guest Columnist** *To Our Readers: Scott Kraege is managing director of The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars . He’s also a former client whose salespeople participated in our consultative sales training—in fact, winning one of our annual contests—and whose sales processes we helped to develop. We applaud Scott’s work that provides such direct, hands-on support to other high-growth founders.* As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve been founding companies for twenty years. A few are successful, a few aren’t, and, for a few, in truth, we’re just waiting to see what happens. (Well, not “just waiting,” really. That’s something successful entrepreneurs rarely do.)\* **One key lesson every founder** learns about growth is that there is no silver bullet, no smooth path. There will always be bumps in the road. But there will also always be ways to go over, under, around, or through those bumps. As complex and difficult as your challenges might seem, you can go faster, do more, be better, and set yourself up to find more than one right answer to the challenges you face. Starting up, scaling up, funding, and exiting will likely be the toughest ten years of your life. Another lesson—and a welcome one—is that you don’t have to do it alone: In fact, you can’t do it alone. There is plenty of help if you just ask for it. A great place to start is with people who’ve “been there” already and have experienced all that you’re experiencing and are about to experience. Many opportunities are available, but I’ve found that accelerator programs are often highly effective because successful ones do just what their name implies. They accelerate the growth of your business. My belief in accelerators is so strong that I’m now directly involved—meaning investments of time, money, and energy—in one that’s been remarkably successful going on three years now and is primed to be even more so. You have the opportunity to be part of that success. (See box.) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **Founders** **Apply for the Fall Accelerator Now!** Ten innovative company founders tackling critical challenges in sustainability, materials, infrastructure, and construction will be selected for an exclusive three-month mentorship-driven growth program. The equity-based program offers up to $120,000 in funding and runs from September 13 to December 9. Applications are open until May 12 at The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **How does it all work?** The details of such critical factors as market, value proposition, story, and capital are far from known when you launch your idea. They take time and, most important, thoughtful, prescriptive feedback from people who care. But fast isn’t necessarily critical at this stage—in fact, you often have to approach ideas slowly. They can be fragile. **Think of your idea this way:** It’s trapped in a block of ice—concealed, for sure, maybe even hiding. You—your passion, energy, ingenuity, and skills—are the chisel that chips away and shaves off the frosty camouflage, the unimportant and misleading elements that are getting in the way. Doesn’t sound that hard, does it? After all, you know what your idea looks like—or, at least, you think you know what you want it to look like. But there’s a catch: You’re just one set of hands and no matter how outsized your passion and energy you can only carve from one side of the block at a time and only from your personal perspective. You simply can’t see your successful business from all angles. Nobody can. Yet if you’re embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, you’re clearly talented and no doubt possess extraordinary skill sets in one or two elements that will get your startup up and running. **But long-term success requires** talents, skills, and expertise that you don’t have. That’s because what you’re building is bigger than just you and bigger than anyone who jumps in to be part of your team. Gaps, blind spots, and “bumps in the road” that block progress or conceal opportunities are inevitable. All by yourself? You won’t see them coming. Carving out an idea takes a team, and people will be the difference-makers. A team helps to provide conviction, ideas, feedback, tools, insights, guidance, and a network to help you see what can be cut away and what has to stand strong. Not only are these people your employees or partners, but also external advisors—formally on a board of directors or advisory board—and informally through outside networks within and tangential to your industry. Such people are critical. How do you build a network like this? A network that will help you carve your company from a cold, hard block of unknown possibilities and pitfalls? You can try to build it yourself—after all, you already have a network of sorts: family, friends, past or current associates. You trust these people and you can count on them—in fact, you do count on them. They’re “comfortable.” **But if that’s all you have, it’s a red flag.** The problem is that they already think the way you think, and, hey, they like you. That means they’ll be cautious about offering ideas in conflict with yours or taking you in new directions. They’re also less likely to push you hard and hold you accountable. Founders, to ensure that their businesses grow into their visions, need to grow themselves, too—as motivators, leaders, connectors, and as people. And growth comes, at least in part, from personal discomfort and business disruption. So let me encourage you to find and participate in a business accelerator program. The one I’m involved with as managing director is The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars. Like other accelerators generally do, it’s an organization that supports startups and growing companies in a variety of ways: providing advice, financial and non-financial resources, technology, connection to and interactions with other founders like you—and different from you. Some accelerators are general in nature. Others, like ours, have a specific focus. The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars is designed to help hard-tech, deep-tech, and science-focused founders ideate and commercially pilot their ideas. We have nearly 100 supporting mentors, ranging from CEOs to funding partners to procurement specialists and more. All are focused on our 13-week program to help you accelerate growth toward your business goals faster. **We’re mentorship-driven** with the goal of surrounding our founder participants with the right people, the right skills, and the right experiences to help clarify and shape their ideas from blocks of ice. We’ve found that the speed, focus, and evolution of leaders in this kind of environment can be remarkable. Be sure to consider applying for our program. And, regardless, congratulations on launching your young company and good luck on growing it! \* Scott Kraege founded Bluefish Wireless and led it to Inc. 500 recognition three years running. He also founded and led MOBI to $40M+ ARR and a successful strategic/PE exit. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How to Make the Most of Your Sales Funnel](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-sales-funnel/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you use** the income statement approach or the balance sheet approach? Not sure? Here’s how to know and then how to use your sales funnel to win more sales. Most salespeople, sales managers, and other business developers do know that the “sales funnel” plays a key role in making a sale. But too many do not know just what that role is or how to turn it into an Oscar-winning performance. **And that’s surprising**. After all, the sales funnel touches nearly every step in the sales process: networking and prospecting at the top; discovery on the way down; following up after quoting before closing the deal, and, finally, using the funnel’s metrics to reflect success—or lack of it. (Closing is not part of the funnel but the destination of a well-navigated journey through the funnel.) To make the most of your sales funnel, you first need to know the type of sales you make. Are they transactional or consultative? Transactional sales are simply straightforward exchanges of value that are immediately clear: You pay for medication at a pharmacy. You sell cookies door to door. Your kids sell lemonade to people who are thirsty. Most door-to-door selling is transactional. Nearly all on-line selling is transactional. Nearly all of the value is in the product or service sold, and it occurs after the sales process is completed. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **Consultative Negotiation: What It Is, How to Do It** How can you use your consultative selling skills in consultative negotiation? Find out as Productive Strategies President Phil Krone and Senior Consultant Tom Hazlett cover the topic for the Valley Industrial Association at 9 a.m. on April 23. In the 90-minute presentation and workshop, negotiation styles, skills and principles will be explained along with the minute-to-minute, face-to-face tactics the best negotiators have always used. Attendees are encouraged to bring their negotiation challenges and opportunities, too. The event will be conducted virtually. Members can attend for $25 and non-members for $35. To register, just visit [www.valleyindustrialassociation.org](https://www.valleyindustrialassociation.org/) or contact us at 847-446-0008 or . \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **Consultative selling is not so straightforward.** Readers of this column are overwhelmingly business-to-business sellers and, as a consequence, consultative sellers. Our definition of consultative selling is providing value during the sales process—that is, before the deal is sealed and apart from any value the product or service provides. After the sale, a salesperson often is, in effect, part of the deliverable. They provide expertise or skills a customer needs to get the most value out of the product or service itself. Here’s an example of what can happen if you take the income statement approach used for transactional selling when you’re making—or trying to make—consultative sales. A sales rep for a client whose service assisted hospitals with their finances was spending most of his time at medical conventions meeting hospital CFOs, and he made many strong contacts. Yet when we asked when he followed up, he said he didn’t have time. He was too busy meeting people at the industry trade shows. In other words, he was pushing as many leads as possible into the top of the funnel but not pulling any of them through to gain a sale! Keep in mind, too, that these were all highly qualified leads. They were decision-makers who could purchase his firm’s services—and he had met them face to face. You can’t tee up a sale any better than that. But teeing up is not the goal. Hitting the ball is the goal. Not surprisingly, CFOs rarely followed up with him and actual sales were even rarer. We advised his bosses to cut the number of conferences he attended in half, improve his discovery skills, and then use those skills to guide the best prospects through the funnel to a sale. That’s the balance sheet approach, which our popular consultative selling course, FOCIS® teaches. To recap: The first step in improving your use of the funnel is to determine whether your sales process is transactional or consultative. Once you know that you will know if you should take the income statement approach or the balance sheet approach to managing your time in the funnel. If you want help thinking this process through and ideas on how else to use the funnel productively, please get in touch with us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Yes, You Can Write a Book](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/yes-you-can-write-a-book/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **No, I don’t mean** like the one on your nightstand, the one you think you’re reading as you doze off and turn out the light. I mean a book that you write–sharing your wisdom, explaining how you got where you are, demonstrating your expertise, telling all those entertaining and enlightening “war stories” that make your points “crystal.” A book that builds your business or your career. **Don’t laugh.** You just might have one inside. If you’re successful, you no doubt have the experience and the expertise to help your readers improve their performance. Many of us have thought about writing a book. Some of us have even tried it. But like dieting and exercising we’ve found it too time-consuming or difficult over the long haul. Plus we might think of writing as lonely drudgery–the isolated writer burning the midnight oil. Not true! **Unlike diet and exercise**, there is a way not only to speed up the book-writing process but also to virtually guarantee you’ll reach your goal. It’s a proven method to develop, shape, and polish your rough ideas and get them printed or digitized for the world: Work with a professional writer or editor. Sure, a nutrition coach or a personal trainer can help you take off the pounds or put on the muscle. But they can’t actually get the job done for you. A professional writer or editor can. While the process is not completely turn-key–you’ll still need to diligently watch what you write and get your brain off the couch to do serious road work–a professional scribe can actually make your book a reality. A personal trainer can’t give you her six-pack abs. A nutritionist can’t give you his low cholesterol count. But a professional writer can translate their talent into your words. **As any journalist knows** , a good story gives the reader the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. An even better story also tells how and what it means. Well, this column has given you a taste of the “who”–you–and the “what”–your book. But there’s a lot more to the story: why you might want to write a book; how it can be done efficiently, done well, and be published; and what it can mean to your business or your career. To learn more, please get in touch with us directly at 847-446-0008 Extension 3 or spemberton@productivestrategies.com. ***Scott Pemberton** is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., specializing in sales, marketing, and executive communications. In a 35-year professional creative and business career, he has launched more than 60 new publishing products. He’s helped scores of authors–“Pros” and “Joes” alike–put their thoughts into words and their words into print, on the Web, and across media. He’s been thinking about writing a book for a long time. You can reach him at spemberton@productivestrategies.com or 312-560-0992.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Our New Website is Live!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/our-new-website-is-live/) **Published:** October 16, 2025 **Author:** Productive Strategies, Inc. **Content:** We’ve been working on a new site for the last month, and we’re pleased to say it’s finally live! ![Our New Website is Live!](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ProductiveStrategiesINC_homeblog.jpg) **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Consultative Negotiation: Phil Krone, Tom Hazlett to speak to VIA members on April 23](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/consultative-negotiation-phil-krone-tom-hazlett-to-speak-to-via-members-on-april-23/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Productive Strategies President Phil Krone and Senior Consultant Tom Hazlett will deliver a talk and discussion about the principles and practices of “consultative negotiations” to the Valley Industrial Association at 9 a.m. on April 23. In the 90-minute presentation and workshop, Krone and Hazlett will discuss negotiation styles, skills and principles as well as minute-to-minute, face-to-face tactics and outline the approaches the best negotiators have always used. They will also discuss challenges and opportunities the attendees bring to the session. The event will be conducted virtually and in person. Members can attend for $25 and non-members and prospective members for $35. To register, visit [www.valleyindustrialassociation.org](https://www.valleyindustrialassociation.org/). The VIA serves manufacturers, including logistics and warehousing companies, with programs and education customized for manufacturers, research data, and opportunities to share and learn through roundtables, presentations, and surveys. The organization is headquartered in Geneva, Illinois, west of Chicago. Productive Strategies is a marketing and management consulting firm based in Northfield, Illinois, with expertise in consultative sales training and negotiation, lead generation and appointment setting, marketing and marketing communications, and sales and marketing alignment. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How Much Is Salesforce Turnover Really Costing You?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-much-is-salesforce-turnover-really-costing-you/) **Published:** September 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *Let us count the ways. There are probably more than you think.* **By Phil Krone, President** **Salesforce turnover is expensive in several ways,** and we will discuss them. Keep in mind that perhaps the costliest is that turnover is a primary reason organizations fail to achieve their revenue goals for the year. A rule of thumb among human resources professionals is that replacing any employee costs the equivalent of one year of that employee’s compensation. The costs include, to name a few, the job not being done before the replacement is hired, advertising the position, interviewing candidates, checking their backgrounds, and onboarding. But for salespeople the cost is even higher because there is a good chance you will lose the value of the opportunities in the sales pipeline that were developed by the person who left. Why business developers leave is a critical question. In my opinion the biggest reason is that they have fallen short of what they hoped to earn on their base compensation plus bonus. Either their consultative selling skills aren’t up to par or their sales process is weak—or a combination of the two. These conditions can be addressed for a fraction of the turnover cost. An expert in the field of providing assessments to qualify prospective employees tells me that nurses and salespeople have the highest levels of turnover. So, there is a lot of turnover for business developers, the costs are quite high, and the solution to reducing or avoiding those costs is small by comparison. ![How Much Is Salesforce Turnover Really Costing You?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/iStock-1326470027res.jpg) **Here is one way to address the problem:** Before you hire the replacement or additional salesperson to eventually be trained by your company, send at least one person who knows the company, the offering, and the market through our FOCIS® Selling program. Our process draws intellectual capital from experts, and we help salespeople build their sales process. When new salespeople are hired, send them through our FOCIS® Selling program so that they will know how to implement and further strengthen your sales process. The odds of new hires being successful is greatly increased, and turnover virtually disappears. Plus, new hires will become cost effective much faster. If those who took the training first want to retake the course along with the new hire, there is no charge. Here is another point to consider: the prevalence of ADHD with salespeople is around 14 percent, which is twice that in the rest of the population. Over the years we have observed that folks with ADHD can be very productive salespeople. They are highly energetic, they enjoy meeting and getting to know and work with other people, and they are good at forming relationships. But without a strong sales process, or a manager who can help them stay focused, they typically fail. I would venture that a lot of people with ADHD are part of the turnover issue because they are not seeing the return they expected with the energy they are investing in their work. We have countless examples of our training turning folks with ADHD into top producers. **One example is the president** of a manufacturing company who himself had great difficulty staying focused on sales opportunities. Once his consultative selling skills were increased and he had a process to structure his sales efforts, he became significantly more productive. Over the years, prospects have told us that they want to take our FOCIS® Selling program but must first stabilize their sales team. Looking at this through a different lens, we believe that investing in creating a strong sales process (not a canned pitch) will help the people you hire become more productive faster and turnover will be greatly reduced. In other words, they will become stabilized more effectively by learning 1) truly productive sales skills and 2) developing a strong sales process readily customized for each prospect. They will become cost effective in less time, and they won’t be heading for the door. **Please call me directly at** [**847-447-0008**](tel:+1-847-447-0008) Extension 1 if you’d like to learn more or just email me at . I’m looking forward to hearing about your challenges, your successes, and your opportunities. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Shop Your Own Products and Services](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/shop-your-own-products-and-services/) **Published:** August 26, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *Do you really know how your customers experience your company’s sales and customer service systems?* **By Phil Krone, President** ![Shop Your Own Products and Services](/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Untitled.png)Whenever I have difficulty buying a product or service or receive poor customer service I always wonder if the company’s owners and management have any idea how difficult it is for their prospects and customers to buy from them. After years of sharing books with my wife on Kindle, I was no longer able to do so. No warning, no explanation and not even a suggested solution. What had changed? My phone—I had a new one. Looking for help online I discovered that many others had faced the same problem. Several offered clues on how to fix it. Even so, we ended up talking to four different Amazon customer service people and wasting a good six hours before solving the problem. More than once, we thought about just buying a second copy of the book but then realized if we didn’t fix it now we might always be buying second copies. Here’s another example. My expensive pair of New Balance shoes developed a hole over the toe area. A retail salesperson told me it was a common problem for people whose toes rise up when they walk. Why hadn’t New Balance incorporated thicker, stronger material on the top? I thought I would do the company a favor by writing to them online. But their customer service form was all dropdowns without any way to write in a design suggestion. Similar frustration can come when you experience a technical difficulty and report it to customer service. The rep is helpful and polite. A follow-up survey asks you to rate the rep but not the technology problem that led to making a call in the first place. Why not? Last example: Recently, I saw an ad in a popular magazine that I knew cost the advertiser a lot of money. (We place similar ads in the same magazine for one of our law firm clients.) Curious about the offering in the ad, I wrote the person whose name, email, and phone number were listed. After not receiving a response, I called, and no one picked up so I left a message. A week later another email from me resulted in another non-response. In fact, it took three phone calls before someone called back. Did the people who spent thousands of dollars on that ad know how much effort one of their prospective customers went through just to get a return call? ![Shop Your Own Products and Services](/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Shop-Your-Own-Products-and-Services.png)As you might imagine, the way to learn firsthand what your customers experience is simple: call customer service yourself. Or place an order with your sales department. Not only will you learn how your people answer the phone, but you’ll also learn how efficient ordering and delivery are. Years ago, a banker asked me to pretend to be a prospect looking for a condo in a new building on the North Side of Chicago. (This was before requirements were in place to pre-sell units before construction could even begin.) Despite being in a highly popular neighborhood, the building was vacant, and the banker wanted to know why. My sales experience was so terrible that I suggested the bank fire their marketing firm and hire people who knew how to sell. The problem? The sales agent was pretending that almost all of the units were sold, a terrible sales tactic that uses false urgency to make a sale. Clearly, most of the condo-seekers didn’t buy it—or a condo. As regular readers know, we usually cover business-to-business topics in this column, but I believe the lessons here are relevant for both consumer and business sales. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [An Unexpected Way to Create Value Through Referrals](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/an-unexpected-way-to-create-value-through-referrals/) **Published:** August 3, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ## How providing value in unexpected ways helps prospects see you as a problem-solver **By Phil Krone, President** ![An Unexpected Way to Create Value Through Referrals](/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/An-Unexpected-Way-to-Create-Value-Through-Referrals.png)**Buyers are busy people**. They’re constantly seeking opportunities to save money on the products and services they procure for their organizations. They dislike salespeople who waste their time, but they value those who help them achieve their goals. We’ve previously written about the twenty ways that successful consultative sellers create value for their prospects during the sales cycle. Here we will focus on one of those ways: referring prospects—and customers—to resources that solve their problems or provide insights they might not otherwise have. Salespeople who are good at this type of referral end up forming strong relationships with their procurement counterparts. Here’s the most common way it works. A salesperson calls on a buyer distracted by a major problem he is facing that day and vents about it. In other words, it will be harder for the salesperson to keep the prospect focused on the value their service or product provides. The salesperson knows of a resource (consultant, manufacturer, professional service provider) who is really good at addressing the buyer’s problem. The salesperson creates value—and puts the focus where they want it—by telling the buyer about the resource. Nearly all salespeople do this level of referring. After all, it’s common courtesy. This column is about taking this activity to a much deeper level. But many, if not most, salespeople also miss similar opportunities when they’re not slam dunks because the buyers do not bring up unrelated challenges or opportunities. This is why listening skills and a strong sales process are so important. If you’re having deep, meaningful conversations with buyers before they are customers, you are in a much better position to create massive amounts of value. You also have a much greater chance of winning the business. (Keep in mind, too, that such trust doesn’t necessarily develop in one call, although it can if the seller is highly skilled in asking questions.) **Here is an example of where deeper conversations unlock hidden value**. Currently, we are talking to two firms. One is a prospective client for our FOCIS® Consultative Selling program, which teaches how to perform especially productive discovery. They are an engineering firm that designs and builds power generation facilities. The other is a consulting firm advising us on how we might fit into programs the U.S. government offers for helping separating military personnel and their dependents. (I have learned a lot about how all branches of our armed services create support programs for retiring personnel.) The discovery questions I asked the prospect created an atmosphere in which the buyer was comfortable sharing extensive information about their current opportunities. If I was just making a capabilities presentation of what I could do for him, the information he shared with me would never have come up. I would have been talking, not listening. **What did come up in our extensive conversation** was that a startup had recently asked the engineering firm if they could build and operate a power generation plant for them. Our prospect responded that, yes, they could and would be excited to help the startup move forward. Once our prospect said that, he began thinking about how he might staff it. His two thoughts were: a) bring in retired experts in power generation, knowing they had the skill and experience to deliver, or b) use technically qualified but less experienced younger people and train them. Option “c” could be a combination of a and b. ![An Unexpected Way to Create Value Through Referrals](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/An-Unexpected-Way-to-Create-Value-Through-Referrals2.png)Drawing on what I knew about the consulting firm that specializes in helping separating military personnel I suggested a fourth option—“d.” Hire relatively young people who already have power generation as well as leadership training—for example, military personnel about to leave the service. The government in fact has programs that address this in several ways: 1) they will design the final months of duty to acquire skills needed for post-separation positions, and 2) they will compensate separating service members for up to 180 days while they work on these projects. This provides employers with a way to hire young, experienced people on a low-risk basis. **This is a true win-win-win**. First, the engineering firm wins because they learned of a new way to hire experienced people who could be on the job for years with little or no extra training. They also save the cost of replacing older engineers who are close to or past retirement age. Second, the consulting firm wins because they have the potential to have a new client for their services. Third, I win because I created so much value for my prospect. If all of this goes well, the results will more than pay for the consultative sales training I’m providing the engineering firm in two ways: savings on payroll expenses and the future value the retired service members provide over time. Please call me if: - You would like to know more about the government programs I have referred to. - You are seeking the name of an engineering firm with extensive power generation experience. - You want to know more about how to have discovery conversations that lead to value creation. **Reach me at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1**, or . I hope we can talk soon. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Are You Telling Yourself Stories That Hurt Sales?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/are-you-telling-yourself-stories-that-hurt-sales/) **Published:** July 28, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *In the past two columns, we’ve talked about six stories salespeople tell themselves that hold them back. Here are three more.* **By Phil Krone, President** We’ll start this column with another quote from my college friend and long-time professor, Joe Hoyle. His writing motivated this three-part series about the stories salespeople tell themselves that hold back growth: “As far as I’m concerned,” Joe wrote, “the only story that is relevant is that you want to do better and you are willing to do the work to make that happen.” Stories 7, 8 and 9: ### 7. “The prospect has an in-house captive operation, so they will never buy from us.” ![Are You Telling Yourself Stories That Hurt Sales?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/blog3.jpg)When I was in manufacturing, I once asked one of my sales reps whether they ever called on a particular large original equipment manufacturer. This company made its own parts and did not outsource. The rep said, “No, never. It wouldn’t be worth the time to try to convince them to outsource. We drive right by.” One reason companies produce parts themselves is they believe it’s less expensive—and sometimes it is. After all, they have the space and (probably) the know-how. But sometimes it’s not. In spite of my reps’ caution, I called on this prospect to help them understand that they might not know their own true costs. (We teach this highly effective approach in our FOCIS® consultative selling course.) What about energy costs, for example? How were they allocated? Not surprisingly, their method was to divide energy expenses by the square feet of the plant. “So that means the area melting aluminum at 1,100 degrees is being charged the same amount per square foot as that operator over there screwing two parts together?” I asked. A few more of these types of questions and they realized outsourcing would be better because then they would know their costs exactly. If you would like to know more of the questions I asked them, call me. I’m happy to share. ### 8. “As a boutique law firm, we can never win the really large projects when competing with big national and international law firms.” Over the years I’ve been in a lot of David and Goliath situations in which my client is the little boutique firm that is so well-respected that they often get invited to the big dances and put on their best foot forward at the presentation. The problem is that they’re overshadowed by the big-name veneer and never emerge from the sidelines to win the big ones. My approach here is to ask my client to list all the reasons they believe they do a better job than their competition does. They usually have no trouble doing that. What they do have trouble with is working those reasons into a sales process that educates and persuades. Simply telling buyers why you think you are different and better doesn’t work with business-to-business prospects. They just see too many salespeople telling them the same thing. Before we helped one of our clients change the story they were telling themselves, they had lost opportunities with five Fortune 500 companies in a row. Afterward, they won five—also in a row. We once helped a pharmacy benefit management firm win a five-year contract for a billion dollars a year. Their challenge was that even though they did make smaller sales, they couldn’t win larger ones. Now they can. They made a second billion-dollar sale 90 days after making the first one. ### 9. “They have always used our competitor for all of their interior construction work and are happy, so they will never buy from us. They are just using our price to gain leverage with their approved source.” ![Are You Telling Yourself Stories That Hurt Sales?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/blog3.1.jpg)This is one of my favorites. My client was asked to quote an office remodeling construction project with a well-respected consumer goods company. The company used our client’s competitor for their Chicago-area office construction over many years. The story our client told itself was that the competitor must be doing a great job, and that was why the prospect always used them. I said let’s find out if that’s really true. We made a list of all the things we felt we might be better at and prepared discovery questions to determine if there were any chinks in the competitor’s armor. There were. One question in particular led to a discussion that helped our client win the business. We asked the buyer if our competitors had explained the risks inherent in the project, ones that could lead to change orders and cost overruns. As we suspected, they hadn’t and were competing mainly on price, not the potential true cost of the job. We then outlined all the risks that could change the pricing mid-stream. We went on to inform the buyer we had researched each risk and mitigated it or included its cost impact into our pricing. There would be no price increases due to change orders. Our client won the “impossible” job! **Are you or your prospects telling yourselves negative stories** that hold back growth? We can help you find out if you are and then help change those stories. Just get in touch. We’d love to talk with you: 847.446.0008 Ext 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Do the Stories You Tell Yourself Hold You Back?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/do-the-stories-you-tell-yourself-hold-you-back/) **Published:** July 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *Here are three more stories high-performing salespeople never tell themselves.* **By Phil Krone, President** Last week, we referenced Joe Hoyle, a professor at the University of Richmond: “We are all human. We tend to focus on what we think are our weaknesses. Change the story you are telling yourself and you’ll change your life.” Hoyle essentially said that we need to tell better stories *about* ourselves *to* ourselves—in other words, we need to change the way we see ourselves. We provided three examples of stories we’ve heard sales reps tell themselves that held back sales. But simply telling yourself a different story isn’t enough. There might be something in what you do that needs to change, too. Often, it’s the sales process, which is also part of your story. Here are three more stories of what salespeople told themselves that held back sales. ### *“We know you won’t place all of this with one source. We would be happy to get even a piece of the project.”* ![Do the Stories You Tell Yourself Hold You Back?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/blog2.jpg)I was in a final meeting with a prospect about to place a major government contract. The engineer making the call with me believed the buyer wouldn’t place all of the business with one source. He wanted the buyer to know we would be happy even if we were given only part of the project. In other words, we would settle for less. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing so I looked at the buyer and said, “That’s his view, not the company’s: We want the entire project.” We then used the FOCIS® discovery process to learn what this prospect cared about most and how he valued it. That information allowed us to link the prospect’s needs to the product we were selling. The FOCIS® discovery process teaches sellers to be persuasive by asking the right questions at the right time and customizing them for each prospect. ### *“We have called on that firm for 15 years. They never give us more than a few minutes, and we will never get business from them.”* The story my client, an investment advisory firm, told itself (and me) was that its chances of getting business from one of its prospects were basically nil. Their prospect offered solid upside, but my client never got more than 10 minutes with him, perhaps due to the prospect’s apparent ADHD and short attention span. The prospect was a consultant to large retirement funds, and his business would be a decided plus for our client. Having little expectation of moving the needle, my client nevertheless asked me to call on the prospect with its management team. I said, “Yes, but I need to spend some time with you before our meeting” so that we could decide how to customize the sales process we had created together over the past three months. We selected what we thought would be the best questions we could ask to quickly capture the interest of the prospect, especially in light of his ADHD. By sharing our questions with the prospect at the outset of the meeting, we were then able to pull him in with our consultative sales process, FOCIS®. I stopped the resulting meeting after two hours because I felt we had built the case for awarding us the business. Two weeks later, the formerly elusive prospect sent our client a check for millions of dollars to manage on its behalf. ### *“Our sales cycle is a year, and we have never been able to shorten it.”* This client had a “milk run” of auto dealerships that they would call on monthly. They would drop off donuts with the service manager with the idea that they would build a relationship over time. The strategy was based on getting to know the prospect so well—or, rather, that the prospect would get to know them so well—that eventually he would buy a case of their product. At dinner the night before our FOCIS® selling training began, I said there was no reason their sales cycle couldn’t be one or two calls, or a month or two total. The product was a pure commodity. We helped them reposition the product in a way that created unique value for the prospect. In other words, we created a new sales process that reduced the length of the sales cycle significantly. The first time they used the new sales process they called on the dealership’s owner and service manager together and made a 40-case sale on the first sales call! The company has grown 20 percent a year with strong margins ever since. **Would you like to talk about your story,** or get more details on one of the stories we told? Just call me at 847.446.0008 X 1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What stories are you telling yourself?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/what-stories-are-you-telling-yourself/) **Published:** July 16, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** *Are they helping your sales performance or holding it back?* **By Phil Krone, President** This column is inspired by Joe Hoyle, the popular accounting professor at the University of Richmond. Joe has recently blogged on LinkedIn that students hold themselves back by telling themselves negative stories. He encourages all students, even those getting As, to improve by changing the story they are telling themselves. He cites a few stories as examples of excuses students might give for not doing well in his accounting course: - “I am not a good test-taker.” - “I’m not good at math.” - “I’m just not smart enough to do well in this course.” - “I’m not going to get an A, so why should I try?” Reading his post made me think about the stories I hear from salespeople that I believe are holding them back: Here are the quotes I hear followed by how we helped them change the story and win more business. ### “My prospects just don’t get it.” ![What stories are you telling yourself?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-300x240.jpg)I have heard this complaint from many salespeople over the years and still do. This story tells me that the salesperson has a seller-centric sales process that relies on telling the prospect about the solution and expecting them to “get it.” In other words, an “all about me and my product or service” approach to selling. We change this seller-centric process to be prospect-centric, which enables the prospect to better appreciate the cost of the status quo and understand the value in our solution. One client provided IBM with a new-to-the-world service; and that innovation led them to believe it would be easy to sell to others. For a year they told people about the solution and how much IBM loved it. This seller-centric approach resulted in no sales, not one. After we worked with them to switch their sales process from seller-centric to prospect-centric, they made two Fortune 500 sales within 90 days. Here is another example of a story holding back growth: ### “They have their own in-house system for finding billing errors. They don’t believe any outsiders could find any more.” This one involved a client’s Texas hospital prospect that used its own original software to find billing errors. They wouldn’t let outsiders in to look for errors because it would be a waste of everybody’s time. The were certain that no outside system would be as good as their in-house system. Keep in mind our client’s business model was earning a fee on a portion of the savings so it would not cost the prospect anything to let us process their data. Watching our client try to make the case that his software would find things the in-house software missed, it became clear that the buyer was not going to change their mind. I rebooted the meeting to focus on a different problem and asked our client’s prospect: Do you ever worry that because no outsider has looked at your system that, even though you might be billing the correct amounts, you are failing to meet compliance requirements? The prospect looked at me and said, “I worry about that all the time.” With our help, our client got the business and guess what: our client did find errors the in-house system missed. We changed two stories here: 1) the prospect’s story from being about whose software was more accurate to … having a no-cost consultant review your procedures to report on compliance levels; and 2) the salesperson’s story that the hospital would never engage an outsider to review his billing. Actually we changed a third story: after we came back with the order, the owner of the firm laughed: “I specified that hospital for your audit of our salesperson because I knew there was no hope of making a sale. I wanted you to critique the sales process in an environment where we had nothing to lose.” ### In a third example, the story the prospect is telling itself needs to be changed if the seller is not to be held back. ![What stories are you telling yourself?](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2.jpg) Our client is a commercial/industrial real estate broker that targets private equity firms. In this case the story that had to be revised was in the mind of the prospect, not the seller. Our client discovered that private equity firms rarely include real estate projects in their investment thesis because they believe real estate projects take too long to implement. They couldn’t be completed within the investment thesis timeline. His objective was to persuade private equity firms that he had the capability to build new buildings; identify suitable existing buildings and provide upgrades, such as automation, if needed; and to do it all within the timeframes they required. We helped create a sales process that not only educated the private equity firms but also persuaded them that by not including real estate in the value creation process they were leaving millions of dollars on the table. The story they were telling themselves prevented them from realizing the true economic value of their investments. Professor Hoyle quotes the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed: “Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story.” **Call us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1** to discuss how to change the stories you need to change to release sales growth: yours or those of your salespeople, your business development professionals—even of your prospects and customers. Or, **email me directly** at . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Self-Audit Can Send Sales Soaring](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/self-audit-can-send-sales-soaring/) **Published:** June 24, 2026 **Author:** Productive Strategies, Inc. **Content:** *Taking a complete—and critical—look at your sales process can help reach challenging stretch goals. Here’s how to do it.* **By Phil Krone, President** To reach a stretch goal you almost always need to improve a lot of small things. That’s especially so in achieving ambitious business development targets. One proven way is to conduct a “self-audit” by stepping back and taking stock. If you don’t know where to start, here are some factors that could be inhibiting the revenue growth of your firm, your team, or you. *Want to jumpstart the process?* Review the list below and identify your top five issues. Then, call me at 847-446-0008 x 1 and schedule a time to talk. When we connect, I’ll discuss with you, at no charge, how to address those issues with or without our assistance. Beforehand, to make the most of our conversation, estimate how much you believe each issue is costing your business in lost revenue, lost customers, and lost opportunities to acquire new customers. ### ![Self-Audit Can Send Sales Soaring](/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/iStock-1447047807res.jpg)Possible Company or Firm Issues: - No clear definition of the target market - No list of suspects to match the target market - 20 percent of your business developers are bringing in 80 percent of the revenue - Specific groups within the firm need special business development help—senior partners, third-year associates, women, minorities, rookies, and others - No corporate sales process - Sales support materials aren’t up to date or are just not effective (brochures, website text, case histories, sell sheets, books) - No or poor alignment between sales, marketing, and operations - No differentiation of value from competition - Too few qualified leads from marketing efforts - Disappointing sales for new products or services - High salesforce turnover ### Possible Individual Issues: - Too few prospects in the pipeline - Unacceptable win rate when competing for new business - Difficulty turning social situations into business opportunities with grace - Prospects get stuck on price and don’t recognize value - Too few referrals ![Self-Audit Can Send Sales Soaring](/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/iStock-1061722720res.jpg) - Giving away too much intellectual property within the sales process (creative ideas are stolen) - Sales process educates but doesn’t persuade - Low success rate responding to requests for proposals - Difficulty winning large opportunities - Too much time spent with unqualified prospects - Sales cycle too long - Difficulty communicating the company’s differentiation—and getting paid for it - Poor net realization: how much you collect versus what you should have quoted, billed, and been paid for - Poor negotiation skills - Still using a “canned” sales presentation - Difficulty getting existing clients to follow your advice. **It costs far less** to address these issues than you might think. A recent client broke into a new, higher value market, reduced her time with unqualified prospects, and increased her referral rate. These improvements covered her investment in training and sales process development many times over. **To learn more**, get in touch with me at or 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Position Your Sales Team to Succeed](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/position-your-sales-team-to-succeed/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** We’re half way through the year. Has your team put a winning sales puzzle together or are there still holes in the picture of success you want to create? In this mid-year special report, we pose 10 questions to think about in order to make the most of the second half of the sales year. If you’re not satisfied with your answers, don’t wait. Fix the problems yourself, get help inside your company, or go outside for the answers you need. Have you ever heard an executive, manager, or coach of your favorite sports team say, “We have all the pieces in place now”? Usually referring to people, coaching, training, clear objectives, modern facilities, and lots of support from others, that comment signals that he or she believes that everything has been done to equip the team for success. If not, you may be used to hearing, “We’re still missing a few pieces,” which is a sure sign that the executive knows the team has no chance of winning soon. It’s really no different with the individuals or teams assigned to help your business grow and become more successful. Selling is tough to begin with and even harder if you’re not providing the team with fundamental support to position everyone to achieve their potential. **Putting the Pieces in Place** As a business owner or leader, you need to put all the pieces in place, too. Completing the puzzle strengthens your business in many ways, including eliminating excuses. At the end of the day you will experience greater growth, shorter sales cycles, better margins, and a higher win rate. Take the pulse of your business by asking yourself these ten questions: **1. Are your business objectives aligned with your sales objectives and incentives?** Sounds obvious, but oftentimes the sales team is being incentivized for behaviors and results on products and services that aren’t critical to the company. Or, they are being measured on steps in the sales process such as “number of first meetings,” which might actually lower their success rate. Are you rewarding results in the areas critical to your ongoing success? Have you even shared your business objectives? The more your people know the more they can get behind what needs to be done for everyone to win. **2. Do you have the right people in the right places?** When’s the last time you honestly assessed each member of your team? Everyone goes through slumps, but do you have people who are hitting below average year after year? Maybe they would be better as an inside sales person or working in a sales support role. Or is it time to make a tough call and change the team? Is it a grind to go out in the market and look for new salespeople? Are you settling for someone when you know you could have done better? Team chemistry is important, especially if your business uses a team-selling model. Take the time to get it right when you bring on new people. Let your sales people sell. Don’t ask them to handle public relations and marketing, too. Get the right people in the right roles. There are new ways today to be sure that your new hires are at least a 70 to 80 percent “DNA” match to your best sales team members. **3. Do you provide training and professional development?** What have you done to help sharpen the selling skills of your team? Do you provide new hires with indoctrination to your organization and sales process or just product training? If you’re in a business that relies on professionals to sell (lawyers, engineers, accountants), you need to ensure that everyone feels confident in their ability and understands their responsibility to bring in new business. In most businesses we find that 20 to 30 percent of the sales team brings in most of the revenue. What are you doing to help the other 70 to 80 percent develop their skills? **4. Are your marching orders clear or fuzzy?**Salespeople often refer to the “flavor of the month” when they talk about the ever-changing objectives of senior management. Last month widgets were most important, this month it’s gadgets, and next month it will be something else. Not only is it important to be clear about the sales focus and targets, it’s also important that you take the time to communicate the “why” behind everything. The more you get everyone on the same page the better off you will be as the team unites behind a common understanding and goals. And the “why” needs to align with the sales compensation plan. Sales compensation drives the marching orders. **5. Does your business have a strong value proposition?** Why do good prospects too often buy from competitors? Do you need greater differentiation in ways that create value? Or, do your sales people need to learn how to communicate the value you already provide and how to get paid a premium for it? Do you understand specifically why your customers value your products or services? In other words, what’s your “story” about why your company’s products or services are better? Without a consistent message your sales team is off to a poor start. Prospects will hear a different story every time. In fact, all employees need a consistent “value story” to share about your company, a straightforward statement, at least. Consumer products often use a memorable tagline or a “jingle.” Business-to-business sales stories usually require more depth bolstered by the right questions. This value story needs to be told in the context of a prospect’s goals and challenges. Salespeople are sometimes trained to tell another kind of story: the anecdote. But too often they are not trained to use anecdotes to *advance the sale*. Just telling stories won’t get the sale. They must illustrate a buying motive, benefit, value, or other product attribute. Funny stories that don’t speak to a prospect’s challenges do nothing to advance the sale. **6. Is your value story shared consistently?** So now you have a story about what makes you unique and valued. Did you update the Web site with the new messaging? Does the sales literature tell the same story? Does the PowerPoint presentation have the correct messaging? You’ve created a great story for the sales people to share. Don’t undercut their work. Align the messages in all your marketing channels and tactics. If you don’t have time or resources, get some help. Your credibility with prospects and customers is at stake. **7. Do you have a marketing plan? What are you doing to help drive lead generation?** Are you creating content that prospects would like to receive? Are you putting it in their hands? Assess your marketing communications and make sure they align with the sales objectives. Again, it seems intuitive, but often the marketing efforts are not aligned with seasonality or other specifics of your selling and buying cycles. You need a plan that provides air cover to support your on-the-ground selling. **8. Are you filling the leads pipeline?** One of the most common refrains in any business is that “we need more leads.” You can push the sales team to be out more and to be making more cold calls. However, you can also take steps to help find and qualify leads so your team’s valuable and limited time is spent with companies more likely to need and purchase your products and services. In addition to focusing some of your marketing on lead generation (e-mail marketing, social media, events, shows, direct mail, advertising), consider a third-party lead generation or appointment-setting service. Such a service will focus exclusively on getting meetings with qualified individuals who have an interest and need today. **9. Are support tools in place?** Do the sales people have a great Web site to send prospects to visit? Do they have persuasive sales literature to leave behind? Are you holding briefings, webinars, conferences that leverage lots of prospects in one place at a time to lower your prospecting costs? Are you tired of hearing requests for a demo or something “flashy”? You need to get in the trenches and find out which support materials do need to be created or redone. **10. Are you capturing data and learning from it?** Most businesses have some form of customer relationship management (CRM) software system. Yet, I would bet that most also feel they are not tapping into all the potential a CRM system has. Bad information in equals bad information out. It all starts with usage. Contact details must be entered and kept current and so do notes about sales calls and deal status. If your sales people see your system as out of date or painful to use, you’re in trouble because they won’t use it. You need to focus on communicating to the team about using the tool in place or find something more user friendly. With a good system, you and the team will benefit by knowing more about your prospects and pipeline. Also consider conducting a win/loss analysis on a regular basis. One of the easiest ways to understand your prospects and customers is to speak with them after every win or loss. Ask why you lost or won. What impressed them? Where did you stumble? What could you do differently? You can do this yourself, but the feedback will be more candid if you outsource this task. Use the data available to provide the sales team with better direction. So how are you feeling about how well you support your sales team? Do you have all the right pieces in place? For most companies it’s a continual process: one area gets fixed and two more break down. No matter where you stand today you can jump-start your business development by getting the basics in place so that your sales team can excel. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [A Simple Way to Show You Care](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/a-simple-way-to-show-you-care/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** When was the last time you thanked your customers for their business? I’m not talking about the “thank you” expected immediately after winning an order or assignment. I’m talking about the last time you proactively went out of your way to thank your customers for doing business with you. I would guess that it’s not a regular part of your business plan. If it is, then congratulations on recognizing the importance of pausing for this simple act that carries so much weight. Of course this practice should carry into your personal life as well. So when was the last time you thanked service providers, retailers, coffee shop employees, and, yes, your family members? A holiday card doesn’t count. I’m talking about a truly personalized call or hand-written note that shows you care. As children of any culture or faith, we’re all taught some form of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Around the world, surveys measuring employee satisfaction-even happiness-consistently show that how people are treated is more important than how much they make or how generous their benefits are. Surveys of why people buy from certain companies often point to the importance of “relationships.” What are you doing to say, “Thank you”? These two words pack a powerful punch and when said genuinely they can make transformative changes. Look at John Kralik, author of the recent book [*365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life* ](http://www.365thankyounotes.com/)*.* At 53 he found his life in shambles: a failing business, a divorce, losing touch with his children. His days were becoming darker and darker. His epiphany was to focus on others and not wallow in his own self-pity. He decided to start sharing at least one sincere hand-written thank you a day and his life started to quickly turn around. I have a friend named Mike O’Mary who has started *The Note Project*, a global movement to make the world a million times better by inspiring people to share personal notes of appreciation. Mike has said, “A simple note of appreciation can change a person’s life. Equally important, writing a note of appreciation can change *your* life.” Jewish philosopher Abraham Heschel said, “When I was young, I admired those who were successful. Now that I am old, I admire those who are kind.” What are you waiting for? There’s no time like the present to send a simple note of grateful appreciation to your employees, your vendors, and your customers. And one more thing. Thank you for reading this. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [5 Reasons to Market with Social Media](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/5-reasons-to-market-with-social-media/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** If you’re still waiting for that social media “fad” to go away so you don’t have to apply it to your business, you can stop right now. It isn’t going away. While not all social media outlets are right for every company, most businesses will benefit from getting their feet wet and connecting to their current and prospective customers using one or more of these channels. If you’re already using social media in your business, look for ways to increase your usage while continually seeking new ways to use it more creatively. If you’re not experimenting with social media, you need to be. Here’s why. **1. It’s the Way of the World.** Social media in business is a fact of life. Morgan Stanley published a study a while ago on the future of web-based retailing. The report included data on the number of years it took for various forms of mass media to hit the 50 million-user mark: Radio (38 years), TV (13 years), Internet (four years), iPod (three years), and Facebook (100 million users in only nine months). In just 12 months Facebook attracted 200 million users. It now has more than 500 million. LinkedIn recently surpassed 100 million users and Twitter 175 million. While it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the statistics, a June 2010 Nielsen study reported that social network or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online. Four out of five US businesses with 100 or more employees will use social media marketing this year, according to eMarketer. That’s a dramatic change from 2008 when just 42 percent did. **2. Your Customers Use It and Like It.** In 2008, 24 percent of consumers had a personal profile on a social media site. In 2010 it was nearly 50 percent and that keeps climbing every day. Converseon says that 73 percent of consumers participate in social media and almost 60 percent expect brands to have a social media presence. Individuals who are working full-time use social media more often than anyone, and frequent users are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media sites. 75 percent of “brand likes” on Facebook come from ads, according to Mashable. People using that site are following brands. Why not yours? **4. It’s Cost-effective and Efficient.** Marketing with social media doesn’t take a large financial investment to get started, and it can be a cost-effective option for building brand awareness and generating leads. At the outset, the largest investment is the time you’ll need to devote to ensure that your social media marketing activities are relevant and impactful. Analytics are critical. Social media can help support your sales team by providing new avenues to communicate with customers and share information. It can help you by creating a deeper, more passionate connection between your business and customers. And it’s fun! **5. It Gives You Great Feedback.** Conversations about your brand are happening every day whether you like it or not. Wouldn’t you rather be aware and have the opportunity to participate in the dialogue? At its essence social media is another form of conversation with your prospects and customers, albeit one that others are watching or reading. It’s likely some of your shortcomings will be exposed. Yes, that’s scary to most companies. But you have the chance to get in on the conversation and share the facts or admit mistakes and correct them. Honesty is everything and can ultimately inspire greater allegiance to your brand. In this world, the customers are in control. You’ll need to determine how you will engage them, inspire their confidence and help them with solutions to their problems. **6. It’s Easy to Get Started.** First, find someone on your team who is passionate about social media and who can lead the way. That will help overcome any natural resistance to change. Second, you may need to find an external resource to get you started. But keep in mind that you should always have someone at the helm who really knows your company and can communicate with your voice and personality. Finally, create a plan outlining which media you will use, how you intend to use them, and what outcomes you seek. Ask yourself: Who are we trying to reach and why? Where do our customers and prospects spend time online? Take an inventory of your existing assets…papers, tips, coupons, offers, product descriptions, press releases, and others. What do you have that you could share with your customers? What do they want to know about your business? What problems of theirs can your products or services solve? Don’t be afraid to experiment. Try something and if it doesn’t work, then try something else. It’s time to get moving. What are you waiting for? **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Selling in Europe](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/selling-in-europe/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Just returned from London, where I was teaching our FOCIS® consultative selling course to sales representatives from Ireland, Spain, France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. Although Europeans often speak excellent English, especially those in business, communication can still be a challenge. For example, in the U.S., if I compliment a FOCIS® participant by saying “That’s an A+ answer!” everyone in the room knows exactly what I mean. But when I used that phrase in London last week, there were only blank stares. A fast learner, I did not follow up by saying, “You know–you get a gold star!” Instead, I simply said “A+” means “Excellent!” Then there were smiles all around. Many Americans know, or have heard, that doing business in Europe is “different.” And it is, just as it would be for anyone operating in a culture other than their own. Fortunately, London reminded me that the language of consultative selling is similar across many boundaries. The reason is that effective selling means helping a prospect see the value in what you’re offering by asking the right questions and really listening to the responses. In any language, “pushing product” causes a prospect’s defenses to go up and stay up. OK, just for practice: “Pushing product” means “talking more about yourself and your product than asking questions about your prospect’s problems.” **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Getting Cash Faster](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/getting-cash-faster/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Can you speed up your cash flow? A few days ago at home we received an e-mail notice with the subject line “AT&T Pay Bill Reminder,” stating that as of a specific date our account had a balance of $87.34. First impression was that we were late in paying-overdue, in fact. But our records showed we had paid on time, though after the specified date on the e-mail. What was going on? Well, since AT&T also noted that our payment wasn’t due until five days *after* the e-mail, it dawned on me that this was not a past due notice as it first appeared. It was a “pre-due” notice. In addition to helping customers stay current, AT&T was speeding up payments to get cash in sooner. Nothing wrong with that; the message did not deceive and was a communication that provided value to some customers. Although the copy did offer relief if in fact we were past due, the message about our account simply listed the facts. Is such marketing worth it to this large corporation? Depends, of course, but before e-mail the limited or even negative ROI on small accounts would have made this approach impossible. The real question for your business: Can something like this speed up cash flow cost effectively? Think about: - *Annoyance.* My defenses went up right away, and then I had to check our account records. Am I switching providers? Not in this case. - *Frequency.* If “pre-due” alerts came monthly, the annoyance might build, especially if coupled with other issues, so that switching became an option. - *Need.* Do you actually have a cash-flow problem? Always good to get cash faster but is the “all-in” ROI with this tactic really there for your business? At some point such a message might well remind me to pay a bill or two. But for now it’s become a useful reminder to keep thinking of new ways to improve my business cash flow. How about you? **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Selling’s Sweet 16th . . .](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/sellings-sweet-16th/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** During the past few years our firm has built an inventory of ways sellers can create value for their prospects within the consultative sales process-that is, before the sale actually occurs. In a transactional sale, the sales person focuses on price, delivery, and basic terms. But a consultative sale is more complex: - The amount is usually high. - The risk to the buyer is high. - A relationship is implied by the sale. - A group rather than an individual makes the decision to buy. - The seller is rarely present when that decision is made. The sales rep and the prospect have a lot more to think about. In consultative selling, it’s important to set yourself apart, and we believe that delivering value during the sales process is a great way to do that. We started years ago with a list of five ways to create value, and the list has grown over time to 15. **Recently in London** I trained salespeople from Ireland, Spain, France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands in our popular FOCIS® approach to consultative selling. The diversity of the group led to a discussion that helped me “rediscover” a 16th way to create value for prospects during the sales process. These sales reps work for a client of ours that provides equipment to its customers’ business locations, maintains it, and processes cash spent by consumers to use the equipment. A percentage of the revenue paid by consumers to use the equipment is split between our client and our client’s customers. The split depends on several factors, but the customer usually receives about 30 percent and our client 70 percent. Our client’s customers never pay for the equipment, never pay to maintain it, and enjoy additional services not provided by the competition. Our client’s program is truly turn-key, allowing customers simply to accept the checks from our client each quarter and to focus on other challenges or opportunities their businesses present. In short, it’s a good deal in terms of both hard and soft costs. Consequently, competitors try to switch our client’s customers with a sales sleight of hand by offering a 50/50 split. Admittedly, 50/50 sounds better on the surface than 30/70. But this split actually hides costs both hard and soft. Before customers see any revenues, for example, the costs of buying, replacing, and maintaining the equipment are deducted. The competition doesn’t reveal this information, however, except deep in the contract itself. **It’s a classic case** of a complex contract about which the buyer knows far less than the seller, and the seller can elect to educate the prospect only on the specific parts favorable to the seller. Worse, in such a situation, the buyer too often doesn’t take the time to “read the fine print” to bring himself up to speed on exactly what he’s buying. But that’s where the 16 th way to create value comes in: A complex sales environment offers a skilled seller an opportunity to help a prospect better understand the details of his current contract or status, not just the portions a vendor chooses to tell him about. Even though he doesn’t know it, the buyer is really depending on the seller to do the right thing by clearly explaining not only the terms of the contract but also what they mean for the buyer’s business. In this case, a buyer choosing the 50/50 revenue split is not unlike the young child who selects the nickel over the dime because the nickel is bigger and appears to have more value. In reality, our client’s customers ultimately receive more revenue with the 30/70 split than they ever would with the competition’s 50/50 split. The challenge, as in many complex sales, is helping prospects understand that value before they experience it. The consultative seller has a major challenge: Hard costs are usually visible, but soft costs and the level of risk exposure over time are often hidden. That also means that the true value the buyer receives over time is camouflaged. Truly understanding the differences between *price* on Day One and *cost* over the life of a project is a starting point. Knowing how to educate prospects in a way that also persuades requires consultative sales training and a strong sales process. That’s what we were teaching our client’s reps in London. The discussion we had helped me to rediscover the value a skilled consultative salesperson can provide in clarifying the ins and outs of a complicated contract. It’s the 16 th way to add value in during a consultative sale. **Would you like to learn more** about developing a strong, consultative sales process? Please contact us to engage in a complimentary discussion in which we will create value for you. If you do, we’ll also give you the complete list of 16 ways to create value during the sales process. Sweet. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Making Lead Generation Pay Off](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/making-lead-generation-pay-off/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Today, popular psychology holds that the personality of an individual human being is shaped not by genetics or by environment alone but by an uneasy collaboration of both. (It hasn’t always been this way, as straightforward as it might sound. Darwin’s cousin, inspired by the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859, coined the phrase “nature vs. nurture” as a scientific, not philosophical, concept. Scientists have debated its significance ever since, sometimes strenuously.) We’ve found that similar collaboration applies in business-to-business selling. To be promising, sales leads first need the right pedigree. They must come from the market a company sells to and face the problems a company’s product or service can solve. They must have the DNA of prospects that become buyers. That just seems to be good commonsense, right? But if as a salesperson you’ve ever received “hot” leads passed on from advertising campaigns or other promotions, you know that good sense in lead generation doesn’t seem to be all that common. Salespeople can be understandably skeptical of lead generation programs because they find too many of those leads just aren’t buyers. **But maybe sales reps don’t have that quite right.** It turns out that, according to research by Sirius Decision, as much as 80 percent of leads rejected by sales forces do in fact purchase within two years. If they don’t buy from the company generating the rejected lead, they buy from a competitor. But one way or another they do buy because it’s in their nature as business people to find the right solutions to their company’s problems. So if so many of those leads rejected by sales carry the right DNA to be your customers, why don’t they become your customers? Simple: They probably don’t receive the right nurturing from your company. The truth is that most B2B buyers don’t want to see a sales rep until they are well along in their buying process, perhaps as much or more than 65 percent along. They surf the Web, they read white papers, they talk to their peers, they go to industry trade shows, they review the pros and cons with their staffs. Maybe they even conduct their own studies. When they have done their homework, or if they think their business needs assistance for some other reason, then they are ready to buy. And that’s when you want your salespeople to be on the spot because that’s when they’re most likely to make a sale. **Key Point:** Just because they are ready to buy doesn’t mean they will buy from you. That’s where a sales process customized for your product, your salespeople, and your market is especially valuable. Call us to learn more. Think about it. Many times when salespeople and buyers begin their separate quests for success aren’t they often in direct conflict? It’s simply the nature of some salespeople to go after short-term gain, just as it’s the nature of some investors. (Some salespeople, of course, follow a partnering path from the beginning of their relationship with a prospect.) And it’s the nature of the business-to-business buyer to look for the best return on investment, usually over time, which means taking time to make the “best deal.” **Conflict becomes collaboration** later in each process, however, as opposing objectives become one. When the buyer is ready to buy the sales person can realize short-term gain by being in the right place at the right time. The trick from the seller’s point of view is to make that happen. Just handing off leads to salespeople, even if those leads have the right DNA, won’t work unless they’re handed off at the right time. That’s where lead nurturing programs come in handy. Also known as “drip” marketing, lead nurturing keeps your company’s name in front of a potential buyer throughout the product research process or until the need becomes great enough for the buyer to take action. The amount of time required is always the amount of time the buyer believes is needed to research a product or service and become comfortable that it will benefit his company. Then, such a buyer is ready to buy and looks for the right vendor. And that’s when your salespeople should step in. **How do you know when the time is right?** You may already have a good idea of what a normal buying cycle is in your industry. If you don’t, find out through industry associations or by tracking your own experience. Either way, an effective lead nurturing program will have left potential buyers with a positive impression of your company, not just through the obvious traditional approach of “staying in touch” only to see if prospects are ready. They see right through that and don’t appreciate the time they waste with it. Instead, your program accelerates a buyer’s research process by delivering real value over time. You’ve built up a “trusted advisor” relationship based on delivering value without expectation of immediate return. Buyers do appreciate that and might even call youwhen they’re ready to buy. There are many channels through which to deliver value: direct mail, e-mail, phone, social media, podcasts, Webinars, keeping content on your Website fresh. Just last month a regular reader of this column got in touch with us to discuss a possible engagement. “I’ve been reading your columns for two years,” he said, “and began to think about how you might solve some of my company’s marketing and sales challenges. Well, I think you might be able to help with this one.” Now that you understand more about the nature of nurture in lead generation, please get in touch with us to learn how lead nurturing can increase your company’s top line. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is It Hard For Your Customers To Be Heard Inside Your Organization?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-it-hard-for-your-customers-to-be-heard-inside-your-organization/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Is it hard for your customers to be heard inside your organization? Are you able to get and use key customer insights you need to improve your product or service, your operations, your business model, and your corporate strategy? Some companies tackle this tough challenge with market research, others with feedback from sales representatives. But now a new, highly productive tool actually puts your customers on your team: Customer Advisory Boards-one of the best-kept, most cost-effective secrets in business today. **Customer Advisory Boards . . .** - Elevate customer “conversations” to strategic dialogues - Increase sales via referrals and retention of current customers - Create a strategic competitive advantage for your company - Let you see your company through your customers’ eyes - Produce customer-inspired ideas for new products and services - Build powerful customer loyalties by asking for honest feedback - Show you the future of your industry as your customers see it Serve your customers too through peer networking and learning. What do your customers really think about your company? Find out firsthand by elevating customer “conversations” to strategic dialogues. Hear your customers loud and clear with a professionally developed and facilitated Customer Advisory Board. Our extensive experience in conducting more than 250 CABs ensures value for you-and your customers. To learn more, click the reply button below and send us your name and phone number. We will call to arrange a meeting or answer your questions. Let your customers give you the competitive advantage you need to succeed. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is the Brochure Dead?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-the-brochure-dead/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** It seemed that way during the pioneer days of the Internet. Many small companies used their sales literature budget to fund their first website. The big complaint about brochures back then was that they were out of date months after being published. But just as the home video failed to put movie theatres out of business, the internet did not extinguish the need for a good sales brochure. Those who abandoned the brochure soon learned that they served some purposes that the website could not. Sales people traditionally used the brochure as part of their presentation. They would circle items in the brochure to help the prospect visualize either the source of the need or the uniqueness of the solution. This “visual” would serve as a reminder to the advocate at the prospect’s company of why he was endorsing a specific source for the product or service being procured. Yet another value of the brochure is the leave-behind nature. A website is great for providing up to date information and allowing strangers to “pull” the information they seek. However, websites can’t be put into a folder and saved for the day a need exists. Printouts from a website don’t carry the same graphic punch; they don’t present the salient points in concise formats. Many sellers we meet in our consultative selling workshops tell us how the brochure in a buyer’s folder helped them “make the short list” of potential sellers. While sellers were realizing these strong reasons that brochures should co-exist with the website, another thing happened….Technology in the printing industry increased efficiency and reduced prices. Around the year 2000 it became possible to print four- color projects in low quantities for prices that used to require much higher volumes. This removed one of the brochures’ drawbacks….they were usually ordered in large quantities to get the prices down, and the longer they lasted, the more out of date they became. The fact that top line restaurants now print menus on a daily and weekly basis is testimony to how much four-color print prices have come down. If you last updated your brochure the year you built your first website, it is probably time to rethink your decision and keep both mediums up to date. If we can be of service, please contact us. We have to admit we did not realize intuitively how much the brochure was missed. Several customers approached us this year with requests for new brochures to use for either conventional sales calls or to support trade shows. They had increasingly become aware that their five-year-old brochures needed to be replaced with a current version that carried the strong graphics, up to date information, and quality writing comparable to the website. If your sales people are looking for a strong tool; or if you want prospective buyers to have something to remember you by when a future need arises, it is time to reinvest in brochures. This time don’t print 10,000; you won’t have to in order to get a great price. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Marketing Plan or Marketing Audit?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/marketing-plan-or-marketing-audit/) **Published:** May 22, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** If you’re thinking about creating a new marketing plan or revising a current one, you might want to step back and do a marketing audit first. Marketing plans are generally good things. You know the old saying, plan your work and work your plan? Unfortunately, too many business owners and senior executives just can’t seem to get a good plan down on paper. They’ve tried. They may even have one or two they’re using (great!) or that are sitting on a cyberspace shelf gathering digital dust (not so great). Either way, knowing where you are is helpful in deciding where you want to go and how to get there. That’s where a marketing audit can help. Recently, two of our current clients and a prospect have come to us for marketing plans, which we can and do build for companies and organizations. But in each of these cases we suggested marketing audits be done first. **1.** One client, a health-care company, has grown from start-up to $100 million in annual revenues in 12 years without doing much marketing at all. The business was riding a wave, of course, and the executives were smart to take advantage of it. Now, however, it’s harder to maintain a constant percentage growth and the company is facing two new challenges: tough competition and a more mature marketplace. Other surfers are trying to ride the wave and the wave isn’t moving as fast any more. Company leaders knew they needed to step up their marketing efforts but they didn’t know how. We recommended an audit, instead of a plan, to document what they’re doing now and to learn more about what their markets are looking for. **2.** Our client, headquartered in London, tried two years ago to launch a product in the U.S. Unfortunately, the product didn’t take off. The executives asked us for a new marketing plan. Again, we recommended an audit. We felt they just didn’t know enough about why the first launch didn’t work to decide if they should even attempt a second. **3.** The prospect wants to decide if and when to expand its geographic scope. But the executives have key questions to answer. Are they getting the most out of their current marketplace? Should the product line be extended in a new marketplace? Should their target profile be enlarged or revised before any expansion? To answer these questions, they need to have baseline information organized in a useful way. Marketing audits can (and one already has) help these companies achieve the following goals. The health-care company received documentation of what marketing it’s done and what it’s doing now. The company has several divisions, each following its own sales and marketing path. It also received an independent, unbiased review of its marketing efforts and is identifying opportunities for improvement. Finally, executives learned what they’re not doing that might take them to the next level. The European manufacturing executives learned how well they really understand the U.S. market and what they need to learn. Our audit showed, for example, that certain U.S. segments do need the company’s product but will probably respond to a different approach than the one used for the first launch. We also discovered that some product attributes need to be emphasized more and that marketing communications require sharpening. With a marketing audit, the prospect company considering expansion could learn which marketing factors will figure into its decision most prominently. It could also learn if its executives are on the same page or if they are even reading the same book. In other words, are they aligned strongly enough to take on the significant new challenges expansion would bring? They are doing fine with all of their efforts focused on one region. What happens if they split those efforts in two? A marketing audit offers all three of these companies the baseline information and ideas they need to create and implement a solid marketing plan and to determine if one is even needed. If you feel you don’t have a good handle on your marketing activities and how well they are working, let us know. We’ll be happy to talk about whether a marketing audit will help. Who knows, you may already have enough information to do a plan. If you do, we can talk about that, too. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Productive Strategies Can Increase Revenue Growth](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/productive-strategies-can-increase-revenue-growth/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Every company is looking for ways to enhance it. Our firm’s definition of marketing includes all activities that influence revenue growth. The two subjects we review below may appear to be outside of conventional marketing thought, but not if you accept our definition that marketing is every skill, policy, program or activity that affects revenue. **What is one of the most direct risks to revenue?** *Internal fraud.* The U.S. government reports that fraud performed by your own employees is one of the greatest causes of business failure. What caught my ear when I recently heard a talk on this issue is that there is a very effective tool against such fraud that very few small companies take advantage of. Because of the importance of this tool, all large publicly traded firms are required by law, Sarbanes-Oxley, to use this tool. The tool is to offer your employees a phone number that they can call in complete confidence to report fraud if they observe it in your company-in effect, a “tip line.” To answer this need, we created a product for our clients using our call center’s inbound 800, voice mail, and page/notification technology. If you are interested in outsourcing the “tip line” to insure privacy, please contact us. The program we designed provides an 800 number, a local number, a voice mail account, and an automatic notification system to alert the appropriate party at your company that a voice mail has been left. We also include an email blast to your employees to advise them periodically of this resource and to assure the confidentiality of their call. **A second threat to revenue growth results from data loss.** Again, a government study reports that 93% of all businesses that suffer a major data loss will go out of business within five years. This is the ultimate disruption of revenue growth. What is worse is that most companies don’t realize that their current back up system is inadequate. 80% of the time the loss results from human error. The most common errors include: - The information believed to be on the backup is not there - The tapes do not function 50% of the time - Corrupted data has been saved over good data, thus no backup exists - The backup is not stored far enough away to assure its survival One of our clients now offers a backup service that works automatically, during the night. The data is encrypted and can only be restored by you. The data is stored in redundant locations within the United States. We were on the service for about six weeks when one of our important hard drives crashed. The computer was in Nevada at the time, and we needed it within three days to be in Michigan for a presentation I was giving. In those three days, a new hard drive arrived from the computer maker, and all data was restored. Without this vital service it would have taken too many hours and too many dollars to restore what was on this specific hard drive. During an annual physical exam my doctor asked me if I wore seat belts. I confessed that I usually did, but was not a 100% user. He then informed me that nothing he could medically suggest would have the same impact as my wearing seat belts. I’ve been wearing them ever since. The same thought applies to the discussion above: It will do you no good to invest in sales training or lead generation or a new marketing plan if fraud or data loss sink or slow your ship. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Stop! Don’t Slash Sales and Marketing](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/stop-dont-slash-sales-and-marketing/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** It’s true. Slow times call for greater investment in sales and marketing, not less. But few businesses bite that bullet. They blindly cut back instead of giving their sales forces more times at bat by stepping up to the lead generation plate. No wonder their sales people don’t get the appointments they need. Keep in mind, too, that as sales revenue increases, marketing and sales costs decrease as a percentage of sales. The goal isn’t to reduce spending but to increase revenue. Here are 11 things you can do to cut costs and sharpen sales, six of which don’t require spending money on marketing or sales. **1. Cut Your Weakest Links.**Sales representatives fall into four performance groups. The “A’s” are the 20 percent that usually produce 70 to 80 percent of new business. Just leave them alone for now. (In the future, they can benefit from specialized training in consultative selling.) The “B’s” aren’t as productive, but motivation and light training can move them toward A-level performance. The “C’s” are the largest group. They require extensive training, but are open to learning. And the “D’s”? Well, they don’t seem to learn and, worse, they don’t practice what they do learn. Let them go. **2. Put the “C’s” on Notice.**State clearly that only the top 50 percent will survive. Set a deadline to let the other 50 percent go. You can’t ever afford to carry “C’s” that don’t get better, but the drag is especially heavy in tough times like these. **3. Separate Selling from Servicing.**Too often, taking care of existing customers keeps sales people from working on suspects and prospects. Plus some reps use it as an excuse for not meeting their new business numbers. So, designate a portion of your sales force to work only on developing new business, not servicing current customers. Or, just set a percentage of time for each sales person to focus on business development. **4. Outsource Lead Generation.**Most sales people (97 percent, in fact) are not good at cold calling and don’t like it. They either waste time procrastinating or they don’t do it at all. Either way they drive up your costs by reducing their productivity. Cold calling requires special skills and personality types. So be sure to play to the strength of most sales forces: face-to-face selling. Outsourcing lead generation can double the time your sales people spend with viable prospects. **5. Shorten That Sales Cycle.**An inefficient sales process gives most companies an inflated view of how many calls and how much time closing new business ought to take. We have met only a handful of companies that can’t cut their sales cycle in half by improving their sales process. But that requires analyzing first-call strategy and the efficiency of first, second, and third calls. That’s a tough task often best done by an unbiased third party. **6. Post a Post Card.**A simple, straightforward post card mailing to your current database can improve promotional ROI, even with direct mail’s low response rates. The cost is simply much lower than that of heavier, more elaborate direct-mail packages. Plus, post cards are a great way to test new lists. **7. Increase Your Prospect Database.**Most companies we talk to have a database that’s too small to support direct marketing of any kind: mail, phone, or e-mail. Typical direct-marketing response rates can be as low as one-half of 1 percent and conversion rates even lower. Marketing to a list of 200 names just can’t produce results. But buying the right list of new names will improve your odds of success and breathe life into a tired database. **8. Use Independent Sales Reps.**The good news is that outside reps are paid only when they produce new business. The bad news is that if your product or service doesn’t have a high enough price point they might not give it the attention it needs to be profitable. And you must actively compete for your fair share of their time. **9. Rethink Your Sales Presentation**. Does it really persuade or just educate? Most presentations we see, even the “polished” ones, are really canned pitches. They parrot the same information to every prospect and stick a price tag on it. A truly persuasive presentation can boost your closing rates and drop the cost of sales dramatically. **10. Really Manage Your Sales Pipeline.**Knowing what goes in one end of the sales funnel and what comes out the other isn’t sales management. But new software now lets senior executives and sales managers see “into the funnel.” You can quickly identify which reps get stuck in the process and where. Then you can provide the right support at the right times. Contact management and CRM software each perform valuable functions. But they don’t influence outcomes by identifying unproductive behaviors salesperson by salesperson. The new sales management software does. **11. Do Something Now!**Too many companies “wait for the holidays to be over” or for “a big new order to come in.” Investing in marketing and sales is like putting money into a savings account. Getting started and staying with it are more important than how much you put in or how crisp, clean, and pretty the dollar bills are. The “time value of action” is impressive. During corporate slow periods, recruit managers who don’t normally sell to help out. Just about any manager, including the CEO and CFO, can spend time selling if the business cycle has reduced their normal workload. Finally, if you have questions, comments, or would like to discuss how we might fit into your marketing and sales efforts, just contact me at (847) 446-0008 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What Have You Done For Us Lately?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/what-have-you-done-for-us-lately/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** You have a great product. You have loyal customers. But do your customers know all of the problems you solve with your products or services? Do your employees know which products or services best solve your customers’ problems? Think of product training as an extension of your marketing program. Your audience is already persuaded to use what you have to offer-they need to learn how to use it well to maximize the return on their investment.’ Product training can expand your relationship with your customer or client. The people who attend training may or may not be the same people who made the decision to purchase your product. When training is done well, you will extend the number and depth of relationships between your own and your customers’ employees. Further, your training program will expose your customers to the breadth of products and services you provide, outside of the sales process. When employees of several customers attend the same class, they learn from each other, as well as from you. When your customers start to teach each other about the problems you solve for them, it can lead to additional sales for you. Your own employees will benefit from product training too. Do your sales people either oversell or undersell your product and services? Do you have silos of specialization within your organization? Do your salespeople have difficulty cross-selling or up-selling? Sometimes salespeople will sell what they know-even if another product would be a better fit. On the other end of the spectrum, some salespeople will make unrealistic claims for a product. Neither situation leads to a positive vendor-client relationship. How much more would your current customers buy from you if they received expert product training? How much could be added if your employees knew all that they should about product offering? We can help you answer these questions as well as help you implement the solution. We can build the course and teach it; or train your people to provide the instruction. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Your Weak Links in Business Development](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/your-weak-links-in-business-development/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** What’s the weakest link in your business development process? What, if changed, would give you the best odds of getting the most business from current customers and new prospects? If you don’t know, you’re not alone. With their heads down and putting out fires, business owners and senior executives sometimes have trouble seeing the forest for the trees. When their eyes are on the horizon chasing a vision, they sometimes can’t make out the trees for the forest. Here are some trees to look for in your forest: **1. Your Target Market:** Do you have an absolutely crystal clear idea of who the members of your target markets are? If so, you know their “profile”: location, gross annual revenues, number of employees, buying cycles, and other information relevant to why they buy and how. You might even recognize them if they sat next to you at your kids’ soccer match. **2. Your Lists:** Do you have lists that reflect those profiles? Do they have all of the information you need to promote to your target markets, including e-mails? Can you access them easily for marketing purposes? If not, do you have processes in place to get the information you need, such as calling or post-card programs? **3. Your Leads:** Are you getting leads that are truly qualified or are your salespeople wasting valuable time calling on individuals or companies that don’t match your customer profile? Are they gaining access to decision makers or being kept out by the gatekeepers? Are you finding it difficult to even identify the appropriate decision maker within a prospect company? **4. Your Face-to-Face Appointments and Next Meetings:** Do you know how many appointments your salespeople need to make a sale? Are they getting enough appointments with qualified prospects and enough second and third meetings to get the sale? Can you really track the progress your salespeople are making so you know where they need help? **Key Point:** Tracking means knowing not just what goes in one end of the sales funnel and what comes out the other end. It means knowing where your people need coaching to move through the process. Do you have all of the metrics you need to manage your sales reps? Are they good at getting first appointments but not seconds? Do they take prospects right up to the close but not get the deal? New software is available that can help you see into the funnel. It’s probably the most important advance in sales force effectiveness in the past 25 years, but few sales managers are taking advantage of it. Let us know if you’d like to learn more. **5. Your Sales Process:** Many companies don’t have a formal sales process. Too often they believe that selling is an art, not a science. But they’re wrong. We’ve helped hundreds of salespeople and business developers at all skill levels improve their performance with the right training. **A. Is your process transactional or consultative?** Does it create value for your prospects and customers or just present the value you think your product or service delivers? **B. Is it strong or weak?** Does it help your people make sales out of the good leads they get before those leads get away? **C. Is it by design or accident?** If your best salesperson left, could you get a replacement up to speed quickly or would you just “hire and hope” a new person could get the job done? Can you replicate the process your top producers use to stay on top? **Key Point:** The behaviors of the best salespeople in the business-to-business marketplace are the same, no matter the product or service, no matter the industry. And they can be learned with the right training in consultative selling. Yes, we can provide that training, which our clients have found to be an excellent investment for years of future sales. We can help you find and fix the weak links in your business development process before they snap. Just call or e-mail us now to learn how. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [More Upside of the Downturn](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/more-upside-of-the-downturn/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** We really struck a nerve last month with our column, “Upside of the Downturn?” That positive look at our negative economy must have tapped a can-do, fight-back spirit that successful companies share. Response was strong and positive. So, here we go again. But this time, instead of a list, we’ll focus on a single strategy called “disintermediation.” Yes, it sounds like a business-school word for classrooms or Fortune 500 boardrooms, not for your street-smart marketplace. But disintermediation can help, or hurt, growing companies of any size in any marketplace. Imagine you are a successful travel agent 15 year ago averaging about $2.5 million in gross annual revenue. You are as happy as a tourist asleep on a sun-washed beach and, unfortunately, just as clueless. True, facing strong local competition is a challenge. But people are traveling for business and pleasure, and they welcome your help. Can you guess where we’re going? If you said “Expedia,” you are dead right. You and many of your traditional competitors lost millions in travel bookings as Expedia established itself as a $100-million “upstart.” Worse, this interloper arrived from “cyberspace,” an alien world you no doubt had never booked for a customer. You were “disintermediated.” A non-traditional competitor (Expedia) eliminated or took sales from traditional intermediaries (travel agents) between products and end-users. For many travelers, Expedia was faster, cheaper, and more efficient. Plus, it was open at 3 o’clock in the morning. Other examples include buggy whips (by the internal combustion engine) and slide rules (hand-held electronic calculators). **Opportunity Lesson #1:** Consider the slide rulers. Imagine that they had embraced the calculator folks. After all, they had something valuable the calcs didn’t: the market. Who knew better the people performing complex calculations quickly and accurately every day with a small handheld device? Talk about targeting. Looking for the positive in the negative, a visionary slide rule company might well have formed a strategic relationship with an electronics firm. The combination of market knowledge and product development expertise would have been awesome. Now this kind of thinking might not work every time. We don’t know, for example, just how the buggy whip crowd could have embraced Henry Ford. But if you never see the puck coming there’s no way you can block it. **Opportunity Lesson #2:** So far we’ve been talking about the dark side of disintermediation. Now let’s look at its bright side as a tactic for growing your business. How can you use it? - **Open up your “no-quote” file** . What new business opportunities have you turned down? Maybe you thought the fit wasn’t right, the tolerances beyond your expertise, or the opportunity just too large or too small. - **Look for patterns** . Did prospects ask you to perform a service or develop a product you didn’t have? Consider that they asked because they trusted you based on your other services or products. If patterns emerge, reconsider your offerings. Slow times can be great times for testing. When the market looks to you first, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself why. Companies struggle for years to be “top-of-mind.” You might already be there. - **Go for it** . We are not a traditional sales training company. But our work to develop sales processes, generate leads, set appointments, and create effective sales presentations revealed an important fact: Many of our clients lacked consultative selling skills. We realized that even when we generated well-matched leads some of our clients couldn’t close. Poor sales skills were the problem. When we saw that pattern, we entered the consultative sales-training market, in part to ensure the success of our other services. Today sales training is an important part of our business. No, we didn’t wipe out any industries. But we did use the principles of disintermediation to identify an opportunity and make the most of it with expanded services. And we probably did displace more than a few firms teaching more traditional, if less effective, business-to-business selling practices. In fact, we went one step further. We now share our disintermediation experiences and expertise with business owners and senior managers in a 3-hour workshop. Digging a little deeper helps companies find the possibilities and avoid the perils. To learn more, just give us a call. We’ll talk about the upside of the downturn for your company. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Get Busy, Getting Busy!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/get-busy-getting-busy/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Economic slow-downs usually mean we must work harder and smarter to stay busy. If we’re not busy, we need to be busy getting busy and generating revenue now. **1. Get Ahead of the Trends or Just Keep Up.**Do you have the kind of business that could “ride the wave” of a trend? Or, can you make a few changes and jump into the water? Notice that we didn’t say “new” trend. Trends that have been around for a while can be just as profitable. There are still plenty of opportunities, for example, in the aging Baby Boomer market. Our clients with products and services that contribute to sustaining the environment (the “green” trend) are experiencing record sales. But they didn’t get there overnight. Two of them began taking their businesses down this path five years ago. How do you find a trend that’s right for you? We have recently learned of a firm that helps companies sort out emerging trends to determine which will play a part in their future. That firm’s processes also enable a company to plan its actions to align with that trend. **2. Introduce New Products or Services.**This tactic gives sales people a good reason to talk both to existing customers and prospective ones. Plus, introducing something new is exciting, and salespeople do better when they are genuinely excited. General Electric discovered a competitive edge years ago when management began requiring that 25 percent of revenue come from products new to GE in the previous five years. Today the goal is 30 percent. Even small firms that might not have the resources to be that aggressive can put forth their best efforts to develop one new product or service each year. If your customers are still with you but buying less, a new product or service might just fill the gap. **3. Add People, the Right People.**Does this suggestion go against your gut? Well, it probably is a contrarian concept. But adding people during rough times can pay big dividends. Think about it: Some terrific people are looking for work right now. Many have relationships and networks that could mean big sales, if they’re working for you. This approach can work especially well if you are thinking about expanding your geographic scope. Currently we are searching for consultants to add in a few select cities. If we find the right people, our sales should grow above trend during 2009. **4. Think Twice about Your Pricing.**We do not recommend lowering your prices, even if your competition is. Remember, except in a strictly commodity transaction, customers buy because of the total value received over the life of the product or service experience, not because of the lowest price. But you might think about raising them. Yes, that’s right, another gut-wrenching concept. Sometimes taking the road less traveled is the best course. (See “Christopher Columbus,” “Thomas Edison,” “Bill Gates.”) There’s one very good reason a price increase can make sense in tough times. And it’s one you’ve heard from us before. Your competitors are probably following the traditional, defensive tack of lying low, trying to save money and not antagonize their customers. That can open up the field for you to build market share more aggressively by investing in marketing and selling. Keep in mind that if your costs are going up you might have to increase prices anyway. Either way you have an opportunity to remind your customers of the value you deliver. Finally, here’s a warning business owners sometimes fail to heed: Prices must be increased to cover the cost increases you have absorbed in the past year. Without this pass-through your margins will erode, and you won’t be in a position even to consider stepping up your marketing and selling activities. **5. Keep a Positive Attitude.**When the newspapers were reporting that we were in a recession all through the first three quarters of 2008 we quite simply were not, at least by the traditional measure. We had not met the criterion of two successive quarters of “negative growth.” (The rate of growth was decreasing, however.) Plus, unemployment was at a 20-year average level, interest rates were low, and productivity solid. Even now, there is good news in the marketplace. Smart business people will find ways to identify and connect to the realities behind that good news. When they do, they’ll find new opportunities for themselves. So, be confident that you can find opportunities for yourself and for your company no matter the economic weather. And when you succeed in these challenging times, please let us know how you did it. We’ll share as many success stories as we can in future editions of our newsletter. Good luck! **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Upside of the Downturn?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/upside-of-the-downturn/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Our clients are showing us another side of the nation’s tarnished economic coin, and this side is brighter. They’re finding productive ways to make use of this downturn to keep their companies moving up. What does that bright side look like? To us, it looks like opportunity. **Opportunity #1: Standing Out from Your Competition.** While their competition is circling the wagons, some of our clients are stepping up their sales and marketing efforts. They’re doing this to sell more, yes, but it means that they believe other businesses are buying. In fact, a recent survey of small businesses showed that 22 percent are “countercyclical and thriving” (www.barrymoltz.com). Could these companies be good prospects for your business? It’s well worth your while to identify them. We’ve helped hundreds of companies identify new prospects that turn into major customers. **Opportunity #2: Making the Most of Free Consulting.** Most marketing consulting firms, including ours, will not charge for a first meeting. If they take a truly consultative approach, as we do, you might well learn something that impacts your marketing results. We often help companies find productive options they couldn’t see themselves. To cast this net effectively, find consultants who can work on your challenges with several tools. We offer some 30 different marketing and sales solutions. Our task is to help you determine which, if any, make sense for your needs. **Opportunity #3: Training Your Sales People, Even on a Budget** . Hold a marketing breakfast or a “lunch and learn” with your business development folks. An outside speaker or facilitator can re-focus attention on growth, offer an energizing change of pace, and generate momentum. These brief programs can reinforce what your people already know or rev them up with new insights. Customized programs address the objectives and challenges your group is facing at the moment. We’ve used this method with our clients for years in good times and bad. At one law firm, for example, 20 attorneys who have taken our FOCIS® Sales Process Development course are putting it to work in the field. One-hour “lunch and learns” we conduct address their current business development challenges, practically in real time. Their growing consultative selling skills are also reinforced. During two-hour workshops, associates at the firm are introduced to the concepts and techniques of consultative selling. Each program is brief and inexpensive and should lead to new business. **Opportunity #4: Whipping Your Marketing Database into Shape.** If your people have time on their hands, make “important but not urgent” tasks priorities. For example, are your lists less productive than they used to be? Do you normally not have the time to keep them profitable, whether by maintaining current contact information or by acquiring new names? We’ve helped many firms improve response by taking a day or two to review their database needs, identifying weaknesses and strengths and recommending processes that pay benefits for years. Plus, a simple, short-term calling program can fill the gaps in your database and enrich it with new, revenue-building insights. **Opportunity #5: Revamping Your Website Content.** If you launched your website three or four years ago, it’s probably “due for review,” especially its content. Keep in mind that audiences expect more from websites now than they did in the past. Does your site communicate what your company is doing today? Is traffic stagnant or declining? Are you looking for updated white papers, new promotional offerings, and more productive incentives? You don’t need to redesign your site to refresh it. Content can be rewritten to be more contemporary and to take into account new search engine criteria. In slower times with less business activity, you and your team can review, rethink, and retool if needed. For example, a challenge we’re helping two clients address right now is older content that’s too broad to satisfy the more varied and knowledgeable audiences they are now targeting. Listen hard enough, and you can probably hear new opportunity knocking, even as a familiar door is closing. If you need support, just let us know. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [When Bad Economic News Can Mean Good Economics For You!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/when-bad-economic-news-can-mean-good-economics-for-you/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Are your customers buying less and less as the economic news gets worse and worse? Notice that we didn’t say the economy is getting worse-just the news. But that’s another story. And it really doesn’t matter because your bread is buttered at the micro-economic level, not the macro. What can you do now to keep your top line on top? **1. Move Upstream.**Find a new fishing hole that’s bigger and deeper and won’t run out of fish. In other words, set your sights higher and start selling to companies a size or two larger than your standard targets. Larger companies are used to spending more and are less likely to cut back at every blip on the economic radar. First, identify current customers that meet your new, larger target criteria. Then meet with or call them to see how you can deliver more value. Second, develop lists of similar prospects. A targeted list will help you get sales appointments and build revenue. **2. Market More, Not Less**. Yes, in bad times companies cut what’s easiest to cut-frequently, the marketing budget. But easiest doesn’t mean smartest. If your customers are spending less, isn’t it your job to convince them that using your product or service will add value and help their bottom line? Plus, if your competitors follow the conventional wisdom to trim marketing dollars, your message won’t have to cut through “all the clutter” because there won’t be as much clutter. If your competitors are sitting this one out, your message can take center stage. Such increased visibility can pay off in direct sales right now, direct sales in the future, and referrals-especially if you implement follow-up promotions or value-adding communications to stay top-of-mind. Finally, in “tough times,” companies are more aware of their problems and more likely to do something about them: They are looking for your solutions. **3. Be Direct-and Do Direct.**Many companies try direct mail, direct e-mail, or other direct-response vehicles from time to time. When the “results” come in, they feel they’ve been blindsided by a Mack truck. But it’s possible they are just blind to other, less obvious results. Yes, initial response is important. But in some cases a response as low as one-half of one percent can actually generate millions of dollars in revenue. In addition, “direct” must also be evaluated by less tangible measures such as increased name recognition, indirect “halo effects,” delayed response, and referrals. So don’t count it out until you know you’re counting it in the right ways. When he was a publisher and direct marketer of business information, PSI senior consultant Scott Pemberton knew the hard-cash value of every direct-mail promotion and outbound phone campaign his company created. He and his colleagues adjusted promotion quantities, targets, frequencies, and creative by the numbers. But each quarter a good percentage of sales (as much as 25 percent or more) could not be traced to specific promotions. To account for that mystery revenue, even if informally, Scott and his colleagues spread 50 percent of it over the previous one or two quarters’ promotions, effectively increasing the ROI of each one. Were these measures precise? Were they smoke and mirrors? No-and no. They were acknowledgments that direct-marketing promotion investments have residual effects. In some businesses, a single order-immediate or delayed-can pay for an entire promotion. Right now, if you want to learn more about how Productive Strategies uses these three approaches and others to increase sales for our clients, please call or e-mail us. We’d love to help you generate your own good economic news. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [When the Tough Get Going, Where Do They Go?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/when-the-tough-get-going-where-do-they-go/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **We’ve all heard the saying** , “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and we’ve no doubt used it to inspire our troops or ourselves from time to time. And why not? It’s a tried-and-true power-of-positive-thinking gem. Even better, it’s versatile. It can be said with a smile or a frown. It throws down a dangerous-sounding non-challenge without placing blame. And it locks us in the cage with all the other “tough” guys without having to be too specific about which of the mixed martial arts we might mix it up with. But for those of us who think too much it’s also problematical. Once the tough get up to speed, where do they actually go? And, even more important, what do they do to get there? **No, we’re not trying to be funny** . There’s nothing funny about our barely breathing economy or about the hazy road ahead. But we are trying to make a point. Successful business people are nothing if not optimistic. So this time of year we hear a lot of talk about “growth” as in “We want to grow 15 to 20 percent next year.” Or, “If we can’t grow at least 10 percent, we shouldn’t even be in this business.” We applaud that tough-minded optimism and determination. The attitude is absolutely necessary, especially these days, and can be highly productive. But it isn’t sufficient. What we don’t hear enough of is how companies plan to drive such ambitious growth. They’re tough enough, but where, exactly, are they going and how do they plan to get there? We have some thoughts on the matter based on 16 years of supporting our clients’ growth by helping them build sales processes, identify leads and set appointments, and better communicate their key messages in a noisy marketplace. **Get Going:** Before year’s end, invest time to take an honest, tactical look at what worked for your company this past year and what didn’t. Be hard-nosed when you work the numbers, but don’t forget that qualitative achievements often lead to quantitative ones. Did you expand into new markets or begin to build even a few promising new relationships? How can dumping some tactics and ramping up others pay off? In our case, much of our marketing success came from recognizing opportunity in the solid, though broadly defined, target market of health care. We expanded our original three clients in that field to nine, even adding professional staff to make such growth possible. Our qualitative insight came when we noticed that some of our new clients were in the industry while others served the industry. We realized we had two potential markets, not one, and that we could capitalize on our experience in one to catalyze our growth in the other. Which is what we did: All of our new clients were the result of referrals from within one of those two segments. **Get There:** Which sales people did the job and which didn’t? Sounds easy enough to figure out: Just look at wins and losses. But in fact it may be more difficult than it looks. Are you in markets with long sales cycles or contracts that don’t expire for two or three years? The most telling measure of a salesperson’s success here might not be the number or dollar-amount of sales but the number and potential value of new relationships or the strengthening of current ones. A related issue can be the high cost for prospects to switch to a new vendor. On the other hand, even when the evidence is clear, too many companies keep poorly performing reps too long. Or worse, in our experience, they keep sales people too long without providing them with the consultative selling skills they need or helping them get solid leads and appointments as efficiently as possible. There are solutions for all of these challenges. Just give us a call if you want to learn more. **Warning:** When setting growth goals, be sure to take customer attrition into account. We see many companies that retain customers for an average of seven years. So, in effect, the customer base turns over every seven years and annual new sales of 14 percent are needed just to stay even. Growth comes on top of that. **Enjoy the Ride:** We find that a lot of the fun in selling and marketing comes from testing new approaches. There are many, of course, whether you take the time and effort to do them yourself or opt for more efficiency by engaging professionals: writing a white paper, setting up a blog, spending more time on social networking, attending meetings not only of your trade association but also walking the floor at trade shows where your prospects exhibit. However, be sure to give a new idea a fighting chance. You can’t really do one mailing, for example, and conclude that “direct mail doesn’t work for my business.” The same goes for lead generation and for new salespeople. If you’re doing something new, give it your full support! So, where do the tough go when the going gets tough? Wherever their drive, planning, and persistence take them. Where will yours take your company? Be sure to give us a call if you’d like to brainstorm a few ideas that will get your new year off to a running start. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Are Your Employees All Thumbs When It Comes to Communicating?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/are-your-employees-all-thumbs-when-it-comes-to-communicating/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Generation Y and the Millennium Generation communicate quickly and often with multiple people simultaneously. They are adept at social networks, Blackberries and Instant Messaging. If you have observed your own children carrying on instant message dialogues with several recipients while they type their homework, listen to music, and talk over their shoulders to whomever else is in the room, you know what I’m talking about. They’re whizzes at computer-based communicating-but most are not prepared as well as prior generations for the types of face-to-face communication so important in business. They lack essential skills in knowing how to listen, have a balanced dialogue, and make persuasive arguments. Here are some of the challenges they need help with: a). Communicating in an advisory, consultative mode b). Reducing the timeframe to be viewed as an expert c). Creating trust quickly d). Positioning current information for optimal impact e). Upgrading conversational skills f). Changing behavior within meetings with prospects and clients g). Learning to initiate, build, and sustain relationships better h). Learning to help create value and communicate value i). Increasing their influence over others j). Reducing the level of negotiation Productive Strategies offers workshops that help teach communication skills that enable people to communicate and persuade in both one-on-one conversations and in group settings where persuasive arguments are often required. The companies approaching us to help improve the communication skills of their junior people rarely mention an interest in improving their sales skills. As a by-product, improving their communication shortcomings will also make them stronger business developers. This is a bonus. Many companies are concerned not so much about how their mid and lower level people develop business; they just want to be sure that they can communicate clearly and effectively with their peers and their clients. If this is an issue at your company and you wish to learn more about addressing it, please contact us. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How Do Top Salespeople Build More Business Faster?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-do-top-salespeople-build-more-business-faster/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Terry Franke **Content:** Do you rate your ability as a business developer as high as you rate your skill in your area of expertise? If not, you’re probably not reaching your potential for successfully landing new clients and expanding your business with current clients. You need to improve your “batting average.” You can be making more sales to clients and prospects alike. How do top salespeople build more business faster? They behave in specific ways that other salespeople do not. The idea behind their success is really that simple. But putting it into practice is more challenging. That’s where we come in. Our FOCIS® consultative selling program teaches the behaviors and persuasive selling skills the very best salespeople use to stay on top. FOCIS® can improve selling skills, shorten the time it takes to make a sale, improve client satisfaction, and build a highly productive sales process. The four-session program comprises 16 hours of workshops over approximately three months. Consulting between sessions is included to help ensure that your new selling knowledge transfers to your day-to-day selling experiences. I am offering a special price for Travelers Partner Agents of 25 percent off the standard cost of the FOCIS® program. The first session will be Tuesday, July 14, from 8 a.m. to noon at our offices in Northfield, Illinois. The course is highly interactive and limited to 12 participants. Your special price for four sessions is $3,000, instead of the standard $4,000. We’re sure you’ll find that to be pennies compared to the sales growth and success that learning and using FOCIS® can bring you. To register or just to learn more about how FOCIS® can benefit you and your organization, please contact me at 847-446-0008 Ext. 7 or at tfranke@productivestrategies.com. Additional information is also available at www.productivestrategies.com/sales-training.cfm. Our company, Productive Strategies, Inc., focuses on sales and marketing and has been accelerating business revenue growth for our client companies for 16 years in a variety of industries, including insurance. We look forward to helping you accelerate your revenue growth as well. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Cost Reduction within Marketing and The Sales Process](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/cost-reduction-within-marketing-and-the-sales-process/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Yes, there is pressure throughout firms today to reduce costs-and the sales department is not exempt. The paradox is that during slow times there is an even greater need for the work done by both sales and marketing. In an ideal world firms would increase their investments in lead generation so that new business development could offset business cycle weakness. The question is what to do. First, recognize that sales and marketing costs decrease as a percentage of sales the more successful the sales effort is. Therefore, the focus needs to be on generating new, additional revenue. We may in fact increase the marketing budget-if funds are available- so that revenue can be generated, and the cost of sales can fall as a percentage. **Here are 11 steps you can take that will help increase revenues, and hopefully reduce costs:** **1. Eliminate the weakest direct sales people (Group “D” below).** Every organization has sales people that with varying degrees of success. The “A” sales people are the 20% of the sales force that usually produce 70-80% of new business. Leave them alone. The “B”‘s are not as productive, but have the potential. They usually require motivation and light training to make them even more productive. The “C” group makes up the majority of the 80% of the sales force that produces 20% of new business. They require extensive training and are open to learning. The “D” group is not capable of learning, have not tried that which has been taught them, and just cannot be carried any longer. The “D” group must be let go now. **2. Put The “C” group on notice that only the top half of them will survive**, and set a deadline. You can’t afford to carry C’s that won’t move up to A and B levels in the coming months. **3. Separate customer service from new business generation**, and have some portion of the sales force only working on new business development. Too often taking care of existing customers keeps sales people from also working on suspects and prospects. **4. Out source lead generation:**Most sales people (97%) are not very good at cold calling, and don’t like to do it. The combination is costly. They waste away the time, or don’t do it at all. Recognize that cold calling requires special skills and personality types and the people good at making face to face calls will most likely not be good at cold calling. This can double the time that the business development people spend with prospects, face to face. **5. Shorten the sales cycle:**Most companies have an inflated view of how much calendar time and number of calls are required to close new business. We have met very few companies that don’t have the potential to cut their sales cycle in half. This can be done by analyzing the strategy of each of the calls, and determining how efficient the first, second and third calls are. This is often difficult for a company to do on their own- consider hiring a consulting firm to assist. A two or three day audit of your sales process can usually identify the weakness. **6. Use a post card for the next direct mailing to your database.**Post cards have high response rates, and cost less than “heavier” mailings. **7. Increase the size of your prospect database**. Most companies we talk to have too small a database. Buying a list of a new niche, or target market can often breath life into an over used list of prospects. Also, the new names will enlarge the list to where the small, expected response rates have a chance to come home (If mail produces a ½ of one percent response, and you mail less than 200 you most likely will have disappointing results.) **8. Consider expanding the use of independent sales representatives**. They only get paid when they produce new business. **9. Rethink your sales presentation:**Is it educational or persuasive? If too educational you are experiencing too low a conversion rate of prospects into customers/clients. By increasing your conversion rate you will drop the cost of sales dramatically. **10. Begin to Manage your sales pipeline:**New software is available that allows top management and Sales Management to see “into the funnel”. This will enable you to know what specific training the sales force requires, and when the sales manager should intervene to help. While contact management software makes you more efficient, and CRM software helps you store data on customer relationships, the new sales management software provides tools that help the sales person manage his time better; and the sales manager manage his people more efficiently. **11. Do something – NOW!** We see too many companies “waiting for the holidays to be over” or “waiting for a big new order to come in” prior to taking action. Investing in marketing and sales is like putting money into a savings account. The sooner you start is more important than the amount involved. The time value of action is impressive. You have the time during slow periods to engage management other than sales to help in the sales process. The CEO, the head of quality, HR,. …Many of these folks should devout a percentage of their time to business development during times that their normal workload has been lightened by the business cycle. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How Much Are Legal Services Worth?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-much-are-legal-services-worth/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** How much are legal services worth? If you’re an attorney, usually more than clients appreciate, right? That’s why pressure to lower fees is everywhere and assumes a variety of forms. Gaining prominence are auctions for legal services, reports Patrick G. Lee in today’s *Wall Street Journal*. Also called “reverse auctions or competitive bidding,” Lee explains, the tactic is used primarily by large companies to negotiate fees for large amounts of similar work. Attorneys are becoming concerned that the auction approach is “spreading to more complex projects,” according to Lee. In our business development work with law firms, attorneys have told us that when clients understand the true value of a firm’s work–not just the price–fees become much less of an issue. It’s not enough to *educate* clients or prospects about what you do; you also have to *persuade* them of the value. That’s a skill that can be learned and put to work in calls with prospects as well as clients. We’ve helped many of our clients develop a customized consultative selling process that achieves both goals. Some attorneys are taking the bull by the horns. They allow clients to have a say in how much the firm’s legal work is worth. One of our business development clients, in fact, offers its clients–with every invoice–a line on which the clients can *increase* the fee they pay or *decrease* it. It all depends on how much they appreciate the value of the firm’s work-that is, how well they have *been persuaded to understand the value* of the firm’s work. And, yes, this firm is very successful. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Hunting to Farming Ratio in Business Development](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-hunting-to-farming-ratio-in-business-development/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** How much time do you and your sales people spend hunting for new accounts v. “tending the soil” (farming) for existing customers? Do you think the balance between the two is optimum? or in line with your stated objectives? How much would revenue increase this year and next if the balance was adjusted to an optimal level? The best balance for your business may not be what you think it is-and may have a greater effect on your bottom line than you imagine. As sales and marketing consultants, we see too many situations where the sales people are under utilized as “hunters” and excessively involved in customer service. Over time they bring in too little new business from new accounts-and even too little new business from existing accounts. Causes of this problem-and good solutions-can range from the organizational design, job re-definition, and performance metrics down to the skill levels required to identify and win new business. Even technology can play a role in both the problem and the solution. If the hunting/farming ratio may be a problem on some level within your firm, please contact us. We offer to discuss the issue on a no cost basis, help you calculate the opportunity cost of lost sales, and propose solutions. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [“News” on Persuasion](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/news-on-persuasion/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The *Chicago Tribune* reported today that a consultant in California is gaining fans in the legal world for breaking the mold with his “frighten-ingly powerful” PowerPoint presentations. The article on the front page of today’s Tempo section correctly reports: - Images are more powerful than text - Using a creative artist to story board the message is powerful - Dramatic visuals should replace boring pie charts and text - The visuals should not compete with what the speaker is saying So what’s wrong with this message? What’s wrong is: This is not news. The California consultant in question has apparently been successful with his use of images. But PSI has been creating and implementing highly successful presentations for its clients using this technique for more than a decade. Most of you who are reading this have either taken the Productive Strategies FOCIS® Selling course or PSI has built your PowerPoint Sales Presentation. Going back as far as 1993 PSI began helping clients win new accounts using the same techniques the Tribune now describes in glowing detail in its article. Many of you know this story: the first law firm that used our service had lost six major beauty contests in a row, competing for Fortune 1000 corporate cases. After taking our training and using our presentation, our client won the next five opportunities. While our technique was not used in the court room, as it was by the subject of the Tribune article, our client says he would not have been in the court room representing his corporate client without the benefit of our discovery training, presentation techniques, and the presentation itself. Yes, the Tribune article is more than a decade late. But it is right on in its central premise: there’s an “art” to creating high-impact, persuasive presentations. If you are reading this, you are a client of our firm. If your presentation is now out of date; or if you have been using FOCIS® but have not coupled discovery with a persuasive presentation, we should talk. www.productivestrategies. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Productive Strategies Can Help You Discover Sales Growth](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/productive-strategies-can-help-you-discover-sales-growth/) **Published:** May 21, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Most companies can’t identify which factor in their sales and marketing mix would, if changed, result in the most increase in revenue. Frankly, we don’t know what your number one sales challenge is either.. We do, however, have a process for figuring it out. While helping hundreds of companies we have found: - Some need **strategic** help; others **tactical** - Some need a **marketing plan** ; others require help in **implementation** Some need more leads in the pipeline; others should focus on **closing a higher percentage** of existing opportunities - Some need a more powerful **sales process** in order to be successful in high stakes competitions; others would benefit from being invited to the “short list” dance - Some feel they have to **differentiate** more from competition so buyers can’t commoditize them; others would benefit from being able to **communicate the differentiation** more efficiently within the sales process - Some need a **shorter sales cycle** ; others need to shorten the time frame for **new sales people to become cost effective** - Some need to build up their **channel of distribution** ; others have to learn to **sell direct** because the channel has become dominated by order takers - Some need **more suspects and prospects** in their database; others need a **new database engine** to track their customer relationships - Some need to **strengthen selling skills** ; others need **product training** for their employees, distribution channel, or customer Is your greatest challenge listed above? **Our suggestion:** Have a discussion at your firm to answer the question about the number one challenge. Try to prioritize the various shortcomings you identify. There might be consensus and you can begin to address the issue. If you need help, keep reading. **Our offer:** We will meet with you for an in-depth session to help you identify your greatest sales challenge-the one that, if overcome, would result in the greatest return on your marketing investment. There is no charge for this. Our fees are earned helping companies implement the solution. If interested, please contact me. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Show and Tell or Ask and Listen?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/show-and-tell-or-ask-and-listen/) **Published:** May 20, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Why do you think Chicago lost its Olympic bid?** There’s a lot of speculation, as you know, and not just in the Windy City. - Michael Jordan didn’t step up and Pele did. - President Obama left after his “pitch” instead of waiting for the results, snubbing the process. - Backroom deals were in the works, and Chicago was still at the front door. **Now, we don’t want to beat a dead bid.** But invest a little more time here to get our perspective, and we believe your company may well see top-line dividends. Why? We help companies build business-to-business sales processes, and we believe we have a good idea of why Chicago “lost the sale” . . . and how it could have won. Essentially, we believe that even though Chicago did at first attempt to approach the bidding process as a complex, consultative sale, the city’s final presentation was more like that for a simple, transactional sale: much more “pitch” than persuasion. We know that the city invested time building relationships with members of the International Olympic Committee and attempting to learn the issues that most concerned them. That’s what consultative selling does. But the city apparently was unable to discover a “winning” issue on which to build a highly persuasive campaign, which is what successful consultative selling does. We can only speculate as to why. Perhaps those asking the questions were experts on sports but not on effective consultative selling techniques, or perhaps there just wasn’t enough time. Thanks to bids for the 2004 and 2012 Games, Rio de Janeiro had years of experience building a relationship with the IOC and learning its spoken and unspoken concerns. Such experience could only have helped Rio’s cause. We don’t agree that a splash of flash would have saved the bid. In fact, we’ve found that a low-key approach works well in exactly this kind of complex decision-making process. The decision is a big one with high risk to the buyer, made by committee, based on multiple interactions, and implying a long-term relationship. Again, an Olympics bidding process has all the hallmarks of a consultative selling situation. **And about that word “pitch.”** Nearly everyone used it to describe Chicago’s bid, especially in connection with the city’s final presentation. Even the President of the United States and the First Lady “pitched” Chicago. “Pitches” and flash can work in small sales, where the first, and last, outcome is a one-time transaction, not a long-term promise. If you’re hot and thirsty, you buy a glass of lemonade from the pop-up, card-table stand in your neighbor’s front yard. If you’re tired and hungry, depending on your nutritional orientation, you eat a hamburger and French fries or maybe even crow, if you have to. You buy, consume, and move on. The sale is transactional, not consultative. A bid to host the Olympic Games is clearly a consultative sale, not buy-and-consume transactional. Is a pitch strategy the best strategy? We don’t think so. What is a pitch? It’s the way most salespeople work. It’s education, not persuasion. It consists largely of telling prospects how great your product or service is and how it works. Unfortunately, a simple pitch strategy does not itself work in complex sales and can even be harmful. Consultative selling–asking, listening, discovering–does. **So we think things might have played out this way:** Rough-and-tumble, chest-beating Chicago performed for the Olympic “buyers,” telling them all about itself in classic “pitch” style and treating them like an audience. That’s about all Chicago could do by that point. The city did not really articulate a clear case for Chicago based on issues of importance to the committee, either because it never found any or didn’t understand how best to present them in a way that was more persuasive than educational. On the other hand, a more elegant Rio de Janeiro partnered with the committee as in a dance (probably the Samba), asking questions and listening to the answers to learn which issues most concerned the committee. **Eventually, Rio discovered a problem** ideally matched to its solution, and that problem became the heart of a strategy that provided clear differentiation. The really important part of what Rio learned wasn’t even a secret. But Rio could use it to persuade the IOC that its selection would achieve an objective above and beyond just putting the Games in a city that would do a credible job. The issue? The International Olympic Committee is genuinely committed to the ideal that the Games are for all of the world’s people. The IOC problem that selecting Rio solved was that no nation in South America had ever hosted an Olympics. South America’s continental rivals in the bidding process, however–Europe, North America, and Asia–had carried the Olympic torch many times. Once Rio understood the implications of solving this IOC problem, the city could approach the bidding process so that the necessary educational elements lined up to persuade the IOC that, well, hey, Rio is the only logical choice. **Important Point #1:** Rio did not discover the one-and-only “best” issue that could influence the committee’s decision. It discovered an issue that worked for Rio. We believe that Chicago (or Tokyo or Madrid) could have discovered an issue that matched up with its strengths too. Unfortunately, its efforts at discovery fell short and a transactional presentation was the only recourse. **Important Point #2:** Identifying an issue significant to a prospect isn’t enough to close a sale. You then have to use that issue so the prospect sees that your solution is the most logical and the one that “feels” right, as Rio no doubt did. **Now here’s where your company’s top line comes in** . Take a long hard look at your sales process. Does it show and tell or ask and listen? Is it all about you and your products or does it focus on the customer? Is it an educational pitch or a persuasive consultation? Most important, are you, like the Windy City, losing opportunities you’re sure you should have won? We won’t ever know if a consultative, persuasive strategy would have sealed the deal for Chicago. But after 16 years of helping our clients build successful sales processes, we do know that discovering what’s important to buyers affects the top line much more than telling them what’s important to you. To learn more about how to develop a customized sales process for your company, please give us a call. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The ABCs of RFPs](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-abcs-of-rfps/) **Published:** May 20, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Recently, we’ve been getting more questions in our consultative selling training course, FOCIS®, about how to handle requests for proposals. The number of RFPs received both by companies and professional services firms seems to be increasing. How can you maximize your chances of winning? Here are two myths about RFPs and three realities we believe can help answer that question. **Myth #1: Companies that create RFPs know what they want.** Well, sometimes they do. More often, though, they know what they think they want but don’t understand what they need. Most buyers don’t know as much about what they’re buying as sellers know about what they’re selling. In other words, they don’t know what the best possible outcome is. You are the expert. That’s why they sent you an RFP. You know what the best outcome is because you know a lot more about what’s possible. Knowledge is in fact power. To learn more, see Myth #2. **Myth #2: RFPs are sacred.** No, they are not. Most RFPs are designed with the mistaken notion that they will “equalize” competitors and produce the best all-around “deal.” Again, sometimes that’s true. Mostly, though, one of three things happens, none of them good for salespeople. First, sellers are driven to compete severely on price. The ones with the lowest price may be the ones who really need the business, not the ones who can do the best job. Even highly qualified companies must work harder to communicate their value. Second, to take share, sellers who can afford to may low-ball the price. But spending more than you make doesn’t work forever. And losing regularly because your price is too high doesn’t make much sense either. Both kinds of sellers need a new way to compete. Finally, the companies that don’t really need the business may simply choose not to participate. And that might be OK in the short term. But substantive growth doesn’t occur without truly new customers or clients. Sit on the sidelines too often, and you’llsoon be out of the game. (And, when a seller who can deliver great value sits out, the buyer can be hurt too.) So what realities can help you make the most of such opportunities, like it or not? **Reality #1: You can (and should) beat your target market to the punch.** Don’t just sit back and be reactive. Instead, be proactive. Identify and call on companies that fit your target profile. Begin a relationship before an RFP is needed, and you might short-circuit the process. Are you building a relationship by providing value? If so, why should a buyer go through a complex and time-consuming process when a suitable source (you) is right there? **Reality #2: You can (and should) ask you own questions.** Gain competitive advantage by performing discovery within the RFP process. What does that mean? Pick up the phone, call the buyer, and say, “Thanks very much for your RFP. There are a few things I’d like to clarify.” Ask questions that show your sincere concern for the prospect and that reveal your expertise. Raising new questions delivers value, and you may well become a trusted source. Even if you don’t win this time, you’ll have a leg up the next time. But most important is that you will probably learn of an issue or two not specifically communicated in the RFP. That’s a real advantage, if you know what to do with it. To learn more, see Reality #3. **Reality #3: You can (and should) change the rules.** Or at least try to. Some salespeople call this “sabotaging” an RFP. Here’s an example. Asked to bid on resolving an international tax issue, partners at a professional services firm delivered their proposal in November and in person (always a good idea). The prospect strongly implied they would get the business but not to check back until the new year. We first met with the partners in December. They were quick to say that they would be celebrating on New Year’s Eve because a major piece of business was coming their way. “When was the last time you spoke with the prospect,” we asked. Early November, they replied, when they submitted the bid. They were surprised and not a little annoyed when we told them we didn’t think they would receive the business. Even more so when they heard our valuable, albeit complimentary, advice: “You should re-engage the prospect immediately.” In our experience, companies that place a major piece of business want to move on it right away. That means they are always in touch with the winner to sort out last-minute details before an official announcement. No chatter means no business. In fact, a competitor “out-discovered” the firm to unearth a muddy but important issue not in the RFP. Senior executives wanted the tax issue resolved, yes, but their real fear was that they had no idea about how big the problem was. The RFP was about what they thought they wanted to know, not what they needed to know. (See Myth #1.) **Key Point: The successful bidder ignored the RFP.** Instead, he proposed a much less expensive audit to determine the extent of the tax issue. Not only did he get the assignment he created; he also positioned himself to solve the problem he was going to identify. He won because he was the only bidder to quote the “revised” specifications, which none of the other bidders even knew about. Now, we are not saying that rules are made to be broken. What your third-grade teacher (and your mom and your dad) told you about the value of following directions is true. On the other hand, we do believe that under the right circumstances giving serious thought to what certain rules really mean only makes sense. To learn more about what we mean by that, give us a call. We have helped many firms win RFPs as well as “beauty contests,” “bake-offs,” and “shoot-outs.” **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Sales Force Impasse](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-sales-force-impasse/) **Published:** May 20, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Are you faced with this ongoing challenge: You hired some great new sales reps… or so you thought. You invested your time and money in recruiting and training them. You’ve been waiting for the big surge in new business and revenue, but it just hasn’t happened, and it’s not likely. One of the reps is doing pretty well, but the others… well, to be honest, they’re not meeting their quota. And now you’re not so sure you made the right staffing decision after all. Traditional wisdom finds companies struggling to fix their sales issues by asking questions like these: **Do My Reps Need…** - To improve their ability to overcome objections? - To do trial closes more consistently? - To be more motivated and enthusiastic? - To improve their pitch, by focusing more on benefits, and less on features? - To create more urgency in their sales process? - To begin to demonstrate the product or service early in the cycle? **PSI’s Opinion…** - Doubtful that’s really going to make a difference. To do trial closes more consistently? - That’s not it. - Important, but it’s not the difference-maker. - Probably not where they should be focusing their time. - Not if they expect the prospect to make a commitment. - Not a good idea in a complex sale. The reality is… none of the above are likely to make a measurable difference. Traditional approaches simply do not work consistently in a complex sale. Before you spin your wheels looking to old solutions or approaches, ask yourself this: “Is there something missing in our sales process?” In 2006, what are the attributes that distinguish the top producer from the underperforming, below average sales rep? Top producers know how to effectively thrive in the new, challenging environment of increased customer expectations. Top sales professionals thrive in an atmosphere where they must differentiate themselves and their services from their competition so that buyers won’t “commoditize” them. Some need to adapt to new channels of distribution, and others need to learn how to go direct. Bottom line: they achieve persuasion by providing consultative value to their prospects. But how did they get that way? Were they born with it, or did they acquire the skills? For the past 10 years, Productive Strategies has taught customized private workshops in consultative/persuasive sales skills to hundreds of companies, from manufacturers to law firms to high-tech software companies, ranging in size from two or three person firms to Fortune 500 corporations. *Here is our offer:* We will meet with you or talk to you by phone for an in-depth session to help you identify your greatest sales challenge – the one that, if overcome, would result in the greatest return to you and your company. There is no charge for this session – our fees are earned by helping our clients convert their underperforming sales reps into top producers. If you are interested, please contact us using the reply button. P.S. If you’re among the 5% of sales forces that does not have the challenges stated above, please visit our website www.productivestrategies.com for more information about our unique lead generation services. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [CEO Sales Training](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/ceo-sales-training/) **Published:** May 20, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** The CEO has the ultimate responsibilty for sales in his or her organization and must keep those skills sharp. To better understand the culture of selling, and what makes some sales people successful the CEO must possess those critical sales skills themselves. Overview: Seeking new ways to learn what your prospects and customers really need? Interested in finding a very precise explanation for the complicated process of persuading prospects to select your firm over competition? Looking for ways to shorten the sales cycle, reduce the time for new sales people to become cost effective, and improve customer/client satisfaction? Need to learn consultative selling skills? This twelve hour seminar/workshop (three half days) will present the theory behind a specific skill for developing new business for companies with sophisticated products and services. If desired, additional sessions can be scheduled to help participants further apply the theory to their business, or receive in-field coaching. The overall objective is to help you understand the theory of marketing discovery and to teach you the consultative selling skills necessary to use this theory. Mastery of this skill set will help build sales at your company. Participants receive a 70 page workbook. **Highlights:** - Learn why 20-30% of sales people produce 70-80% of new sales. - Discover why traditional sales training is not effective in your marketplace; and how to respond when prospects attempt to commoditize your offering. - Understand why your prospects and customers only hear a portion of what you say. - Learn why sales from new products and service offerings often lag behind traditional products that are not as effective in meeting customer needs. - Discover why clients sometimes value your work less than they should; how to resist being commodities, and how to obtain higher prices. **Who should attend:** CEO’s who want to play a larger role in helping their organizations reach aggresive revenue objectives. **Presenter:** Philip Krone has been an active marketing professional since 1972. He is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a management and marketing consulting firm that helps companies define and reach their growth objectives. Krone graduated from Duke University with a BA in Psychology and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Krone has spoken before many groups and published several articles regarding The Five Levels of Marketing, Managing Sales Reps, and FOCIS® Selling. FOCIS® Selling is a registered trademark of Productive Strategies, Inc. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [New Peer Group Opportunity](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/new-peer-group-opportunity/) **Published:** May 20, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Could you use a regular forum to discuss your major sales and business development concerns? Sales pros are just beginning to recognize how Peer Groups can act as their de facto Advisory Board – an invaluable tool CEOs have relied on for years! **Productive Strategies** has responded to this need by forming “BONIS” SM Peer Groups: issue-driven forums for professionals who are directly responsible for developing new business. Members may include direct sales people, independent reps, entrepreneurs, and business professionals tasked with new business development (lawyers, engineers, technology providers). In other words….hunters. Our first group, which I facilitate, has been meeting in downtown Chicago for several months. The group includes professionals selling legal, financial, and HR related services. We are seeking additional members. Meetings are the first Wednesday of the month, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in downtown Chicago. Additional groups are also in the works. The goal is to enable individuals who are committed to exceptional performance to benefit from what amounts to a dedicated Advisory Board. Here you will share best practices, be held accountable for your results and gain support from others who are walking a similar path. The Peer Groups operate under the acronym of **BONISSM.** The initials stand for the five types of activities the members will focus on month-to-month. Each **Productive Strategies** Peer Group is designed to include 8-12 non-competing professionals who meet monthly for 2 hours. Each member is expected to bring some unique value and expertise to the group. Meetings will be facilitated by professionals from our staff with many years of sales, business development and management experience. If you are interested in learning more about joining a **BONISSM** Peer Group for business developers and sales professionals, please email me or call me at 847-446-0008 x 1. - Gain an independent perspective on strategy and execution. - Develop insight to drive your business to the next level. Regular meetings require members to look at their efforts from a broader perspective. - Benefit from best practices, becoming better organized, and being held accountable for commitments and performance. - Gain confidence and direction through the support of a team of independent advisors; use their input to make the necessary changes in your own business and provide reciprocal guidance in return. - Improve sales performance by collaborating with a group of independent colleagues. Implement new ideas, modify your behavior and perhaps create a breakthrough for yourself through group brainstorming and analysis. Work with colleagues dedicated to each other’s success and regular input. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Productive Strategies Introduces Senior Consultant Michael Schnitzler](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/productive-strategies-introduces-senior-consultant-michael-schnitzler/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Philip S. Krone, President of Northfield-based Productive Strategies, Inc. (PSI), announced that Michael Schnitzler from Northbrook, Illinois, has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant. The addition of Schnitzler to the firm is part of an expansion strategy undertaken by Productive Strategies in 2006 to respond to client demand. Schnitzler is an experienced sales and marketing professional and former General Manager of a technology division of an international event management company. He has extensive background in lead generation strategy and in assisting technology vendors and solution providers in new business development. Schnitzler will expand the firm’s capacity to offer its flagship program, FOCIS ® Selling Training, and deliver sophisticated lead generation services to companies with complex business development processes. Philip Krone remarks that “Mike’s personality and expertise in the contact center and technology arena will be welcome additions to the PSI professional mix. He is particularly well-qualified to address the sales-related challenges of a growing market heavily involved in complex selling.” “Our skills and services are an excellent fit for each other,” commented Schnitzler. “PSI is a unique marketing and management firm that can assess the marketing needs of individual firms in every field. Its ability to support companies in everything from improving sales process to providing advanced, highly-qualified lead generation services makes it especially suited to my own expertise in high-tech industries.” **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Productive Strategies Introduces Sr. Consultant Kristin Brown](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/productive-strategies-introduces-sr-consultant-kristin-brown/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Productive Strategies, Inc. (PSI) is proud to announce that Kristin Brown, founder and former president of Course Design International of Evanston, Illinois, will join forces with the Northfield based marketing and management company. As a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Brown will contribute her mastery of instructional design and delivery of training curricula to industries ranging from healthcare to telecommunications. She will bring two new important practice areas to the firm: - Database consulting, including design, implementation and training - Product training for employees and customers of client companies PSI president Philip Krone remarked that PSI clients have turned to the firm since 1993 to improve sales skills and sales process. He added, “Now we are also in a unique position, with Kristin’s particular instructional design and training curricula expertise, to improve our clients’ product training.” “Training is an important part of what we do,” Krone says. Brown was responsible for developing the instructional design for PSI’s flagship program, FOCIS® Selling Training, which teaches the methods used by the most successful salespeople. Now she will be conducting FOCIS® training as well, potentially in four languages. “Our skills and services complement each other in a number of ways,” said Brown. “PSI can support companies in everything from market definition to getting the sale and delivering training on their products and services, both internally and to their customers.” Productive Strategies, Inc., located at Two Northfield Plaza, Suite 205, in Northfield, IL may also be reached through their website at www.ProductiveStrategies.com. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Productive Strategies Welcomes Mike Hill and Indianapolis](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/productive-strategies-welcomes-mike-hill-and-indianapolis/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** We’re pleased to introduce the newest member of our consulting team, Mike Hill, who will primarily serve growth-minded companies in the greater Indianapolis area as a senior consultant. Mike also has expertise that our other U.S. clients might find helpful. A lifelong Indianapolis resident, Mike was for 18 years a senior executive at Meyer Plastics, Inc., leading sales and marketing growth as vice president. Meyer Plastics is an outstanding family-owned, industrial distribution company located in Indianapolis. During his tenure, the company experienced significant growth and added several new distribution locations. We’re sure you’ll find Mike to be a dynamic individual. A talented sales coach and mentor, he also flies airplanes into the wild blue yonder and dives into the deep blue sea. Sorry, that’s just my over-the-top way of saying he’s an FAA-licensed pilot and a PADI-certified SCUBA diver. And while we’re at it he also climbs mountains (but not in Indiana) and runs marathons (but not in the mountains). **We’re high on Mike** and believe our clients will be too. His professional background ranges from in-the-field selling and coaching to corporate office marketing and strategic planning. Perspective as a middle-market business owner will be invaluable to the owners, CEOs, and presidents we often work with. He’s great hands-on and can also quickly see how it all fits together. Also important, especially now, is that Mike shares our optimistic attitude toward U.S. business and the staying power of small and middle-market businesses. He knows firsthand, as we do, that such companies produce the bulk of net new jobs each year (70 to 80 percent, in fact). They are the heart of the free enterprise system in America. And I won’t apologize for going over the top on that one. We’ve been saying it for years as Mike and our clients have been living it. **But that’s not all.** Mike is also a writer and public speaker. He is the author of “Measuring to Manage,” a business book about how to use measurable data to gain maximum employee productivity. He has personally conducted more than 500 employee evaluations. So, Mike will be able to effectively determine which of our some 25 services, if any, might be right for your specific challenges and opportunities. We specialize in providingbusiness-to-business sales processes; generating leads for a variety of businesses across all industries, including professional services, and creating marketing communications that drive dynamic business development. **A new tool** for Mike will be yet another certification, as an instructor for our popular FOCIS® Sales Training course. FOCIS® has taught the skills and behaviors of the top business-to-business producers to hundreds of business developers at all levels of experience and achievement. Finally, Mike is a past president of the International Association of Plastic Distributors and holds both bachelor of science and master of business administration degrees from St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York. So, when you want practical perspective, need specific services, or just looking for upbeat conversation, give Mike a call at (317) 445-7524 or e-mail him at mhill@productivestrategies.com. He not only believes in our proven approach of providing value at every turn. He knows how to deliver it. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Attorneys Attend the FOCIS® Business Development Workshop](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/attorneys-attend-the-focis-business-development-workshop/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Is your firm seeking new ways to improve your client base? Were you a top-performer in your law school class who realizes that business development is a dimension of your job that you weren’t really prepared for? Are you interested in finding a very precise method for tackling the complicated process of persuading prospects to select your firm over competition? Would you like to shorten the business development cycle and reduce the time required for new attorneys to become cost effective? Do you need to learn and become comfortable with consultative selling skills? Overview: The FOCIS® 16-hour seminar/workshop (four half-days, typically spread over 2.5 months) combines an exploration of consultative selling and discovery theory with the development of specific skills to accomplish your goals. The course is customized to work with your own challenges and areas of expertise. A 115-page workbook supplements the in-class learning. The course is offered in open session for individual attorneys or in closed session at the law firm. Limit 10 per class. Firms may schedule additional sessions beyond the base level to develop strategy for a particular opportunity or receive in-field coaching. Mastery of the skill of marketing discovery and consultative selling will help build a stronger client base at your firm. Highlights: - Learn why 20-30% of attorneys produce 70-80% of new business - Discover why traditional sales training is not effective in your marketplace; and how to respond when prospects attempt to commoditize your offering - Learn to cross sell into other practice areas - Discover how the big firms win “beauty contests” when competing for major cases - Discover ways to get the day to day work at clients who now are only giving you the major transactions - Learn the best ways to convey expertise and trust to prospective clients - Become more comfortable with business development - Reduce pressure on fees **Who should attend:** Top “rainmakers” as well as those struggling to bring business into the firm; those who want to become more selective about their client base; associates working to become partner; attorneys who wish to improve the protection of their intellectual property during the business development process. Philip Krone has been an active marketing professional since 1972. He is president of Productive Strategies, Inc. , a ten person management and marketing consulting firm that helps firms define and reach their growth objectives. Krone graduated from Duke University with a BA in Psychology and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Krone has spoken before many groups and published articles and commentary in diverse marketing areas including The Five Levels of Marketing, Managing Sales Reps, and FOCIS® Selling. PSI has helped hundreds of attorneys at 15 different law firms improve their business development skills. He has also helped law firms win major new accounts. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Do Prospects Respond to Your Voice Mails and E-Mails?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/do-prospects-respond-to-your-voice-mails-and-e-mails/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Terry Franke **Content:** If a voice mail doesn’t generate a callback **,** has anyone listened to it? If an e-mail doesn’t inspire a response, has anyone read it? We just don’t know, and we might never know. We can feel ignored, frustrated, and discouraged. Does a “no-response” mean: no interest, too busy, spam-blocker extreme, technology glitch, no longer at this address, or . . . ? And not knowing whether your voice mails or e-mails have been received can cause real, practical problems. **Unanswered voice mails and e-mails waste our time.** They distract us. They create extra work for us. They stay with us, taunting us. Why didn’t I hear back? Doesn’t he want to know how “our company is different”? Doesn’t she want to know “about a creative solution I have for her company”? What to do? The answer isn’t to get angry or get even. The answer is to get *through*. There’s no shortage of how-to “tips and techniques.” Maybe you’ve tried a few and even found you get responses, though it’s not clear why. Here are typical examples from voice mail, but they crop up in e-mails, too. *Mysterious:* “Hi, this is Bob from . . . Please call me when it’s convenient.” *Matter of Fact:* “We met at the trade show last month. I’d like to schedule a time for us to get together.” *Over the Top:* “My name is Sally and our company is the best in the industry. We . . . and we also . . . and here’s how we . . . .” **What’s missing from each of these typical (and too-often taught) approaches?** It’s a key element that we’ve watched, time and again, greatly increase the chances of getting a response. (No guarantees here. We’re just trying to improve the odds.) None of these callers even attempts to offer something of substance, something the prospect might benefit from hearing or at least be interested in. Each call focuses on the caller: “Call *me* ,” “ *I’d* like to schedule,” “ *We* are the best.” Consultative selling, as we define it to our clients, is delivering value *during* the sales process. To receive a response, e-mails and voice mails must earn the right to receive a response. In other words, give value in your voice mail or e-mail and *then* ask for a response. Stephanie Fonda, formerly a sales manager at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, needed to fill 110 exhibitor spaces in five months for a *new* trade show. At first her prospect calls went into voice mail and never came out again. So she turned to us for coaching in how to deliver value during the sales process. The change was dramatic: “We had a huge increase from one in 20 call backs to one in five.” That’s an increase of 500 percent. Once she was actively talking to prospects Fonda kept them engaged by applying consultative selling principles from our FOCIS® course. She then followed up with more targeted e-mails and other communications. The result was that she oversold the show by seven exhibitors. Here’s a generic value-added version you can adapt to your company and industry. “This is Bob from . . . Our customers in your industry are experiencing Problem X right now. Is that affecting your business? Do you think it will? We’d like to know your opinion. Please call me.” In an e-mail, the subject line must spark interest in a similar, provocative way: “Is Problem X Coming Your Way?” And the message must be clear, brief, professional. **How does that approach create value?** Well, first, you’re providing useful information about the marketplace, maybe even important information. Maybe your prospect hasn’t heard about this problem or is concerned but doesn’t know what to do about it. Second, by asking questions about your *prospect’s* business, your prospect is now thinking about what could already be a problem for his company or could become a problem. Once headed down that path, the odds are he’s going to start looking for a solution, if not now, then further on. And, hey, you’re right there providing directions. Even if your prospect doesn’t call back, you’ve differentiated yourself by focusing on your prospect’s business instead of yours and by asking questions that show your expertise. That means the right follow-up communications can keep your value-delivering approach top of mind via e-mails, newsletters, white papers, special reports. Those communications can pull your prospects into your Website so they can “learn more” about your company on their own schedule. There are many questions you can ask about the problems your prospects and customers face in their specific industry. Nearly all can be used to deliver value in an e-mail or voice mail. Your time is valuable and your prospect’s time is valuable. Don’t waste it by leaving voice mails or sending e-mails that haven’t earned the right to be answered. If you’d like to learn more about getting through and staying top of mind,, please give us a call at 847-446-0008 or e-mail tfranke@productivestrategies.com. If we don’t pick up, be sure to leave a message. We’ll call you back no matter what. ***Terry Franke*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc. He is a strategic, certified executive coach, and proven business developer with expertise in building relationships within large corporations and selling services to C-suite executives. He can be reached at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is ADHD Affecting Your Sales Results?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-adhd-affecting-your-sales-results/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Recently, I was training a group of salespeople and professionals in consultative selling and developing customized sales processes for each of them. Somehow, the topic of ADHD came up and knowing smiles appeared around the room-at least, among the sales reps. We’ve heard from time to time, and you might have too, that “many” salespeople have ADHD and are perhaps even better off for it. Is that really true? Are individuals with ADHD more likely to choose sales as a profession over others? “Salespeople with ADHD can be excited by new meetings and networking,” explains [Dale Davison](https://www.dale-davison.com/), an executive coach in Wilmette, Illinois, who specializes in adults with ADHD. “They are good at starting conversations and building that initial relationship-they’re charming, outgoing, and genuinely interested in whoever they’re talking to.” Once it’s time to “buckle down,” however, “they may lose interest or not know how to organize to follow up,” Davison says. “They may know their product inside and out but have so many ideas that they find it tough to limit their thoughts and organize presentations.” **Here are a couple of examples from my experience,** and I wonder whether these reps were dealing with ADHD. A sales person from Los Angeles I coached was really struggling, making virtually no sales even though he met with 18 convenience store managers almost every day. My assessment was that moving so quickly from store to store prevented him from focusing long enough on a single prospect to deliver value and set the stage for a sale. I suggested no more than four meetings each day, at least until he became much more effective. We then worked on a customized sales process to make those longer meetings more productive. Another client travels from industry conference to industry conference making some terrific contacts, practically choking the top of the sales funnel with leads. Unfortunately, he rarely sticks to a follow-up process long enough to make a sale. The several reasons he offers for his poor follow-up do make some sense. But might his real problem be ADHD? **ADHD is short for** **Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder** , and it’s generally associated with kids struggling in school because they can’t concentrate or sit still. But about 9 million of 234 million adult Americans, or four percent, are thought to be affected by ADHD, according to the [American Deficit Disorder Association](https://add.org/). And about 80 percent of adults who experienced ADHD as children also experience it as adults. Our research didn’t turn up any studies on salespeople or, for that matter, any other type of worker. It’s generally believed, however, that the percentage of salespeople with ADHD could be double that of the general population. Is it possible to tell whether a colleague or, if you’re a sales manager, a rep, is dealing with ADHD? Unfortunately, simple observation won’t do it. Diagnosis is more complex and occurs via interviews by mental health professionals and relatively expensive tests for which, happily enough, insurance might well pay. But here are a few behaviors that might indicate ADHD, especially if they affect on-the-job performance. Are you or any of your sales colleagues . . . - Easily distracted? - Find prioritizing tasks or managing time difficult? - Energetic but disorganized? - Restless (Unable to sit behind a desk all day)? - Great at pushing leads into the top of the funnel but not at pulling them out as sales at the end? The first four behaviors are characteristic of people with ADHD. The last, which comprises several symptoms of ADHD, can be characteristic of salespeople: Energetic up front but poor at following through, hanging in there for the long term, keeping track of “boring” paperwork, or too much top-of-the funnel activity and too little in the middle where the money is made. Keep in mind, as executive coach Davison is quick to point out, that we’re talking generalities here. Not everyone who exhibits ADHD-like behaviors in fact has ADHD. And many salespeople don’t show any of those tendencies. **The good news about ADHD and sales** comes in three parts. **Part 1:** Sales can be a productive profession for people with ADHD. They can experience great success, especially if they recognize their condition and take steps to make it work for them instead of against them. Without coaching, though, the odds for success are reduced, unless a co-worker or administrative assistant is bringing discipline to the process and helping them stay on track. **Part 2:** Coaching to treat ADHD is available and works because it helps individuals turn around counterproductive behaviors and habits. Medication can also be useful. (Be sure to see a physician trained and experienced in prescribing this kind of medication.) Professionals in the field help salespeople to create “productive strategies” to improve their success. That’s our goal as well, so we are trying to get the word out. If you think that ADHD is getting in the way of your success, or that of a member of your sales team, don’t hesitate to contact a trained coach. **Part 3:** The advice and techniques used to treat ADHD in adults are in fact helpful to anyone who needs to prioritize, organize, manage their time, or get things done more efficiently. And that covers just about everybody. Here is what the right coaching can do for salespeople with ADHD-and anyone else who struggles with similar challenges. Effective coaching can: - Provide positive, strength-based guidance to implement effective and focused strategies - Advance the success of salespeople with time management, task completion, and other attention related challenges. - Develop realistic goals, identify roadblocks, and then create strategies and support that motivate but also require accountability. - Offer guidance and support for individuals who become overwhelmed with work, life, and getting things done. - Help sales reps with great ideas who become easily bored and, losing interest in projects, fail to complete them. Although we don’t coach people in connection with ADHD, please feel free to contact us. We can point you in the right direction, at least, and we do know that our customized sales process, FOCIS®, can be extremely valuable for *any* business-to-business salesperson. It sets direction and provides a path to follow when the going gets tough. We can’t help but think that FOCIS® training might be especially valuable for salespeople with ADHD. If you’d like to learn more, please give us call at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008). **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [No Booth? No Problem.](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/no-booth-no-problem/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **For some of us,** working a trade show without a booth is like walking a tightrope without a net-exciting and scary at the same time. A client who is making the leap-at least for one show at the end of this month-asked us to help train his people who were going to attend. The truth is that in some ways taking on a trade show without taking a booth can be better. After all, no booth to set up or take down, no schedules to maintain for “manning” the booth, no *cost* to sponsor a booth. It all depends on your objectives for the show. **Focusing on the upside** , then, trade shows are still the best way to connect with prospects, vendors, and competitors face to face. Since you’re not anchored to your booth, you’re free to roam the show at will whenever and wherever you please. But how do you make the most of this newfound freedom? Here are a few of the basics we shared with our client during a pre-show training session. **Plan Ahead.** And we mean before you go to the show, not on the plane. Do it as a group and then as individuals or vice versa. Think it through, write it down, and share it with everyone from your company who will be there. Check out the show’s program and create a schedule with assigned tasks and responsibilities. **Key Point:** What is your objective for the show? What do you expect to accomplish that will make the time, money, and effort pay off? That should drive at least some of your activities. Figure out how to know if you’ve achieved it: “Count Your Success.” **People Your Plan.** Which customers will be there? Which prospects? Which competitors? “Name names”–both of individuals and of companies. While not always easy to do, try to schedule meetings at the show with key contacts ahead of time. Know what you want to accomplish at each meeting. “Improving customer relationships” isn’t good enough. Be specific: “Bring John up to date on our newest service and what it will do for his company.” **Prepare a *Brief* Elevator Speech.** No more than 30 seconds or so. Your name, your company’s name, what your company does, and what problems it solves for its customers are really all that’s needed. Pause and then ask a question. The idea of an elevator speech, at least in part, is to keep us from talking about ourselves so that we can let prospects, vendors, and competitors talk about themselves. That’s the only way we’ll discover information that will help our company and our careers. **Know Before You Go–and Before You Get Back.** Determine *exactly* what you’re going to do the first morning you come back to work. Otherwise, all the “stuff” that’s piled up while you were gone will grab you by the throat and drag you down. Get support from your colleagues and coordinate your efforts. Will you follow up with e-mails within a week, for example, and then phone calls within two weeks? Don’t spend all of your time with your colleagues. Your company’s spending money on air fares, hotels, rental cars, and good eats *not* so you can chit-chat with people you see every day for free. You need to meet with people you don’t have a chance to see face to face every day-people who will make your company’s investment in a trade show pay off. **Key Point:** Table Manners. Sit at different tables at lunch or dinner events. Or, at least sit *across* the table from each other. Why? So you will talk to people you don’t know. And don’t pressure yourself to have a conversation with everyone at the table. We recommend taking this valuable time to learn all you can about the individuals on either side of you. This approach is better than simply collecting as many business cards as you can. Do you have trade show stories you’d like to share? Just let us know at . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Women As Game Changers](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/women-as-game-changers/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Some 25 years ago I gained an** **insight** about women, sports, and business that continues to unfold even today. At a dinner I was seated next to Phil Purcell, then chairman of Dean Witter, a large financial services firm and a division of Sears. I mentioned that my seven-year-old daughter was the only girl on a co-ed basketball team. What he said next stuck with me, if in paraphrase: “Your daughter will have a tremendous advantage as an adult. I’m employing women who are in the first generation of successful women executives at large corporations, and they’re great except for one thing: They don’t know how to lose.” When the firm would go after a big investment banking deal and come up empty-handed, he said, “The women are crushed. They take it personally. They come in the next day wondering how, with all the work we put in, we didn’t get the deal. It may take them a month to get over it.” The guys, on the other hand, thanks to their competitive sports experiences, were used to winning, losing, and battling hard just to end up with a tie. **“We lost that one. Let’s learn from it. Where’s the next deal?”** was their attitude, Purcell told me. They were quickly “shaking it off,” “getting back in the race,” “finding a way to win,” or activating any other positive sports cliché you’d care to name. More to the point, in my opinion, they didn’t think twice about it. They just did it, in part, because they learned from sports that things can change rapidly. The difference between winning and losing can be the difference between acting and not acting, deciding and not deciding. In short, the guys had learned the lessons sports teaches and routinely applied them to competing in business without hesitation, even if they didn’t always realize it. Now, thanks in part to Title IX legislation opening up organized sports to girls nearly 30 years ago, more and more women today apply those same lessons to competing in business. They do understand very well the leg up sports competition can provide. “Sport is hugely important for people in business in general, but definitely women,” Sarah Robb O’Hagan told Chicago *Tribune* columnist Phil Rosenthal for his August 7, 2011, column. O’Hagan, 39, is president of Gatorade North America and, as a girl, played field hockey and other sports in New Zealand. “It’s very cliché and basic, but it’s teamwork, learning how to play a position. The best teams on the field have exactly the same dynamics as the best teams in business.” **A connection between sports and business success for women** was recognized at least a decade ago. An Oppenheimer Funds survey of 400 women business executives earning at least $75,000 (in 2002 dollars) at companies with more than 100 employees showed that: - 81 percent of the women had played organized team sports and stayed physically active - 69 percent believed sports helped to develop their leadership skills - 68 percent said sports helped them deal with failure. Recently, professional services firms have been hiring us to work exclusively with women at their firms to close the clear gender gap that exists in business development success. We find that once women have a custom process for business development that relates to their practice area-in law, for example-they are more comfortable, more confident, and just more capable of winning new business. (That actually goes for men, too. It’s just that women haven’t had as much opportunity to learn the right process.) In our consultative sales training and custom sales process development practice, we see among the women we work with a trend to compete and to *train to compete* more aggressively. For example, about a year ago we were invited to teach our FOCIS® consultative business development course to women attorneys from three Washington, DC, area offices of a large, global law firm. We’ve since taught the course in women-only sessions at two of the firm’s Los Angeles-area offices and are scheduled to launch 2012 with a session at its Pittsburgh office. Now, we know our experience is anecdotal and doesn’t mean that these women attorneys competed in organized sports programs. And we want to be clear that we’re not even implying that to succeed in business or a profession you must have a background in sports. That’s simply not true. **But we are glad to see** that the insight Phil Purcell offered me at dinner 25 years ago is on target. The playing fields on which men and women compete to develop business are, in fact, leveling out, thanks in part to competitive sports. How can our sales training, lead generation, and marketing services be game-changers for you and your business? Please visit our Web site at www.productivestrategies.com, e-mail one of our senior consultants listed at the site, or do it the old-fashioned way and just give us a call. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Marketers: Beware Customer Service](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/marketers-beware-customer-service/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Is your customer service department practicing what you’re preaching? Or is it turning the faithful out almost as soon as they walk through the door? Successful marketers understand three, tried-and-true axioms of marketing ROI, and are coming to understand a fourth, relatively new one. However, recent personal experiences have reminded me that customer service departments may not be as well informed. Here are the old and new marketing axioms. 1\. Keeping current customers is much less costly than acquiring new ones. 2\. For every customer who complains out loud, 10 others just quietly take their business elsewhere. 3\. Lifetime value counts for a lot, especially in highly competitive, price-sensitive markets. 4\. In the social media world, bad news travels fast–really fast. It’s important that marketers ensure customer service policies are structured with the four axioms in mind. Have a chat with your customer service people. Are they working as effectively to keep customers as you are to get them? **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Focusing on Charisma](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/focusing-on-charisma/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Terry Franke **Content:** **By definition you can’t *become* charismatic.** You either are charismatic or you aren’t. But you can develop some of the traits charismatic leaders come by naturally and increase your ability to influence and lead people. For example, no matter how large the crowd, a charismatic speaker makes nearly everyone feel he is speaking directly to each of them as individuals. “That’s just how *I* feel,” you’ve heard people exclaim after a powerful speech or even after a small group discussion with a dynamic leader. You’ve probably felt that way yourself a time or two. To develop a similar skill on a smaller scale, practice it in your day-to-day interactions. How? In this age of multitasking, you make a powerful statement simply by *putting your stuff away* , suggests Jeff Haden on *Inc.com*. Turn off your smart phone, close your laptop, put that Kindle down, ignore your e-mail. People will see what you’re doing and appreciate you for doing it. You’ll get a reputation for being “present” and “in the moment” at all times. That will attract members to your team or at least help them consider your side of nearly any debate. **In the language of marketing,** you’re *differentiating* yourself, not by telling people you’re different but by showing them. But it can be difficult in today’s world. Because we ourselves might expect immediate responses to nearly any communication, we might also feel obligated to respond immediately when someone calls, texts, or e-mails us. But you can’t listen to someone-really listen-when you are constantly checking “stuff.” In meetings, make a point of shutting down external communications. Set your Blackberry or iPhone to “silent” or, if you have the will, turn it off and put it away in purse or pocket. Then, *ask others to do the same*. In our consultative sales training course, FOCIS®, we advise salespeople, executives, and other business developers to take notes during a sales call. That shows you’re sincere about the meeting and that you are serious about understanding your prospect’s goals and challenges. Plus, there’s no way you can check your e-mail if you’re asking questions and taking notes. **Do you have ideas** on how to develop a charismatic traits? Do you agree or disagree with my thinking here? Please let me know what you think. I guarantee I’ll pay attention. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Following Up Means Business](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/following-up-means-business/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** How effective are you at following up on sales opportunities? By that I mean after seminars, networking events, proposals-even “old” ones-chance meetings, and so on. It’s been eye-opening to me over the years to see just how effective simply following up can be. In fact, for salespeople, following up is akin to Woody Allen’s statement that “80 percent of success in life is *showing* up.” Be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, and you boost your chances of winning tremendously. Why don’t salespeople and other business developers follow up on contacts? Well, here are a few reasons we’ve heard: “They didn’t seem that interested, anyway.” “It’s been too long.” “I don’t want to seem pushy.” “They told me they were too busy.” “I don’t want to interrupt their work right before the holidays.” And the list goes on. None of those excuses holds water. As soon as you hear one whispering in your ear, take action and follow up immediately. Good things can happen. After a day-long networking event recently, I pulled 13 business cards out of my pocket from potential prospects, each a company owner, CEO, or president. In other words, busy people. The next day they each received a brief e-mail from me. A few days later, those who hadn’t responded–which were 12 of the 13 originals–received a phone call from me. If I couldn’t speak with them directly, I left a voice mail. At least one told me, “No,” but gave a logical explanation, and I won’t contact him again directly for several months. Then, for the higher priority leads, I called a second time. To date I’ve met with or had lengthy (an hour or so) conversations with three (two on site at their businesses; one by phone), have submitted one proposal, and had requests for two more. Will I score three sales? Who knows? But I certainly put myself in a position to simply by following up. **Key Point:** Just because a lead doesn’t respond to your first or even second contact attempt doesn’t mean he’s not interested. Finally, making contact immediately is even more important for leads you receive over the Internet. The reason is that these people are *actively looking for* products or services like yours. That means several other potential suppliers have been contacted, too, and any delay reduces your chances of making it to the next round of consideration. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Stop Selling for the Holidays?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/stop-selling-for-the-holidays/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Business-to-business sellers can come up with all sorts of reasons their prospects and customers just don’t buy during the holidays. What happens? Sellers just stop selling. And why not? During the holidays everyone knows that buyers are . . . 1\. *Getting ready* for the holidays. They’re too busy to listen to sellers–especially you. 2\. *Celebrating* the holidays. They’re too busy to *meet* with sellers–especially you. 3\. *Enjoying* the holidays and want to forget about business for a while. If they let you show them great products at great prices, you’ll remind them of the business they’re trying to forget and ruin their happy holiday mood. They would never allow that. Do these complaints sound familiar? If they do because they’re coming from the mouths of your colleagues, put your hands over your ears fast. If they sound familiar because they’re coming from your mouth, pick up the phone fast and call a current account, a new prospect, or even you mother: Just be sure you stop telling yourself that buyers don’t buy during the holidays. The only reason buyers don’t buy during the holidays is because sales “professionals” don’t ask them to buy. Have you ever thought that maybe all those bad-news buyers are in a *good* mood that will be good for your business? Or maybe, in addition to getting ready for the holidays, they’re getting ready to jump start the new year and your products are just what they’re looking for. Or maybe, because business is “slow,” they have time on their hands and would talk to you for five minutes–or 60. After all, nobody else is trying to sell them anything and that means they’re not buying anything, right? You get the picture, I hope. Don’t let the holiday jeers coming from your colleagues–or even from you–keep you from selling during the holidays. Buyers do buy during the holidays *if* you can identify problems your product can solve for them and persuade them of the value of your solution. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Credit Where Credit Is Due: CPEs for CPAs](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/credit-where-credit-is-due-cpes-for-cpas/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Our popular consultative selling course, FOCIS®, now provides 19 hours of continuing professional education credit for CPAs. That’s great news for at least a couple of reasons. First, the official government licensing authority in Illinois has recognized that consultative selling is a skill that can be learned and developed with the right training and guidance. It’s not magic or a talent that “rainmakers” are” born with.” True, some top business developers are naturals. But even the naturals perform the same behaviors that FOCIS® teaches, and just about everyone else can learn those behaviors. We didn’t invent the behaviors. Highly successful salespeople-the 20 percent who bring in 80 percent of the business day in and day out-have been practicing them for years, even if they didn’t know it. What we did invent is a highly effective way to teach those skills and make them stick through extensive reinforcement in the classroom and in the field. The second reason it’s great news that CPAs can receive CPEs for completing FOCIS® is that building consultative selling skills-and a customized sales process-is downright good for them! “Selling” is something nearly everyone in business must do at some level. But not everyone respects selling as a skill or a profession in its own right. Professionals such as accountants, attorneys, engineers, architects, and others can be especially skeptical. They’re understandably reluctant to take time (and billable hours) away from their true work, even to learn other, professional skills they need to maintain and grow their firms. “I didn’t go through law school to be a salesman,” is a comment we frequently hear. No, and with the right consultative selling skills and customized process, no professional has to be a “salesman.” Instead, the skills and process of effective consultative selling enable professionals to become productive, *professional* business developers. FOCIS actually makes it easier to practice a profession because it makes business development much more efficient, saving both time and effort. Concerns about bringing in business can be reduced significantly. So, if you are CPA (or other professional) who’s never seen the value of developing the professional skills you need to grow, or even maintain, your firm, please give us a call at 847-446-0008. Or you can reach blogger Scott Pemberton directly at 312-560-0992. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Reinventing Your Company? Consider Disintermediation](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/reinventing-your-company-consider-disintermediation/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **The term “reinvention”** as in “I’m reinventing my company” is practically a business cliché. But exploring ways to reinvent your company-or yourself-is also a terrific tool for thriving in today’s rapidly changing business climate, maybe even surviving. Many companies can and do use it successfully. That, after all, is how it became a cliché. Many techniques of reinvention are available. One that we believe can be especially effective, though little used, is called disintermediation. If nothing else, taking a long hard look at how disintermediation might affect your business-positively or negatively-offers valuable perspective on the threats and opportunities your company faces. It might even be a game-changer. **What is disintermediation?** Aside from being a mouthful, it can be an effective business development tool. Disintermediation occurs when one intermediary loses business to another intermediary in the supply chain. It’s losing business, or a portion of business, to a non-competitor who is an intermediary in the supply chain. Although in general eliminating the middle man increases efficiency, it also breaks snap individual links in the chain. We’ve seen companies use disintermediation effectively over the years, including our clients, but most market participants overlook it. The reason is simple: Although disintermediation isn’t difficult to understand, implementing it is another matter entirely. It not only requires clarity of vision but also an ability to innovate and a stomach for risk. It might even require reinvention. **Take traditional travel agencies circa 1996.** Online travel wunderkind Expedia swooped in and made off with $100 million in business travel agents would have otherwise booked. In effect, that put some 50 traditional travel agencies averaging $2 million in revenue out of business. Today travel agencies still provide valuable services but their industry was transformed, and many have been forced to reinvent themselves. As an under-the-radar upstart, Charles Schwab did something similar to traditional investment firms. Though it did not eliminate any of the big boys, Schwab did disintermediate some of their services. The new model unbundled and shed the most costly services, such as account management and research, and allowed smaller, individual investors to invest directly for much less. Today, of course, Schwab is itself one of the bigs. **What about your business?** Could you disintermediate supply chain partners? Could they disiintermediate you? How should you be thinking about disintermediation? A good way to start is to ask these questions from time to time. - **On Defense:** Are you at risk of losing business to an enterprise you would not have considered a competitor in your market but rather a company behind or ahead of you in the supply chain? - **On Offense:** Can you bundle, unbundle, or re-bundle services in a unique way to offer some segment of a market a greater value? Look closely at technology trends in your industry. They might create such realignment of services. In addition, look at intermediaries as *conduits of trade* -channels of distribution, both in manufacturing and services, not as competition. Disintermediation refers to a channel participant’s loss of business to another *type* of intermediary, not a direct competitor running a similar business model. To maintain their role, intermediaries must add value for the trading partners on either side as goods and services travel through channels. Channel participants could be primary or secondary manufacturers, dealers, brokers, independent sales reps, wholesalers, retailers, or end users. Even professional service firms are not immune. Some basic legal services are available online, for example, which cuts into law practice revenues. **Earlier this month,** Greg Buscetto, division president for Catamaran, one of our clients, told a group of CEOs in Chicago how disintermediation helped to catapult it from $100 million dollars in annual revenue to its present size of more than $10 billion. (Previously, known as SXC Health Solutions, Catamaran was named *Fortune* magazine’s fastest growing U.S. company for 2011.) An information technology supplier to pharmacy benefit management companies (PBMs), Catamaran was a link in the PBM supply chain as a provider of sophisticated IT services. Then, to accelerate its growth, the company *acquired one of its clients* -an aggressive and decidedly risky offensive use of disintermediation. Because Catamaran (SXC) continued to play the same supply-chain role it had always played-providing IT services to PBMs-the company was now in direct competition with its own clients. **What if Catamaran’s other customers** decided to drop the company because it now competed with them? Fortunately , they did not. The reason was that Catamaran had a strategic advantage in that its IT services were superior and customers valued them highly. (Something to think about if you’re tempted to disintermediate your customers.) A new kind of “intermediary” was born that not only served the PBM market but also participated in it. In addition, this move gave Catamaran an advantage that accelerated its growth even more. The company became better at both types of businesses because it now had firsthand knowledge of both businesses. **We played a small role in Catamaran’s growth.** Through consultative sales training we helped the sales force become better at selling (and continue to do so today) *and* at using the sales process to gather market information that drives product development. As a PBM Catamaran is in a much stronger position to gather intelligence than when it was simply the IT supplier to the PBMs. We have a process for helping companies build a model that reflects both the service flows in their business (pricing, inventory, order entry, research, taking returns) and the various types of supply-chain intermediaries that provide those services. We can help you determine how vulnerable you are to disintermediation, and what opportunities may be in store if you chose to disintermediate others. At the very least, this a great way to see if you can or should reinvent your company, perhaps even your market. We can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Big Data or Small Ball?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/big-data-or-small-ball/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Big data is a big deal** these days because it offers unparalleled opportunities for companies to transform their relationships with their customers. The problem is that you have to be pretty big to take advantage of those kinds of opportunities. But if you run a smaller company, plenty of opportunities to play “small ball” with data exist, too. (In baseball, “small ball” implies a down-to-earth way to win: Moving runners base by base to home plate versus launching big home runs into outer space.) **What is big data?** It’s a name for data sets so large that they can’t be managed effectively with traditional software tools. Manipulating big data, for example, may require hundreds of servers with software programs running in parallel. Think the federal government, Wal-Mart, or Facebook. All this came to mind because recently in the course of one week big data seemed to be a topic of conversation by clients or prospects everywhere I turned. On Monday, a supplier told me about his ability to manipulate customer transaction data to produce useful analytics to drive new sales and customized solutions. Many casinos, for example, can produce amazing details about any one individual customer; for example, which games he likes, her average bet, how many minutes per day are played, and, most important, the value of each visit. The next day I heard about a software system that helps users of every-day products change their purchases to match specific goals, such as saving money, supporting the environment, or looking and feeling healthier. On Wednesday, another supplier shared a way to manipulate transaction data to identify prospects that look like our best customers. The CEO of a health-care client explained on Thursday how putting big data to work could remove $100 billion in avoidable costs from the health-care system. Fewer than 50 percent of the prescriptions physicians write are taken as directed, for example, many of those aren’t even filled by the patient, and many of filled prescriptions are never picked up. Finally, it was time to think small-or, at least, smaller. Most of our clients are businesses selling to other businesses, and they don’t have the massive number of transactions consumer companies do. There is no “big data” for these folks. They can, however, get great benefit from thinking the way the manipulators of big data do. The idea is to assess the data you have, can develop, or buy and use it to work your way around the bases to a score by playing small ball. **1. Learn the deeper buying motives of your customers.**Most companies believe they know why their customers buy their products-that is, what value people receive. However, we routinely see clients that correctly identify only about half the reasons people value their products and services over others. They’re truly surprised when we help them identify and understand the other half by looking for the need behind the need. For instance, a buyer may say she wants to lower costs. While that’s probably true, the need behind the need here-a more powerful reason she’s motivated to buy-may be that she’s in line for a promotion or that her job is on the line. **2. Create a statistical profile of your best customers.**Match businesses on multiple criteria to develop prospect lists that match your own list of your best customers. The match can be based on the vertical market, the size of companies in sales, the number of employees, the geographic location, and many others. Especially useful for companies opening up new territories, this approach also helps to segment large responses to promotions to determine which group(s) are more likely to buy. **3. Know where your new revenue comes from-and how much.**Analyze the sources to identify leads that are more productive. What are those sources? Well, to name just a few: direct sales; indirect sales such as reps, dealers, brokers and distributors; trade shows, Web inquiries, direct mail, and referrals. A surprising number of small and middle-market companies don’t bother with this practice. They believe they already know because they know their big accounts. That kind of limited thinking can miss trends, niches, and opportunities to open new markets. **4. Determine your “Net Promoter ScoreTM.”**The basis for this metric is one question that you ask your customers or clients: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend (our company) to a colleague or friend?” Essentially, the NPS measures loyalty and represents the likelihood that an existing customer will purchase from your company again or recommend your company. It’s considered by many to be a better predictor of customer loyalty and behavior than traditional customer satisfaction surveys. **Key Point:** Just because customers are “satisfied” or even “completely satisfied” doesn’t mean that they are loyal and that they will buy from your company again or recommend you to others. To learn more, see *The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth* and other works by Fred Reichheld or give us a call at 847-446-0008. **5. Try the twelve-twelve tool.**You can use monthly sales figures (or other key metrics) to smooth out data, remove seasonality, and discover true trends. E-mail us (), and we will send you a spread sheet with the formulas you need to implement this approach, especially if you have a good amount of historical information, say, monthly sales for ten years. If we can help you gather, analyze, or take advantage of any type of data need please let us know. We’re especially good at finding the data you need-big or small-to sell more of your products and do so more effectively. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Putting My Mouth Where My Money Is](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/putting-my-mouth-where-my-money-is/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **“Would you like to skip the painkillers today, Phil?”** My dentist was about to drill away some decay in one of my teeth to ready it for a filling. Typical stuff, really, made bearable today by local anesthesia, or “painkillers.” But a new kind of dental “bur” is available that we’re helping a client bring to market. Essentially, a bur is the “bit” of a dental hand piece-the sharp end of the stick most of us know as a “drill.” Our client, SS White Burs, a well-known and highly respected dental manufacturer with a 165-year history of groundbreaking achievement, has developed a new polymer bur that reduces or eliminates the need for an anesthetic. The bur is hard enough to remove decay but not hard enough to damage the healthy tooth itself. Many dentists aren’t even aware it exists-yet. However, at my request, our client had called on my dentist, who I suddenly realized was asking if he could try out the new bur on me. In other words, how enthusiastic was I about my client’s “painless” product? An experience I had a few years ago came to mind. **At a software firm’s retreat,** on the night before I was to deliver an address about marketing, one of the firm’s salespeople asked me what I was going to talk about. (He wanted to skip my talk to play golf, especially if he already knew all about the topic.) The topic, I told him, would be “Why do 20 percent of the salespeople sell 70 to 80 percent of all new business?” He smiled because now he knew he would play golf. “That’s easy,” he said. “They are enthusiastic and motivated!” But in reality it’s not that simple. Why? You know yourself that you rarely, if ever, meet a top producer who is not motivated and enthusiastic about his company and the product or service he is selling. I know I never have. But you have met plenty of motivated, enthusiastic salespeople who are not top producers. In selling, enthusiasm is required but not sufficient. “Skip the golf game,” I suggested. Now, as my dentist waited expectantly for my answer, my enthusiasm about my client’s product was about to be tested to the max. “Well?” my dentist asked again. “Should we skip the painkillers?” **My heart skipped a beat** as I said, “Absolutely! Let’s skip the painkillers and try the new bur.” Wow, I thought to myself, “Am I going the extra mile for a client or what? And, then, “What have I gotten myself into?” My first experiences in a dentist’s chair were as a child, when needles were not so thin, drills not so fast, and painkillers not so effective as they are today. Fortunately, my enthusiasm for my client’s product, bolstered by my dentist’s confidence, was well placed. It all turned out well. No needles. No anesthesia. No numbness to slow me down afterward. Gain without pain! **What lesson does my adventure hold for salespeople?** Simply this: As the seller you almost always know more about what you’re selling than the buyer knows about what he is buying. And, even if he doesn’t consciously realize it, a buyer uses a seller’s enthusiasm, or lack of it, to narrow the field. After all, with everything the seller knows about a product or service, if the seller is not enthusiastic, why should the buyer be? In fact, a lack of enthusiasm by a seller can actually signal a buyer to back away. Put another way: Though required, enthusiasm alone is not sufficient to win the sale. You must have a strong, customized sales process to carry the day. Our consultants and I make this point, and many others, when we teach our consultative sales course, FOCIS®. And with great enthusiasm, I might add. Wouldn’t you like to improve your consultative selling skills or those of your salespeople? If so, just give us a call. You’ll enjoy gain without pain. I promise. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-good-the-bad-and-the-beautiful/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Once a promising trend,** remote sales forces are now commonplace and for good reason. Locating salespeople in or near their territories can produce terrific (and much-needed) cost savings. But remote sales forces can be uncommonly difficult to manage, and cost savings don’t translate directly into a stronger top line. The far-flung productivity enabled by technology can sacrifice what professional trainers and talent managers call “engagement”: the level of an individual’s commitment to an organization for its products or services and a passion for its purpose. “The time you do spend with your salespeople becomes paramount,” says Andy Carr. As executive vice president of sales and marketing at AIR-serv, Carr leads a remote sales team that covers territories throughout North America and Europe. AIR-serv is the industry leader in tire inflation and vacuum services with some 65,000 locations at service stations, convenience stores, and car washes. To encourage strong engagement, Carr uses regularly scheduled conference and one-on-one phone calls to provide guidance and help his reps feel connected to each other and to the company. But he says that conference calls just don’t accommodate those side conversations and bonding that face-to-face communication does. **So he goes one step further** by getting his people together for our popular consultative selling course, FOCIS®, and for occasional refreshers. Carr has seen the FOCIS® training format deliver much more than innovative and productive training. “FOCIS® creates camaraderie within our sales organization,” he explains. “It develops relationships our salespeople can use to bounce things off their peers, to talk about things that work and things they struggle with.” Overall, a more-engaged employee performs better than a less-engaged employee, according to Gallup. And that goes double for salespeople-well, actually 2.6 times. Gallup studies have also shown that increased engagement has a direct effect on profits. We see it ourselves with other sales organizations we train. A customized sales process and a common language with which to talk about selling produce better results. We’ve also seen that, if well managed, sales forces can be successful whether they are centralized or remote. At least in part, well managed means well engaged. “Employees that are engaged will be working from the heart,” one sales rep told Gallup. **Here are some of the challenges** we’ve seen that remote sales forces face and ideas we hope will be helpful if your company serves remote markets with local salespeople. **1. Transferring product and prospect knowledge** is less likely to occur simply because fewer informal opportunities exist. When salespeople are in and out of the same office, transferring information about products, customers, and prospects happens without extra effort. And there are special cases. Salespeople from an acquisition who join the team may well have a history with the prospects you’re working on. If they’re remote, capturing that information and sharing it internally will be tougher. Software coupled with cloud-based systems can help because all of your salespeople can access it. **2. Peer-to-peer sales training is reduced.**When experienced and inexperienced reps are located near each other, mentoring relationships develop and lead to more joint sales calls. To compensate in a remote sales team, consider: - Investing in more sales meetings. They bring your sales people together and let them exchange tips, ideas, product information, and success stories. - Building in “down time” as well as “uptime.” To intentionally accelerate informal learning, AIR-serv’s Carr brought his European sales force in for training with us and added several days to the traditional meeting format. During that time, the European and American salespeople rubbed elbows and exchanged information and ideas that resulted in more sales on both sides of the Atlantic. **3. Establishing and maintaining a consistent corporate sales culture** becomes more challenging. However, as Carr discovered, developing a customized sales process can more than offset that. An established process also allows salespeople new to the company to get up to speed faster, in part because common terminology results in faster communication that can almost be called “sales shorthand.” We’re not talking about a “canned pitch” PowerPoint here. We’re talking about common strategy, common principles of consultative selling, common intellectual property assets your salespeople can share-visuals, discovery questions, stories, rules of thumb-and a common purpose. These are true competitive advantages that keep your reps engaged and always moving in the right direction no matter where they work. **4. Being part of that culture can be especially difficult** for individual salespeople. One way to reduce that problem is to schedule training in connection with a significant company date or event. Here’s a beautiful example. I was on my way to lunch after conducting a morning sales training session at National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA) headquarters. The company helps schools find and enroll students that meet their profiles. I entered the lobby to find all 60+ employees eating their lunches while sitting on the floor. The CEO explained that on July 1, 1988, their first day in business, the four people who launched the company had no cash in the bank and no furniture in their offices. One of the four cut a two-for-one lunch coupon out of the paper for Burger Boy, a local hamburger joint. She brought back four burgers and the four original employees sat on the floor and ate them. Now, every year on or about July 1, that scene is replayed-complete with Burger Boy specials-as a way to remind current employees of how far the company has come and how much great work they’ve done to bring it to this point. Sales managers: How are you managing your remote sales force? Sales reps: How do you succeed as a remote sales rep? Call or e-mail us to talk about it. And don’t forget to ask us about our FOCIS® consultative selling course. We’ll be happy to talk about that, too. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Why ‘showing up’ makes a difference](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/why-showing-up-makes-a-difference/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Sometimes I find myself with a lump in my throat** over a story I occasionally tell in our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, about a vintage United Airlines TV commercial. The commercial shows the boss, apparently an owner or CEO, talking to a room full of executives. He’s telling them about a phone call he received from a customer they all know to be rock solid, practically part of the family. As he walks deliberately around the room handing out envelopes, the boss quietly explains that this “old friend” has just cancelled an important, long-running contract. In the envelopes are airline tickets. The goal: Put the executives back in touch with their customers *face to face*. The meeting ends and one executive asks the boss where he’s going. “To see that old friend,” he replies. Woody Allen once said that “80 percent of success is showing up.” Experienced sales professionals, like me and many of you reading this column, know the heart and soul of business-to-business selling, especially, is just that: Being there to show you care. A lesson the TV boss and his company learned the hard way. It took a punch-in-the-gut phone call before they got this powerful, human message from the marketplace. They never saw it coming. But they should have, right? And I think that’s why the commercial strikes such a chord with me. As a salesperson, the importance of “showing up” is that much a part of me. In addition to “Fly United,” the commercial is telling us that business is nothing if not personal and you ignore that fundamental truth at your peril. When the ad aired in the 1980s fax technology was booming. The commercial resonated with many businesspeople excited about the possibilities of technology but concerned about its pitfalls. The message may be even more powerful today when time constraints prevent us from meeting with all the people we would like to, and conversation through technology is even more prevalent. Yet *just* showing up doesn’t get the sale, does it? It can open opportunities, however, that calls, e-mails, Tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, and, yes, faxes do not. Being on the spot can: **Head Off Requests for Proposals:** One of our clients meets with prospects already under long-term contracts with its competition, not just when the contract is coming up for bid but early in the contract’s life. The value our client delivers during those meetings-always face to face-has led some prospects to waive their common practice of sending out RFPs. Using this approach, our client has signed deals amounting to billions of dollars (yes, billion with a “b”) because the firm was able to create superior value and communicate it in part by showing up. Prospects ultimately see our client as a strategic partner and don’t see a need to waste time issuing RFPs. **Give You an Information Edge:** One time I was meeting with a buyer of a major U.S. manufacturing company who was a prospect of one of our clients. The buyer received a phone call from a current source asking a typical post-proposal question, “How do we look?” in connection with a project for which my client was also competing. The competition, in effect, was asking “How does our price stack up?” Unfortunately for our competitor, the challenge had changed dramatically from the original RFP and now went way beyond price, a key fact our mutual prospect wasn’t about to go into over the phone. A serious design problem threatened a do-or-die Christmas deadline for a major big-box retailer. Since we were on the spot, we had been briefed on the design problem, *even though my client was not a current supplier*. We had a major information advantage, including the ability to ask questions face-to-face, and my client offered a highly creative solution. What I found fascinating was that the buyer brushed off the competition’s price question by claiming he had not “made up the spread sheet.” The truth was that creating a spreadsheet would have been easy. But the buyer chose not to reveal information he had already revealed to us. Why? He certainly wanted to maintain confidentiality, which he could not ensure if he revealed the problem over the phone. Plus, the buyer felt he could trust us, in part because we had made the effort to be *there*. What a lesson in favor of showing up! **Give You an Inside Track, If You Show Up *Early*.** Experienced sales people know never to be late but also to show up early. Only good things can happen. Probably most the most productive is that you have time to get quiet, take a deep breath (don’t forget to release it!), and focus on the purpose of your call. You can even *visualize* at least the first few minutes of your call. In addition, you might get extra time with a prospect, which I firmly believe was why I made the most important sale of my life. When I was applying to colleges, I showed up 30 minutes early for a group tour at the university I ultimately attended. Nobody else was there. As the dean of admissions walked by me on his way to his office, his secretary told him I was a high school student waiting for a tour. “Send him in,” the dean said. The 30 minutes I spent one on one with the dean that day was probably the reason I was admitted. Have you already developed the critical habit of meeting prospects and customers face-to-face-“showing up”? If so, and you’re not getting the results you want, give us a call to talk about it. We can help. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What Do You Do after You Say, ‘Hello’?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/what-do-you-do-after-you-say-hello/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you earn the right to close?** We find that probably 75 percent of salespeople and other business developers do not. They may think they do because they show up, ask a few questions, and make presentations as if to say, “I’m here. Isn’t that enough?” As we pointed out last month, showing up is indeed essential. But it’s not enough. Even though Woody Allen did say, “Eighty percent of success in life is showing up,” he left us hanging. What about the other 20 percent? The part that says you can’t score if you don’t shoot? Unlike for Tom Cruise in the movie *Jerry Maguire* , for most of us in real life our sales cycles don’t include those magical “You had me at ‘Hello’” moments. We need to know what to do *after* we say hello. **In 2002, when the Winter Olympic Games** were in Salt Lake City, I was driving with friends to one of the event venues. Unfortunately, traffic was at a standstill at our exit, and other vehicles raced by at alarmingly high rates of speeds. Suddenly, we realized not only that we might be late for the event but, if there were an accident, we might not make it at all. Then we noticed a good Samaritan in a cashmere overcoat at the side of the ramp. He had gotten out of his blue Lincoln Continental and was waving traffic on to the next exit. Since most of the drivers had no clue as to how far the next exit might be, a local on the scene to direct traffic was especially helpful. Eventually, as we passed him, I asked my friend who was driving who it was. “He’s Mitt Romney, head of the Olympic Games,” my friend answered. To which I responded: “If he ever runs for President, I’d vote for him.” (Yes, I really did say that.) **And in fact it was Mitt Romney,** when he headed up the Olympic Organizing Committee-before he was a Presidential candidate and even before he was governor of Massachusetts. (It was, however, after he had lost to Ted Kennedy in a bid to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate.) What struck me then, though, was that *whoever* it was, as head of the Games he no doubt had hundreds of more important things to do and places to be. Why didn’t he just “call it in” and be on his way? That would have been easy and efficient. Or, why not just ignore it and focus on things with far-reaching implications for the Olympics and his political career? But he didn’t do either of those things. He had already shown up, so to speak. What he did next was what all of us need to do as salespeople after we show up. He *created value* and, to his mind, the most important value he could create right then and there: Keep things running smoothly-just what he was supposed to do as head of the Games. **We believe that consultative selling** can be defined as creating value during the sales process. That creating value gives you the right to close because you’ve earned it. The question for every salesperson then is, how do you create value? It doesn’t have to be something big. It can be as simple as directing traffic. But it does have to be something that the prospect or customer regards as valuable. Doing this successfully requires both a custom sales process, which can be created, and a high level of skill, which can be taught. Many business developers assume they can do these two things on their own without training. In our experience only about 20% can-they’re the naturals. But the others either don’t realize what is required, incorrectly assume they already are doing it, or just don’t know how to go about it. In other words, they don’t know what they don’t know. **Which group are you in?** Last month we also told the story of the famous United Airlines commercial about the consequences of both not showing up *and* not delivering value. Advertising pro Steve Crawford, who was on the Leo Burnett team that created the commercial, contacted us after reading the column to say that the commercial has won countless awards and is considered by many as the best business-to-business commercial ever aired. We can see why. It’s certainly memorable, and we find it to be a great way to teach important lessons about consultative selling. We have identified 17 different ways that sales people can create value for their prospects and customers. One of these, for example, is helping prospects understand the problems they are experiencing that they don’t even know they have. If you’d like to know more about creating value, please get in touch and we’ll send you our list of 17 ways to create value. We’ve helped thousands of salespeople, executives, and other business developers learn how to create customized value after they show up and say hello. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [New Handy Guide to Growth](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/new-handy-guide-to-growth/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Ever wish an expert business growth advisor always had your back? Someone who could help you ask the right questions and guide you to the right answers? Sure, we all do. Unfortunately, that really *is* wishful thinking. Growth-oriented small business owners, however, might consider as a constant companion a handy new guide that offers new ways to look at building a successful business. It’s called *Expressway to Growth: A Practical Guide for Business Owners*. (We got an early look at this book because we were asked to review its contents before publication.) Author Nick Arvis draws on 30 years of experience as a business owner as well as a valued confidante and counsel to other business owners. The result is an especially straightforward and easy-to-read guide to building and running a company. In just 74 pages*, Expressway to Growth* provides eight “accelerator” questions for owners of growing companies to ask not only about their businesses but also about themselves. “It’s hard for small business owners to separate their personal lives from the lives of their companies,” Arvis explains. “And they don’t have the time or resources to invest in comprehensive written business plans, let alone implement and monitor them.” The book shows owners how to manage their companies over time while running them day to day with personal and family goals clearly in mind. Arvis’s management mantra for small business owners is to be accountable to themselves and to *all* of their stakeholders. He offers easy-to-understand ways to do just that and illustrates them with brief profiles of business owners he’s assisted, often by facilitating CEO roundtables. The book is available in Kindle format on Amazon for $2.99 and in print for $12.34. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Nuggets from Selling’s Front Lines](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/nuggets-from-sellings-front-lines/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Whether you do your reading** at the beach, in the backyard, or in the bathtub, check out these short but, we believe, telling few paragraphs drawn from our experiences and those of our clients. **Fly In, Build Up.** Fly your sales team in to a specific city either in a new territory you want to expand or in an area you’re considering staking a claim on. Hold brief meetings first thing in the morning and then spend the rest of the day developing the territory-checking out industrial parks, meeting with local influencers or prospects you set appointments with ahead of time, and making cold calls. Debrief at end of day or over dinner. Why do some companies find this tactic so productive? First, you’re holding sales meetings while you’re developing the territory, which means you’re not only leveraging travel costs but also (we hope) generating revenue or at least laying the groundwork for generating revenue. Plus, these meetings can do double duty as special training opportunities. You can cover what you might normally cover in training sessions *and* make use of on-the-ground experiences your sales people have in the new territory. Second, your sales people will also share information and insights not only about this new territory but also about what’s working-and not working-back home. Third, combined with other due diligence (market research, for example) your hands-on experiences can contribute significantly to a go or no-go decision on committing more resources to the territory. Does it really have the potential to support a full-time salesperson or an independent, commissioned representative? Finally, and this advantage is more subtle and longer term, my experience as a sales executive has been that if some sales have already been built up it’s much easier to attract more experienced sales people. **Good Name, Poor Sales Process?** Do you think large, “name” companies are successful because they have incredible sales processes? They certainly have the resources, and they are experiencing “success,” as evidenced by their big-time reputation. But when we think of sales calls in which we’ve been prospects, some of the weakest have been made by household-name companies. Recently a representative from a large and recognizable financial services firm contacted me because he wanted to learn more about our services. The idea was that he could then offer additional value to his customers by alerting them to our work. Unfortunately, he wasted about 45 minutes of our time and his time: During the entire interview he didn’t ask one question about the value we provide and, in fact, probably didn’t learn a single piece of useful information about us-a potential referral source and prospect. Instead, he talked non-stop about his firm. When he left, he dropped a “canned” sales piece on the conference table that contained little of specific interest to us. How in the world could such a weak sales process work? The only answer we can come up with is his company’s brand is so strong that it more than compensates for his lack of skills and process. We are particularly sensitive to this specific problem because our mid-sized and smaller clients don’t have the luxury of a brand name to support them. In fact, they could not survive with such poor selling skills and such a weak sales process. And, thanks to our training, our *Fortune* 500 clients are triple threats: strong name, strong skills, and a strong sales process. **Negotiating Skills vs. Selling Skills.** The strong communication skills we teach in our popular consultative selling course, FOCIS®, we’ve found, can turn average negotiators into superior ones and average sales people into top producers. On a purely tactical level, the method we use serves negotiators and sellers equally well. The questioning process we teach not only unearths key pieces of information, but it also reveals the value the person on the other side of the table places on that information. At the strategic level, however, the ways negotiators and sales people use those skills and to what end differ greatly. For example, in consultative selling, top producers discover and present multiple issues to build the business case for a sale. Although some issues are stronger than others, together they “build the case” for using the sales rep’s product or service. In bargaining, however, top negotiators discover and present only the *strongest* argument regarding a single issue. That approach prevents weaker arguments on the same issue from diminishing or diluting the case made by the strongest argument. Finally, a significant take away seems to fly so far under the radar that we find that we must point it out whether we’re teaching selling or negotiating: A strong sales process reduces or even eliminates the need for the other party, whether prospect or adversary, to negotiate. And, if you do have to negotiate, a strong sales process creates a stronger bargaining position. Many of our clients report making major sales without negotiating a penny of price or one word in the terms. **If you’d like to talk about issues** in sales, lead generation, or marketing you or your company are facing, please call us at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008), even from the beach or the backyard. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Innovation Turned Outside In?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/innovation-turned-outside-in/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** “Think outside the box” is a well-worn business cliché. But, like nearly all clichés, at one time it was a brand spanking new *innovative* idea. We do anoint ideas as clichés because they work, don’t we? At one time, at least, they made a lot of sense and often still do. Well, we may be witnessing the birth of a “new” cliché (if that’s possible) that offers new advice for ambitious business owners and executives of growing companies. A just-released book, *Think Inside the Box* , brings an unusual perspective to growing a company. The apt, though lengthy subtitle, seems to say it all: “Discover the Exceptional Business *Inside* Your Organization.” In other words, business owners, CEOs, and presidents can find nearly everything they need to grow their companies *inside* their companies. They just need to know how and how to distribute their time and attention, the authors say, by applying the tried-and-true 80/20 rule in disciplined ways. “You have the data and you have the tools,” authors Tim Nelson and Jim McGee tell business owners. “We provide the map and the how to.” The book not only offers a “regimen” to help owners, CEOs, and presidents identify key growth resources within their companies and the baggage that’s holding them back. It also reveals a surprisingly straightforward, commonsense process that has been applied by some 850 other companies to, in specific cases: - Shed 80 percent of their suppliers - Triple revenue per employee - Reduce the number of products by 25% without reducing gross margin. Together, the authors–Tim Nelson and Jim McGee–bring significant hands-on experience to the business-growth box as entrepreneurs, owners, and consultants. Nelson founded and operated an industrial packaging company for 13 years before selling it to Illinois Tool Works (ITW), where he continued to lead the company. McGee founded a management and technology consulting firm, growing it to more than 1,000 consultants from 25 in six years. He also provides an academic’s perspective as a Harvard Business School PhD in organizational design. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Attorneys: Do Clients Appreciate Your True Value?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/attorneys-do-clients-appreciate-your-true-value/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Attorneys have told us about some 30 business development challenges** they face, including: pressure to reduce fees, poor ROI on firm-sponsored events, disappointing net realization rates. They also give away intellectual property during business development (in an attempt to impress prospects), use networking time inefficiently, and lose clients because they don’t cross sell within their firms. What’s the common thread here? Simply put: Like many businesses we work with, they don’t know how to communicate the true value of their services or products. Further, they don’t know how to get fully paid for that value. For example, even some of most successful law firms recover perhaps 92 % + of what they invoice. The net realization rate for struggling firms can be in the low 80s. **The good news is that the same consultative selling techniques** that work for top performers in any industry work for attorneys, too. Top business developers and salespeople, in our view, are the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of all new business. They outsell their less successful colleagues by a ratio of 15 to one. Make that calculation for your firm or business and think about how absolutely essential top performers are. What would the impact be if even one walked away? How do top performers outsell their less successful colleagues, regardless of the profession or business? They do two things to stay on top: They behave in specific ways that their colleagues do not, and they use a proven process customized for their practice areas and markets. It’s not magic, and it can be learned. **Why are law firm net realization rates surprisingly low?** Here’s what we see happening. **Attorneys:** 1) Reduce their rates or hours *even before a client asks,* either because they under-value their own work or they don’t believe the client will appreciate its value. 2) Ask their firms to *“write down”* work they’ve already performed or work in process. 3) *Discount their fees* to get a new client or to keep a current client. **Clients:** 1) Want to *negotiate lower fees* right off the bat. 2) Ask for a discount *after* the work is completed. 3) *Challenge* the amount or nature of the work performed. We’ve helped attorneys and other business developers at all levels realize much more revenue much more consistently. We can improve the skills of your firm’s attorneys to acquire new clients, to increase business from current clients, *and* to increase the dollars actually flowing into your practice. **Is your firm’s net realization rate as high as it should be?** Are your attorneys receiving the fees they’ve earned or are they leaving money on the table? **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Goals, Symbols, and Risk](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/goals-symbols-and-risk/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Full Disclosure:** I had absolutely nothing to do with the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup this past year. But when given the chance to have my picture taken with the Cup I jumped at it. Why? I’ve been asking myself that question, and I think there are several reasons. First, the Cup is believed to be the most famous trophy in sports. I wanted to see it, touch it, appreciate all that it represents in hard work, skill, and fortune for my hometown Blackhawks. The trophy goes to the winner of the National Hockey League Championship and is recognized around the world. Second, what makes this prize different from the symbols of victory in most sports is that the trophy is shared with the fans for a year after the victory. Each player on the winning team and most of the club’s executives get the Stanley Cup for one day. They can take it to their favorite bar, to their hometown, wherever they want to share with their friends, family, and fans. There are two people who move the Cup around the world to protect it and deliver it to all the cities in countries where the winning players live. **My encounter with the Cup** got me thinking about goal-setting and symbols. In sports almost all teams have a goal. For the best, it’s winning the championship of their sport. If they are in a rebuilding stage (my Chicago Cubs, for example) their goal might be to be .500, build the farm system, make the playoffs, or something else that indicates progress. Most successful teams have a clear goal, a clearly communicated strategy to reach that goal, and, often, a symbol of reaching the goal. (Without such a strategy, teams have a dream but not a goal.) It is interesting that in professional football the goal of winning the Super Bowl is symbolized in three different ways: the Super Bowl victory itself, the Super Bowl ring, and the Lombardi Trophy, which goes to the winner. For some teams, just making it to the Super Bowl is the goal. I start many meetings with prospective clients by asking if they have specific goals or objectives with respect to growing their business. They could tell me a dollar amount for growth, or percentages, or that they want to develop a new product, transform their sales force from transactional sellers to consultative or enter a new market. Many say, “Let me give you a little background on our company.” This tells me is that they have no specific goals, and they are now buying a little time to decide what they want to say. After hearing about how their family started the business, or what products they sell, I often realize they have no specific goals. **But is not having goals bad or good?** It could be either and here is why I think that. **Having a Goal and Symbol:** If a company has invested the time to have developed formal, written marketing goals (not something only in their mind,) they have probably considered how they are going to achieve those goals. For instance, are they going to invest in lead generation to get more leads and first meetings, or will they improve their success rate when competing for new business? Will they develop new products or enter new markets? Will they develop new ways to create value for their customers or improve their sales people’s ability to communicate that value and get paid for it? Not only does their goal setting help foster thought about implementation of tactical and strategic activities, but it gives everyone involved a sense of where the company is going and, best case, what roles they are to play. The Blackhawks stayed together as a team during the strike-shortened season and focused on the process of staying in shape so they were ready when the season started. They had one eye on the Cup but an immediate focus on the process that would take them to the goal. The risk is that the obsession of meeting the goal becomes so great that the integrity of the process is lost-for example, think Enron, WorldCom, and a long list of other corporate failures. In these cases too much focus on the outcome, and too little on the integrity of the process, gets such companies in trouble. **Not Having a Goal or Symbol:** Sometimes this approach is best because the company focuses on the process that represents best practices, which they can control, versus outcome, which they cannot. They understand that they can increase the odds of affecting the outcome if they follow best practices. Companies with this strategy try to do their best and believe growth will happen if they do the right things in the areas they control. Here is an interesting comparison: The Cubs have made the flag with a “W” for winning famous by flying it at Wrigley Field the few times they do win. They talk a lot about getting a “W.” On the other hand, Coach K in Duke basketball has said he would rather play a game well and lose than play a game poorly and win: “You will never hear my players say ‘Well, we got the W.’” Make no mistake, Coach K wants to win as badly as anybody, but he cares about several other things more. **So there is risk** if you don’t have a goal and a strong symbol to represent it; and there is risk if you focus too much on outcome and not on process. Which approach is right? Like everything else in life the answer is most likely a combination of setting goals *and* emphasizing process. Have a goal and create a symbol to represent the goal but make sure that the participants don’t get so focused on the goal or symbol that their performance loses its integrity. If you’d like to discuss your approach to growth, please contact me at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Salespeople: Innovators in Your Backyard](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/salespeople-innovators-in-your-backyard/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Can your salespeople contribute to developing wallet-opening “great products”?** The short answer is “Yes, they can.” The more important question is “How?” After all, selling is “outward looking,” isn’t it: Getting products and services out of a company and into a marketplace to increase the top line? New product development is ultimately “inward looking,” actually happening inside a company with greater or lesser support from marketing. We’ll answer the “how” question by explaining the three key points at which the right sales skills and process can move things along from idea to marketplace-and even keep the best ideas alive long enough to get a fair hearing. Along the way, we’ll also introduce three new books that emphasize innovation for business owners in different ways. Successful companies know that product and service innovation are forever linked to a strong sales process, especially to the effectiveness of consultative selling skills-that is, the “discovery” skills-of their sales representatives. In addition, an effective, discovery-based sales process can propel innovation throughout an organization because, ultimately, its result is to persuade. Innovators must persuade from the time they get an idea to the time that idea goes to market. These skills can be learned but without training are difficult to put to work in the field. If you think about it, doesn’t it just make sense that sales forces should be great resources for innovation? **Key Point #1: On the Outside Discovering.** Productive salespeople have regular, frequent, and in-depth contact with prospects and customers-just the people for whom a company wants to innovate. And when they do they look for needs their companies can fill and problems they can solve. The really good salespeople, the top producers, go further. They not only identify typical needs their target markets have. They also uncover *unmet* needs for which the company currently has no solution at all or one that is non-competitive. Sometimes prospects and customers don’t even realize they have those needs. Using consultative selling discovery skills to uncover unmet needs in the marketplace is the first point at which skilled salespeople using a customized sales process can contribute to innovation. **Key Point #2: On the Inside Communicating.** The second spot is inside the company, where they must know how to communicate the promise of new ideas from the field to new product development, marketing, and management. We teach salespeople how to filter such ideas and communicate them effectively. When salespeople can’t filter and communicate, the costs to corporate growth-not to mention sales commissions-are high. For example, at least a few of the missteps Xerox suffered involved a failure to communicate internally the value of innovations later recognized as transformational-namely, the computer mouse, the graphical user interface, and the computer network. (Yes, it’s true. Xerox had these early on.) They never made it to market, reports Terry Jones in his new book, *On Innovation* , essentially because product development could not communicate their value to management. Those dropped ideas eventually bounced back, practically to outer space, as other companies took them to market with incredible success. Jones, now chairman of Kayak.com and a personal friend since junior high school, had a front-row seat-at times, the driver’s seat-to the catalytic innovation in software and technology as chief information officer of Sabre, American Airlines electronic reservations system. Jones went on to found Travelocity, a pioneer in Web-based disintermediation that allowed-and still allows-consumers to book reservations with airlines directly without the assistance of travel agents. The practice is commonplace now, but when introduced in 1996, it was catalytic. When Jones was CIO at Sabre his lab came up with the mobile phone boarding pass, showing bookable hotels on a map, and a computer-driven way to track lost luggage. “These were all great ideas,” Jones writes in his book. “The value and potential \[were\] there all the time; our lab team simply lacked the sales skills necessary to persuade decision makers to say yes.” **Key Point #3: On the Outside Again Persuading.** And of course salespeople can contribute to enabling successful innovation right where you would expect them to-selling an innovation-turned-product in the marketplace. But the sales force has to be capable of persuading by communicating value. And this is also where the top producers stand out. Most salespeople simply educate the market about an innovation (or any product, for that matter) but are not trained to communicate value and persuade prospects of what that value means for them and their companies specifically. The top producers, however, can. They are the 20 percent of salespeople who bring in 80 percent of new business. Arguably, they are as important to a company as any innovation. So, a strong sales process and consultative selling skills can contribute significantly to the accelerated birth, growth, and successful launch of innovative new products or services. Your people, not only front-line sales reps but also new product development folks and marketers, however, must be well-trained and managed for the process and the skills to work. **Bonus: The Innovation Bookshelf** *“You must have an elevated idea not of what you do, but of what you can one day do. Without this it is not worth working.”* -Degas In addition to *On Innovation*, two other recently published books by authors we also know and trust offer insights and practical approaches to growth plus some inspiration to boot. As you’ll see, together this trio offers help with three different approaches to innovation: one for products/services, one for strategy, and one for tapping your operation internally. In ***Expressway to Growth: A Practical Guide for Business Owners*** , author Nick Arvis draws on 30 years of experience as a business owner as well as a valued confidante and counsel to other business owners. The result is an especially straightforward and easy-to-read guide to building and running a company, often relating the stories of owners who made it. In just 74 pages, *Expressway to Growth* provides eight “accelerator” questions for owners of growing companies to ask not only about their businesses but also about themselves. The premise of another book, ***Think Inside the Box: Discover the Exceptional Business Inside Your Organization*** , is that innovation doesn’t have to come from the now conventional wisdom to “think outside the box.” Authors Tim Nelson and Jim McGee say that nearly everything you need to grow your company can be found *inside* your company. You just need to know *how* to find it and how to distribute time and attention by applying the tried-and-true 80/20 rule. The book offers a proven process for owners to identify and use key growth resources within their companies. **Whether you’re attempting to innovate** outside the box, inside the box, or on the expressway, we’d like to speak with you about how we can help. Our sales training, lead generation, and marketing services can support your innovation in myriad ways: 847-446-0008. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Earning the Right to Close](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/earning-the-right-to-close/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you earn the right to close?** We find that probably 75 percent of salespeople and other business developers do not. They may think they do because they show up, ask a few questions, and make presentations as if to say, “I’m here. Isn’t that enough?” Showing up is indeed essential. But it’s not enough. Even though Woody Allen did say, “Eighty percent of success in life is showing up,” he left us hanging. What about the other 20 percent? The part that says you can’t score if you don’t shoot? **We believe that consultative selling** can be defined as creating value during the sales process. That creating value gives you the right to close because you’ve earned it. The question for every salesperson then is, how do you create value? Ultimately, doing this successfully requires both a custom sales process, which can be created, and a high level of skill, which can be taught. Many business developers assume they can do these two things on their own without training. In our experience only about 20 percent can–they’re the naturals. But the others either don’t realize what is required, incorrectly assume they already are doing it, or just don’t know how to go about it. In other words, they don’t know what they don’t know. **But you can create value even in the small things** –in business-to-business lead generation, for example–especially if you’re using the telephone. Simply asking a prospect about a problem might sound the alarm about an issue he wasn’t aware he had or remind him of an issue he’d been meaning to take care of. He might not use your services or buy your product but you will have delivered value. In the future he might well recall that you’re not just “selling something” but are also delivering value during the sales process. We have identified 17 different ways that sales people can create value for their prospects and customers. One of these, for example, is in fact helping prospects understand the problems they are experiencing that they don’t even know they have. **If you’d like to know more about creating value**, please get in touch at 847-446-0008, and we’ll send you our list of “17 Ways to Create Value.” We’ve helped thousands of salespeople, executives, and other business developers learn how to create customized value and earn the right to close. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Lead Generation: Nurture vs. Nature](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/lead-generation-nurture-vs-nature/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Today, popular psychology holds** that the personality of an individual human being is shaped not by genetics or by environment alone but by an uneasy collaboration of both. We’ve found that similar collaboration applies in business-to-business selling. To be promising, sales leads first need the right pedigree. They must come from the market a company sells to and face the problems a company’s product or service can solve. They must have the DNA of prospects that become buyers. **That just seems to be good commonsense, right?** But if as a salesperson you’ve ever received “hot” leads passed on from advertising campaigns or other promotions, you know that good sense in lead generation doesn’t seem to be all that common. Salespeople can be understandably skeptical of lead generation programs because they find too many of those leads just aren’t buyers. That’s where lead nurturing programs come in handy. They take up where lead generation leaves off. Also known as “drip” marketing, lead nurturing keeps your company’s name in front of a potential buyer throughout the product research process or until the need becomes great enough for the buyer to take action. The amount of time required is always the amount of time the *buyer* believes is needed to research a product or service and become comfortable that it will be beneficial. Then, such a buyer is ready to buy and looks for the right vendor. **An effective lead nurturing program supports your sales team** because it leaves potential buyers with a positive impression of your company, not just through the typical sales approach of “staying in touch” only to see if prospects are ready to buy. They see right through that and don’t appreciate the time they waste with it. Instead, a nurture marketing program accelerates a buyer’s research process by delivering real value over time. You’ve built up a “trusted advisor” relationship based on delivering value without expectation of immediate return. Buyers do appreciate that and might even call you when they’re ready to buy. Call us if you want to learn more about nurture marketing as well as other kinds of marketing. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., and can be reached at or [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008).* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Can ‘Remote’ Re-Motivate Sales?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/can-remote-re-motivate-sales/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Once a promising trend,** remote sales forces are now commonplace and for good reason. Locating salespeople in or near their territories can produce terrific (and much-needed) cost savings. But remote sales forces can be uncommonly difficult to manage, and cost savings don’t translate directly into a stronger top line. The far-flung productivity enabled by technology can sacrifice what professional trainers and talent managers call “engagement”: the level of an individual’s commitment to an organization for its products or services and a passion for its purpose. Overall, a more-engaged employee performs better than a less-engaged employee, according to Gallup. And that goes double for salespeople-well, actually 2.6 times. Gallup studies have also shown that increased engagement has a direct effect on profits. We see it ourselves with other sales organizations we train. A customized sales process and a common language with which to talk about selling produce better results. Our consultative sales training course FOCIS® supports those behaviors. We’ve also seen that, if well managed, sales forces can be successful whether they are centralized or remote. At least in part, well managed means well engaged. “Employees that are engaged will be working from the heart,” one sales rep told Gallup. **Here are some of the challenges** we’ve seen that remote sales forces face. **1. Transferring product and prospect knowledge**is less likely to occur simply because fewer informal opportunities exist. When salespeople are in and out of the same office, transferring information about products, customers, and prospects happens without extra effort. **2. Peer-to-peer sales training is reduced.**When experienced and inexperienced reps are located near each other, mentoring relationships develop and lead to more joint sales calls. More face-to-face training as add-ons to regularly scheduled sales meetings can offset a lot of that loss. **3. Establishing and maintaining a consistent corporate sales culture**becomes more challenging. However, as Carr discovered, developing a customized sales process can more than offset that. An established process also allows salespeople new to the company to get up to speed faster, in part because common terminology results in faster communication that can almost be **4. Being part of that culture can be especially difficult**for individual salespeople. Our suggestion in #2 can do double duty here-that is, schedule training in connection with a significant company date or event. Sales managers: How are you managing your remote sales force? Sales reps: How do you succeed as a remote sales rep? Call or e-mail us to talk about it. And don’t forget to ask us about our FOCIS® consultative selling course. We’ll be happy to talk about that, too. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How Important Is Speed in Selling?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-important-is-speed-in-selling/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **When a client recently asked me if “speed”** is important in selling, I was curious as to what inspired the question. “Well, you were just here on Monday,” he explained, “and now you’re already back on Wednesday with a proposal. Does that make a difference in your market? Do you think it matters in my market, too?” The answer to each of those questions is “Yes.” “Yes, speed is important. Yes, it certainly makes a difference in my market, and, yes, I’m sure it does in your market.” For the record, it probably makes a difference in any market. **If you’re in a business-to-business** consultative selling market and you don’t feel a real need for speed, step back and take stock. Speed does matter. Not simply because in business faster is almost always better but because of why faster is almost always better. “Sooner rather than later” *delivers more value* to your prospect or client. That in turn generates more value for you. And delivering value within the sales process is what consultative selling is all about, at least in our experience. The good news is that delivering value often starts with something simple, such as saving time fora prospect and for yourself. **Here are just a few situations** in which speed in consultative selling can make adifference-and why: - Responding to inquiries-before your competition does - Getting in the door for a first meeting-to learn whether you can help at all and, if so, how - Building trust-for example, and being seen as an expert - Completing proposals and then presenting them-first, to get the sale, and, second, to help the prospect better understand the challenges involved - Beginning an assignment once you have it-to begin delivering more value quickly - Completing an assignment-well, that’s the whole idea. In each of those situations, speed builds trust. Stephen R. Covey, in fact, popularized that thinking when he wrote, “Business is done at the speed of trust.” Further, he wrote that it’s the “one thing that changes everything.” You can’t get much more important than that. If you’re in a transactional, or “simple,” sales environment-consumer retail, for instance-speed also matters but in a different way. Speeding up a transactional sale is usually the best way to go-more sales faster. But in a business-to-business, “complex” sales environment, as we teach in our consultative selling course FOCIS®, it’s necessary to slow down the sales *process* to speed up the sales *cycle*. What does that mean? **Taking the extra time to “out-discover”** your competition pays off. Learning what you need to know to help the prospect see the value of your product or service is critical. The way to do that is to ask the right questions in the right proportion at the right time. You gain an information advantage that, if used skillfully, is much more important than most sales people realize. Unfortunately, most sales people struggle simply to gain an information advantage, let alone use it. Better discovery allows you to *show* the prospect the value of your service or product. That’s much better than telling your prospect how valuable it is. Not surprisingly, this thinking is counterintuitive. In fact, only about 20 percent of sales people know how to do this but those 20 percent usually account for 70 to 80 percent of a company’s sales. In other words, the very best salespeople slow down the sales process to out-discover the competition, which increases their chances of getting a sale. That speeds up the sales cycle and brings in more business. **Here’s an example.** A new client had just begun our FOCIS® course and had scheduled a 20-minute, out-of-town meeting with a prospect. Such a short meeting, especially if travel time and money are involved, just didn’t seem worth it to us. When he asked us to help him prepare, we suggested that he schedule a 90-minute meeting (he had a cooperative prospect) that would slow down the sales process but help him get the information he needed to make the prospect’s decision-making process move faster. At the beginning of the meeting, the prospect was satisfied with his current national provider. By the end, however, he was highly dissatisfied because he realized he didn’t know what he didn’t know about what kind of value to expect from this kind of service provider. When the original contract expired, our client got the business. Twenty minutes would have been a “hi-how-are-you-nice-to-meet-you” meeting during which our client would have learned nothing to help him make the sale. Slowing down the sales process, however, gave him virtually everything he needed. More important, it gave the prospect everything he needed to see the real value our client offered. Another way to slow down the sales process to speed up the sales cycle is to show up on time. Showing up early is even better. The advantage is that your prospect just might usher you in sooner, which gives you more time to do discovery and to build an information advantage. How do you know how early to show up? **Try operating on “Lombardi Time.”** Legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi expected his team and staff to be *15 minutes early* for everything. Arrive for an 8 a.m. practice at 8 a.m., for example, and you weren’t just late, in Lombardi’s view. You were 15 minutes behind. Maybe that’s one reason the Packers were ahead of the pack so much during Lombardi’s reign. So ingrained is that philosophy in the Packers organization that the clock above the north gate at Lambeau Field is actually set for Lombardi time. **How do you know if you should have** a speedy transactional (simple) sales process or a consultative (complex) one? If the second column describes your selling experience, you need a consultative sales process. **Simple Sale or Complex?****Simple****Complex**Number of calls neededOneMultipleRisk to buyerLowHighBuyer’s risk toleranceHighLowDecision-makerIndividualGroupSeller present at saleYesNoRelationship implied by saleNoYes***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Big Data, Small Ball, and Your Growth](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/big-data-small-ball-and-your-growth/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Big data is a big deal** these days because it offers unparalleled opportunities for companies to transform their relationships with their customers and develop new business-via lead generation, for instance-and others. The perception is that you have to be pretty big to take advantage of those kinds of opportunities. But if you run a smaller company, plenty of opportunities to play “small ball” with data exist, too. (In baseball, “small ball” implies a down-to-earth way to win: Moving runners base by base to home plate versus launching big home runs into outer space.) Interest in big data among small companies is running so high that I recently moderated a well-attended panel, “Using Analytics and Data to Better Serve Existing Customers and Gain New Ones,” for small and middle-market CEOs at the annual Entrepreneurship Institute Presidents’ Symposium in Chicago. There were many questions about big data, especially about using data in connection with lead generation and nurture marketing. **But what is big data?** It’s a name for data sets so large that they can’t be managed effectively with traditional software tools. Manipulating big data, for example, may require hundreds of servers with software programs running in parallel. Think the federal government, Wal-Mart, or Facebook. Most of our clients are businesses selling to other businesses, and they don’t have the massive number of transactions large consumer companies do. There is no “big data” for these folks. They can, however, benefit from thinking the way the manipulators of big data do. The idea is to assess the data you have, can develop, or buy and use it to work your way around the bases to a score by playing small ball. Here are some of our thoughts on how you can do that. 1\. **Learn the deeper buying motives of your customers.** Most companies believe they know why their customers buy their products-that is, what value people believe they receive. However, we routinely see clients that correctly identify only about half the reasons customers value their products and services over others. They’re truly surprised when we help them identify and understand the other half by looking for the need *behind*the need. For instance, a buyer may say she wants to lower costs. While that’s probably true, the need behind the need here-a more powerful reason she’s motivated to buy-may be that she’s in line for a promotion or that her job is on the line. 2\. **Create a statistical profile of your best customers.** Match businesses on multiple criteria to develop prospect lists that match your own list of your best customers. The match can be based on the vertical market, the size of companies in sales, the number of employees, the geographic location, and many others. Especially useful for companies opening up new territories, this approach also helps to segment large responses to promotions to determine which group(s) are more likely to buy, which can in turn result in more effective lead generation efforts. 3\. **Know where your new revenue comes from-and how much.**Analyze the sources to identify leads that are more productive. What are those sources? Well, to name just a few: direct sales; indirect sales such as reps, dealers, brokers and distributors; trade shows, Web inquiries, direct mail, and referrals. A surprising number of small and middle-market companies don’t bother with this practice. They believe they already know because they know their big accounts. That kind of limited thinking can miss trends, niches, and opportunities to open new markets. 4\. **Determine your “Net Promoter ScoreTM.”** The basis for this metric is one straightforward question that you ask your customers or clients: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend (our company) to a colleague or friend?” Essentially, the NPS measures loyalty and represents the likelihood that an existing customer will purchase from your company again or tell others about their positive experiences with your company. It’s considered by many to be a better predictor of customer loyalty and behavior than traditional customer satisfaction surveys. **Key Point:** Just because customers are “satisfied” or even “completely satisfied” doesn’t mean that they are loyal and that they will buy from your company again or recommend you to others. To learn more, see *The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth* and other works by Fred Reichheld or give us a call at 847-446-0008. **If we can help you** gather, analyze, or take advantage of any type of data need please let us know. We’re especially good at finding the data you need-big or small-to sell more of your products and do so more effectively. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Does Showing Up Still Pay Off?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/does-showing-up-still-pay-off/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Sometimes I find myself with a lump in my throat** over a story I occasionally tell in our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, about a vintage United Airlines TV commercial. The commercial shows the boss, apparently an owner or CEO, talking to a room full of executives. He’s telling them about a phone call he received from a customer they all know to be rock solid, practically part of the family. **As he walks deliberately around the room** handing out envelopes, the boss quietly explains that this “old friend” has just cancelled an important, long-running contract. In the envelopes are airline tickets. The goal: Put the executives back in touch with their customers *face to face*. The meeting ends and one executive asks the boss where he’s going. “To see that old friend,” he replies. Woody Allen once said that “80 percent of success is showing up.” Experienced sales professionals, like me and many of you reading this column, know the heart and soul of business-to-business selling, especially, is just that: Being there to show you care. A lesson the TV boss and his company learned the hard way. It took a punch-in-the-gut phone call before they got this powerful, human message from the marketplace. They never saw it coming. **But they should have, right?** And I think that’s why the commercial strikes such a chord with me. As a salesperson, the importance of “showing up” is that much a part of me. In addition to “Fly United,” the commercial is telling us that business is nothing if not personal and you ignore that fundamental truth at your peril. When the ad aired in the 1980s fax technology was booming. The commercial resonated with many businesspeople excited about the possibilities of technology but concerned about its pitfalls. The message may be even more powerful today when time constraints prevent us from meeting with all the people we would like to, and conversation through technology is even more prevalent. **Yet *just* showing up doesn’t get the sale, does it?** It can open opportunities, however, that calls, e-mails, Tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, and, yes, faxes do not. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at* [*pkrone@productivestrategies.com*](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com) *and [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008).* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Salespeople as Innovators?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/salespeople-as-innovators/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Can your salespeople contribute to developing wallet-opening “great products”? The short answer is “Yes, they can.” The more important question is “How?” Selling is “outward looking.” It’s getting products and services out of a company and into a marketplace to increase the top line. New product development is ultimately “inward looking,” actually happening inside a company with greater or lesser support from marketing. We’ll answer the “how” question by explaining the three key points at which the right sales skills and process can move things along from idea to marketplace-and even keep the best ideas alive long enough to get a fair hearing. Successful companies know that product and service innovation are forever linked to a strong sales process, especially to the effectiveness of consultative selling skills-the “discovery” skills-of their sales representatives. In addition, an effective, discovery-based sales process can propel innovation throughout an organization because, ultimately, its result is to persuade. Innovators must persuade from the time they get an idea to the time that idea goes to market. These skills can be learned but without training are difficult to put to work in the field. If you think about it, doesn’t it just make sense that sales forces should be great resources for innovation? **Key Point #1: On the Outside Discovering.** Productive salespeople have regular, frequent, and in-depth contact with prospects and customers, just the people for whom a company wants to innovate. And when they do they look for needs their companies can fill and problems they can solve. The really good salespeople, the top producers, go further. They not only identify typical needs their target markets have. They also uncover *unmet* needs for which the company currently has no solution at all or one that is non-competitive. Sometimes prospects and customers don’t even realize they have those needs. Using consultative selling discovery skills to uncover unmet needs in the marketplace is the first point at which skilled salespeople using a customized sales process can contribute to innovation. **Key Point #2: On the Inside Communicating.** The second spot is inside the company, where they must know how to communicate the promise of new ideas from the field to new product development, marketing, and management. We teach salespeople how to filter such ideas and communicate them effectively. When salespeople can’t filter and communicate, the costs to corporate growth, not to mention sales commissions, are high. For example, at least a few of the missteps Xerox suffered involved a failure to communicate internally the value of innovations later recognized as transformational–namely, the computer mouse, the graphical user interface, and the computer network. (Yes, it’s true. Xerox had these early on.) They never made it to market, reports Terry Jones in his new book, *On Innovation* , essentially because product development could not communicate their value to management. Those dropped ideas eventually bounced back, practically to outer space, as other companies took them to market with incredible success. Jones, now chairman of Kayak.com and a personal friend since junior high school, had a front-row seat–at times, the driver’s seat–to the catalytic innovation in software and technology as chief information officer of Sabre, American Airlines electronic reservations system. Jones went on to found Travelocity, a pioneer in Web-based disintermediation that allowed consumers to book reservations with airlines directly without the assistance of travel agents. The practice is commonplace now, but when introduced in 1996, it was catalytic. When Jones was CIO at Sabre his lab came up with the mobile phone boarding pass, showing bookable hotels on a map, and a computer-driven way to track lost luggage. “These were all great ideas,” Jones writes in his book. “The value and potential \[were\] there all the time; our lab team simply lacked the sales skills necessary to persuade decision makers to say yes.” **Key Point #3: On the Outside Again, Persuading.** And of course salespeople can contribute to enabling successful innovation right where you would expect them to: selling an innovation-turned-product in the marketplace. But the sales force has to be capable of persuading by communicating value. And this is also where the top producers stand out. Most salespeople simply educate the market about an innovation (or any product, for that matter) but are not trained to communicate value and persuade prospects of what that value means for them and their companies specifically. The top producers, however, can. They are the 20 percent of salespeople who bring in 80 percent of new business. Arguably, they are as important to a company as any innovation. So, a strong sales process and consultative selling skills can contribute significantly to the accelerated birth, growth, and successful launch of innovative new products or services. Your people, not only front-line sales reps but also new product development folks and marketers, however, must be well-trained and managed for the process and the skills to work. **No matter where or how you’re attempting to innovate** , we’d like to speak with you about how we can help. Our sales training, business-to-business lead generation, and marketing services can support your innovation in myriad ways. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Power of Power in Selling](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-power-of-power-in-selling/) **Published:** May 19, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you recognize the “power of power” in selling?** The best business developers do, which is one of the reasons they *are* the best. Last time we discussed the importance of speed in the sales process. This month we focus on power because the two go hand in hand. Productive use of power makes the sales process much more efficient. We all know that power shifts between a seller and a prospect in a meeting. But what may not be so clear is how to recognize when the shift happens or how to influence it. The first thing to understand is that when we talk about power in selling we’re talking more about influence or persuasion than control. Effective consultative selling techniques are powerful because they *influence* a prospect’s thinking and point of view, not because they back him into a corner. Here are just three of several key points about power that we believe improve the ability to sell. **Key Point #1: Understand who has the power.** At the beginning of a meeting, it’s almost always the buyer, of course, because the buyer decides whether to meet with a seller. But savvy buyers understand that sellers often know more about a specific product or service than they do. Even if a buyer does know a lot about what he’s buying, he recognizes the seller might know about something he doesn’t, maybe an innovation or new use. So to gain insight an experienced buyer may well cede power to the seller early. This shift usually occurs when the seller asks for permission to ask questions and provides a good reason for the buyer to accept the request: “We have a wide range of potential solutions. Can I ask some questions so we can decide together which, if any, might work for you? I think this will save us both time.” Once the buyer accepts this offer the seller has the power, and skilled sellers know how to use it. These are the 20 percent of salespeople and business developers in any company or firm who bring in 80 percent of the new business -the top producers. As a seller, you know you want the buyer to do most of the talking, but do you know how to structure the conversation to make that happen in a way that creates maximum value for both parties? As we suggested, top producers use power not to dominate a meeting but to engage in meaningful discovery that creates value for prospects and themselves *during the sales process*. In our consultative sales training course FOCIS® we find it takes about three months for participants to develop this ability, and they find that it’s well worth the investment they make. Why? Because it’s one of the most important skills that successful business-to-business salespeople possess. **Key Point #2: Avoid offering solutions until the time is right.** Any mention of solutions during the discovery period immediately shifts power back to the buyer. Part of the reason is that discussing solutions too soon increases objections (“We tried that, and it didn’t work”) and ultimately reduces the odds of gaining an advance, let alone a sale, during a meeting. Here’s a non-business example of how that kind of power shift can occur. Power for a sales representative in the discovery period is not unlike the power an attorney has in the courtroom during final arguments of a jury trial. During closing remarks, all eyes are on the attorney-the judge, the jury, the accused-are all listening intently. Everyone knows who has the power. Once the jury leaves the courtroom to begin deliberating, however, the attorney’s power disappears. It plummets from 100 percent to zero. The *jury* now has all of the power. This same shift occurs when salespeople begin to discuss solutions. **Key Point #3: Use visuals to retain power *after* a meeting.** For example, experienced attorneys know that if they have used visuals during a trial they can make their case even in the jury room. Visuals improve retention of important information and concepts, and they are tools advocates of specific positions can use to clarify or drive their points home. The jury might well want visuals present as they deliberate. Visuals and leave-behinds serve the same purpose in selling. *Always leave something* with a prospect after a meeting. Your prospect will be reminded of the value you provided and can use your visuals to persuade colleagues and superiors. Top producers capture power during the sales process in other ways, too, and it’s not magic. Highly effective consultative selling techniques can be learned and put into practice by anyone willing to invest the time and effort. Graduates of our FOCIS® consultative selling course often credit our training for significant increases in their professional satisfaction and their incomes. **To learn more about using “the power of power” in selling,** just give us a call us at [847-446-0008](tel:847-446-0008) or e-mail us at . We would love to learn more about you and your sales objectives, challenges, and opportunities! ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Big Bang of Marketing and Sales](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-big-bang-of-marketing-and-sales/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** In 1993, the year our firm, Productive Strategies, was born, was especially significant for marketing and sales because of a “Big Bang” type of event: A little-known piece of software-the World Wide Web-was released into the public domain by CERN, an organization headquartered in Geneva and itself little known outside scientific circles. CERN’s official name is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The explosion of Web development that followed, like the universe, is still expanding without an end in sight. In this month’s Productive Insights column, “Growing the Topline,” Phil Krone celebrates our firm’s 20th anniversary by examining key changes in sales and marketing during the past 20 years and what they mean for sales and marketing professionals today. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Stop Setting Goals: Try ‘Systems’](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/stop-setting-goals-try-systems/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **No more goals? Really?** A revolutionary thought–and perhaps more so because it comes from Scott Adams, the creator of the cartoon strip, *Dilbert.* Adams’ running commentary on contemporary business life, though cutting, is nothing if not completely logical and even practical. Hard to believe we would more productive without goals. **In the December 15 edition of *Bottom Line Personal*** (bottomlinepublications.com), Adams’ comments resonate with the newsletter’s always valuable and practical information and advice. **Adams contends** that the type of goal we’ve come to know and love (or hate) isn’t really motivational because it takes too long to achieve. Instead, he advocates “systems,” or ways of behaving that set the stage for achieving the goal behind the goal. You want to lose 10 pounds, for example, not just to lose 10 pounds but to be more attractive, healthier, or feel better about yourself. **A system can provide better support** than a goal over the longer term and is straightforward. One component might be buying only healthful food for your kitchen so that you can prepare healthful meals. Another piece might be walking whenever possible; take the stairs at work instead of the elevator, for instance. **In selling, we call this a “buying motive.”** You want to buy a car not just to have a car but to get you where you need to go quickly, safely, and comfortably. In business, you often want the best “value,” not the best price, because your career buying motive is to be seen as a higher level thinker who can become a high-level decision maker. **What do you think?** Goals or no goals? Let us know and we’ll share the comments. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [‘Keystone’ Habits Key to Productivity](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/keystone-habits-key-to-productivity/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **In our last blog entry** we talked about how “systems” might improve productivity better than goals because they tackle the goal behind the goal-buying a car, for instance, not just to buy a car but to have transportation. Or, in sales, understanding that the “buying motive” behind a prospect’s interest in your product or service might be a lot more than simply getting the best price. So, once you settle on a system for your longer term ambitions, how do you set it in motion and keep it in motion? The latest research into how our brains work and influence our everyday behavior suggests that changing one “keystone” habit can do the trick. The reason is that changing one habit affects other, related habits that taken together make a system hum. **An in-depth and practical exploration** of this simple yet profound notion can be found in *The Power of Habit* (2012) by Charles Duhigg. The thinking applies not only to the behavior of individuals but also to the behavior of companies-your company, in fact, if you want it to. How do we know this is true? Two main reasons: first, extensive academic research found that “small wins” are behind big wins because they make the next small win more likely. That in turn makes “transformative” change more likely. Second, sophisticated brain scans now enable scientists to *see* how our brains change as our habits change, much like watching muscles grow as weight training intensifies. **How can your company use keystone habits** to be significantly more successful? To get started, read Duhigg’s book. But don’t begin at the beginning. Begin with Chapter 4, which tells the story of Paul O’Neill’s transformation of Alcoa. O’Neill focused on one important but not very exciting aspect of the manufacturing business-worker safety. When he retired, the company’s net revenue was five times what it was when he came on the scene and so was the value of its stock. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. He can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Elephant in the Room or Elephant in the Corner?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/elephant-in-the-room-or-elephant-in-the-corner/) **Published:** May 18, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Do you know-or suspect-that a single issue** is holding back your company’s revenue growth? Your strategy seems to be on target, and you’ve achieved some solid success. Yet progress toward your vision for top-line growth has slowed or plateaued. Maybe it’s even backsliding. You might know what the problem is or you might just sense that “something isn’t working.” In other words, you’re tiptoeing around an “elephant in the room” or standing idly by while an “elephant in the corner” weighs you down. We all understand that an elephant in the room is a thorny, sometimes contentious issue everyone knows about but no one wants to talk about. It’s on everyone’s mind but not on anyone’s plate. **![An elephant in the corner](https://productivestrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/elephant.jpg)An elephant in the corner is different.** People know about this issue, too. They even talk about it from time to time yet still take no action. Maybe it’s not really in the way or hasn’t been clearly defined. Maybe no one recognizes the true implications of resolving it or-even more difficult to determine-the implications of *not* resolving it. Growth-minded companies must learn to go over, around, or through single-issue roadblocks to growth quickly and effectively. Unfortunately, most don’t know how. Such obstacles can be tricky: They don’t always present themselves as marketing or sales issues. Revenue-growth challenges can incubate in just about any area of your business-training, production, finances, strategy, personnel. In addition, each is unique to a company’s culture, business model, business environment, and other conditions. The good news is that over the years we’ve developed a highly practical process to identify and tame both kinds of problem pachyderm in a way that helps our clients help themselves. The key is our perspective that marketing is anything that enhances selling. That approach and our consistent process enable us to dig up and clean off revenue-blocking issues virtually no matter where they are or what they are. And it’s a good thing, too, because no two single-issue challenges we’ve been asked to solve have ever been the same. **One client, for example, asked us to take on an “elephant in the room.”** This company’s salespeople were earning consistent commissions by selling $5,000 to $10,000 products and services with short sales cycles and high closing rates. They liked the approach they had developed and considered themselves successful. You can see why it was hard to dispute that success. For several strategic and market-related reasons, however, the CEO’s vision for growth-and, of course, larger sales commissions-was to shift to selling much more sophisticated, six-figure services. That meant lower closing rates and longer sales cycles. Current sales activity was clearly not in alignment with the CEO’s desired direction. Our process enabled both sides to appreciate the other’s goals and, especially for the sales force, the real potential for higher commissions. The process provided a practical path to realize the CEO’s vision without diminishing the enthusiasm of what in fact was a capable sales force. Our FOCIS® training supported the shift by upgrading the group’s consultative selling skills and developing a customized sales process designed for higher ticket services. **An “elephant in the corner”** was the key to resolving another client’s single-issue challenge. We led a two-day retreat in which senior managers were to prioritize some 200 potentially good ideas and troublesome issues. Ultimately, we helped boil them down to four or five that promised significant impact with the right solution and implementation. One problem was that significant annual growth in new revenue (that is, new sales) was being offset by the loss of current customers. In other words, sales were great but overall revenue growth was stagnant. What was happening? Management had an idea but didn’t entirely understand the implications of not tackling the cause head on. This company was a major industry player that supplied services to thousands of franchisee locations across the US and Canada. Our client’s customers were individual owners or groups that owned anywhere from one location to several hundred. **The source of the problem** turned out to be a classic “elephant in the corner”-an issue seemingly unrelated to sales and marketing that hadn’t received much attention. Our client’s franchisee contracts were voided whenever the ownership of a location changed. That meant competitors who knew of the sale first could swoop in and sign up the new owners. And they did. Competitors seemed to be getting the business simply because they were vendors the new owner was already using. Our client’s pricing and service were not in question. The elephant in the corner was that our client was at a competitive disadvantage. Management had no way of knowing when a sale took place. (An out-of-date contract-tracking process also contributed to delays in efficiently identifying voided contracts.) The challenge was to turn that disadvantage into an advantage by developing a way to find out when a sale took place before competitors did. Management ultimately made achieving that competitive advantage its #1 goal for the near term because it would have the most impact. We then facilitated brainstorming to determine how best to do that. **We’ve helped tame other elephants, too.** Clients and their challenges include: - A company that created an effective direct-mail program but was not sure what the actual sales process should be to handle the responses that would soon be coming in. - A firm that needed to improve the ROI on webinars, seminars, and social activities put on for their clients - A business that needed guidance in debriefing from a major successful project that involved multiple alliance partners. What lessons could be learned? - Another client that saw revenue increase after its sales team completed our FOCIS® consultative selling training but then realized a previously low-profile operational challenge kept them from meeting demand - A company struggling to differentiate itself from growing competition didn’t know how to determine which market leadership discipline they should embrace - One company was uncertain about how to leverage the value of past prospects and inactive customers - Another was struggling to decide whether the best channel for going to market with a new product was to employ direct salespeople or to use independent representatives. **Our straightforward approach uses** basic research and information gathering, expert facilitation of internal discussions, and the development of documentation, insights, and action steps for moving forward . Our neutral role, business experience, and problem-solving capabilities enable us to facilitate and mediate in a way that in-house leaders cannot. For example, the valuable insight and inspiration CEOs or senior managers should contribute are largely lost if they must also focus on running the discussions. They need to *participate* fully. **Is your revenue growth stalled by a single issue?** Do you know that your team members-and perhaps you-are ignoring an elephant in the room? Do you suspect there’s an elephant in the corner? Either way, please give us a call at 847-446-0008 or e-mail us at . We can help you better understand what you’re up against, what it might mean for your company, and, if you want us to, tame the beast. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What’s Your Hunting-Farming Ratio?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/whats-your-hunting-farming-ratio/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Does your hunting-farming sales ratio** go up and down like a playground seesaw? Or maybe the ratio is lopsided one way or the other and doesn’t move much at all. Do your salespeople spend more time tending to current customers (farming), for example, than actively searching for new customers (hunting)? **Do you even know?** If you don’t, you might want to figure it out with the objective of determining what the optimal ratio is for your company. What’s the opportunity cost of an imbalance? It varies from company to company, but it’s important to know. If it’s right, you’ll want to maintain it. If wrong, you’ll want to adjust it. Gradually, as sales people bring in more customers they can begin to spend time taking care of those customers at the expense of bringing in new ones. Even if they’re building business with current customers, sales can suffer noticeably. It’s rare that increased penetration of current customers will offset lack of new customers. **The causes of an imbalance vary** from broad organizational design to a company’s sales process (or lack of one) to the skill set of individual salespeople. And technology can play a role. To learn more about balancing hunting and farming at your organization, just give us a call. We’re happy to discuss! ***Scott Pemberton*** ***is a senior consultant** at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Can Lawyers Learn to Sell?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/can-lawyers-learn-to-sell/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** One of our large, global law firm clients has been tracking the results of our small-group consultative sales training of their attorneys. We’ve trained about 50 attorneys in eight cities. The study is controlled for gender and experience. For the full 2013 year, the gap in billings for lawyers trained in our approach, called FOCIS®, and for comparable attorneys firm-wide not trained in FOCIS was 12 percent. For originating new work with new clients the gap was even higher-20 percent. The firm attributes these significant differences directly to our consultative sales training and is considering opening up FOCIS® to more of its attorneys. **Key Point #1:** We train attorneys in consultative *selling* , not marketing, and there is a difference. Marketing is important because it increases credibility and visibility, but it rarely brings in revenue directly. For our 25 client firms, building better consultative selling skills and a customized sales process for their attorneys enhances their marketing efforts-in other words, it improves the ROI on their marketing. **Key Point #2:** Both selling and marketing are necessary for a complete business development process. Many firms have taken the first step by investing in marketing, but few have completed the process by investing in consultative sales training. Those that have are building a powerful competitive advantage. Effective for individual attorneys and firms of any size, FOCIS® teaches the behaviors of the very best business developers-the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of the business. So, lawyers can indeed learn to sell–and to do it well. Why don’t more attorneys go after more business more aggressively? That’s a story for another time. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [When a Competitor Badmouths Your Company](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/when-a-competitor-badmouths-your-company/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** Occasionally, one of our clients learns about a competitor that tells prospects and even customers something about our client that’s not true or significantly misrepresented. As a salesperson, you might know this is going on, or, rarely, a prospect or customer might bring it up, either as a challenge or as a favor. Fortunately, even though many companies compete hard and should compete hard, few fall to this level. **But if you face this problem, what do you do?** If *you* discover it, then let your manager know immediately. Management can investigate to see what, if anything, needs to be done, especially if the potential for litigation exists. Each situation is different and requires a customized solution. Beyond that, here are a couple of things *not* to do. **1.** **Don’t badmouth back.** You immediately fall into the playground “he said,” “she said,” sandbox that customers and prospects have no desire to climb into with you and your competitor. They recognize it as a complete waste of time and, more likely than not, will think less of you to boot. **2.** **Don’t refer to specific competitors by name.** In many industries, but not all, you may be expected to know who your competitors are. However, there’s almost never a need to bring them up yourself. **If a prospect or customer mentions a competitor** , the simplest response is to say you’ve heard of the company (if you have) but don’t know a lot about it. Or just say, “My role today is to learn what your needs are and then to work with you to determine whether our services or products can meet those needs.” **The good news** is that you probably won’t run into this problem–at least, we hope you don’t! ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Hate Cold Calling? Embrace Your Fate](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/hate-cold-calling-embrace-your-fate/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Raise your hand if you like to make cold calls.** No one? No surprise. In our experience, just three out of every 100 sales reps like to make cold calls. The rest don’t like it and aren’t very good at it, which may be in part why they don’t like it. **So recently I was encouraged** by the sincere, if skeptical, interest in cold calling I found during a workshop I did for new commercial real estate brokers. They were clearly interested because they had asked their respective managers to provide this workshop. They were skeptical because they knew how difficult cold calling can be. **The site was the Chicago office** of a national commercial real estate firm. The participants averaged about 27 years old, and, though new to commercial real estate, they were not new to business-to-business selling. All had gritted their teeth through cold calls for other companies. **Their sincerity came from their desire** to do well in a new field as well as from the significant success this firm had achieved in a relatively short time. In addition, they knew that experienced brokers still made cold calls, if not as many, mainly to set first appointments. The new brokers figured that if cold calling was good enough for their successful mentors then it would be at least good enough for them–maybe even better. **The good news** was that they had already cleared the first two hurdles in the journey to successful cold calling: They had embraced the ideas that 1) cold calling would be beneficial and 2) that it would be difficult. The workshop supported the first idea and offered techniques that would make the second idea more of an exciting challenge instead of a dreaded burden. For example, they role-played real scenarios they faced, learned how to identify the decision-makers they wanted to talk to, and how to engage them more effectively once they got hold of them. **Was the workshop helpful?** The participants said that it was, and they left less skeptical and more enthusiastic about taking on the cold calling challenge. Soon, we’ll be testing the short-term effect with real-time, one-on-one coaching, so stay tuned. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Navigating Obamacare, Talking to a Brick Wall, Saving a Small College–and Its Town](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/navigating-obamacare-talking-to-a-brick-wall-saving-a-small-college-and-its-town/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** The winners of our FOCIS ® Contest for 2013 took long and winding roads to their destinations but their trips were worth it–in more ways than just making a sale. **First Prize, $500:** Russ Cerny of pharmacy benefits management firm Catamaran spent more than four years pursuing a prospect, eventually dislodging its incumbent vendor of 10 years, and switching $20 million of annual revenue to his company. **Second Prize, $300:** Rich De Jong of Symbria Analytics, broadened his FOCIS ® questions to move deeper into an organization when he thought he was blocked and is on track to acquire 15 new accounts. **Third Prize, $200:** Bill Sliwa, NRCCUA, discovered that a rural college’s dwindling enrollment would close its doors and impact the small town it helped to support to the tune of $1 million. **Navigating Obamacare** First Prize, $500: Russ Cerny, Catamaran **Four years for 40,000 “lives”** and a $20-million annual sale were Russ Cerny’s investment of time and eventual return on that investment. But patience and persistence weren’t the only tools in Cerny’s tool box. FOCIS ® played a role, too. His prospect, now client, is in “managed care.” It’s a health-plan company that services commercial, Medicaid, Medicare Part D members, and Affordable Care Act-exchange members. The exchange members were new to the market on January 1 as a result of Obamacare–as was everyone else. The main challenge for the prospect’s leadership was that they “didn’t know what they didn’t know” about the issues of bringing on a new line of business under Obamacare while effectively managing their existing lines. Catamaran, however, did. And, over the previous four years or so, Cerny had ensured that management knew of Catamaran’s capabilities. He diligently provided regular communications about the anticipated ins and outs of a constantly changing and often confusing healthcare world. **“They began to recognize** the multiple \[negative\] implications of remaining with their status quo provider of ten years,” he explains. For example, many of the managed care company’s current covered members could make a move from their commercial line of business to the new exchange market. “This had to be a good experience or \[the prospect\] would lose those covered members to the competition,” Cerny explains. Ultimately, if the transition of existing members and on-boarding of new members didn’t go well, Catamaran would then find it more difficult to take on the prospect’s other lines of business. Positive implications also existed, if the prospect would risk change. “There were many possible solutions to enable them to better compete for new business while retaining existing business,” Cerny says. To take that risk, of course, the prospect needed to feel completely confident about Catamaran. **Because he stayed on top** of how his prospect’s business was faring, he was able to point out “how they hadn’t grown in five years” while his company, Catamaran, “was growing and so were our clients. They saw us go from a few hundred employees to more than 4,000.” Over time the prospect saw that Catamaran was “doing things right to keep our current customers happy while winning new business,” Cerny says. “We were able to explain why they needed a partner who understood the Affordable Care Act and how to lead clients through this new line of exchange business.” In addition, Catamaran could keep up to date with government regulations for the company’s other lines of business. **“We earned the prospect’s full trust** in 2013,” says Cerny. “All 40,000 lives began transferring over to us on January 1.” (Insured individuals are known as “lives” in the industry.) The initial implementation went well , and Cerny’s new *client* is looking forward to transitioning the remainder of the business. In summarizing how he applied his FOCIS ® training, Cerny says, “My efforts were concentrated on pointing out implications-over and over. Once my prospect recognized the full impact, the solution was obvious.” Catamaran was the “technologically advanced” partner with the “people-expertise” that Cerny’s prospect needed to provide innovative ideas to support the company’s local market initiatives. **Talking to a Brick Wall** Second Prize, $300: Rich De Jong, Symbria Analytics **Rich De Jong asks questions for a living.** Or, rather, he and his team at Symbria Analytics create and sell surveys that ask questions. The surveys gather data that help senior-living providers offer the best experience for their residents. Since FOCIS ® is all about asking questions, De Jong couldn’t wait to use his new skills. “A consultative selling approach is not only effective,” he explains, “but it brings more pride to the work I do.” **Early on he ran into a brick wall.** At a first meeting, the CEO of an assisted-living provider warned that her facility conducted its own surveys. De Jong asked a FOCIS ® implication question: “How much does it cost, including staff time, to create, collect, tabulate, and report the data?” Strike one: The CEO didn’t think cost was a concern. So then he asked a broader challenge question: “What’s the biggest problem you face when it comes to understanding your employees and your residents?” Strike two: “I think I have a pretty good understanding,” the CEO replied. A key element in FOCIS ® is to stay on track with questions about problems your solutions can solve. But before he struck out, De Jong took a chance: “What are any of the challenges that face this organization?” **This time he connected** and the brick wall began to crack. A flood of issues poured out, ranging from decreasing Medicare reimbursements to increasing costs of insurance. De Jong also learned the facility was one of 23 that self-insured through an insurance “captive.” He then suggested benchmarking the CEO’s organization against the other members of the captive. “She thought that was a great idea,” De Jong says, “and volunteered to introduce me to the manager of the full captive.” **The captive in fact faced myriad challenges** with liability claims, workers’ compensation, and turnover. Says De Jong: “I started asking how much each area had cost \[implications\], which became extremely expensive fast.” He suggested gathering data to see if a connection existed between claims and employee satisfaction and engagement. Soon, the manager asked De Jong to speak at an all-member meeting. Immediately after De Jong’s presentation, members asked for details and several called him later. To date, De Jong had three signed quotes and the likelihood of *15 more*. Plus, the corporate owner of this captive owned a number of others, making the path to even more sales smoother. **And there’s one more thing:** The CEO who thought her facility didn’t need De Jong’s services was among those who is now likely to sign up. **Saving a Small College-and Its Town** Third Prize, $200: Bill Sliwa, NRCCUA **Small towns with small college** s are mutually dependent, their cultural and economic lives intertwined. When either town or gown begins to stumble, both are in danger of falling, even failing. Worse, understanding the reasons soon enough can be a significant challenge. That’s the situation in which Bill Sliwa, of the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA), found himself a year ago when he called on a client, a rural college, to renew its data contract. The data about some 5.2 million high school students supplied by the NRCCUA helps its 1500-member colleges to identify students that meet the colleges’ admissions profiles. Instead of just renewing the contract, however, Sliwa used FOCIS ® questioning to get behind the school’s obvious objective of recruiting the next freshman class. He unearthed serious implications for the school in connection with its ability to use the data. The college was taking a $1-million hit to its annual operating budget because of missed enrollment goals and, unfortunately, its leaders didn’t entirely understand why. **Sliwa credits his FOCIS ® training** for enabling him to get the college to “the tough questions” that affected the school’s future. The school was already hurting in obvious ways, such as staff layoffs, no raises, and low morale. Sliwa showed its leadership team how much worse things could get. “FOCIS ® helped me listen for clues to problems and get to the implications,” Sliwa explains. He was “able to formulate” tough questions: - What would the layoffs do to workload? - How would that affect the school’s ability for quick turnarounds with prospective students? - How many more students-and dollars-would the school lose? - What would that do to the economy of the town? **The school’s leaders didn’t like the answers:** a predictable $2.5-million loss in the next year and a $1-million economic hit to the town. Naturally, they turned to the individual and organization that guided them to those answers-Bill Sliwa and the NRCCUA-to guide them to solutions. As a result, the school increased its spending to attract students significantly. Much of the increase went to NRCCUA in the form of a full-service contract. The new contract was for $150,000-25 times greater than the $6,000 annual contract Sliwa had set out to renew. The new contract includes marketing services, staff training, and, of course, the data about high school students essential to successful recruiting. Says Sliwa with satisfaction: “Numbers are up and the campus feels much better about facing the next year.” No doubt, the town does, too. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [When Is “Doing the Right Thing” the Right Thing?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/when-is-doing-the-right-thing-the-right-thing/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **“Always do right,” Mark Twain once wrote.** Sounds simple enough. But then came Twain’s inevitable zinger: “This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” And, of course, knowing *what* is the right thing to do can be complicated. One of our clients, for example, once offered a new technology to an oil company. The technology was an attractive opportunity because it delivered positive ROI, provided some competitive advantage, and reduced the pollution created by retail gasoline stations–great public relations for any oil company. But it was also a threat because it would reduce gasoline sales to independent dealers. What was the right decision: Take the opportunity or sidestep the threat? **Another client** offers pharmacy services to senior living communities. Early on, this privately held company invested heavily in automated equipment to package medications in a way that reduced medication waste but also, in turn, the company’s sales. (Too often pills are thrown out, for instance, because prescriptions are written for new medications before the old ones are used up.) **Our client knew the decision** would benefit its customers, however, both the senior communities it serves and the seniors who live in them. Did our client do the right thing? That same client’s primary and much larger competitor turned down a similar opportunity to drive medication waste even lower for its customers: “We’ll sell fewer pills” was the undeniable rationale. This company is publicly held with myriad stakeholders. Was it wrong for executives to pursue the most immediate avenue of return, even if it didn’t benefit customers? **Do your answers to our questions gratify or astonish?** It depends, doesn’t it, on just who you’re talking to. Now, what do you think? Let us hear from you. Tell us, too, *how* you think about “doing the right thing” when it comes to your company and its stakeholders. *Editor’s Note: This post was adapted from a previously published article written by Phil Krone, president of Productive Strategies.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Match Making: Process to Prospect](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/match-making-process-to-prospect/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Are you a successful sales matchmaker?** Do you match a sales process with a type of sale with a type of audience? Some salespeople wing it. Others use the same process with every prospect. But the best salespeople use sales processes customized by type of product or service and by type of audience. “Best” means the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of all new business. **What types of sales are there?** For either a product or service, your offering could –Enjoy some differentiation –Have no differentiation–a commodity –Be brand new in a known category –Be “new to the world”–revolutionary –Be known but launching as a new model. **What about audiences?** Here’s a sampling, –End users –Small business owner-operators –Corporate procurement teams –New referral sources –Potential strategic partners **No formal sales process** or one that’s used for every match-up of product and audience practically guarantees a low success rate. But match-making customized sales processes with specific products with specific audiences can improve your results significantly. We know because we’ve helped client companies develop custom sales processes for myriad combinations of products, services, and audiences. Offerings have ranged from revolutionary new products to differentiating commodities by helping clients add value they never thought possible. Are you a successful matchmaker? Please give us a call at 847-446-0008, and let’s talk about it. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm he founded in 1993. The firm specializes in growing revenues for its clients through consultative sales training, business-to-business lead generation and appointment-setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 1 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Why Visuals Make Great ‘Discovery’ Tools](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/why-visuals-make-great-discovery-tools/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Nearly every sales rep uses visuals** in formal presentations, usually in PowerPoint. But are you using them effectively in discovery, too? In a complex, business-to-business, consultative-selling environment, visuals can be powerful tools for advancing a sale for several reasons. They can: *Drive your point home* clearly and succinctly. *Make terrific leave-behinds* (if printed) that prospects can review and consider after you leave. *Help your prospect,* as your internal advocate, persuade others in the organization that your products and sevices are valuable. **You probably already have some visuals** in the form of brochures or sell sheets. But you can create your own to make specific points. They don’t have to be of commercial quality–in fact, informal visuals can be even more effective. We don’t recommend “back of the napkin” visuals, necessarily. They’re too flimsy and might well end up in the wastebasket because that’s where napkins usually end up. But a blank piece of paper on which you sketch a diagram or flow chart on the spot shows your adaptability and expertise differently than prepared pieces. **You can plan the impromptu** use of visuals, too. Decide on one or two points that can have strong visual impact and practice sketching a diagram or other type of illustration–even a list. Then be ready to pull out a blank sheet of paper when the opportunity presents itself. Or set up the opportunity by asking the right questions at the right time. Then draw your diagram or write out your list. Even planned off-the-cuff visuals still deliver value to your prospect by making your points succinctly and offering a different perspective from which the prospect can see the problems your company can solve. Want to learn more? Just call me at 847-446-0008. We can help you see a variety of ways to improve your sales results and help you to put them to work, too. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training and customized sales process development, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-000) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [What’s So Important about Process?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/whats-so-important-about-process/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Recently we’ve noticed that more and more prospects are coming to us for help in developing a sales “process” for their corporate sales teams. Specifically, they tell us, they’re looking for a *customized* sales process. A good idea, of course, and one we’ve long advocated, practiced, and taught. **Why the jump in requests?** We don’t know for sure. But new research of bank customers shows that companies say they have developed the products they want and made acquisitions. Now their focus is on increasing organic growth and margins. A strong sales process is the key to achieving both of those goals. “If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process,” quality control guru W. Edwards Deming once said, “you don’t know what you are doing.” We’ve found that even successful companies that live by processes for their core competencies don’t have a strong sales process. And, reflecting Deming, we’ve found that while they may know enough about selling to stay afloat, they don’t know enough to win the race. Our experience is that the best salespeople further customize by type of product or service and by type of audience. “Best” means the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of all new business. The process for selling a new product, for example, is different from the process for selling an existing product-or, at least, it ought to be. Selling to manufacturers is different from selling to distributors. **What do we mean by process, exactly?** “A series of actions” that produces results, says the dictionary–that is, one action *after* another action. And success clichés spawned by human experience using process abound: “step by step,” “one thing at a time,” “can’t do two things at once.” Following a good process is essential to being successful in selling or, for that matter, darn near anything else. Process is at the heart of doing things right. Now we know why: That’s how our brains work. In fact, when it comes to thinking about getting things done, our brains *cannot* do two things at once. Instead, they change tasks incredibly quickly. **“Switching from task to task,** you think you’re actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you’re actually not,” MIT neuroscientist Earl Miller told NPR. “You’re not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously, but switching between them very rapidly.” What we call multi-tasking is really more like multi-switching or even juggling, a point Gary Keller makes in his new book, *The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results*. “Juggling is an illusion,” he writes. “In reality, the balls are being independently caught and thrown in rapid succession. It is actually task switching.” Several things force the brain to switch among tasks, explains MIT’s Miller. Just one is that similar tasks compete to use the same part of the brain. **A strong sales process** also applies to individual sales reps as well as teams and can help a particular kind of struggling salesperson especially. Over the past several years, a surprising number of salespeople have told us, unbidden, that they have or suspect they have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)–or, at least, ADHD tendencies. In one group we taught, all 10 said they were aware they had those tendencies and were trying to compensate for them. Others we’ve talked with even work with coaches trained in changing ADHD behavior. Guess what one of their tools is. That’s right: process. A common symptom of ADHD, for instance, is being easily distracted. One sales rep told us just two weeks ago that he has attempted to “thrive in chaos” for much of his professional life, in part because of difficulty staying focused on one task long enough to complete it. **“Multi-tasking is a myth,”** says Dale Davison, a Chicago-area executive coach specializing in ADHD issues. In order to be accessible to his team, Davison explains, one manager placed his desk “in the center of the room,” but that only intensified his tendency to be easily distracted. She used a proven process to help him develop strategies to stay focused *and* be readily available to his team. (Yes, changing the location of the desk was part of the solution.) She worked with him “step by step” until he developed ways to overcome his ADHD tendencies. Another sales rep we know traveled from industry conference to industry conference making some terrific contacts, practically choking the top of the sales funnel with leads. Unfortunately, he rarely followed up well enough to make a sale. He was truly struggling. Developing and implementing strategies to overcome his ADHD tendencies has taken him to a mid-six-figure income. **Would you like to learn more** about how a strong sales process can improve the results of your team or individual sales people? Please give us a call at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or e-mail me at . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Turning Hunger into Hope](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/turning-hunger-into-hope/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Productive Strategies, Inc. **Content:** Last year, a remarkable organization called Feed My Starving Children ([www.fmsc.org](https://www.fmsc.org/ "Manufacturers and Distributors: The New Give and Take")) engaged 780,000 volunteers to “pack” 191 million highly nutritious meals designed to save the lives of severely malnourished children. The goals this year are 890,000 volunteers packing 215 million meals. A tall order, to be sure. But you can help in a fun, hands-on way and network as you’ve never networked before. **You’re invited to join us on Tuesday, August 19,** from 4 to 6 p.m., at Chicago’s Union Station, for a Special Service and Networking Opportunity **Cocktail Reception Follows at a Nearby Restaurant Hosted by Productive Strategies** On August 19, we and at least 25 of our clients, prospects, members of our professional networking groups, and readers of this column will be packing some 5,500 highly nutritious meals designed by food scientists specifically to reverse and prevent severe malnutrition in children. We’ll get to know each other by sharing this special service experience and then networking afterward in the usual way at a reception we’re hosting for our packing group. **To reserve your spot for this special experience** just mail a check for $100 payable to “Feed My Starving Children” to: ***Phil Krone****, President, Productive Strategies, Two Northfield Plaza #365, Northfield, IL 60093* Be sure to include your full contact information. Your donation funds 455 meals and is tax deductible. Spots are Limited **Two hours of packing meals with others is just plain fun.** It’s one of the reasons FMSC can rely on volunteer efforts and use 92 percent of all contributions to directly support its programs to feed severely malnourished children. The ingredients for one of these life-saving meals cost just 22 cents. Your generous donation will thus fund 455 meals that, dry packed, have a shelf life of about 18 months. What happens in those two hours? To get an idea, watch this brief video “ [US Bank Volunteers Packing for Kids](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km1lZAH_1ME).” The goal for the Union Station event is for 2500 volunteers to pack 500,000 meals on August 19 and 20. **It’s difficult to appreciate** but these children are not simply hungry, which would be bad enough. These are not children who *might* die, who could die, or with luck might well hold on until help arrives. No, these children will not-cannot-hold on, even until tomorrow. These children are starving, and they will die. All of them. But millions of others can be saved. The numbers are almost inconceivable. Take 6,200, for example. That’s the number of children who die from hunger or hunger-related causes in the world each day. Do the math and you get 2.6 million children dying of starvation each year. **For the past nine years, Charity Navigator** has ranked Feed My Starving Children among the top one percent of 7,000 charitable organizations for good governance and efficient management. To ensure effective distribution of the meals, FMSC deals directly with a carefully selected network of established, “boots on the ground” humanitarian organizations in each country. Feed My Starving Children accepts no government aid. A faith-based not-for-profit, Feed My Starving Children is dedicated to saving the lives and restoring the good health of starving children throughout the world regardless of religious belief, ethnic background, or political circumstances. **Please join us on August 19. You’ll be glad you did.** *\*Your donation pays for 455 meals and is tax deductible. Feed My Starving Children’s 501 (c)3 tax ID is 41-1601449.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is Your ‘Sales Department’ Really Selling?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-your-sales-department-really-selling/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **In the beginning was the company founder who could sell.** And the founder was omnipresent, handling all after-sale transactional duties, too. And the founder was omniscient, knowing where everything was and where it should be. The business was (almost) a sales-driven paradise. But then paradise got *better* , becoming Paradise Plus. The founder sold more and more, eventually hiring someone to handle all those pre-sale and after-sale transactional duties-quoting prices, answering questions about features or specifications, confirming availability and delivery details, and myriad other tasks that together actually got the dollars in the door and helped retain customers. That person, whose responsibilities were in fact sales- *related* , became the “sales department.” As the business grew, so did the sales department as a second, third, and fourth person was hired. At some point, however, the founder was no longer omnipresent or omniscient and no longer knew where everything was or where it should be. (After all, this founder was only human.) **Hope from Hunger Networking** **Don’t forget to join us on Tuesday, August 19,** from 4 to 6 p.m., to pack life-saving meals and network in a new way. See our June column, ” Turning Hunger into Hope ,” or call us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1. E-mail works, too: .**Many successful companies** reach this point. When they do, at least two different types of evolution in sales can then take place. First, to continue to grow sales, the founder brings on someone else whose job it is to sell-a dedicated salesperson or perhaps another principal. This second business developer won’t have the same historical perspective on the business and its place in the market the founder does and may well lack the founder’s technical expertise and industry connections. Business developer #2 will certainly come from a different business culture, perhaps even from a different industry. It is critical that this person have both strong consultative selling skills and a custom sales process to become as successful as the original seller in creating value for prospects and customers. Second, at some point it almost always becomes clear that the inside “sales department” is in fact a customer service department. It doesn’t produce the sales its name implies, neither penetrating current accounts nor hunting new business. Often, attempts are made to try to devote a portion of the customer service reps’ time to selling. This tack *sounds* logical, but it’s not and almost always fails. Why doesn’t this seemingly commonsense step make sense? There are several possible reasons: - Lack of training beyond customer service tasks - The customer service reps are programmed to handle transactional requests first. Switching between serving customers and selling to them is hard, if not impossible - Not enough time earmarked for selling - No enforcement of time earmarked for selling - Incorrect personal “wiring.” Good customer service reps are wired to help people, not “sell” people. **Does that scenario sound familiar?** Is your sales department really a customer service department? Are you asking customer service reps to sell? If it’s working, we’d like to hear about it. If it’s not, we’d also like to hear about it. Meanwhile, here are some things to think about. Call us if you’d like to learn more. 1\. Sales departments that are really only performing customer service should be *renamed* to reflect the work they’re actually doing. 2\. If you’re serious about inside sales, then *create a new department*. That can be as simple as hiring one true salesperson, designating that person as the “sales department,” and meaning it 3\. *Train your sales department* in consultative selling skills that can be used to develop business from current accounts and new ones 4\. *Develop a sales process customized* to your company and your industry. This not only improves sales; it also makes getting new salespeople up to speed much faster. **In some industries, a third type of evolution** is taking place with which manufacturers must come to terms: Distributors, once valuable in part because they created new business for their customers, have essentially become order takers. Reasons vary but here are three: - Many are now run by second and third generation owners, who may or may not have a “fire in the belly” for selling and building markets companies can’t easily reach with their sales forces. - Technology has changed the game-in this case, enabling original equipment manufacturers to find and order directly from suppliers - Distributors are wary of being stuck with inventory they can’t sell or return, which is what happened during the last recession. Now, they often take an order for which they don’t carry stock and ask the supplier to drop ship to the customer. The changing nature of distribution channels and the “noise” that change is generating is significant, and we plan to address it in a future column. Suppliers need a strategy to define the role of all intermediaries-distributors, dealers, retailers, independent and direct sales representatives, and others. **But for now, simply ask yourself** and your team whether your “sales department” needs a new name that better describes what it actually does. And, even more important, ask yourself whether, in fact, you need to create a sales department that’s wired to *sell*. Whatever the answers might be, please give us a call. We can help you assess where your sales department is in its evolution. And then, wherever it is, we can help your people develop the sales skills and customized sales process they need to grow your topline. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [7 Ways Your Proposal Can Seal the Deal–or Sabotage It](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/7-ways-your-proposal-can-seal-the-deal-or-sabotage-it/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Killer proposals** aren’t born. They’re made. And here’s how. **1. Good Discovery, Good Proposal.**An effective proposal starts with effective discovery. What does that mean? You need to spend enough time asking the questions that will help you know how to provide the best solution for your prospect. You cannot provide a specific, unique solution unless you perform discovery that identifies specific problems your company can solve. That effort will give you a clear competitive advantage. Most salespeople we work with are so intent on “making a sale” that they give discovery short shrift. That in turn gives the prospect a valid reason to do the same to them. **2. Show Up, Clean Up**. Try your best to present your proposals in person, face to face. Although it’s not always possible, it is always worth the effort. Next best is a video conference. After that a phone call. Much less effective are proposals that are e-mailed or snail-mailed without an agreed-upon time to discuss them. Direct personal contact offers many advantages, not the least of which is a higher success rate. For example, summarizing the results of your discovery as part of presenting the proposal-and getting real-time reaction, both verbal and non-verbal-quickly helps determine whether the solution portion of your proposal is on target. If it’s not, you can immediately shift gears to find out why by performing additional discovery. If you’re presenting to a group, disagreements or corrections within the prospect’s team will often surface and allow you to get everyone on the same page as far as which problems need to be solved-or at least give you a shot. A CEO once told one of our consultants, for instance, that what we had learned about his company applied only to the one individual we talked to. Our consultant asked who else he should see and restarted the discovery process to learn more of the company’s issues. **3. Customize, Finalize.**Don’t send or present what are in truth contracts or boilerplates masquerading as proposals. Although some sections may use standard wording, be sure to customize concerning the problems you will be solving and what the outcomes will be. Several of our clients significantly improved their closing rate by presenting more customized proposals, gaining acceptance, and *then* providing the contractual terms commonly referred to as “boilerplate.” There is nothing persuasive about receiving a document that is 100% contractual terms or obviously the same one you send to every other prospect. **Key Point:** Talk about “what” you’re going to do-that is, the expected outcomes. Don’t explain “how” in any detail. No need to give away intellectual property, which is your “secret sauce.” If you do, your prospect can react in two or three different ways, either telling you outright or just thinking to himself: 1\. “We’ve tried that and it didn’t work.” 2\. “Hmm. We can do that ourselves.” 3\. “I’ll ask around to see if someone else can do the same thing cheaper.” **4. Work with Marketing to Create Proposals Together.**If you use marketing people to prepare your proposals, don’t just hand off the responsibility. Work with them! You’re on the same team, after all. While it’s okay to let marketing leverage your time, you must provide input or, despite marketing’s best intentions, the fallback will be boilerplate. It’s tough to create a customized presentation without knowing the specifics of why this prospect is different. Make the proposal an integrated work between sales and marketing. We have seen clients spend significant amounts of time meeting with prospective customers, then turning over the proposal preparation to a marketing team that has no access to the history or notes created by the sales team. Marketing either wastes time by coming back to sales to get the information necessary for a strong proposal or by creating an incomplete and uninspired one. **5. Minimize “Why Us.”**If you’re at the proposal stage, prospects probably know enough about you either to accept the proposal or, if it looks like you might solve their problems, to continue discussions. One clear sign of a poorly written proposal is a lot of chest-beating by the seller up front. Buyers don’t want to hear that–at least, not much of it. They want to hear what you can do about their problems. Launching a proposal with a lengthy “all about us” section won’t win the business. A short, concise “Why Us” section *at the end* , however, reinforces the persuasive argument we hope you made earlier in the proposal. Such a persuasive argument shows how well you understand your prospect’s issues and how valuable a solution you can provide. **6. Talk Value, *then*Talk Price** . Save pricing for the end of your proposal after you’ve built up the value of your solution. No matter which medium you use-hard copy, PowerPoint, Web conference–hold pricing information until after you’ve made the case for your solution. There’s absolutely no value to you in prospects seeing your fees until they understand the value they will receive from those fees. The persuasion comes in helping prospects recognize for themselves that the value you provide is so great that price becomes a non-issue. **7. Acknowledge the Buying Process.**If you are providing a proposal for a complex sale (versus transactional), your prospects will almost always want to review it in detail after you leave. You know it and they know it. So why not say so and avoid an awkward silence. Unless your prospect says “When can we start?” or “I’ll place an order right now,” beat your prospect to the punch by doing one of two things: - Acknowledge that you realize it will take time to assess your proposal and you’re not expecting a decision then and there. You understand that your prospect probably needs to review the proposal with others. - Pause briefly after you present your proposal (or after Q&A) and say, “If you decide to work with our company, the next step(s) would be to . . . From this perspective, the proposal is simply a tool to help the prospect make a decision in your favor. It is a good idea, however, to try to set a time for a follow-up meeting or phone call. **Want to learn more about killer proposals?** Or, better, more about how to do the discovery required to create killer proposals? Just call us at 847-446-0008 or e-mail . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Networking’s Dirty Little Secret for Lawyers (and the Rest of Us)](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/networkings-dirty-little-secret-for-lawyers-and-the-rest-of-us/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Why don’t lawyers network more?** Why don’t the rest of us? Common sense says that more networking means more billable hours means more income and advancement. These days, in fact, more and better networking can mean keeping your job or getting a new, better one. **Personal marketing plans** for attorneys set goals for networking activity, if not results. Yet actually getting attorneys “out there” continues to be a major obstacle to law firm revenue growth. So, why *don’t* lawyers network more? **We’ve trained hundreds of attorneys** in business development and found several reasons behind “failure to network.” The main culprit seems to be that attorneys and other professionals feel “uncomfortable” about networking. Accomplices include: - Lack of networking skills and not knowing how to build those skills - Believing there “isn’t enough time” - Feeling networking is flat out a waste of time - Seeing billable hours as much more important. **Even more intriguing**, however, is that new, quantifiable Harvard Business School research\* into why lawyers resist networking helps to explain our own real-world experience. ( *Disclaimer:* This study examined networking among lawyers; the feelings the study uncovered no doubt apply to many non-lawyers as well.) Even if only subconsciously, attorneys feel uncomfortable with professional networking to develop their practices in part because “instrumental” networking, as the study calls it, makes them “feel dirty”–immoral, even. And wouldn’t “feeling dirty” and “immoral” make almost anyone feel “uncomfortable?” (Yes, “dirty” and “immoral” are the terms the Harvard academics use.) **The amount of power** lawyers have also affects the amount of networking they do. First, as the research demonstrates, senior attorneys feel less dirty about networking. Second, as we’ve seen in our own work, poor networking skills reduce confidence and power because professionals, who like to feel in control, don’t feel in control during the process. And, as the study documents, less-senior attorneys need more exposure to networking to build their confidence; yet they receive fewer opportunities. **What’s the solution?** In our experience, training in consultative selling makes attorneys much more comfortable not only with networking but also with selling–that is, more comfortable with bringing in business for themselves and their firms. In addition, some attorneys have described our process as “ethical selling.” In fact, attorneys have told us that our approach to consultative selling makes them feel they are truly delivering value to prospects during the sales process–value that prospects benefit from whether they become clients or not. Now, if you know you’re delivering value, wouldn’t it be downright difficult to feel “dirty,” “immoral,” or even just “uncomfortable”? Wouldn’t you feel more confident and in control? **What’s your biggest challenge** to networking and bringing in more business? Do you need help to overcome it? Please give us a call. Maybe we can offer a few suggestions to help you clean up your (business development) act. ***\**** *Harvard Business School survey of 165 lawyers in a 406-attorney firm from offices in five cities. Working paper “How Networking Can Make Us Feel Dirty.” April 2014.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [New Customer Service Chaos in Big Companies?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/new-customer-service-chaos-in-big-companies/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **A few paraphrased responses** to a recent inquiry to “the phone company”: –“You can’t do that. It’s part of a package of features.” –“You can’t do that,” and then, after consultation with a supervisor. “That’s an Apple feature and our contracts don’t allow us to alter Apple features.” –Rep: “I can’t do that. I’ll transfer you to one of our techs.” –Tech: “No, he transferred you to the wrong group. We just *sell* features, usually in packages.” –“Tell your daughter to forward her voice mails to another, domestic line.” –“She has to do that herself on her phone. Tell her to just follow the prompts.” **Just two days ago** my daughter moved to France for a year to teach in the French school system. Amid myriad preparations, my humble task was to check out phone service options and even more specifically to make sure my daughter’s voice mail was disabled. Essentially, if you don’t do that you may find yourself with bottlenecked voice mails all downloading at once at impressively high international rates. For the most part, she will keep her domestic iPhone turned off and use a “French phone” day to day. (Why that’s the best option for an extended stay is another story. Don’t ask.) **Turning voice mail off** should be simple enough, right? We thought so, especially since my daughter had lived in France for six months as a student only a year or so before and it was simple enough then. That time we almost forgot and called the phone company on our way to the airport. No problem. First person we talked to did the job while we worried about missing the plane. This time we didn’t forget. But the phone company apparently had–complete amnesia. It took two sessions and six, no seven, different reps to accomplish what had just a year before required one rep and a drive to the airport. This time the first round required five successive reps over an hour and 15 minutes–without resolution–before I took a break. This was my Saturday morning, after all. In the second round, two reps in a three-way conversation with me did the deed in a mere 30 minutes. I had insisted that the first rep stay on the line until the job was done. **So, what happened?** Well, that’s a really good and really scary question. Initially, no one I talked to, from regular, front-line customer service reps to elite international customer service commandoes, had a clue as to how to turn voice mail off. Finally, rep number six, a commando, assured me it could be done because she used to do it. But in her new position she didn’t have the right access, so she volunteered to get me to someone who could. **My theory of what happened,** based on similar experiences with mega companies in several industries, is that we’re in a new era of customer service chaos beyond rudeness. Happily, “The Death of Civility” was greatly exaggerated. Without fail, all seven of these reps were “nice.” Now we’re deep into the more troubling “Death of Competency” or, more accurately, “Death of Communication.” And by that I mean “internal communication” within these extremely large corporations. **Today’s big companies** may have finally gotten too big, hairy, and audacious for their own good and, worse, for ours. Are they simply too complex to communicate with themselves effectively? Are there too many employees, too many technologies, too many variations on an increasingly complicated theme? **Not only doesn’t the left hand know** what the right hand is doing. Neither hand even knows the other exists or, more to the point, that *thousands* of others exist. Sometimes, they don’t realize that they’re only awkward appendages of a larger whole. **But I almost forgot.** **Let me** **tell you** about the *third* round. My daughter’s line is one of five on our family plan. After her voice mail was turned off, the commando rep celebrated and said . . . “Well, that’s done. Now your voice mail is turned off.” “Wait a minute,” I said. “You mean my *daughter’s* voice mail, right?” “Mmm . . . well, you know, it *is* part of a package. Let me just check . . . .” ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at 847-446-0008 Extension 3 and at spemberton@productivestrategies.com.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Letting Your Sales Leads Come to You](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/letting-your-sales-leads-come-to-you/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **In our FOCIS® consultative selling course,** we teach participants how to have conversations that pave the way for sales and that also deliver value to the prospect within the sales process. At some point during the course, we are always asked: “So now that I know how to have those conversations, how do I find people to have those conversations with?” Many ways to identify sales opportunities exist-calling campaigns, networking, direct marketing via e-mail, social media, and, yes, even snail mail. In fact, we often help clients leverage those channels to improve the quantity and quality of their leads. But another effective way is simply to learn how to recognize and to advance lead-generating opportunities in your day-to-day life, both personal and business. In sports it’s called “letting the game come to you.” We do it to score leads and so can you. In a moment, I’ll tell you about how one successful lead-generating day recently unfolded in my life. But first, some background: The week before as we were playing golf, an acquaintance from my church asked me about my work. I explained, briefly, and then began asking about his work. By the end of the round, he wanted me to meet with his company’s head of operations, who also oversees sales and who would be in town one day the next week at the company’s law firm. Meeting with that operations executive launched the day I’m going to tell you about. **8 a.m.** The operations executive and I got together at the law firm before his meeting with the attorneys. We both learned that his company had problems my company could solve and he referred me to his sales manager. There still isn’t a sale but our conversation *advanced* the sales process. Now, here’s where watching for opportunities and *activating* them comes into play. My first meeting that day came about from a golf game being played for personal reasons, not business. I hadn’t planned doing business with my golf partner, but I always plan on *recognizing* an opportunity and helping it play out. **9:30 a.m.** As I was leaving the law firm it occurred to me that the firm itself could be a good prospect. (We have some 25 law firms as business development clients.) Instead of just leaving, I stopped at the reception desk and asked which attorney was most involved in helping the firm’s other attorneys grow their practices. The receptionist recognized me from my early-morning meeting and was happy to give me the appropriate name. I left my card with her and made a mental note to drop that attorney a brief e-mail introducing myself. This proactive, unplanned step turned one opportunity into two. **9:40 a.m.** Then, in the elevator on the way down to street level I met a lawyer who used to be with that same law firm but had launched a private practice. He asked why I happened to be in the firm’s offices. Though unplanned, I recognized the business opportunity; answered his question, again briefly, and then began asking him about his practice. Once on the street, we walked in the same direction, continued to get to know each other, and our work helping law firms with business development came up naturally. We exchanged cards when we went our separate ways. **11 a.m.** Back at my office I put the contact information for both lawyers in our database and updated my file on the operations executive. They will all receive our monthly columns like this one. We’ve found that nurture marketing pays off over time and often helps our clients create and run similar marketing programs. **Noon.** While grabbing lunch at the café in our building, I ran into a consultant with whom we cross refer clients and prospects. He alerted me to a change at one of his clients who is also one of our prospects. New people were now in charge, which meant re-launching my prospecting efforts at the company. **5:00 p.m.** After spending the afternoon with a client, I was on the golf course for a “twilight” league (yes, I like golf) and ran into a referral source who had recently introduced us to a company that became a client. My advance here was simply taking the opportunity to say hello and maintain an already valuable relationship. We didn’t talk business at all. **In summary,** how many planned business contacts did I make that day? Just one-the meeting with the operations executive at the law office. How many unplanned leads or potential leads did I create by recognizing the opportunities? Three-the lawyer in charge of business development who I later e-mailed; the lawyer in the elevator who asked me about his former firm; my referral contact at the café, whose tip would save me a lot of time and effort. A fourth potential source for leads was the referral source I ran into on the golf course. **Key Point:** Keep in mind that *I did not initiate* any of the conversations that generated leads on this particular day, except perhaps to say “Hello” and generally be courteous. As you sometimes hear about sports, it’s often best to “let the game come to you.” When a conversation did begin, and only if asked, I described my work briefly. Then I asked low-key questions emphasizing the other person’s profession or business, not mine. We find our FOCIS® workshop participants like this approach because they don’t feel as if they are imposing on the other person but just having a conversation. As so often happens, if you are asking the right questions in the right way, you learn whether there are problems you can help with. Both parties leave the conversation with some idea of whether value can be exchanged and whether another conversation makes sense. **To learn more about how we think about lead generation** and selling, just get in touch at 847-446-0008 or **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Find Value by Using Consultative Negotiation](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/find-value-by-using-consultative-negotiation/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **You’ve heard of consultative selling?** Now, meet consultative negotiation. We’ve long fielded requests to create and teach a course on negotiation. In the past we explained that the principles in *FOCIS©* , our popular consultative selling course, reduce requests to negotiate price and terms and strengthen your position when negotiations are required. But, in addition to sales negotiations, our clients also negotiate purchasing, quality, engineering, and other business agreements and arrangements. They wanted to take the same consultative approach to negotiations that we teach in selling. Several years ago we took up the challenge and created a new course, ***FOCIS© Discovery, Focused Negotiations.*** This is a course in both negotiation and communication. The next, two-day session is scheduled for **Wednesday, November 12,** and **Thursday, November 13,** at our Northfield offices. **What will you learn?** Consultative negotiation does indeed apply the principles of consultative selling but in much more specific ways suited to a negotiating environment. **You’ll . . .** - Develop your personal negotiation skills - Create a negotiating process you can customize for each negotiation - Learn why the most recent research reinforces negotiating in a consultative way - Understand clearly which consultative selling principles apply, when to use them, and when not to use them - Practice your skills using case studies and role playing - Build a new confidence in your negotiating skills. **Get in touch with us now** to learn more about the course and how it can benefit your career and your company: [**847-446-0008**](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or e-mail . **Key Building Blocks of the Course** - **What is negotiation** and the ability to influence…..and what is it not? - When does the negotiation process start? - What preparation has to be in place before negotiations begin? - What is consultative selling and how do communication skills reduce the need to negotiate? - How do you improve listening skills to gather critical content and create empathy? - **How can communication skills** improve your leverage? - What are proven negotiation strategies: What works and what doesn’t? - What is wrong with traditional win-win? - Why can consultative win-win be much more productive? - Is it better to start with YES or NO? Why? - **How do you identify previously unrecognized solutions** *during* negotiations? - How do you find and communicate creative solutions? - Why does focusing on process work and how do you do it? - Why is time management so important? - What are the best ways to develop trust? - **How much preparation** is needed before negotiation begins, when, and what kind? - What’s the right balance between negotiating soft and hard costs? - What role does emotion play? - How can you deal with difficult people who commoditize your offering? - How can visualization make you a better negotiator? A marketing professional since 1972, **Philip Krone** is the creator of ***FOCIS© Discovery, Focused Negotiations*** and principal instructor. He is an experienced negotiator in several industries. For 20 years, he has been the founder and president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a management and marketing consulting firm. As a manufacturing executive, he pursued and achieved business opportunities in the global arena, with government, and in private industry. He has negotiated multi-million dollar sales, labor contracts, sales representation contracts, and successfully coached on thousands of sales opportunities, including a billion-dollar sale. Learn more about ***FOCIS© Discovery, Focused Negotiations*** by contacting Phil at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Manufacturers and Distributors: The New Give and Take](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/manufacturers-and-distributors-the-new-give-and-take/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Manufacturers and distributors are at a turning point in their relationships. The reason? Two relatively quiet but significant marketplace changes in just the past five years. A third, as we’ll see, is evolving now. Marketplace Change #1: Many distributors reduced or stopped carrying inventory of manufactured goods because the 2008 recession caught them with too much inventory and too little profit. Some decided to go “stockless.” After all, why couldn’t manufacturers drop ship directly to customers? Marketplace Change #2: About the same time, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were perfecting their use of advancing technology to search, find, and evaluate potential supply chain partners. They began to think about buying directly from the manufacturer and bypassing the distributors. Why shouldn’t they? How much value did a distributor actually provide in the supply chain, anyway? Distributors do, in fact, provide many services besides carrying stock, but there’s no getting around that stockless distributors don’t provide as much value. Other traditional services include answering customer service inquiries, providing credit, taking returns, performing field service, and finding and selling to new customers. Manufacturers now have decisions to make. When a prospect approaches them directly do they refer that prospect to a distributor in the prospect’s territory? The answer isn’t black and white. It really depends on how much value a specific manufacturer receives from a specific distributor today-and what the manufacturer sees as that distributor’s value tomorrow. (Plus, there’s always the danger that the distributor might offer the lead to a competitor.) For example, some of our manufacturing clients have noticed two trends: 1\. Their distributors are becoming less of a factor in the sales equation. 2\. Their OEM customers are seeking more sophisticated components and calling our clients for help in designing and producing them. That means some, though not all, of our clients are fielding more questions-and more sophisticated questions-from OEMs that distributors simply can’t answer. So much so that a significant culture change is afoot. Depending on their industry, our clients may well need to hire more engineers to collaborate with OEM engineers. What could then be more logical than to ship directly to the OEM customers? As it turns out, other choices do exist. But our clients won’t know what to do without careful analysis of several factors and how they can best work together to paint a prettier profit picture. How will a changing marketplace play out for manufacturers? Here are three scenarios to get you thinking about your situation, either as a manufacturer or a distributor. Fundamental to coming out on top is a good understanding of your specific manufacturer-distributor relationship now and what it can or should be in the future. Here’s the situation. An OEM buyer has searched the Internet, found a manufacturer with a product the buyer needs, and left a voice mail to learn more about the product. It’s clear he’s leaning toward purchase. As the manufacturer, do you take that order yourself or pass it on to the local distributor? Scenario A: If the distributor is carrying stock and developing business, you would probably want to include that distributor in the ongoing relationship regardless of where a specific piece of new business came from. Scenario B: If the distributor is taking orders and performing service reasonably well but not generating new business, the decision becomes trickier. The customer found you, so you might well want to sell and service that customer directly. How do you decide? One way is to consider the nature of the product-is it simple or complex? If complex, then maybe your engineers can add value that justifies a premium price or a long-term relationship. If simple, then maybe it’s more efficient to let the distributor handle it. Scenario C: If the distributor is not performing so well and not bringing in new business, then you would probably exclude that distributor from deals that originally by-passed him and, eventually, maybe others, too. In deciding how to handle this issue companies will be looking at their future strategy: Where will future work come from; who will find it and close it; how much service do they need to provide at the local level? Market Change #3: An evolving change is the relationship between distribution, which is shipping in bulk to companies, and fulfillment, which is shipping single items separately to individual consumers. In the not-so-distant past, some distributors in fact shipped in bulk only. Gradually, they took on more fulfillment in-house. Increased demand for those services caused them to outsource fulfillment to third-party logistics firms (3PLs). Now, however, some are bringing fulfillment back in house, requiring their facilities to support both distribution and fulfillment from a single source of inventory located between the two functions. Delivery time, research shows, affects sales levels significantly. Broadly, faster delivery means higher sales. Slower delivery means fewer sales. Distribution centers may increasingly locate near large urban areas, despite other higher costs, such as labor and taxes. How should manufacturers calculate the value of the relocation of distribution? How will they work it into their delivery pricing policies? The familiar Demand Curve (Figure 1) shows simply that the higher the price the less you sell and the lower the price the more you sell. Compare it to the Demand Service Curve (Figure 2), which offers four insights: 1\. The faster you deliver the more you sell 2\. Customers rarely pay more for faster delivery 3\. Faster delivery means that costs grow faster 4\. These fast-growing costs mean optimum profit is related to speed of delivery. Manufacturers and distributors are at a turning point in their relationships. The reason? Two relatively quiet but significant marketplace changes in just the past five years. A third, as we’ll see, is evolving now. **Marketplace Change #1:** Many distributors reduced or stopped carrying inventory of manufactured goods because the 2008 recession caught them with too much inventory and too little profit. Some decided to go “stockless.” After all, why couldn’t manufacturers drop ship directly to customers? **Marketplace Change #2:** About the same time, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were perfecting their use of advancing technology to search, find, and evaluate potential supply chain partners. They began to think about buying directly from the manufacturer and bypassing the distributors. Why shouldn’t they? How much value did a distributor actually provide in the supply chain, anyway? Distributors do, in fact, provide many services besides carrying stock, but there’s no getting around that stockless distributors don’t provide as much value. Other traditional services include answering customer service inquiries, providing credit, taking returns, performing field service, and finding and selling to new customers. **Manufacturers now have decisions to make.** When a prospect approaches them directly do they refer that prospect to a distributor in the prospect’s territory? The answer isn’t black and white. It really depends on how much value a specific manufacturer receives from a specific distributor today-and what the manufacturer sees as that distributor’s value tomorrow. (Plus, there’s always the danger that the distributor might offer the lead to a competitor.) For example, some of our manufacturing clients have noticed two trends: 1. Their distributors are becoming less of a factor in the sales equation. 2. Their OEM customers are seeking more sophisticated components and calling our clients for help in designing and producing them. That means some, though not all, of our clients are fielding more questions-and more sophisticated questions-from OEMs that distributors simply can’t answer. So much so that a significant culture change is afoot. Depending on their industry, our clients may well need to hire more engineers to collaborate with OEM engineers. What could then be more logical than to ship directly to the OEM customers? As it turns out, other choices do exist. But our clients won’t know what to do without careful analysis of several factors and how they can best work together to paint a prettier profit picture. **How will a changing marketplace play out for manufacturers?** Here are three scenarios to get you thinking about your situation, either as a manufacturer or a distributor. Fundamental to coming out on top is a good understanding of your specific manufacturer-distributor relationship now and what it can or should be in the future. Here’s the situation. An OEM buyer has searched the Internet, found a manufacturer with a product the buyer needs, and left a voice mail to learn more about the product. It’s clear he’s leaning toward purchase. As the manufacturer, do you take that order yourself or pass it on to the local distributor? **Scenario A:** If the distributor is carrying stock and developing business, you would probably want to include that distributor in the ongoing relationship regardless of where a specific piece of new business came from. **Scenario B:** If the distributor is taking orders and performing service reasonably well but not generating new business, the decision becomes trickier. The customer found you, so you might well want to sell and service that customer directly. How do you decide? One way is to consider the nature of the product-is it simple or complex? If complex, then maybe your engineers can add value that justifies a premium price or a long-term relationship. If simple, then maybe it’s more efficient to let the distributor handle it. **Scenario C:** If the distributor is not performing so well and not bringing in new business, then you would probably exclude that distributor from deals that originally by-passed him and, eventually, maybe others, too. In deciding how to handle this issue companies will be looking at their future strategy: Where will future work come from; who will find it and close it; how much service do they need to provide at the local level? **Market Change #3:** An evolving change is the relationship between distribution, which is shipping in bulk to companies, and fulfillment, which is shipping single items separately to individual consumers. In the not-so-distant past, some distributors in fact shipped in bulk only. Gradually, they took on more fulfillment in-house. Increased demand for those services caused them to outsource fulfillment to third-party logistics firms (3PLs). Now, however, some are bringing fulfillment back in house, requiring their facilities to support both distribution and fulfillment from a single source of inventory located between the two functions. Delivery time, research shows, affects sales levels significantly. Broadly, faster delivery means higher sales. Slower delivery means fewer sales. Distribution centers may increasingly locate near large urban areas, despite other higher costs, such as labor and taxes. How should manufacturers calculate the value of the relocation of distribution? How will they work it into their delivery pricing policies? The familiar Demand Curve (Figure 1) shows simply that the higher the price the less you sell and the lower the price the more you sell. Compare it to the Demand Service Curve (Figure 2), which offers four insights: 1. The faster you deliver the more you sell 2. Customers rarely pay more for faster delivery 3. Faster delivery means that costs grow faster 4. These fast-growing costs mean optimum profit is related to speed of delivery. **What’s the take-away?** “Quicker delivery results in increased revenue,” says Jim Tomkins, CEO of Tomkins International, a supply chain consulting and implementation firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. “This \[relationship\] needs to be built into our network design modeling. Not doing so will result in slow delivery and loss of revenue.” If you would like to discuss the relationship between sales and your supply chain please contact us at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Unsticking Strategy](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/unsticking-strategy/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **“If I had asked people what they wanted,** they would have said faster horses.” *–Henry Ford* **Some strategic issues stick around too long** . Here’s how to make them useful or cut them loose. By mass-producing cars instead of strength-training horses, Henry Ford made a strategic, world-changing decision. How did he do it? What proven process did he use? Clearly, he didn’t ask potential purchasers. No, Ford was a visionary who “knew” that taking this specific risk, though challenging, would likely pay off. Unfortunately, true visionaries are rare. How should managers and executives approach making strategic decisions? **That’s a question we are getting more** and more from our clients and even prospects. It’s not that they want “strategic plans” as such. They don’t want to change the direction of the ship, just make the ship faster or, at least, more efficient. They are looking for practical help in making important decisions about business issues that are strategic in nature, some of which have been nagging them for some time. A law firm recently asked us to facilitate a discussion of partners around the questions of both geographic expansion and practice area extension. The topics had been on the table for several years, but no decisions had been made. By bringing some structure to the decision-making process we were able to facilitate a discussion that led the partners to making specific decisions with consensus. They are now implementing those decisions. **Key Point #1:** Our role was not to provide analysis, technical expertise, due diligence, or to make a recommendation. Our role was to *facilitate the decision-making process*. **Key Point #2:** Outside facilitation gives top management the opportunity to *participate fully* in the discussions and allows senior executives to focus exclusively on the matters at hand. Such meetings are too often facilitated by the CEO or other top manager. That’s not nearly so effective because both running the meeting and participating in a meaningful way are nearly impossible. In fact, strategic issues can hang around for a long time, diverting focus and draining energy behind the scenes. Maybe a company doesn’t recognize them or doesn’t think they impact the business significantly. Perhaps management does recognize them but day-to-day operations or pursuing new business delays decisions until a crisis erupts. Maybe management has already invested time and money in strategic planning, and it’s not time to engage in a full-blown reassessment. **What to do?** More and more we are seeing our clients call for a “strategy issues” meeting or retreat where they isolate themselves to address a few, selected issues. One of our clients does it quarterly, another annually. Some do it only as needed. **Each of these sessions is different** because the issues, industries, and businesses are different. Each employs a customized plan based on conversations with a company or a firm’s leadership. But, in general, some concepts can help other companies facing similar challenges. First, unless the session is designed to target a specific issue, it’s critical to gather all of the water-cooler issues floating around the office. One reason companies have a surprising number of unresolved issues is that nobody knows where to start, which ones to prioritize and apply resources to. A good discovery meeting with management and a questionnaire to the appropriate employees shakes out open issues and can even sort out priorities. By enabling people to write in *any* issue you quickly get a sense of what is important to a few people and common to all. **Second comes a facilitation plan** for the session. Sometimes, despite such planning, operational issues raise their hands during strategic discussions. There are two ways of addressing operational issues in a strategic context: Decide that no strategic issues will be settled until the operational issues get cleaned up or decide to take up operations problems at a different meeting and return to solving strategic problems. Finally, it’s critical to assign responsibility *during the meeting* for implementing the decisions and making them work. Follow-up milestones support accountability and are also critical. **Key Point:** Poor or no follow-up in nearly any business endeavor dooms many a solid idea or activity. We recommend developing a follow-up process as part of the planning for whatever event or program is in play. **How do you know if an issue is strategic or operational?** Strategic decisions have to do with what the business is and in which direction it should go. Operations issues are the day-to-day challenges or, if one exists, *executing* the strategic plan. Here are examples of strategic questions and operational necessities. *Strategic:* Open an office in Cleveland? *Operational:* Fix inefficient work flow in the Cleveland office. *Strategic:* Offer a new product or service? *Operational:* Train our business developers to sell current products more efficiently. *Strategic:* Develop a new channel of distribution? *Operational:* Reduce excessive shipping errors. We’ve facilitated strategic discussions about a number of issues: ***Executive Team Communication:*** Competent, well-intentioned managers couldn’t grow the company at the rate the founder had targeted. A book, *The Five Dysfunctions of a Team* (Patrick Lencioni), provided a model–and a mirror–of how high-level teams both fail and succeed. The key was ferreting out issues, facilitating group self-evaluation, and raising the bar for the future. We were gratified when the founder wrote us: “Thanks to your leadership we had the best and most robust discussion that I have ever seen by this group . . . \[and\] we accomplished a lot, surpassing my expectations.” ***Assessing and Prioritizing “Good” Ideas:*** A company’s 12 senior managers worked effectively together and spent time talking about many good ideas for improving the company. But talk was all they did with these ideas. We were called in to help assess and prioritize the ideas in a two-day strategy session. Our pre-meeting interviews and surveys revealed some *200* ideas–nearly all worth considering. Which were worth pursuing at that time? The session laid a solid foundation the team used afterward to tackle just *three* major ideas. The time and energy they used to spend talking now went into doing. Here are some other strategic issues we’ve facilitated: - Brainstorming a New Product Line - Expanding Professional Practice Areas - Evaluating Domestic vs. Offshore Opportunities - Developing a Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Climbing the Ladder in an Existing Vertical Market - Creating a Process to Sell a Company. **Do you have an unresolved strategic issue** that has been kicked around for a while or a new one you want to build out? Call us at 847-446-0008. We would love to talk with you, regardless of whether you use us to facilitate the process. ***Phil Krone*** *is president of Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Phil can be reached at 847-446-0008 and .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Good News-Bad News for US Manufacturers](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/good-news-bad-news-for-us-manufacturers/) **Published:** August 15, 2025 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** US companies with sales of $1 billion or more want to make 44 percent *more* of their products in the US over five years, or nearly half of all their products, reports *Fortune* (November 17). But when they look to US manufacturers to produce those products, they can get an unpleasant surprise: They can’t find anybody to do the work or, sometimes, anybody who even wants to do the work. Several factors are at play here, notes writer Jennifer Alsever. For one thing, of course, despite the “on-shoring” movement, there aren’t as many manufacturers in the US; more than 60,000 US factories closed since the turn of (this) century. For another, US plants tend to specialize in specific types of products, unlike, say, the Chinese who have developed “all purpose” production facilities. Finally, and perhaps the most surprising, some companies are taken aback by what *Fortune* describes as “frustrating searches, unreturned phone calls, and prohibitive costs.” Manufacturers too often just don’t seem to be interested in investing in equipment to serve smaller, perhaps unproven, US companies. What’s to be done? The costs of off-shoring are rising, albeit slowly. Better is that US companies are getting savvier about how to find manufacturers who will produce their products at reasonable costs–and even return their phone calls. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm. Scott can be reached at 312-560-0992 or at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [5 Myths about Marketing Research](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/5-myths-about-marketing-research/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Two questions that management teams ought to ask themselves periodically: 1. What information would help create additional value for my customers? 2. What would we love to know that we don’t know today? The answers to those questions often lead to marketing research projects, and the information marketing research unearths can be invaluable. But to enable that research to do what it needs to do, let’s explore some myths surrounding it. **Myth #1: Marketing research solves marketing problems.** No, it doesn’t–not all by itself at least. The value of marketing research, properly conducted, is that it gathers information–qualitative and quantitative–and identifies issues that can guide decision-making. And it does this by answering questions. Those questions can be fundamental and provide important facts: - How aware is the marketplace of our company and its products or services? - What issues do our customers and potential customers care most about in our niche? - Who buys a specific product or service, and how much of it do they buy? They can be more sophisticated and provide valuable insights: - What are the underlying buying motives for a product or service? - Which packaging option is most consistent with our brand? - How does the market rank us in quality, service, and value against our competitors? Part of the skill and art required to get the right information is to ask the right questions. **Myth #2: Marketing research is too expensive.** “We’ve heard this time and again from companies of all sizes,” says Brian Arnold, principal of Clear Point Research Group and the author of the *Custom Market Research Guide*. “But it’s simply not true. It’s not just about actual cost. It’s also about risk. You can invest money in properly designed research now or spend it-and probably a lot more-later to correct mistakes based on unsupported assumptions.” In other words, purchasing marketing research services must be evaluated based on the value they provide-just as any other purchase your company makes. Even if you perform research using internal resources, you’re investing time, effort, and money. “Market research can be conducted to fit most any budget,” Arnold explains. “A good research partner should be able to get information you need at a price point you can afford.” For example, a leading manufacturer needed feedback about its brand from its auto technician customers to determine which of several advertising concepts would be used for a new campaign. Traditional focus groups would have been ideal, but the manufacturer’s marketing team didn’t have the luxury of three weeks to recruit three groups of eight participants and get them together to collect feedback. And the team’s budget probably wouldn’t have supported that approach. “Yet we were able to get the information that enabled our client to select what turned out to be a successful campaign,” says Arnold. How? Clear Point took its methodology and expertise to customer locations-several locations, in fact: “We interviewed groups of three participants at each of eight firms. We delivered the equivalent of three focus groups in half the time and half the cost.” **Key Point:** Market research doesn’t have to “cost too much.” **Myth #3: We can do our own research.** Known as “mother-in-law” or “convenience” research, the often informal process is to talk to customers, internal staff, salespeople, even friends and others who are not members of your targeted customer segments. While possibly helpful, the insights can be severely limited. At best, they are not as revealing as they could (or should) be. At worst, they can be misleading and even wrong. “The key is to use an impartial third party,” explains Arnold. “We simply can’t emphasize this point enough: It is much easier for customers to tell an unbiased researcher how your brand let them down than it is for them to tell you. It’s just human nature.” Trained, professional researchers are highly skilled in designing effective research studies whether it’s for a qualitative focus group or a larger, more complex online quantitative study. Not everyone can structure questions properly or design a study that delivers reliable insights that can be used in a practical, profit-producing way. It’s just common sense. **Myth #4: An outside researcher could never understand my business.** For the most part, regardless of the industry, a good researcher can design a study that will deliver insights against agreed-upon objectives. Research practitioners don’t need to understand all of the complexities of your business to provide valuable results. They need to understand research. True, it helps for researchers to understand a little bit about your business and you should provide that detailed information. Keep in mind that professional researchers know the questions to ask you about your company that will enable them to conduct the research effectively. **Key Point:** Just as you’re the expert in your field, professional researchers are experts in theirs. That expertise is what you’re buying, not knowledge about your industry. In fact, lack of knowledge about a topic is often an advantage. Clear Point, for example, has researched topics for a wide variety of consumer and business-to-business companies across industries. “We’ve learned,” explains Arnold, “that experience in other businesses and product categories can provide a fresh perspective on the challenges faced by other companies.” **Myth #5: We know our customers. Research would only tell us what we already know.** You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Most of the time, the point of marketing research is to alert-even warn-you about what you don’t already know. Two companies come to mind. **JC Penny:** Attempting to revive sales, new management assumed that the company’s heavy price promotion strategy needed a new direction, along with a change in merchandise. The new pricing strategy was “Every Day Low Prices.” In retrospect, the company apparently didn’t research or test probable customer reaction–or at least didn’t test enough–to what turned out to be significant and unsettling changes to the business model. The new pricing and new merchandise did not fare well with Penny’s customer base, which liked finding bargains and getting “deals.” If prices were always the same at the stores, no “good deals” existed. Shopping lost its appeal to the bargain hunters–and they rebelled. **Tropicana:** On a smaller scale, Tropicana hired a package design and branding expert to provide a new look for the popular orange-juice brand. But, again, the new look didn’t seem to have been adequately tested with customers. After the new packaging hit the grocery shelves, sales dropped dramatically. Here, the problem was that the company assumed it knew what motivated consumers to buy the brand. In other words, they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Eventually, the tried-and-true brand design was reinstated. As always, if you want to learn more about whether marketing research can help your business, please give us a call at 847-446-0008 or e-mail us at . *Productive Strategies is a management and marketing consulting firm that helps business-to-business companies and professional services firms grow their revenues. We solve such problems as too few sales, not enough qualified or “ready to buy” leads, and poor recognition or credibility in the marketplace. To learn more, call us directly at 847-446-0008. Our business is to grow your business.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Always ‘All In’ to Be the Best](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/always-all-in-to-be-the-best/) **Published:** August 14, 2025 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **What makes Duke’s Coach K** a “living sustainable competitive advantage”? How can you apply it to your company? In January, Duke University’s already legendary basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski-Coach K-became the first NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball coach to win 1,000 games. In business jargon, Coach K is a living “sustainable competitive advantage.” He’s also coached the US Olympics team to four gold medals, won four NCAA National Championships at Duke, and can point with pride to an unprecedented 100 percent player graduation rate over the past three years.\* How does he do it? What can we learn from him about running our companies, even our lives? The answer might surprise you, especially if you’re familiar with popular success literature. He does not find two or three strengths and then perfect them. He does not have “secret” attitudes, behaviors, or insights that give him “an edge.” He has no easy answers-in fact, just the opposite. Coach K’s answer is to *always be all in* , and that’s hard. He tries to do *everything* well-and, more often than not, he succeeds. As a Duke graduate and longtime Coach K fan, it seems clear to me that by identifying and analyzing the “success factors,” Coach K has determined how to become the best, or nearly the best, at each of them. And he’s incorporated them into a way of doing things and a way of getting things done. Think program versus activities. **Coach** **Knows How to Adapt-and When.** Arguably, the most applicable to business leaders may be this one. Over his 39-year career, the college game has changed more than once and so has Coach K’s “business model.” This season Coach Ktwice changed his inviolable “no-zone” defense. Duke’s young team was simply too inexperienced to handle two of the nation’s best teams by playing straight man-to-man. When Duke surprised and beat them both, each was ranked second in the nation. Ten years ago the NBA’s “one and done” rule destroyed Coach K’s longtime business model, which relied on better and more experienced senior players to coach and mentor younger players. By requiring NBA players to be at least 19, the new rule essentially forced high-school superstars to play at least one year in college. Suddenly, the best college players were freshmen, not seniors. “One and done” looked like it would be a drag on Duke’s ability to rack up victories. But Coach K responded with a new model. It orients, coaches, and teaches young top-tier players what they need to know as they transition from high school to college to the NBA. And Duke just keeps on winning. **While many businesses go deep,** relying on a special niche, skill, or secret formula, others go wide with fingers in many different pies. NotCoach K: He goes wide *and* deep. Here are a few of the coach’s other success factors that can work in business. **Coach** **K** **. . .** **“Has Your Back.”** Especially if you’re one of his players or former players. When Bobby Hurley and Jay Williams, both then in the NBA, suffered life-threatening accidents (Hurley SUV in 1993; Williams motorcycle in 2003), Coach K was there for each of them-literally in their hospital rooms hundreds of miles from the Duke’s North Carolina campus. Jay Williams later had this recollection: At one point, as he lay semi-conscious in bed, he saw a figure in the room and knew it wasCoach K. **Can Rev Up Enthusiasm.** No school in college basketball has a better competitive advantage in its arena and with its crowd. The students have the best “seats” in the house, practically on the court. They stand for the entire game and provide the noise that motivates the players. Students camp out in tents in “K-Ville” near the stadium to ensure those coveted SRO spots. The coach pumps up the crowd the week before each game, and the crowd pumps up the team. **Uses the Best Tools Available-All of Them.** Duke basketball’s video capabilities are on par with those of NBA teams. They enable thecoaches to record, replay, and analyze just about anything Duke players can do with a basketball. Minuscule changes in shooting or footwork can quickly be identified and corrected. Or, when rehabbing from injury, players have the best techniques and equipment in sport at their fingertips-and toes. Players with foot injuries work out in a water tank to put less pressure on the injury.Coaches watch underwater foot and leg movements with other video cameras to ensure that bad running habits don’t develop. And did we mention that Duke University’s medical system is world class? **Stays Current by Design.** Integral to the coach’s system for learning from the best is coaching Team USA, where he rubs shoulders with the most skilled players and coaches in the world. Using a tactic he reportedly picked up from Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, Duke got better at defending deadly “pick and pop” plays, which can quickly run up points. When an opposing offensive player sets a pick near the perimeter, a second Duke defender sets another pick next to that player. Briefly trapped between two Duke Blue Devils, the offensive player can’t “pop” out to an open space to receive a pass and sink a three-pointer. Plus, the player with the ball can’t run his intended route to get open. The Bulls execute this tactic exceedingly well. **Communicates Confidence:** The coach inspires his teams in several ways that reinforce each other and his entire approach to the game. For one thing, Coach K has a knack for giving his players confidence when they need it most. Former Duke player Chris Collins, now headcoach at Northwestern, told the *Chicago Tribune* recently that the coachtold Collins in his senior year (paraphrased): “The rest of the season’s success will come down to you. I want you to shoot every time you have a chance. I don’t want you to worry about making shots, I just want you to shoot, and take over the game.” It worked! Collins said that this talk gave him the most confidence he had ever had. In addition, Coach K recognizes his players publicly as *individuals* and with superlatives-best defender, key to team chemistry, go-to shooter. Every player knows his role, and every player knows the part of him that the coach admires the most. Coach K doesn’t seem to miss a motivational opportunity. Each day that players leave their home-court locker room for practice, they first walk past a history of each of the four national championships, then photos and bios of the 16 former Blue Devils currently in the NBA, and, finally, photos of all Duke players who ever played in the NBA. **Turns Disaster into Opportunity.** When current NBA pro Carlos Boozer was at Duke, the Blue Devils lost a tough game at home to in-state foe North Carolina. Later in the season, Boozer got hurt and would not play against the Tar Heels the second time around-on *their* home court. Even Coach K’s wife, Mickey, was concerned about how the coach was handling the stress as he prepared for the rematch. She sent their daughter to campus to find out. After all, he would be facing Duke’s archrival without his star player. The report came back that her father was nearly giddy with joy. He would compensate for Boozer by running an up-tempo offense that didn’t suit Boozer-he wasn’t fast enough. With Boozer gone, however,Coach K coached up tempo, surprised an overconfident North Carolina, and won. **What success factors drive your business?** Is growth slower because you are focusing on just one or two factors instead of going “all in”? Have you worked hard enough to identify all of the success factors that can give your team a competitive advantage? Coach K has created sustainable competitive advantage because he’s created a *range* of separate competitive advantages. If you’d like to talk about how your company can be more successful, just contact us. We’re at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or . *\* As measured by the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate. The national average for Division 1 men’s basketball is 74 percent.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Shaking Up Your Sales Territories?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/shaking-up-your-sales-territories/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Thinking about increasing revenues** this year by taking on a new sales territory or realigning the ones you have? It’s a good thought because intelligent testing of new territories or realignment of current ones can boost productivity. Even fifteen years ago, a comprehensive study by Andris Zoltners and Sally Lorimer indicated that territory alignment “often has a high impact at a low cost.”\* Sometimes, that impact can come from applying commonsense to statistics you have at hand but might not have looked at closely enough. For example, after reviewing a geographic sales analysis for one of our long-term manufacturing clients that sells to municipalities, we suggested calling the lowest producing customers on the phone instead of meeting with them in person. Most of those customers were “rural” in relation to their more productive counterparts. Our calling campaigns have not only increased our client’s selling time with the best customers but also reduced the company’s travel costs. **Expanding business by expanding territories** is a time-honored business practice. Success ostensibly hinges on how well sales are managed in those territories. Sounds simple enough, even fair. But veteran sales reps and managers know that’s not the case at all. Myriad variables stand in the way. For instance, Zoltners and Lorimer note that there are “over 1,000 ways to assign just 10 accounts to two salespeople.” They also found that nearly 60 percent of sales territories studied were not properly balanced with respect to territory potential and sales force workload. Overall, balancing territories yielded as much as a 7 percent sales increase. In one case, realignment produced a 13.7 percent decrease in travel time leading to a 2.7 percent increase in actual selling time. In addition, in our experience, if you put one of your best performing salespeople into a new territory he or she will probably continue to be one of your top producers even if the market potential is considered less. However, if the market potential turns out to be too much less or if your analysis and design processes are flawed, even the best salesperson can fail. Putting your best in harm’s way in new territories can yield surprising insights. For example, if current accounts in the old territories are large and built on long-term relationships, you may find that you’ve been paying bonuses to your best producers not necessarily based on the quality of their selling skills but on the quality of their territories. **What to do? How to decide?** The ideal approach is to pull together as much market information as possible and expend serious time and effort assessing it. Depending on your resources and internal expertise, you can do this yourself or, probably better for any number of reasons, bring in outside help. Territory optimization software is also available. Once you have some insights and conclusions in hand, deciding whether to hire new reps for new territories (or for current territories), reassigning your salespeople, or changing another aspect of your sales process should go much faster. **The 7 Questions** 1. **Who Will Develop the Market?** Options are direct outside or inside sales, independent representatives, distributors, integrators, your existing sales team on a campaign basis, or even buying an existing firm within the territory. 2. **Boots Already on the Ground?** Use independent professional salespeople already established in the territory. A bonus is that, if things work out, you have a leg up on hiring your own people or staying with independents. You can also take it a step further by identifying salespeople already selling to your targeted accounts. Who knows-maybe they’re having lunch next month with a company perfectly matched to your target. 3. **Why Not “Drag and Drop”?** Set face-to-face appointments across a potential new territory using internal or external callers. Then “drag and drop” a salesperson at major cities across the territory with qualified prospects. 4. **What about a Blitz?** Send your sales team in for a two-to-three day blitz of the new territory or proposed new territory. Start each day with a meeting covering strategy and the previous day’s results. Then have your team fan out and make calls. Awareness will grow quickly and the hunters will learn new buying motives appropriate to the new market. This will also create good cross pollination of ideas from within the sales team. 5. **Who Are the Usual Suspects?** Find and visit companies that fit the profile of existing customers in your current markets. Set boundaries for company size, NAICS codes, or other measures and learn what companies in the new territory are similar in demographics to your current accounts. 6. **Which Puzzle Pieces Fit?** Consider which parts of your company will go into the new territory and how you’ll know what makes sense. Possibilities include only sales, some administration, or an entire operation including manufacturing plants and distribution. 7. **What Can You Learn by Listening?** By that we mean listening closely to what the market is telling you about territory alignment. Here’s an example. One of our clients wanted to test three vertical markets in the Chicago area using our lead generation and appointment-setting calling services. Market #1 showed great potential. Setting appointments went smoothly, and, from experience, we knew sales would follow. Market #2 seemed dead due to economic conditions at the time. And, Market #3, well, there didn’t seem to be any potential there in good times or bad. To us, these results signaled a change in strategy. Our client agreed that we should focus on the successful vertical (Market #1) but not just in the Chicago area. We expanded our calling for Market #1 to five or six major metropolitan areas in different locations throughout the US. **Key Point:** Be flexible and pay attention to what the market is saying to you, perhaps in spite of what you think you know. As a general, Dwight D. Eisenhower relied on this principle in battle and, as president, in politics: “I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” If geographic expansion or realignment is in your future, please take some of our observations into account. If you are undecided, we can also help you design a decision-making process that will help you evaluate your options effectively. Just get in touch at 847-446-0008 or . *\*Zoltners and Lorimer (ZS Associates). “Sales Territory Alignment: An Overlooked Productivity Tool” in the Summer 2000 issue of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. Note: We’re citing this study, even though it’s not recent, in part because the authors had developed an extensive knowledge base with more than 300 companies in 15 industries and applied an academic rigor to 36 cases for this study. They had also designed some 300,000 sales territories.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Is Your Business ‘Owner-Proof’?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/is-your-business-owner-proof/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **What do we mean by “owner-proofing”?** Simply put, we mean building yourself a business that will run nearly as well, or better, without you. In other words, build a “company,” not a “practice.” Here’s an example of an owner who, with our help, solved his owner-proofing problem before it was too late and went on to build the value of the company in the right way. On the first day of our consultative sales training course, FOCIS®, the owner informed us that his company had only one client, only a few projects with that client, and only two to three months left on the biggest contract with that client. Except for one high-potential, *Fortune* 100 prospect, the pipeline was virtually dry . . . and the founder was the only salesperson. **Talk about high risk.** Because of the urgency and as part of the FOCIS® training, we coached the founder before and after every meeting with the major prospect. The good news is that our client got a seven-figure assignment. Even better news is that because of FOCIS® our client developed a customized sales process, enabling his company to acquire several clients and boost the company’s value far beyond what the balance sheet shows. In addition, risk has fallen in several areas: Customer concentration is down, the number of employees bringing in business is up, and the concentration of knowledge (mostly in the founder) has been eased. This owner has owner-proofed his business against himself and increased its value. A business owner might like to know how much his company is worth for a number of reasons, usually because he’s thinking of selling it. We’re not valuation experts but we are frequently asked to offer a point of view, and we’ve seen some common elements. First, most business owners don’t start thinking about how the market will value their company early enough. Not even close. We’re talking years here. Second, depending on how involved in the business the owners are, they may not realize that they *are* the business-in other words, without their active involvement *there is no business*. The number of interested buyers can become severely limited. **Several elements can contribute** , one of which is the creation, ongoing improvement, and execution of the key processes that make a specific business successful- *your business*. The importance of process may seem obvious for functions like accounting and manufacturing but not so obvious for others. Take marketing and sales. In marketing, for instance, we sometimes find that the process is more focused on clearing internal hurdles, such as getting all the right approvals, than getting noticed by prospects. **In sales** , a surprisingly common stumbling block is the lack of a formal, customized sales process. Even some successful companies “hire and hope” in sales. New and veteran salespeople are allowed to develop personal procedures and strategies. The sales process develops by accident, not design. Some sales and marketing factors that build value are obvious: current sales, sales growth, margins, marketing investment, name recognition, customer retention rate, and market perception of quality. **Others are more subtle** and revolve around risk. - Product concentration: Just a few products-maybe even one-bring in most of the revenue - Sales person concentration: One or two salespeople are highly productive and others are barely average. - Channel concentration: Going to market is limited largely to one channel - Too much reliance on the founder, owner, or CEO to bring in business - The absence of a documented sales process that can be shared internally and with distributors, integrators, and independent reps. - Knowledge concentrations: Too few people know the customers or the market well enough to generate revenue - A weak or non-existent process to generate leads: The founder’s contacts and visibility in the industry generate all the leads - No true differentiation that the market values . . . *or* - The inability of the sales force to communicate that value and get paid for it. **How can you “owner-proof”** against these factors? There are some hints above. Here is a proven fundamental that always works: Develop, follow, and enforce, if necessary, key business development processes. Regular readers of this column won’t be surprised that our first recommendation is to develop a professional, customized sales process and upgrade the consultative selling skills of your business developers. *Process* is a key word here but so is *customized* – for your company, for your industry, even for individual salespeople. **How can you reduce risk** and build value with a customized sales process? Companies in which one or two key executives bring in all or nearly all of the business-usually the owner or CEO-are at significant risk. Such a business is not “owner-proof” because its success is entirely dependent on the owner- his industry experience, his expertise, his contacts, his passion for the company. A customized sales process that can be communicated to and implemented by a diverse sales team is much less risky. Such a process enables an owner to hire and train salespeople cost effectively and to distribute the income-generating responsibility. Then, when it comes time to pass the baton to others in the company-or to sell the company-a customized sales process is invaluable because it’s a roadmap to generating revenue. It’s a proven way to sell even without all of the advantages the owner might have in the marketplace. Plus: - With a customized sales process, sales won’t be concentrated in a small number of sales representatives. Sharing the process enables others to sell effectively, too. New salespeople get up to speed much faster. - As the sales process expands to a broader range of company services and products, cross-selling is easier and product concentration is reduced. - As far as knowledge concentration goes, our process helps experienced sales leaders articulate and communicate not-so-obvious insights about buying motives, differentiation, and competitors to the less qualified, less experienced sales people. Each of these factors contributes to building the value of your company, whatever your current or ultimate goals might be. We’ve in fact been brought in to conduct sales audits and assessments by buyers before a company is sold as well as after the purchase has been made. In either case, the buyer wants to know: Can we count on this sales force to produce the necessary revenue? The answer is much more likely to be “Yes!” if a customized sales process is in place. **Take an important step** toward owner-proofing your company. Contact us at **847-446-0008** or [**pkrone@productivestrategies.com** ](mailto:pkrone@productivestrategies.com) to talk about consultative selling and what a customized sales process could mean to your business. We also conduct calling campaigns for clients to develop leads and set sales appointments. Using marketing and marketing communications tools, we build visibility and credibility in the marketplace. ***Productive Strategies*** *is a management and marketing consulting firm that helps business-to-busines companies and professional services firms grow their revenues. We solve such problems as too few sales, not enough qualified or “ready to buy” leads, and poor recognition or credibility in the marketplace.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Referrals: The Workshop](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/referrals-the-workshop/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Are you getting enough referrals? Are the referrals you get paying off in business? If not, our latest skills-building course for acquiring more business may be right for you and your team. “Referrals: The Workshop” helps develop the skills and behaviors you need to boost the number of useable referrals you receive now. And it lays the groundwork for continuing referrals over the course of your career. “Referrals: The Workshop” provides four hours of professional skills development training, customization for your market and industry, and practical exercises and role plays. Corporate groups learn how to begin building a “referrals” culture. Open classes are conducted at the Productive Strategies offices in Northfield, Illinois, just north of the intersection of the Edens Expressway and Willow Road and west of the expressway. Contact: Phil Krone at 847-446-0008 Extension 1 or You’ll learn to . . . - Improve your referral-getting-and giving-skills - Convey your expertise and build trust faster - Understand the driving forces behind acquiring referrals - Identify tactics and behaviors that work for you - Provide real value through referrals - Build the right attitude for referral success - Develop simple metrics to track your success - Use referrals to penetrate both current and new accounts more effectively - Increase referrals from clients and other contacts - Become more comfortable and efficient as a business developer - Access decision-makers more efficiently - Understand why you’re not getting the referrals you think you should be - Appreciate why acquiring referrals is a process - How the “ask” in the referral process really works - And much more. Build your business much more efficiently by developing a much more productive referrals process. To learn more about “Referrals: The Workshop,” contact Phil Krone at 847-446-0008 Extension 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Your Company and Jurassic Park](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/your-company-and-jurassic-park/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Why success or failure** depends on finding chaos in our companies before it finds us. **Q:** What does your company share with Jurassic Park? **A:** A make-or-break potential for chaos. **In the original *Jurassic Park* movie** , the character played by Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm) immediately identified the enterprise as “an accident waiting to happen.” An expert in chaos theory, he was brought in to answer the question: “What could go wrong?” Plenty, of course, something that didn’t change for three more *Jurassic* movies over 20 years, including this summer’s *Jurassic World*. No one listens to dire predictions in the movies, for obvious reasons. **But in business, we must listen.** More important, like Jurassic Park’s scientist-entrepreneur-founder, we must seek out the chaos lurking in our companies. What to look for? *One clear warning sign is fighting too many fires on too many fronts* , especially in sales and in ways that affect revenue. The three most important words used side by side with *revenue* are *generation*, *margin*, and *retention*. - The lifeblood of any business is revenue generation. - But not all revenue is good revenue. It has to produce sufficient margin. - Retaining revenue sources year after year-revenue retention-minimizes the amount growth that must come from new accounts. **What can go wrong?** Again, plenty, but solutions are easier than corralling runaway T-Rexes. Nonetheless, survival can still be the name of the game. For example, if fast growth is overwhelming a sales force’s ability to satisfy and retain customers, chaos does in fact show up as firefighting. Unfortunately, fighting fires doesn’t always put them out. Worse, reacting like a pinball to customer issues steals time from actively penetrating existing accounts or winning new ones. Costly misperceptions occur: “If we can hire just one more person or work overtime or increase training, our troubles will be over.” In our experience, it doesn’t work that way. We see chaos predominantly in two distinct contexts: 1. When a company is falling fast and struggling to survive. 2. When a company is soaring and on its way to achieving its full potential. **Falling Fast:** Chaos exists because the company, in fact, requires a turnaround. Operations are not efficient, resources and goals are out of alignment, and the company is fighting for *survival*. Sales are most likely in a nose dive due to poor product or service offerings, poor quality, delivery, or other issues. **Soaring:** Chaos exists because of extraordinary growth. Revenue is growing faster than talent and processes can accommodate. The company and its people can no longer walk the talk of their brand. They’re consumed with firefighting, and they risk losing the growth they worked so hard to achieve. They must eliminate the chaos to achieve their *full potential* year after year. We are not turnaround experts so we generally avoid companies in free-fall chaos. We do experience a fair number of companies that are in chaos from flying too close to the sun. Sometimes, they were in chaos before we arrive. Other times, they simply weren’t prepared for the growth that followed some of the services we provided. In our experience there are typically two gaps that must be addressed: people and process. **People:** The people gap is usually more complicated than just being understaffed by one or two or even a few people. No staffing model correlates to the real growth rate, and that can prevent human resource needs to be anticipated and addressed before they are required. In football terms the company out kicks its coverage. Critical skills were on target for a company of one size, but fell behind with rapid growth. **Process:** Usually, the gap here is that company processes are out of alignment with company goals. On the revenue side, symptoms can be salespeople bringing in work that does not fit the target profile, has insufficient margins, or requires capabilities the company doesn’t have. Chaos fills the vacuum created by too few or ineffective controls. Symptoms also appear when operations are not in alignment with the company’s promise to its customers. Some portion of the projected brand image is not being served or delivered. If staffing is falling behind, if your people are firefighting, if growth seems to be resulting in less, not more profitability, you may be experiencing a positive form of chaos. To keep positive chaos from turning negative, however, requires bringing your people and processes into alignment. Unfortunately, whether in free fall or flying high, few companies have in-house expertise or resources to address that challenge. **We’ve successfully matched** our clients to individuals and firms experienced in scaling companies while minimizing chaos. Much of the solution has to do with the ability to determine staffing levels. But hiring the right people during growth periods can also be especially difficult, in part because of the speed with which such decisions must be made. Developing an ever-improving profile of who will have the greatest opportunity for success in your company becomes crucial. The good news is that advances in behavioral science and neuroscience have produced tools and models that can lead to truly remarkable hiring successes. Three years ago, for example, a company on a steep growth curve was firefighting in several areas and experiencing the “people chaos” that came with such rapid success. We teamed up with a consultant we often work with and an approach that reduced that chaos significantly was applied. Company execs “now have virtually no anxiety about who to hire, when, how, and why,” the consultant reports, “even with 300 percent growth.” The new approach impacted the entire company and is setting the stage for even greater growth in the future. Firefighting has become rare. **Similarly, in sales,** we know that a customized sales process allows for proactivity but gets current salespeople headed in the same direction and gets new salespeople up to speed quickly. More efficiency leads to more effectiveness. We, and others we know and trust, can help you review the assumptions behind your growth objectives to determine if they are realistic in light of your staffing and processes-not just in one area but across the board if necessary. Then, if needed, proven processes can be implemented to support and manage your growth. **Learn more about spotting revenue-damaging chaos** before it spots you and what to do about it. Contact us or 847-446-0008, Extension #1. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The ‘New’ Negotiation: How Good?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-new-negotiation-how-good/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Make no mistake:** Traditional negotiation tactics and strategies are still on the table. But attitudes and perspectives have changed, and changes in negotiating behavior have followed. The “new” negotiation is more consultative in nature. It’s communication designed to persuade, not pummel; to cooperate, not compete. Used to be, for example, that resisting compromise tooth and nail was a hallmark of strong negotiators. They may have made little attempt to hide their willingness–even desire–to fight to get their way (fair or foul) or to go down trying. These days, thanks to significant and telling research, negotiators make little attempt to hide their willingness–and, yes, desire–to take a cooperative stance. Smiles, not scowls. Now, what might also be called the “new niceness” doesn’t mean that all sides aren’t assertive about going after what they want and what they believe they deserve. It means that, assuming comparable skill levels, the “cooperative problem-solving” style is more effective than the “competitive adversarial” style. In addition to being assertive cooperative problem-solvers strive to be empathetic. **So, how do we know which is most “effective”?** In his research, Gerald R. Williams found that when, after a negotiation, each side rated the other in effectiveness: - 38 percent of cooperative problem-solvers were rated “effective,” 59 percent “average,” and 3 percent “ineffective.” - 25 percent of competitive adversarials, on the other hand, were rated “effective,” 42 percent “average,” and *33 percent* “ineffective”–a tenfold gap in what can also be called “success” in negotiation. Other researchers have produced results that support Professor Williams’s findings. Williams is the Marion G. Romney Professor of Law Emeritus, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. We incorporate these consultative communication principles, which also work in consultative selling and business development, in our own course, “Negotiation Today.” **What does this big gap mean to you and your team?** In this post, you’ve heard the *what* of our topic: The “new” negotiation is, indeed, more effective than the old. In our next post, we’ll talk about the *why* and the *how* , and offer a few practical ideas on how you, and your team, can become better negotiators. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consultative sales training, lead generation and appointment setting, and marketing and marketing communications. Scott can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Extension 3 and at .* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Buying Motives Gap](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-buying-motives-gap/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Hurrying to catch a plane** recently in Denver, I realized I was hungry and had to make a choice quickly. The cooked-to-order food at a local shop was appealing but looked too spicy. After a glance at my watch, I headed for McDonald’s because I knew exactly what I would get and exactly how I would get it–fast. Fundamentally, the “reasons to buy” are necessity (need) and desire (want). At the airport, my surface needs and wants happened to be the same: to satisfy my hunger and to do so quickly. The seller, McDonald’s, was well aware of those reasons. But, for me, a third reason existed beneath the surface: avoiding the spicy unknown. That reason, called “motive,” is unique to the way I think about food. McDonald’s couldn’t possibly know about it but, of course, didn’t have to. The case is not so clear cut in the business-to-business arena. **Motive is “the need behind the need.”** As the dictionary points out, motive is “a reason for doing something, *especially one that is hidden or not obvious.* ” (Emphasis added.) In B2B sales understanding customer buying motives–what is hidden or not obvious–can be crucial. Closing a complex sale is much more difficult than offering a hamburger to someone who’s hungry. It’s a real challenge to *persuade* a prospect to buy your product or service o *ver the competition.* It’s even more challenging if the buyer doesn’t realize a problem exists, and you need to help him recognize it and the implications he faces if he doesn’t solve it. During some 20 years in business, we’ve researched buyer motives in the markets of our B2B clients, and we’ve learned two key lessons that we’d like to share. **\#1: You probably know only about half of what you need to know.** Our clients are usually aware of only about half of the buying motives our research ultimately unearths. We know this because at the beginning of a project, we ask our clients why their customers buy from them instead of the competition. We’re looking for the motives beyond need and want. In most cases clients are correct in what they do know about how their customers make buying decisions. But, after our research, what they learn they *don’t* know often surprises and sometimes even shocks them. We call this lack of knowledge the “buying motives gap.” **Why is the buying motives gap so important?** Clearly, if you don’t know all of the buying motives (including those needs behind the needs), then short term you’re leaving money on the table. Advertising, sales process, lead generation, Web content, and other marketing and sales communications are hitting only the outer rings of your targets, not the bullseye. Less clear is that knowing hidden motives in a market can alert you to trends that, longer term, could change the nature of your business and give you entirely new targets to zero in on. At the retail level buying motives are usually fundamental. Some customers *need* to shop for groceries late at night because of their work schedules. Or they *want* to shop late at night because their supermarket is much less crowded then. **One of our clients tracks millions** of anonymous credit-card transactions across “everyday spend” stores known to satisfy specific buying motives, such as farm-to-table, curated assortments, even the deli’s house-made chicken salad. By collecting data on millions of transactions, our client helps its clients identify and understand why shoppers “leak” from one retail category to another or from one type of store to another. Without those insights, the retailers our client serves might be shooting blindfolded or, worse, shooting at the wrong targets. “Every action needs to be prompted by a motive.” *-Leonardo da Vinci* **\#2: Knowing the needs behind the needs is not enough.** Understanding how motives influence purchase processes unlocks the “da Vinci Code” of motive, if you will, “to prompt action” by your customers. One familiar example is the car industry. Practically, we need and want functional transportation. But emotionally we also have less tangible motives–to appear successful, youthful, or sporty–that in reality drive our decision-making. A more subtle business-to-business example is the need of all businesses to reduce exposure to risk. Buyers too often reject bids from high-quality smaller or less well-known companies, for example, in favor of so-called name companies. They want to justify their decision if an operation goes bad: “Hey, I chose the big name. It’s not my fault things didn’t work out.” For a seller to make a sale in the face of that kind of motive, he or she must first know the issue exists and then know how to develop and use a strong, customized sales process to overcome it. **What motivates your customers to buy from you?** You probably know many of the reasons. But if you’d like to talk about how to learn more, please call or e-mail us. Our research process has uncovered some terrific intelligence over the years, enabling our clients to win a lot more business. Most companies we meet do not have a formal, on-going process for identifying and understanding buying motives. The consequences are almost always less revenue, fewer customers, and a narrower–or non-existent–competitive advantage. We can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Ext. 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Are These 7 Tools in Your Sales Tool Box?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/are-these-7-tools-in-your-sales-tool-box/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **1. Mobile Application Development:** We all know that communications are becoming more and more mobile as savvy business people create apps that create value for their customers-often in surprising, and practical, ways. In sales, for example, that can simply mean saving time. Have you considered building an app that would create value for *your* customers and prospects and that would help you differentiate from competition? One of my favorite apps is called Waze. It frequently helps me avoid delays due to traffic or construction on my way to appointments or meetings. It’s a mobile, “community-based” application that communicates real-time information among drivers on the road when you are. And, like many of today’s helpful applications, it’s free. “Brands which are able to push more and more interactions to digital will become more valuable in the networked product age,” says Michael Lavista, CEO of Caxy Code Creative. “Further, the brand that can come up with new digital experiences stands the most to gain against its competitors.” We can set up a meeting that could help you brainstorm how to do this for your business. Another one I like is SpotHero. It provides a choice of parking spaces available near your destination and posts the prices. Grab a space in a garage next door if you’re in a hurry or find the least expensive reasonably priced space in the area if you’re not. Sometimes you find both in the same space. It’s not unusual for me to save 20 percent in Chicago’s Loop area, where I often travel, and sometimes up to half. **2. Consultative Selling Skills:** This tool offers many benefits. It can be used to narrow the gap between your top producers who produce 70 to 80 percent of new business and the rest of the team, which produces only 20 to 30 percent of new business. It’s like using a crow bar in a velvet glove to leverage the less productive group to better performance and help the top group to be even better. This tool also speeds up the sales cycle, increases the win rate, protects your intellectual property, and reduces discounts and short-pay allowances. Why do true consultative selling skills in business-to-business work when a traditional transactional approach does not? Essentially, effective consulting selling is persuasive instead of educational. It’s not enough to tell prospects about all the bells and whistles your products offer. You must *persuade* them that your products are beneficial for their specific businesses. That requires dialogue that goes beyond asking questions that find the “pain.” It’s dialogue that helps prospects work through the challenges they face and appreciate the full value of what your product can mean for their profits. Our consultative selling course, FOCIS, in fact, has been helping companies and professional services firms develop those skills for twenty years. Give us a call and we’ll help you understand its value to your company. **3. Multi-Floor Elevator Speech:**Most people think of the elevator speech, or “pitch,” as being brief because it must be said in the time it takes for an elevator ride. On the theory that elevator rides actually vary in how much time they take, we’ve developed our “multi-floor” elevator speech tool that allows you to say more (or less) depending on how much time you actually have. And, of course, you don’t have to be in an elevator to benefit from this new twist. It will prepare you for any networking event or conference where people will want to know what you do. Get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to send you the “multi-floor” elevator speech tool right away. **4. Credit Insurance:** Have you ever “no quoted” an inquiry from a company with doubtful credit, or quoted above market price to compensate for the incremental risk? While both of those strategies will lower the risk of loss, they may not be the most productive overall. For one thing, higher pricing can mean the cost of losing that business as well as the opportunity cost of future business. The “Credit Insurance Tool,” which is underutilized or not utilized at all, helps in two ways. 1. It allows you to shift the credit risk to a third party for a relatively small premium. Is reducing that risk worth the cost? It might well be in that it could help secure a large account you might pass up or lose to competition because of your risk-reducing markup. 2. The firm you use becomes your partner in the credit process. Established firms have the most up-to-date information about the risks. Practices vary but firms will generally pay you first in the case of loss and take responsibility for collection. “A benefit that’s sometimes overlooked,” explains Euler Hermes’ Lee Fahrenz of the 120-year-old firm’s Midwest office, “is that insured receivables are secure collateral that can help in obtaining more working capital.” **5. Productive Referrals Skills:** Are you or your team unsure of the “who, what, when, and how” of asking for referrals and of building the number and quality? You’re not alone, even though most business-to-business lead generation comes from referrals, perhaps as much as 70 to 80 percent. Yet too many salespeople and others with full or partial business development responsibility receive little or no training on the most effective ways to inspire referrals. And, yes, “inspire” is the right word here because referrals rarely just happen. Simply asking as many people as you can wherever and whenever you can is almost never efficient in business to business and can even backfire. No, productive referrals are the result of identifying and nurturing the right referral sources, sometimes known as centers of influence (COIs), and effectively communicating the value of your work to them and others at networking events, industry functions, or even school events. It’s also important to keep your name top of mind with a nurture marketing program that delivers *true value* , not promotion disguised as value. Our four-hour course can provide the answers and put you on the right path to using the “Referral Tool” profitably. **6. Today’s “New” Negotiation Approach:**Sharpening sales negotiating skills is another way to increase the topline. Smart companies, however, go beyond providing negotiations training for salespeople focused only on persuading the purchasing departments at their customers’ or prospects’ companies. They realize that others who represent their company also face negotiations. Quality, engineering, logistics, and other departments must negotiate adjustments, accommodations, or limits with their counterparts at companies they’re doing business with or hope to do business with. Internal negotiations also impact an enterprise. Since as human beings we have all been negotiating our entire lives, we generally think we’re good at it. Like anything else, however, training and learning best practices can sharpen the ax. And from time to time best practices take new tacks. Although traditional negotiation tactics and strategies are still firmly in play, for instance, face-to-face behaviors have changed based on research that shows the “new” negotiation to be more consultative in nature and more effective. Assuming comparable skill levels, the “cooperative problem-solving” style is more effective than the “competitive adversarial” style. Our “Negotiation Today” course is designed to support your team’s efforts throughout the sales process and in other ways as well. **7. Marketing Research:**Consumer products companies have always invested heavily in market research. But industrial firms selling to other businesses have done far less. And that’s too bad. In B2B, relatively small investments can go a long way toward gaining a deeper understanding of customer buying motives, behaviors, and other issues. While such insights alone don’t solve problems, they can help *guide*your decision-making. “Unfortunately, most B2B companies think that custom research costs too much. That’s simply not true,” explains Brian Arnold, principal of Clear Point Research Group and the author of the *Custom Market Research Guide*. “A good research partner will work with you on a budget you can afford.” If you have an interest in learning more about any of these tools please contact us at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Ext. 1 or . We offer many of the services described above. For those that are outside of our scope we can direct you to very qualified potential suppliers. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Yes, Your Company Is Different](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/yes-your-company-is-different/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Differentiation has long been a watchword in business.** But recently, amid pervasive disruption and fierce competition in many markets, our clients and prospects seem to be more concerned than ever about differentiating themselves. The main worry is that they will become commoditized and fall prey to eroding margins. Related worries are that the speed at which business is done now means commoditization and diminishing profits are likely to strike fast and hard and that no defense exists to fend them off. We hear this concern expressed in two basic ways: 1\. Our company isn’t all that much different than those of our competitors. 2\. The market doesn’t understand the value our differentiation brings. Two different problems requiring two different solutions. **Good News #1:** No matter what you think or what prospects (or maybe even customers) tell you, your company *is* different. In more than 20 years of helping businesses and professional services firms grow the topline, we have yet to come upon a viable business that cannot differentiate itself in meaningful-and revenue-generating-ways. The problem usually is that executives either don’t know how to identify points of differentiation in their companies or don’t know how to develop or create them. **Good News #2:** Even companies that do know how they’re different and better too often don’t know how to communicate the value of that differentiation in the market place. And that means, of course, they can’t get paid as well as they ought to get paid for the value they provide. Companies and firms whose business developers do know how to communicate their value not only sell more of their product or service but they can command higher prices. So, at this point-right now-take a moment to answer a fundamental question: **Which problem is bigger:** - Your company truly does not create differentiated value and is, in fact, a commodity or close to becoming one. **OR** - Your sales force and other business developers don’t know how to communicate the value your company in fact offers *and* get paid for it. Have you decided? Great, then read on. We have solutions that, in many cases, go hand in hand and reinforce each other to achieve stronger results. **First Problem: Really, our company just isn’t all that different.** Well, first of all, we don’t believe it. But if you and your team do, it’s a problem that has to be solved sooner. Here are steps to take yourself, or implement with the help of outside professionals, to uncover differentiators that already exist or identify areas that have potential to become differentiators. We’ve guided clients down this path to increased sales and stable or improved margins. We know it can work. - **Develop a routine that gleans fresh information from the sales force.** Doesn’t it just make sense? You want to help your customers and prospects. Well, who has the most contact with those groups? The greatest chance of learning about new problems, trends, and changes in direction? The sales force and other business developers, of course. - **Understand which market leadership discipline matches your company.** And then *own* it. The leadership disciplines are *customer intimate* , *product leadership* , and *operational excellence* *(low-cost provider).* No company can excel at all three; few can excel at one and also even be very good at another, so it’s essential to invest resources in the right one. - **Perform formal market research to see what the market likes-and doesn’t like-about your business.** In this step, you’re trying to learn two things, as specifically as possible: why customers do buy from you and why prospects don’t. Which needs does your company meet exclusively, which do competitors meet exclusively, and which does no one meet? We’ve found that managers know only about half the reasons customers choose their company over competitors-and are often surprised to learn about the others. - **Explore, individually, how your company’s attributes or skills might contribute to differentiation.** Time, for example, offers several possibilities-faster or more accurate delivery times, more efficient product development or time to market, *taking the time* to solve customer problems completely and in a way that makes customers happy they called. And then there are physical attributesor functions to consider: location, product size, type and quality of materials or finishing, documentation (to satisfy regulators, for instance), project management, and others. These aren’t the only ways to determine how your company is different, but they’re a good start. To learn more, just give us a call at 847-446-0008. **Second Problem: We don’t know how to communicate our value in the marketplace.** This problem is all too familiar. The solution comes in two parts known as marketing and selling. Strong marketing that targets the right customers with the right messages will increase both your company’s visibility in the market place *and* its credibility. Then, when “sales” makes contact in whatever form-face-to-face, on the phone, on-line, even with good old snail mail (still effective, by the way)-prospects will be much more likely to recognize your company’s name and to respect its work. To compete in the tough business-to-business arena, your salespeople and other business developers must be equipped with superior consultative selling skills and a sales process customized for your company and industry. The very best salespeople-the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of all new business-in fact behave differently than their less successful counterparts. Our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, has helped hundreds of salespeople and professionals develop the skills and the behaviors of the best in the business. The customized sales process they have developed during the FOCIS® course has enabled them to use their new skills to sell more and shorten the sales cycle. **Marketing and sales are both necessary** to growing the topline: “Marketing gets you to the door. Selling gets you the deal.” If you’d like to discuss your business growth goals and challenges, please call at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or e-mail . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [An Author? Who, Me?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/an-author-who-me/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Yes, you can write a book.** And, no, I don’t mean the one on your nightstand, the one you think you’re reading as you doze off and turn out the light. I mean a book that you write–sharing your wisdom, explaining how you got where you are, demonstrating your expertise, telling all those entertaining and enlightening “war stories” that make your points clearly and interestingly. A book that builds your business or your career. And, as any journalist knows, a good story gives the reader the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. An even better story also tells how and what it means. **Right now, for example,** we’re working with a client to write an atypical corporate history about a privately held company that’s approaching its sixtieth anniversary. The book’s purpose is not only to get a fascinating family-business story “down on paper” for posterity but also to impart some valuable management and leadership lessons that any business owner could put to good use. In addition, the book will be a differentiator as a marketing tool by showing how this company’s approach to doing business got it this far and will take it even further in the future. It will set the stage for the next generation of growth. You just might have a book inside you, too. You’re successful, so you no doubt have the experience and the expertise to help your readers improve their performance. Or your company has survived–even thrived–by overcoming tough challenges in imaginative ways or identifying opportunities and then pursuing them. Business owners like nothing more than hearing about their peers’ experiences. **Many of us have thought about writing a book.** Some of us have even tried it. But like dieting and exercising we’ve found it too time-consuming or difficult over the long haul. Plus we might think of writing as lonely drudgery–the isolated writer burning the midnight oil. Not true! **Unlike diet and exercise,** there is a way not only to speed up the book-writing process but also to virtually guarantee you’ll reach your goal. It’s a proven method to develop, shape, and polish your rough ideas and get them printed or digitized for the world: Work with a professional writer or editor. Sure, a nutrition coach or a personal trainer can help you take off the pounds or put on the muscle. But they can’t actually get the job done for you. A professional writer or editor can. **While the process is not completely turn-key** –you’ll still need to diligently watch what you write and get your brain off the couch to do serious road work–a professional scribe can actually make your book a reality. A personal trainer can’t give you her six-pack abs. A nutritionist can’t give you his low cholesterol count. But a professional writer can translate his talent into your words. To learn more about how to tell your story, or your company’s, just get in touch at or (312) 560-0992. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, Inc., specializing in sales, marketing, and executive communications. In a 30-year professional creative and business career, he has launched more than 60 new publishing products. He’s helped scores of authors–“Pros” and “Joes” alike–put their thoughts into words and their words into print, on the Web, or “out there” in cyberspace. He’s been thinking about writing a book for a long time. You can reach him at* [*spemberton@productivestrategies.com*](mailto:spemberton@productivestrategies.com) *or (312) 560-0992.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Best Business Gift Ever?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-best-business-gift-ever-3/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **This time of the year** especially, giving and receiving command a lot of attention. In business we all pursue these activities throughout the year, though perhaps more along the lines of “give and get” or “give and take.” Business in general is too often perceived as paying a lot more attention to getting rather than giving. That’s not surprising, but is it fair? Even though a common thread among three key business-building functions-sales, negotiations, and referrals-is in fact getting others to do what we want them to, there’s more to the story. Overlooked, we believe, is the simple truth that *getting* in business is made possible by another, always-present force: *giving* or, from our perspective, *creating* value. > *“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”* > -Brian Tracy **Business can’t be conducted** if both sides don’t give and receive. In business schools, it’s known as “exchanging value.” The conventional perspective is that a “fair exchange of value” can, and should be, the goal of selling, negotiation, and referrals. We’ve learned-and we teach-how to take that conventional thinking a step further. As readers of this column and graduates of our FOCIS® consultative selling course know, our experience is that in selling the best way to give value is to *create it during the sales process*. Value can also be created during the negotiation process and during the referrals process by using essentially the same communication skills taught in FOCIS®. > *“I now have confidence to ‘make rain’ without feeling I have manipulated or cajoled a prospect into becoming a client”* > -Graduate, FOCIS® Consultative Selling, Professional Services **Ask yourself these questions** to learn if you have the necessary communications skills or need to develop them. **Sales** Are you as good at developing business as you are at doing your job? *Few of us are. But we could be a lot better.* Do you get your fair share of new business from referrals? *While other forms of marketing and business development bring in business, most professional service firms do get a significant amount from referrals-as much as 70 to 80 percent in some cases. Companies in other industries also benefit from referrals.* Do you sometimes feel that your sales process is designed to get prospects to buy something they don’t really need? *Good news: That’s not selling, at least in our book. Bad news: That queasy feeling can keep you from even asking for the business.* **Negotiations** Have you or your team been in shouting matches, lost business, or disrupted personal relationships? *No? Count yourself lucky. These problems often do occur and, in our experience, are almost always avoidable.* Do you end up compromising to reach superficial “win-win” settlements that might actually be losses? *The truth is that “win-win” today goes beyond compromise, sometimes way beyond. We help our clients achieve that goal by applying the consultative sales communications skills taught in our FOCIS® Consultative Selling course to create value for both sides during the negotiation process.* Is negotiating so emotional for you that you are not comfortable or confident? *For example, do you get angry or discouraged when the other side attempts to commoditize your product or presses too hard for price concessions?* **Referrals** Are you unsure about the best way to get referrals? *Many, if not most, business people are. Actually, there are two productive ways. One, you ask the right people for referrals but also in the right way, at the right time, and for the right reasons. The other is to generate referralswithout asking for them. Both ways involve creating value during the referrals process-just as in sales and negotiations. We teach both ways.* Is it uncomfortable-even impossible-to turn social interactions into business opportunities? *Again, we’ve all found ourselves facing this challenge at one time or another. Yet it can be done effectively in a way that leaves both parties feeling good about it-that is, gain some value.* Do you have a repeatable process to generate referrals? *Just as increasing sales isn’t magic, neither is increasing referrals.* After more than 20 years of helping companies and individuals increase the topline, we’ve developed highly effective solutions to the challenges in all three areas. The common thread? Building your ability to give the “best business gift ever” in this, or any season. We teach you how to create value in nearly every business interaction, whether brief or extended, and to ensure that customers, prospects, and colleagues recognize and appreciate that value. In addition, we’ve developed a complimentary, 30-to-60 minute process to determine with you which of those solutions, if any, might meet your needs. The assessment process alone delivers real value-often eye-opening-by examining your concerns from a truly different perspective. The courses themselves are . . . - FOCIS® Selling where we upgrade consultative selling skills, create custom sales processes, and coach you on making the most of existing new business opportunities. - FOCIS® Negotiating where we present major negotiating styles; cover major negotiating principles, including minute-to-minute tactics; develop skills through role plays and top-to-bottom case experiences-all based on the most recent and compelling research into how the most successful negotiators do their jobs. - Increasing Referrals, a half-day workshop that will provide the key to unlock your potential in creating the type of value that will lead to your receiving more referrals. To learn more just get in touch with me at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008), Extension 1, or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [3 Hidden Sales Builders You Need to Know](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/3-hidden-sales-builders-you-need-to-know/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **We know that the very best** salespeople are skilled at delivering value *during* the sales process. They know that’s fundamental to being a top producer. They know multiple ways to deliver value and how to use them effectively. We’ve identified 18 different ways. But they also perform three other under-the-radar functions, which they regard as responsibilities, or duties. Top producers hold themselves accountable for: 1\. Selling their solution **as being slightly better** than it actually is. 2\. Using their **persuasive sales skills *inside* their company** -but for a different purpose. 3\. Being **a productive conduit for new product ideas** and other market intelligence. What do we mean by each of these self-imposed responsibilities? How do they help top producers perform so well? **Duty #1: A Questionable Path?** Doesn’t selling a product or service as being better than it is sound dubious at best, dangerous at worst? “Over-selling” is generally considered bad business for several good reasons. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. Selling the solution as “slightly” better isn’t meant to influence the sale itself, though it might help. Instead, it’s meant to push the seller’s own company to *become* better, to “grow into” the next incremental level of quality. The goal is for the company to meet “slightly” higher customer expectations by habitually identifying and implementing *attainable* incremental improvements. Such pressure from customer expectations driven by the sales force offers a company the opportunity to stay well ahead of its competition. **Duty #2: Selling on the Inside** When the marketplace says that the seller’s conditions or processes must improve, it’s not enough for salespeople to listen for that message and let management know when they hear it. *They must take the next step to convince leadership to do something about it.* They must use their persuasive skills to effect change. Why does sales have to get that involved? Poor product quality, long production lead times, delivery delays, more defects and field failures, and less responsive customer service affect business development success-your success-directly and negatively. Bringing in new business and retaining business from customers becomes more difficult, even impossible. For example, one of our clients is growing through acquisition. Problem is, quality and “the customer experience” at different company locations has become painfully inconsistent. Interviews with customers revealed that, yes, some were “raving fans.” Unfortunately, others were not. One, in fact, complained that he “would use anybody else” if alternative services were closer. Sales *must* listen for this kind of information and then *use it to push for internal improvements.* Otherwise the company is opening a door and inviting its competitors to walk through it. Helping management to see such challenges clearly is as important, even more important, than bringing in new customers. Customer retention is fragile and has to be nurtured. In a constant quest for new customers, salespeople too often let service slide, sometimes across the board. When it comes, the exodus isn’t a gradual downward trend of losing one customer and then another sometime later. Not at all. It’s a cliff. Several customers fall off all at once. Guess who’s there to help them get back on their feet? **Another issue that persuasive inside sales skills** can resolve is inadequate production capabilities. In just the past two weeks, we learned that one of our manufacturing clients had scored a major coup by taking business away from a strong rival at a large account. Salespeople were heroes. Everyone was celebrating until it became clear that engineering was stretched thin and simply could not keep up with the current demands. A second competitor swooped in, winning at least the most recent round of work thanks to more responsive engineering. The door is now open. The fastest way for a growing company to fail is to outgrow its capabilities. In football, it’s known as “outkicking your coverage.” The kicker boots the ball so far that the opposition’s return specialists catch it and are already running before tacklers get to them. Salespeople must use their persuasive sales skills here to persuade management to build critical resources that will keep up with topline growth. If you’ve tried without success, you probably need the stronger persuasive (not educational) skills the best salespeople employ. **Duty #3: Sales and Market Intelligence** Serving as an effective new product development conduit doesn’t mean overwhelming management with every request from every customer. But it does mean using your time in the field to listen not only for problems to fix with better service but also needs to satisfy with new or better products. Top producers provide value because they know how to *filter* ideas the market suggests (even if unwittingly). New product and service developers can then better prioritize which ideas are worth working on. We teach the discovery skills that enable this activity. **The best business-to-business salespeople know** the 18 ways to create value for prospects before they become customers. The very best also know how to use the three “hidden sales builders” to help their companies grow and accommodate demand for their products and services. Do your salespeople lack the key communication tools to perform these three duties well? If so, please contact us and we’ll share our thoughts about how they can develop them. **Be sure to ask us for** “The 18 Ways to Create Value during the Sales Process.” We can be reached at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008), Extension 1, or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Great E-Mail Marketing Myth](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-great-e-mail-marketing-myth/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **Mourn no more.** Reports of the death of e-mail have been greatly exaggerated. **When it makes sense for one of our clients,** we’ll suggest a nurture marketing program, often involving an e-mail newsletter or, more often, a column by-lined by the client. When we do, the client’s response is almost always a variation of “E-mail? I thought that didn’t work anymore.” Followed by: “We want to use social media–you know, Facebook, Twitter.” Yes, Facebook and Twitter can be key planks in a marketing platform. We use social media, too–again, when it makes sense for the client. We also use snail mail and calling campaigns when they make sense. E-mail does still work when it’s used in the right way for the right reasons. **What are the right reasons?** Our firm serves the business-to-business world. Our clients’ sales are complex, not transactional as in retail, and large. Sales cycles can be long, risk to the buyer is usually high, final decisions will probably be made by committees, not individuals. Credibility and visibility– *regular* visibility–become critical. **To build credibility**, value must be delivered *during* the sales process and, at least in our minds, direct marketing is clearly part of the sales process. Thought leadership, useful information, and advice become essential. If a reader recognizes your e-mails as valuable, he’ll open them. Regular visibility is a requirement because significant time can elapse between business-to-business purchases. Even if a prospect liked your product or service when she first heard about it, or maybe when you presented, she must *remember* you at the exact time she has a need that your company can satisfy. If not, she’ll likely find someone else. **Regular e-mails will keep you** top of mind when a prospect’s top priority is a problem you can solve. But they must *deliver value.* They can’t be strictly promotional. Our monthly column on sales and marketing, *Productive Insights*, is a clear example. Two or three times a year a prospect or client who’s been reading the columns regularly, sometimes for years, calls or e-mails us. All of a sudden he has just the kind of problem we solve: low or slow sales, not enough qualified leads or appointments, and ineffective marketing. **In B-to-B marketing campaigns,** 95 percent of participants say they use e-mail, reports a 2015 Direct Marketing Association study. Telephone campaigns make use of e-mail 94 percent of the time. In our experience setting sales appointments and generating leads, clients who use a phone-e-mail combination do enjoy increased response. E-mail is nearly 40 times more effective in acquiring customers (probably “consumer” customers) than Facebook and Twitter combined, according to McKinsey, the consulting firm. (See [Why Marketers Should Keep Sending You E-Mails](http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/why-marketers-should-keep-sending-you-emails).) **The “E-mail is dead” mantra** , clearly, is not being chanted by professional marketers, including us. Why? Because e-mail works when used at the right time and in the right way. ***Scott Pemberton*** *is a senior consultant at Productive Strategies, a management and marketing firm with expertise in consultative sales training, appointment setting and lead generation, and marketing and marketing communications. He can be reached at* [*spemberton@productivestrategies.com*](mailto:spemberton@productivestrategies.com) *or 847-446-0008.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [‘So What?’ or ‘Here’s How’](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/so-what-or-heres-how/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Team selling with subject matter experts** can be the best sales experience you’ll ever have–or the worst. It’s entirely up to you and your SMEs. When subject matter experts (SMEs) and salespeople call on prospects together, things often go swimmingly. In fact, when they’re using a sales process they’ve created together, a skilled consultative sales rep and an SME make up the most powerful sales teams we see. But when they don’t, sales calls can drown in a flood of misguided communication that results in frustration for prospects, sales reps, and SMEs alike. What happens? *Decision-makers* think in terms of implication. They are in “So what” mode: “If I buy this product or service, what will it mean to my business?” *Subject matter experts* think in terms of “Here’s how” because that’s what they love and what they’re good at. Unfortunately, much too early in the process, SMEs tend to tell prospects, “Here’s how our product works. Isn’t that great?” Bridging the gap are the *sales reps*. If they have well-developed consultative selling skills, they are in discovery the moment they walk in the door, if not before. They don’t tell; they ask. They want to know what a prospect’s objectives are in connection with their product or service so they can answer the all-important “So what?” question. Then, if they can help the prospect appreciate the value their product brings to the table, a technical expert can be indispensable to sealing the deal. An SME reassures the prospect with detail: “Yes, our product is extremely effective–here’s how and why.” But before that point in the process, an overenthusiastic SME can hijack a sales call by diving into an explanation of how a product works before the sales rep has had a chance to ask questions that build trust and establish whether a need even exists. The decision-maker can find himself caught in a crossfire of words that don’t answer “So what?” Over the years, I’ve sold with nuclear power-plant engineers, lawyers, real estate developers, software designers, and other highly talented and knowledgeable SMEs. There’s nothing like the success that combines a strong sales process and consultative selling skills with great technical information. **How can business developer-SME teams** achieve that success during sales calls? We’ve found that three things come into play. **1. Customized Sales Process:**The most important factor. Years ago we taught consultative selling skills to business developers at a utility and created a sales process tailored to them and their industry. When the salespeople first understood the basic principles of our program, they insisted that their SMEs–engineers, in this case–receive the same training. Their rationale, paraphrased, was that “otherwise \[the SMEs\] will jump in and undo everything we are doing in the sales process.” An effective sales process must draw intellectual property from the SMEs that sales reps can use in specific ways to learn a prospect’s objectives and issues and to build trust. But this approach goes way beyond simply identifying of needs or “finding the pain.” It involves an inventory of potential issues the solution addresses, the implications of those issues, rules of thumb to gain perspective, and stories to help educate on the issues. **2. Skill Level and Clear Roles:**Once the sales process is in place the sales rep-SME team has to decide how to execute it. Effectiveness here depends on the relative skill level of both the seller and the SME. At the beginning they may want to make calls together at the front end of the process. Later it may be possible for the sales person to work alone until the sales process has been advanced to the point technical expertise is needed. In that model, the SME takes center stage near the end to answer final questions and help close the sale. **3. Pre-Call Planning and Practice:**The sales process should be reviewed before the first calls so that decisions can be made about who goes along, who is the lead, what role a second or third person plays, and so on. More pre-call communication among the team members improves effectiveness. A few minutes of role playing can work wonders. Two other important factors also influence sales rep-SME teams: the compensation system and the level of trust within the team. The *compensation system* must establish who makes initial contact with the prospect, who helps sell the product or service, and who performs the work–that is, supplies the deliverable–once the sale is made *as well as* how each role is weighted for compensation and incentives. If this breakdown isn’t standard, team members should negotiate splits on their own with each other. SMEs, especially, will come to value the sales rep’s ability to speed up the sales process without calling on them until necessary. End result: SMEs can do more of what they love to do-implement the solution! *Trust* with sales-SME teams can take years to develop. If new people rotate in and out too often, trust simply cannot be in place. It can, however, be accelerated by experts in building trust, either from inside a company or outside. Our consultative sales training course, FOCIS®, does in fact build trust within the team. And, although we’re not experts in sales compensation, we can point you toward proven professionals we know who are. Just ask us if you are looking for that kind of assistance. **Sales rep-SME team members** can be extremely productive if they know their roles in the sales process and how to perform them. Please tell us about your experiences and ideas at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) X-1 or . We’re always learning, too, especially from the marketplace. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [CEOs: Value in Sales Process Streamlines Sales Cycle](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/ceos-value-in-sales-process-streamlines-sales-cycle/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **A panel of sales experts explained** “The 18 Ways to Create Value during the Sales Process” in a recent breakfast workshop presented by The Entrepreneurship Institute (TEI). Two Productive Strategies professionals participated. Moderating was Phil Krone, president and founder of Productive Strategies, a marketing and management consulting firm. Senior Consultant Scott Pemberton served on the panel. The workshop, “What Every President, CEO, and Owner Must Know about the Sales Process,” revealed how the very best business-to-business salespeople sell 12 to 15 times more than the average salesperson. The panel members serve on the TEI Chicago board as does Tim Kramer, who hosted the workshop at Wintrust Commercial Bank. To help their reps, every CEO must know this about top producers: They create value *as they’re making the sale* not just at the end with the deliverable. **“That’s the true definition of consultative selling**,” said Phil Krone, as he opened the workshop. “Learning to do that builds trust and helps prospects to see you as the expert faster. That in turn gives them confidence to take action.” For example, one way to create value within the sales process, explained Lee Fahrenz, is *to **help a prospect become aware of a problem he didn’t know existed*** –in other words, helping him to know what he didn’t know. Fahrenz’ firm, Euler Hermes North America, offers credit insurance. **SALO’s Mitch Ornstein,** whose company provides interim and project financial executive and staff services, offered another value: ***Help a prospect articulate, even originate, the objectives she’s seeking*.** Through your discovery, you help a prospect clarify objectives at both a higher level and in connection with your product or service. ***Identify a marketplace need without an existing solution and bring it to your marketing department as a new product idea*** is another of the 18 ways way to create value, noted Scott Pemberton. To use salespeople as market researchers in this way, however, requires a process to ensure that they ask the right questions in the field and that the needs are carefully reviewed and prioritized. **Jeff Michalczyk,** The Private Bank, discussed ***helping a prospect become aware of the implication or consequence of a challenge*** . Even if prospects are aware of a problem, they don’t always-in fact, rarely-appreciate the full impact of the consequences. Good consultative selling helps them see the devil in the details. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How Creating Value Gets You In–and Keeps You There](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-creating-value-gets-you-in-and-keeps-you-there/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **What would you say is the goal of buyers** , purchasing agents, materials managers, or supply chain managers? The typical reply from most salespeople would probably be “to get the cheapest price.” And in many cases that’s true. But we’re finding that, depending on the industry, more and more procurement professionals see their role as getting “the best value.” That’s good news for salespeople with the right skill set. Buyers looking for value see learning from vendors as fundamental to the process. **One of the greatest, unrecognized values** that salespeople can provide is an ability to probe for the “unknown unknowns” and discover whether prospects have issues they aren’t even aware of. But many obstacles can prevent salespeople from getting the chance to help. For example, some buyers: - Think they already know what they need because of online research - Rarely answer the phone or listen to voice mail - Ignore e-mails except from sources they already know. Those “reasons,” and others, get in the way of buyers looking to get the most value from their supply base. Put another way, buyers who at least allow themselves to go through a strong consultative sales process can discover whether they need to change the vendors they use, stay with what they have, or try a type of product or service they’ve never used before. **Recently, I moderated a panel discussion** about how the very best salespeople create value before making the sale. Entitled “What Every President, CEO, and Owner Must Know about the Sales Process,” the panel examined how “top producers” sell-that is, how they bring in 12 to 15 times more revenue than the average salesperson. Professional salespeople on the panel from banking, insurance, business development consulting, and executive-level financial staffing opened up about situations in which their prospects did participate in discovery and found tremendous value from the process. Here are a few examples from that panel. **\#1: Finding the Unknown Unknown.** One way to create value within the sales process, explained Lee Fahrenz, is to help *a prospect become aware of a problem he didn’t know existed* -in other words, helping him to know what he didn’t know. Fahrenz’ firm, Euler Hermes North America, offers credit insurance. Fahrenz was able to offer receivables insurance for nine of a new prospect’s key customers but not for the tenth. Confidentiality prevented him from providing details behind the denial. But the prospect drew his own conclusion that the customer was, or soon would be, in a “slow pay” mode with creditors due to financial issues. With that knowledge, Fahrenz’s prospect immediately got in touch with his customer’s CFO to set up a payment plan the customer could follow. Identifying an unrecognized problem-that a major customer was “uninsurable” in this context-clearly provided value during the sales process. **\#2: What do you really need?** SALO’s Mitch Ornstein, whose company provides interim and project financial executive and staff services, offered another value: *Help a prospect articulate, even originate, the objectives she’s seeking.* Through your discovery, you help a prospect clarify objectives at both a higher level and in connection with your product or service. A current client’s CFO was discussing corporate-level objectives. Eventually, SALO’s sales discovery process shifted the focus entirely by helping the client clarify a more pressing objective. Frustrating flaws in a financial management system had led two plant controllers to move on. The current controller had a handle on the issues; yet our client felt she might lose him too because other work kept getting in the way of resolving them. The discovery process offered a different perspective, and a critical objective emerged: Retaining this key employee. Such clarity enabled the SALO team to find the right executive to handle operations tasks until the controller got the financial system on track. Four years later Controller #3 is still on the job. **\#3: So That’s Where New Products Come From.** One of our senior consultants, Scott Pemberton, shared how *identifying a need in the field without an existing solution and bringing it back as a new product idea* helps companies grow the top line. To use salespeople as “market researchers,” however, requires a process that ensures they ask the right questions and assess identified needs realistically. A client developed software to help a major drugstore chain identify interactions among prescriptions its pharmacists filled, especially negative interactions. The client’s salespeople then asked, as they were trained to do, “Is there any other way that the solution might help you?” Well, yes, was the answer. The chain’s customers were also taking medications provided by other pharmacies-its competitors, in fact. Could our client identify interactions in that context, too? The resulting new software product delivered value to our client, our client’s client, and to pharmacy customers themselves. **\#4: More Than Meets the Eye.** Jeff Michalczyk, The Private Bank, discussed *helping a prospect become aware of the implication or consequences of a challenge.* Even if prospects are aware of a problem, they don’t always-in fact, rarely-appreciate the full impact of the consequences. Good consultative selling helps them see the devil in the details. A middle-market CFO whose company sells its products globally believed that a large money-center bank would best serve his needs. Michalczyk and his team knew that middle-market companies and large money-center banks often aren’t good matches. The companies rarely have the necessary systems, processes, or people in place. In addition, this company required frequent and responsive communication with its bank. The CFO regarded delays in his current bank’s 1-800 line process only as simple “annoyances.” During discovery, he called his controller and accounting manager in to get their thoughts. Michalczyk’s consultative sales process helped to reveal to the CFO how frustrated they were with long hold times, lower productivity, and customers unhappy with slow response. As a result, the CFO allowed outside experts to assess the full implications of working with a larger bank. Eventually, the CFO saw that a smaller, relationship-oriented bank with global capabilities was a better solution. The Private Bank gained a new client thanks, in large part, to sales ability that delivered value during the sales process. **The panel’s discussion framework** was based on our firm’s identification and development of “The 18 Ways to Create Value during the Sales Process.” Just call or email us for a free copy at [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) or . If you’d like, we can also talk about how to learn whether your salespeople are delivering value during the sales process. --- *This panel was presented by The Entrepreneurship Institute (TEI). The panel members serve on the TEI Chicago board as does Tim Kramer, who hosted the workshop at Wintrust Commercial Bank, Rosemont, Illinois.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Special Ops Selling: One Eye Closed or Two Eyes Open?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/special-ops-selling-one-eye-closed-or-two-eyes-open/) **Published:** May 14, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Recently, I was fortunate** to have a rare opportunity to talk with an active-duty U.S. “special warfare operator.” In other words, a member an elite special operations force. As a result, I learned something I’m now putting to work in my own profession. Our firm helps companies grow their top lines, and one important way is through consultative sales training. The topics of physical and survival training are always fascinating. But my fascination was with the training *process* as it might apply to an issue we face with participants in our consultative sales training course, FOCIS. Specifically, I wanted to know how special operations instructors train and coach across the varying skill levels and capabilities candidates bring to the program. All special operations candidates come to training with experiences and skills, some of which are required. They must, for example, meet several tougher-than-tough physical standards. Typical examples: Number of pushups in two minutes: 42 minimum, 79 average, 100 optimum. Number of sit-ups in two minutes: 50, 79, and 100. Candidates aren’t even in the running for the next stage until they meet or surpass the optimum standards. In addition, many are graduates of other, formal military programs, such as the United States Army Airborne School, or “Jump School.” Consequently, they can be highly skilled in one area but not in others. Some candidates enter special operations training with high-level skills developed informally over time. Chris Kyle, for example, who wrote the book *American Sniper* and whose war experiences were dramatized in the Clint Eastwood movie, grew up hunting and practicing shooting with his father. **Do candidates who aspire** to become elite military snipers, I asked, do better because they have that kind of background . . . that they grew up in families where hunting and learning to shoot were a big part of their lives? His reply surprised me. He said, “No, that’s not the case.” Then he continued (I’ m paraphrasing here): “Because our special operations training is the best in the world, sniper candidates are actually better off coming in with little knowledge or experience. They haven’t developed any bad habits that must be broken before we can teach them the right habits.” Then he gave an example most of us can appreciate, even though it might seem counterintuitive. Hunters often learn from a young age to shoot with one eye closed. They believe, perhaps have even been taught, that sighting with one eye closed improves their ability to focus on a target. But soldiers, he explained, are concerned not only with focusing on targets. They are also concerned with *becoming* targets. Elite snipers shoot with both eyes open. In addition, ample evidence shows that both-eyes-open shooting is simply more effective. **The salespeople, professionals, executives,** and other business developers we train bring skills and experiences that vary even more widely, from few or none to many and extensive. We know our process can improve the performance of just about anyone-novice or veteran. But we always want to do better. Now we use the special operations training story to make two points: - The obvious answer isn’t always the right answer. - Sometimes inadequate old skills must be “unlearned” so that superior new skills can replace them. People often come to our course believing they already know how to sell-at least, up to a point. As children, most of us attempted to sell something-Girl Scout cookies, Christmas trees, lemonade. Plus, we’re all sold *to* every day. It’s easy to think that as adults we can sell in our current environment. And, anyway, aren’t really good salespeople “born that way”? Neither is the case. The reason is that the sales children make are “transactional.” The sales process required to make a “simple” sale is not the same as the process used to make a “complex” sale, which is what most business-to-business selling is all about. In a simple, one-call, transactional sale, you are face-to-face with the one-and-only decision-maker. Her need is clear and her risk is low. Business-to-business selling involves multiple calls, high risk for the buyer, and almost always multiple decision-makers you’re not likely to meet. You certainly won’t be at the table when they decide the fate of your proposal. Few salespeople are “born” to navigate such complex sales. True, some top salespeople are “naturals.” Yet, even though they probably don’t realize it, they do essentially the same things as other top producers who are trained. A process is a process. **Or consider professional athletes.** They are clearly naturals but have in fact been developing their talent since they were children. They all received coaching and training all along the way. *And they still do,* even though they are at the top. They understand the value of training and coaching, especially for specific player positions and game situations. Why should selling be different? Could training and coaching improve your sales performance? To find out, ask yourself these questions and check the ones you’re most concerned about. If you manage salespeople or other business developers, ask them to answer the questions, too. Then, if you’d like to learn more, call us at 847-446-0008 Extension 1. We’ll talk about your specific challenges and opportunities. **Do you find that you:** - Have trouble being seen as an expert quickly-or at all? - Take too long to establish trust? - Sell fewer new products or services than you-or your company-expects? - Give away intellectual property that your prospect shares with your competition? - Receive too few referrals relative to the value you generate for customers or clients? - Are much less successful if you are not referred in? - Fail to persuade prospects with demonstrations or presentations? - Struggle to get second and third meetings? - Did you answer “Yes” to any of these questions? Then it’s a good bet that you can benefit from sales training and coaching. Did you answer “Yes” to any of these questions? If so, then it’s a good bet that you can benefit from sales training and coaching. Finally, think about one more counterintuitive fact. More sales “rock stars” enroll in our course than you might imagine. Without fail, they are receptive and enthusiastic. Later, they are often complimentary about how the training and coaching helped them-and continues to help them. **Curious about what makes** our consultative sales training different from all others? Please get in touch. We’ll learn what you find difficult about selling and explain how we might help. And if we don’t think you need our help, we’ll tell you that, too: [847-446-0008](tel:+1-847-446-0008) Ext. 1 or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Do Your Sales Reps Need a Lifeline?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/do-your-sales-reps-need-a-lifeline/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **On their way to wealth and security**, contestants on the TV game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” face tough questions during their once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sometimes they need the help of a “lifeline”- from the audience or a phone call to a friend-before giving their “final” answer. Your salespeople are under similar pressure every day. Which lifelines make the most sense for your team? Almost all companies offer their sales forces some support. True, some reps are thrown into the deep end of the pool to sink or swim. But even then product training, a presentation “deck” of PowerPoint slides, a “price sheet”-maybe even a brochure-are usually available. Companies that invest in sales support no doubt see returns or they wouldn’t do it. Some don’t offer support because they’re pretty sure the return won’t be worth it. Others don’t invest much because they believe marketing is all the support salespeople need-name recognition and good leads will get them in front of the right decision-makers. Or they might be confused about the roles of sales and marketing and how to help them work together. Still others just don’t know the best, most cost-efficient ways to help more than they already do. **One of the best lifelines**, though not as straightforward as a phone call on “Millionaire,” is for corporate leadership to ensure that marketing and sales *work together efficiently for the common good*. What are the basics of reaching that goal? First, what is the difference between sales and marketing? Essentially, companies must make prospects aware of their products or services-that they exist-and then educate them about what they are and the value they deliver. That’s marketing: awareness and education. Selling moves beyond awareness and education to persuading prospects to appreciate the specific value of products or services to them-and then to purchase that value from your company. Both marketing and sales are needed to realize full business development potential and, ultimately, bring in revenue. **Second, how do companies** -unintentionally-keep sales and marketing from working together? The most common reason we see is that the two functions aren’t aligned, which means that neither function is nearly as efficient as it could be. If one person oversees both sales and marketing, for example, that person’s experience and training naturally push the needle to one side or the other: strong sales and weak marketing or the reverse-strong marketing and weak sales. Or perhaps the two functions are run by different people without a productive process to coordinate activities. Finally, a small minority of firms grow significantly without a formal program for sales or marketing. Their offerings are so superior or different that the market comes to them. **One of our clients just graduated ten people** from our FOCIS consultative sales training program. Over three months we worked with them to upgrade their consultative selling skills and to build a new, stronger sales process customized for their business and their markets. Going in, executives were aware that sales and marketing needed better alignment, so they included their head of marketing in our FOCIS training. They had decided, correctly, that the more knowledge each function had about the other the better they would align and, in effect, “catalyze” each other. Since the sales force would be using a newly created sales process, there could be no better time. After the training was completed, the marketing chief called a two-hour meeting of the FOCIS participants.The purpose was to learn what changes the sales force thought would help bring sales support activities and materials into alignment with the sales process. Better alignment, both marketing and sales now believed, would result in a better topline. **Here are some discussion questions** you can use to help your with your sales and marketing people collaborate to build lifelines to support sales. 1. How can sales support materials (leave-behinds, for example) better speak to discovery issues presented or uncovered during the sales process? 2. Can current materials be altered or are new ones aligned with the new sales process needed? 3. How can persuasive communications principles used in the sales process be reflected in the sales support materials? 4. Will video be useful, either in the field or on the Website? How could it be useful? 5. What about social media? Do we need several, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, or will one or two be enough? Who will keep those accounts active? 6. How can webinars, seminars, and trade-show exhibits better support sales? 7. What about our presentations, including PowerPoints? Are they merely educational-or, worse, chest beating-or are they persuasive and focused on the prospect? 8. Do our visuals not only make our points clearly but also memorably? Will they help our internal advocates support us inside the prospect company? The answers vary for every firm. But which comes first-sales or marketing? To decide, leaders need to ask themselves **two key questions** about where to get the better return on investment. 1. **Better Leads or Better Closing:** Do your salespeople need . . . (A) More, qualified leads *OR* (B) A better closing rate with the leads they’re already getting? 2. **Better Product Value or Better Communication of that Value:** Do your salespeople need to . . . (A) Find more differentiated ways to create value for prospects in the form of better products and services? *OR* (B) Communicate that value much more effectively? In each case, *Answer A* means marketing needs attention and *Answer B* means sales needs attention. **For Leaders :** Is the sales process aligned with the company’s leadership style, such as low-cost producer, product leader, and customer intimate? Each requires a different sales process. The most effective ratio between investment in sales process and marketing differs from company to company and market to market. To find out what makes sense for you, track “how and why” you won business. It’s likely that you’ll find that credit goes mostly to marketing for creating awareness and generating the leads, and to sales for creating value within the sales process, communicating differentiation, and ultimately winning the business. **One last point:** Some firms grow without much focus on either sales or marketing. Their product or service is just that good or in high demand for other reasons. But as the market matures and competition increases, this position will become difficult to maintain. Plus, with growth, the founders almost always need to transfer business development to others or even to the “next generation.” The hand-off can be difficult. We specialize in helping companies determine a good starting point for strengthening either their sales process or their marketing support for sales or both. If you’re not sure about the best next steps, contact us to discuss your particular situation: 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or **Let’s spend a few minutes** talking about which lifelines will be most useful to your sales force and to your corporate growth. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [The Best Business Gift Ever?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/the-best-business-gift-ever/) **Published:** January 19, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** ***“Successful people are always*** *looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”* —Brian Tracy Creating value–“helping others”–is perhaps the best gift you can give your customers, prospects, and colleagues. Even better, you can do it all year ’round in a special way during the sales process. That’s right, you can provide value before making the sale. A specific set of communication skills is the key. Do you and your team have them? This time of year, especially, giving and receiving command a lot of attention. In business, we pursue these activities throughout the year, though perhaps more along the lines of “give and get” or “give and take.” Unfortunately, business in general *is* too often perceived as emphasizing the *getting* rather than the *giving*. That’s not surprising, but is it fair? The common thread running through three key business-development functions—sales, negotiations, and referrals—is in fact getting others to do what we want them to do. But there’s a lot more to the story. Overlooked, we believe, is the simple truth that *getting* in business is made possible by the other, always-present force of *giving* or, from our perspective, *creating* value. To learn more, just get in touch with us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 3 or spemberton@productivestrategies.com. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Growth Questions for a New Year](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/growth-questions-for-a-new-year/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** For many of us, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is often one of reflecting on the year about to close and planning for the one about to open. Here are some thought-provoking questions our clients and prospective clients find helpful to make the most of their reflections. We hope you will, too. As always, we are here to help you facilitate discussions about these questions, or to help you implement the answers. 1\. Which would have the greatest impact on new business development in the coming year: 1\. More first meetings, opportunities, inquiries to quote . . . or 2\. A higher success rate with the opportunities you are already enjoying? 2\. Do you need to find additional ways to obtain competitive advantage that creates value for customers and clients . . . or an increase in the skill of communicating the value of that differentiation while reducing the focus on prices/fees? 3\. People often focus on what will change in their markets in the coming years. For this exercise think about what will be unchanged and consider how well you are prepared to focus on those and have your brand be consistent with those. 4\. If you were a startup business entering your marketplace what would you do different than what you are doing today? Should you do those things now? 5\. How would all of your services and product offerings being connected- that is, being digital-transform your business? 6\. Assuming that all products and services will soon be connected, and that all of the companies behind those services are collecting data, which data would you like to rent, license, or buy to provide you with a competitive advantage? If you would like to discuss these issues with us, please give us a call at at 847-446-0008 , or write to . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Do Your Salespeople ‘Live the Brand’?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/do-your-salespeople-live-the-brand/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** A brand can be broadly defined as the “face a company shows to the world.” But it’s much more than that-or, at least, it can be. The question is how do you build and support a company brand to get the most out of it? There are many ways to build, adjust, and sustain a company’s brand. But they can be summed up in four stages: **1. Strategy :** Creating and evolving your brand’s differentiated positioning. **2. Expression :** Exploring essential creative expressions of your brand, including identity and voice. **3. Activation :** Using internal culture and multifaceted external campaigns to bring your brand to life in the marketplace. **4. Equity :** Calculating and leveraging the power of brands in your operations and on your bottom line. *(Source: Preview, American Marketing Association Chicago, Brand Smart , Conference, April 27, Gleacher Center.)* We believe a fifth stage called “living the brand” is also essential. It’s an offshoot or extension of Stage 3-“activation”-and in fact applies to people throughout an organization. Here, though, we’re focusing on the power of salespeople and other customer-facing stakeholders to communicate the meaning of the brand in tangible and powerful ways. “The most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart,” Starbucks founder Howard Schultz once wrote. “Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.” Over the years we’ve found that “authenticity” by anyone associated with your company is essential to building trust and, as the readers of this column know, building trust is essential to making sales. More important, we’ve found that consultative selling is a powerful tool for building trust by enabling prospects to *experience* your company’s authenticity. Why? Because effectively trained salespeople ask questions that show they sincerely want to help prospects, not just “sell” them. Asking the right questions in the right way at the right time builds the trust so necessary to making the complex, business-to-business sale. It’s how you learn a prospect’s goals and problems and their impact on that specific business. It’s also how you persuade prospects that your product or service is the best solution to their problems. Even more to the point, an entire sales force using consultative selling techniques is a highly effective way to build the *corporate* brand. Salespeople are living, breathing proof that the brand “walks the talk” of its marketing-or, that it doesn’t. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” said sales great Zig Ziglar. In sales, the best way to communicate that you care-and the best way to make a sale-is to ask prospects questions, not trumpet the glories of your company or product. Don’t just *tell* prospects your brand promise, *show* them. Branding is of great interest to us here at Productive Strategies because we witness a lot of business-to-business sellers whose sales process and inside culture don’t reinforce or even reflect their desired brand values. We also see that it limits sales. Here are two examples: Once, at lunch with an executive whose messaging proclaimed its ability to “listen,” I asked how listening translated into results in the field. What was the company doing to train and coach its salespeople to gain competitive advantage by listening more productively *and* reflecting the brand promise? I was floored when he said, “Nothing.” Commercials on Chicago AM radio, he apparently believed, were all his troops needed to know about the company’s brand promise. Some time ago, one of our clients had invented a device that reduced the evaporation of gasoline at service stations by 1,500 gallons per station per month. In a meeting with a major oil company, our client and I learned that company executives were indeed impressed with the financial implications of his invention. The company’s advertising-on nationwide TV, mind you-emphasized the company’s commitment to protecting the environment. Naturally, we asked what the “green” value of the device would be to their business. To our surprise, they dismissed the “environmental impact” as inconsequential and of no interest-a complete contradiction of the company’s branding, its “face to the world.” So, how can salespeople increase sales by making the most of the substantial investments many companies make in building their brands? The short answer is to communicate the values behind your brand to prospects so that they see how your brand benefits its customers day to day. Use discovery to help them understand that you as a salesperson representing that brand lives those values day to day. In business-to-business selling, prospects not only buy your product or service, but they also buy you, someone they trust to deliver on the brand promise. In our popular consultative sales training course, FOCIS, we train salespeople to do just that. They develop or improve consultative selling techniques and build a sales process tailored to their company, their industry, their products, and their specific needs. Finally, to learn more about how to build your company’s brand-and make it work for you-consider registering for the American Marketing Association Chicago Chapter’s 15 th annual day-long Brand Smart conference on April 27 at the Gleacher Center in Chicago. It’s the largest such event in the Midwest, offering four learning tracks to some 300 participants that include not only marketers but also CEOs and other senior executives. And, if you are interested in being a sponsor, as we already are, please contact us at 847-446-0008 or .\* Sponsors receive multiple scheduled exposure times to attendees to present *their* brand promises. *\* We have been retained to assist the Chicago chapter in attracting sponsors through our professional calling services.* **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [How to Invest Your Sales and Marketing Dollars](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/how-to-invest-your-sales-and-marketing-dollars/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **A prospect once came to us saying** he needed more leads–80, in fact. Naturally, we wondered about the reason for such a specific number. After we learned more about his business, especially his goals and challenges, he told us: Since he hadn’t closed any of his last 80 leads, he wanted to get started on another 80. This example, though perhaps extreme, clearly illustrates the importance of understanding how to allocate marketing and sales dollars efficiently. The prospect, who became a client, didn’t need more leads just yet. First, he needed to learn how to close the ones he was already getting. The solution we suggested helped him do just that: Invest in consultative sales training to build skills and develop a customized sales process. **Talking about how to allocate sales and marketing dollars** is a natural follow-up to our last column, Sales and Marketing: Shake Hands! In that column, we wrote about the importance of the sales and marketing functions being in alignment to help each other reach organizational goals. Managing in today’s environment of rapid, even disruptive change, virtually requires it. Several readers responded that the age-old tension between sales and marketing too often begins with dividing up and optimizing the two budgets. Clearly, no two companies have the same requirements for their “business development” budgets, which means allocations within their budget will be unique. The reasons of course have to do with buying motives, the market being sold into, differentiation from competition, and other factors. **Our experience has been** that the following factors are key to building business-to-business sales–and to building sales and marketing budgets. As a result, we have developed a process that helps companies to increase the odds that they are optimizing how much they spend. Most business leaders would agree on the importance of these factors and, of course, could contribute others based on their experiences: - Developing a productive lead generation process - Being top of mind - Influencing centers of influence and referral sources - Building your brand - Training salespeople in consultative selling skills - Training salespeople in product knowledge - Developing and using a custom sales process - Identifying and implementing specific ways to boost the number of visitors to your Website, both organically and with targeted advertising on social media platforms. **But while there is agreement on key factors**, uncertainty about how to carve up budgets sparks disagreement-as it ought to. Why? To be productive, budget allocations must resolve pressing problems and make the most of opportunities–both of which are different in every company. No two companies will make the same decisions in those two areas. But they can approach the decision-making process with logic and efficiency based on data and, yes, on the dreams that created the companies in the first place. We have created a question-based process that helps companies quickly zero in on the most productive areas in which to invest to achieve their business development objectives. (In our view, “business development” is a tent that brings marketing and sales together and enables them to work together.) Here are a few of the basic questions to give you an idea of our process and to help you think about your own company. ### Does your company need to: 1. Identify more opportunities to close business or to have more success in closing the opportunities you’re already getting? 2. Create more (or better) value for your markets or train your salespeople to communicate the value you already deliver more effectively? 3. *Educate* prospects about problems they don’t know they have or *persuade* them that your products or services offer the best solutions? 4. Use traditional marketing channels like outbound calling and direct mail or balance those channels with more contemporary ones, such as social and other online media? 5. Find more hunters or account managers (farmers)? 6. Add more inside salespeople or more customer service reps? **The answers to such questions**, along with a number of other questions and factors our process takes into account, go a long way to determining the best allocation of sales and marketing dollars within the business development budget. If that budget isn’t already set, they can also contribute to building it into your corporate budget as efficiently and effectively as possible. Our process also identifies and helps to resolve more complex challenges and opportunities in allocating funds. For example: The customers of one of our clients in manufacturing rely on the company’s longstanding delivery of virtually no “out-of-the-box” failures. The market’s traditional decision-makers are highly risk averse and place great value on high quality and performance reliability. However, those decision-makers, long in power, are retiring. Younger–but *no-less risk-averse* decision-makers–are moving up. Each year our client reviews its marketing and sales “spend” with that trend in mind and adjusts it accordingly. In this case, the messages of quality and reliability don’t change, but the ways of *educating* and *persuading* often do. Naturally, budget allocations change to support revised tactics, including channels of communication, processes, and alignment of sales and marketing. **During nearly 25 years** of helping clients make their business development become more productive, we’ve found that companies can create tremendous value by allocating the sales and marketing budget much more efficiently. A closing thought: We believe how you determine the size and allocation of your sales and marketing budget should be similar to how you determine the size and allocation of your capital budget. Historically, firms have invested as much capital as they could raise in capital purchases until the risk-adjusted rate of return came close to their cost of capital. With good planning and data analysis the same can be done with the sales and marketing budget. Testing of what is providing a return, and what is not, will help you make adjustments with the agility needed for changing conditions as well as the foresight needed for longer term success. **Please get in touch** if you’d like to discuss your company’s situation and how you’re dealing with it. Call 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or e-mail me at . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Disruptor or Disrupted: Which Will Your Business Be?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/disruptor-or-disrupted-which-will-your-business-be/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **In September**, I moderated a panel on market disruption for about 40 middle-market business owners, CEOs, and presidents. Information and insights came not only from the expert panel members (listed below) but also from the senior leadership audience. The panel was part of a larger, day-long event attended by 125 C-suite leaders who networked, heard speakers, and shared experiences. The day was hosted by The Entrepreneurship Institute at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center. An important takeaway was that while many disruptions are caused by new technology products or processes, many are not. One by one traditional markets are being disrupted not only by technology but also by product design, channel re-configuration, and other factors. Take razors and razor blades, for instance. Large legacy firms like Gillette and Schick have long sold shaving products via retail channel partners such as grocery stores and drugstores. Enter subscription shaving services. They jump over retail outlets and sell directly to consumers. (Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club are two of the best known.) **Key Point**: Disruption in this case comes *not* from technology but from the old-fashioned ways: channel, product, and pricing. These disruptor companies compete by forgoing mark-ups required for retail sales (hence, a lower price), claiming to provide a better product, and eliminating all the hassle. Gone are the days of remembering to get new razors and, for some of us, remembering which type or even which brand we’re using. And, oh yes, you don’t have to leave your home to make the purchase. Legacy companies are now following suit. Why didn’t they do so earlier? Several good reasons, no doubt, but were they worth it? The subscription services are not only siphoning off customers but also stealing a generation of consumers already inclined to buy online. In addition, the big guys probably scrambled to meet the threat, which is generally inefficient and entails both financial and opportunity costs. **Warning**: Don’t think something similar can’t happen to you. That’s why a bigger-picture strategic approach makes sense, the panel concluded. Companies can use strategic direction tools such as risk assessment, scenario planning, and environmental scanning to get a firm understanding of their place in their industry and their industry’s place in the business environment. Here’s how to get started. - **Understand** the dissatisfactions and wishes of your customers. Receiving continual feedback is essential: advisory boards, online communities, direct surveys, and interactions are good sources. - **Stay abreast** of new technologies, inventions, and processes to apply to your products or services to improve your customers’ experiences with your company. - **Explore** adjacent customer markets that might value similar or enhanced versions of your products and services. Take action on different fronts and in different ways: - **Align sales and marketing**. They must learn how to complement each other with shared information from the field, shared planning, and shared evaluations. If they understand their role, for example, salespeople are a solid source of intelligence on trends, opportunities, and threats. Marketers must leverage that intelligence to boost sales. - **Map market service flows.** This approach can reveal opportunities to disintermediate or be disintermediated. Look at services in the supply chain provided by companies ahead, adjacent, or behind you. Could you provide those services better? - **Conduct “war games.”** Internal leadership teams assume roles of your competitors and develop ways to take business from you. Front-line people can be valuable team members, too. **Even innovative industry leaders** whose advances primarily meet performance needs of their high-end customers can be vulnerable. Disruptor companies (subscription shaving clubs, for example) may bring in less expensive, easier-to-use solutions at the low end of the market. Head them off by re-examining your product design and redesign routines with disruption in mind. Other sources of new ideas and ways of thinking include crowdsourcing, social media, and academic research. Clearly, you have to pick your battles. The big-picture review we mentioned earlier can help guide your efforts. **Much disruptive change** does, of course, originate in the technology world, and the panel addressed that fact. What are some disruptive technologies that might affect your business or industry? You’ve no doubt heard about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, robotics and additive manufacturing, drones and self’driving cars. Others include: 1. **Internet of Things (IoT):** The interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. Think “smart house.” 2. **Hyperloop and Hyperloop One:** A hyperloop is a developing mode of transportation that moves an electromagnetically levitated pod through a sealed tube without air resistance. It’s silent at up to 670 miles per hour. Think “railroad trains on steroids” without the rails. Hyperloop One is a company developing hyperloop technology. 3. **Blockchain:** The blockchain is a “distributed database.” It independently verifies the chain of ownership of all bitcoin amounts. More specifically, it’s a continuously growing list of records, or “blocks,” linked and secured using cryptography. A digital payment system and cryptocurrency, bitcoin is generally known as the first decentralized digital currency because it has no single administrator or central repository. **Finally, companies that do come up** with disruptive products or services don’t always know how to communicate their value. While they can *inform* prospects about the products, they can’t *persuade* them to buy. Lack of consultative selling skills and a custom sales process can prove fatal, no matter strong the product or service. However, that’s where our popular consultative sales training course, FOCIS® can help. No technology required. **To learn more** please contact us at 847-446-0008 or . ### The Market Disruption Panel Andy Berberich, INTEGRIS Engineering, www.integrisgp.com ; Kim Feil, bizHive, www.bizhive.com ; Diane Meister, Meridian Associates, www.meridianai.com Moderator Phil Krone, Productive Strategies, www. productivestrategies .com. The post Disruptor or Disrupted: Which Will Your Business Be? appeared first on Productive Strategies, Inc.. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Where Do You Get Your New Business?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/where-you-get-your-new-business/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** ### The who, what, when, where, why, and how that you need for a banner year. “Where do you get your new business?” is a question we’re asked a lot, especially since we teach business-to-business consultative selling skills and sales process development. People expect us to have a good answer, and we do–“referrals.” Unfortunately, those same people usually aren’t satisfied with that answer alone. More often they’re surprised or even disappointed. They expect our answer to perhaps the biggest question in business development to be “different” from what they already know or have at least heard. (We’re talking business-to-business here, including professional services firms.) **Much more satisfying** is our answer to the essential follow-up question: “How do you get referrals?” or, more specifically, “How do you get people to refer your business to others?” In fact, we’ve been asked that question so often in our nearly 30 years in business that we created a short, but potent, training course called “Referrals: The Workshop.” It’s a single half-day session for a customized process that salespeople and other business developers can use to get referrals in your markets. It consists of information, insight, and, yes, inspiration based on a *process* that applies the principles and techniques of consultative selling to referrals and networking. Sales reps and other business developers gain confidence because they have a straightforward way of starting and guiding conversations in a variety of situations, including formal or informal networking events and even social situations. But let’s get a couple of things straight. First, you’re already doing the absolute best job you can to provide your products or services. Performance has to be a given. Second, know that marketing and sales promotion activities, including support materials and messaging, are also key. Those efforts often put you in front of the people who become referral sources, including the right prospects whether they become customers or not. Finally, we’ve found that enterprises dependent only on referrals or without a disciplined way to get referrals struggle with growth. Almost every business entity needs *new* customers or clients to grow. **In addition, a productive, *repeatable* referral process** for *your* business can’t be learned by reading a column or, truth be told, even a book. But you can learn our process in a hands-on, interactive workshop. An understanding of *why* the process works underpins *how* to implement it through practical tools and techniques, language, role plays, and materials, including a 43-page workbook, that reinforce and extend the process after the session is over. Plus, we naturally want participants to succeed, not only because that’s why they’re there, but also because our reputation is on the line. So, for 30 days after the workshop ends, participants can call us with questions, concerns, ideas, or comments about the course’s content and how to use it in their day-to-day business development. What do you need to know about getting strong, productive referrals consistently and over time? First, you need to be “out there” at networking events, talking to prospects and customers, and making yourself visible in other ways. Second, you have to do it with *purpose* : You need to know *what* to do. Too many business developers, especially those for whom bringing in business is secondary to their main job, see trying to get referrals (and networking and prospecting, for that matter) as a black hole that only consumes time, energy, and money but doesn’t give anything back in return. That’s why it’s surprising to us that most companies invest little or nothing in what will get the best return on those investments-training in skills and methodology to increase the number and quality of referrals. **Professional sales reps and other business developers** (attorneys, for example) are extremely curious, and they ask a lot of questions. For example: - How do you get referrals? - Do you have to be active, or do they just come in? - Why is it that just a few of our colleagues bring in the most business? - Do you need to ask for referrals? That seems out of line to me. - If so, who, when, and how should you ask? - What, *exactly* , should you say? - Do you need to give referrals to get referrals? - Are some referral sources better than others? How do you know? - What is “relationship building” and how do you do it? Our half-day workshop answers these questions and more. Participants have found the principles, strategy, and tactics we teach helpful in highly practical ways. For example, they’re more comfortable and enthusiastic at networking or business meetings in which potential referral sources are participating. They tell us it’s in large part because they now understand how to look for business in different environments and to use our process to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling. They don’t feel “salesy,” intrusive, or uncomfortably aggressive. Yes, there’s a lot to think about. But if you’re wondering why getting referrals seems more difficult than it should be, or growth is a real challenge even with superior products and services, give us a call. We’ll spend time with you to learn more about your specific issues and explain who we are and how our half-day “Referrals: The Workshop” can help. Get grounded now for implementing a referrals process tailored to your company or firm that will help build business this year–and for years to come. Just contact us at 847-446-0008, Ext. 1, or . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Scariest Sales Calls Ever!](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/scariest-sales-calls-ever/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **“What is the worst sales call** you have ever made, watched, or been subjected to?” A cringe-worthy question, to be sure, even scary this time of year. But it’s one worth spending a couple of uncomfortable minutes thinking about. OK . . . . Now, once you’ve zeroed in on the worst, or one of the worst, take a moment to answer two more questions: Why was this call so “bad”? Be as specific as you can.How could it have been fixed-that is, what could the seller have done differently?**We ask “the worst sales call ever”** question in our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, after the participants have learned (and practiced) the elements of a successful sales call and how to assess their experiences. (We say “elements” instead of “steps” because sales calls rarely unfold in a precise 1-2-3 order.) As you can imagine, during the past 24 years we have heard some real horror stories. And they are still coming. **“I never lose. I either win or learn.”** *-Nelson Mandela (Attributed)* Just earlier this month, for example, I heard about one that is without question a contender for the first prize-or, maybe, I should say, the last prize. What made this call especially scary in my view was the context and the wider implications. The seller was not a rookie with little or no experience making even small sales. This salesperson represented a *Fortune* 500 company going after an opportunity worth tens of millions of dollars. Clearly a case of “You can’t make this stuff up.” ### Why so scary? First, the rep opened the meeting by explaining why his company’s product was “not as bad” as the prospect had probably heard. He was defensive from the beginning. At some point in his career, he was probably told to get objections out early and overcome them then and there. Not the best idea. What kind of relationships can you really build by being adversarial? Instead, we teach how to *minimize* objections as they come up in the natural give and take between seller and buyer. Unfortunately, in this call there was no give and take, natural or otherwise. That’s the second fear factor here. The key reason is that the sales rep asked virtually *no* questions of the buyer. His approach was what we call “seller centric.” The conversation was one way (seller to buyer) and one topic (“me and my company”). Effective salespeople in business-to-business environments make the conversation a dialogue, not a lecture, so that it’s “buyer centric.” **Third, he concluded by saying** that even though his company’s product “might not be the best,” it was “good enough” for what the buyer wanted. Let’s assume, for a moment, that the buyer’s problem could be solved with the seller’s product, one that was just good enough. Even so, for millions of dollars, would the buyer-or the buyer’s bosses-really want to accept a solution even the sales rep couldn’t get enthusiastic about? Finally, the rep missed a great opportunity to show why his product really was the “best” for the situation-why the value proposition made sense and served the buyer well. If the product were indeed “good enough” to solve the problem, then, all things considered, it might in fact be the “best” product to solve the problem, even if it weren’t the highest performing across the board. Why not just say that? In our experience, this type of lost opportunity happens because the rep has no path to follow-no process-to lead the buyer to the right solution. For me, hearing about that “worst sales call” was scary enough. Even scarier, though, is knowing that many, many sales reps make similar mistakes. Those reps might be doing “OK” or at least putting food on the table. But they, their managers, and their companies aren’t doing nearly so well as the very best salespeople do-the 20 percent who consistently bring in 80 percent of the business. The top 20 percent actually *behave differently* than the other 80 percent. They apply superior consultative selling skills and a sales process customized to their markets and their company. They set their tables for a *feast*. **If you’re a manager or executive**, ask yourself these questions to see what ghosts and goblins may be haunting your sales organization. **If you’re a sales person** , know that you can escape their clutches by building the right skills and developing a highly productive sales process. 1.Do you know what your team’s sales calls look like? You might be surprised, even shocked.2.Are your presentations “canned pitches” or planned presentations customized for each prospect?3.Are your sales people communicating the true value of your offering? (If they simply share the value proposition and tout the company, the answer is “No.”)4.Do you have just a few sales people who bring in 70 to 80 percent of all new business?5.Do some reps experience a year, or even years, without making a major sale?**Do the answers send shivers down your spine?** You know who to call. Just get in touch with us. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss how to get on the “treat” side of these questions instead of the “trick” side. In fact, just by going on a few new-prospect calls with your reps, we can see why they are-or are not-doing well and offer our recommendations. Our approach helps both experienced and inexperienced sales people represent their brand the way it deserves to be represented. Let us hear from you at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1 or . We’re not scary at all. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Vision, Sales Process Create New Customer Value](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/vision-sales-process-create-new-customer-value/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** Brendan Kelly has become one of the most successful commercial/industrial tenant rep real estate brokers in the US. Yet his story, and that of his team, is not only about selling commercial real estate services successfully. It’s also about making higher value sales of any product or service in a business-to-business environment. And it illustrates how thinking differently about markets and processes can increase sales performance in a big way. Brendan became a client of ours in 2008 when he took our consultative selling course, FOCIS®, along with colleagues from his firm, Avison Young. Since then, we’ve watched and supported his journey-and learned a few lessons ourselves along the way that we’d like to share with you. (A Canadian firm, Avison Young opened its office in the US about the time we met Brendan. The firm now has some 1,100 brokers in 54 cities.) **But first, here’s a sampling** of what Brendan and his team have accomplished. Saving a client $16 million last year by finishing a major real estate project months ahead of schedule Developing a new service that goes beyond traditional real estate transactions to increase value enterprise-wide, including in the culture Garnering the largest commercial real estate deal of 2009, a $33 millionopportunity Developing a consultative sales process, with our support, that helps them close about 90 percent of the opportunities they compete for. ### How does it happen? “We come to be seen as a valued advisor far beyond a commodity transaction broker,” Kelly explains. “The presentation, visuals, and one-sentence discovery questions establish a dialogue, framing us as advisors versus traditional chest-beaters. The differentiation that FOCIS® provides is high and, furthered by our firm’s integrated approach, essentially makes us the only choice. Our biggest deal, for instance, became, for all intents and purposes, a no-bid contract.” In addition, our proprietary FOCIS® discovery approach that Brendan’s team uses also reveals other ways to provide value -in this case, a new value-added service that supports corporate cultural change. The service facilitates an improved workplace culture hand-in-hand with building or remodeling new facilities. One company, for example, as part of a real estate project arranged the office and factory so that employees would bring in their families on the weekends. An ice cream dispenser area, a library, and a workout area were a few of the amenities. The wider community is now using the facility, too. **In our experience** , most of the very best business developers-in any business-to-business industry or profession-do two things their competitors either don’t do or don’t do as well. They: 1\. Create an “unfair competitive advantage” by 1\. Specializing in a niche that can leverage their strengths 2\. Providing unique value *during* the sales process 2\. Communicate the “mother lode” of value they can deliver by using 1\. Superior consultative selling skills 2\. A sales process customized for their market, company, and business developers 3\. Persuasion that communicates value *along* *with* education that communicates facts. In 2008, when we first met Brendan, he already had a vision for a unique niche: Including “supply chains” as part of commercial real estate engagements. The goals were to help companies recognize the impact of real estate decision-making: 1) on their own supply chains, 2) the supply chains of their customers, and 3) the value provided enterprise-wide. **This new perspective** added supply chain executives at major corporations as prospects, expanding the prospect pool beyond managers responsible for real estate. In other words, he discovered a new marketfor his services. Then he and his team developed it. He formed a peer group of supply chain experts from several companies and invited them to hear speakers talk about supply chain issues -and how real estate fit in as a value creator. The program frequently provided qualified leads for Brendan’s team. During the three months of FOCIS® training, we coach participants on current sales opportunities. We worked with Brendan to customize an approach for a private equity (PE) firm prospect facing an inefficient inventory of real estate. Distribution centers overlapped; manufacturing facilities were out of date. Private equity firms often ignore real estate assets since they see them as long-term and too difficult to improve upon during the shorter investment cycle model PE firms require. With his new approach, Brendan created significant value by speeding up the ROI process on real estate to fit original PE investment time frames. In this case our coaching involved three key elements: 1) Helping to plan discovery questions 2) Reviewing the presentation materials, and 3) Participating in some prospect meetings and phone calls. **Brendan and his team won the deal**, which turned out to be the largest industrial real estate sale in the US in 2009. He credits FOCIS® training to reducing pressure on fees: He and his team had learned how to communicate the true value of their services but in a way that clients understand and fully appreciate. In fact, the team did that so well, Brendan recalled, that “the client signed the proposal \[for the project’s first phase\] without a request for single change in word, punctuation, or fee. Never happened before!” The value lay in rationalizing the real estate holdings for this firm: Locating new facilities, modernizing others, closing some-all with the help of a team of experts that Brendan had put together. Coordinating the team’s work both inside and outside of Avison Young led to high-value efficiency rarely seen in commercial real estate engagements. **Using real estate to increase enterprise value** for his clients was paying off. Brendan pushed to strengthen the go-to-market strategy-that is, his “unfair, sustainable competitive advantage.” We were invited to facilitate team brainstorming sessions on how to design the “tenant rep practice of the future.” We documented the design in our summaries and reports and continue to support the evolving service offerings with sales support materials. Over the years, Brendan’s team is consistently at the top of the list of industrial/commercial tenant brokers within Avison Young and among the leaders in the US. Our roles today include: Training new people and coaching on key engagements Reviewing strategy and written materials in the final phases of competition for new business. Our advice varies, but we always help the team communicate the value they create based on FOCIS® consultative selling practices. Sometimes we don’t see enough emphasis on the prospect in a proposal or presentation. Sometimes more discovery is required or the sales support materials need revision. The top ten tenant rep brokers in most commercial real estate brokerage firms will be the office-building reps from the major US cities like New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. This year there will be two **industrial** tenant rep brokers from Chicago in Avison Young’s top ten. One is Brendan, and the other is Nick Esposito, a member of Brendans team who is also a FOCIS® graduate. **Success has many fathers**. Most of Brendan’s team’s successes are due to the unique offering they created over the past ten years. We are proud that we played a part at the beginning with training, along the way with facilitation, and now with coaching on major deal opportunities and training of new team members. We hope you can apply some of the ideas here to your business-to-business revenue growth. If you’d like to talk more about how, please give us a call at 847-446-0008 or e-mail . **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Do You Earn the Right to Close?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/do-you-earn-the-right-to-close/) **Published:** April 2, 2026 **Author:** Scott Pemberton **Content:** **We believe that consultative selling** can be defined as creating value *during* the sales process –that creating value *before* the *sale* gives you the right to close because you’ve earned it. The question for every salesperson then is, how do you create value? We find that probably 75 percent of salespeople and other business developers don’t know the answer to that question. They may think they do because they show up, ask questions, and make presentations as if to say, “I’m here. Isn’t that enough?” Showing up is indeed essential. But it’s not enough. Even though Woody Allen did say, “Eighty percent of success in life is showing up,” he left us hanging. What about the other 20 percent? The part that says you can’t score if you don’t shoot? Creating value during the sales process, we’ve found, is the most effective way to differentiate yourself. In fact, we’ve identified 19 different ways that sales people can create value for their prospects and customers. One of these, for example, is helping prospects understand the problems they are experiencing that they don’t even know they have. **If you’d like to know more about creating value**, please get in touch at 847-446-0008 or pkrone@productivestrategies.com. We’ve helped thousands of salespeople, executives, and other business developers learn how to create customized value and earn the right to close. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Are You Coachable? Is Your Team?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/are-you-coachable-is-your-team/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Over the past 23 years** business developers and others participating in our courses on consultative selling, consultative negotiating, and increasing referrals have demonstrated a wide range of coach-ability. Here’s how a few approached coaching, both giving and receiving. We hope you’ll gain some insight about yourself, your team, and using coaching to gain-and keep-an edge. **Practicing What You Preach:** *The coach who out-worked everyone.* One of our clients is a Division 1 university athletic department. The top recruiting coach in his sport believed that consultative selling skills would make him even better. He wanted to connect more effectively with high school recruits, to build trust faster and deeper, and to develop a process for other recruiters use. During the course, he did what he expected his players to do on two fronts. First, he outworked everyone else in the class. If others turned in one homework assignment per week, for example, he turned in three, and he took pages of notes. Second, he was willing to listen good advice, take it to heart, and apply it. **Leading by Example:** *The CEO who outsold everyone else.* In 2009, the CEO of a billion-dollar, publicly traded company hired us to improve the selling skills of his top ten salespeople. He took the class with them, didn’t miss a session (four half-days), and did the homework. Afterward, he announced he would take a random lead from the funnel to test his new skills and the company’s new sales process we had created together. The lead turned out to be a long shot. The prospect was “happy” with the current supplier under a long-term contract that wouldn’t be put out for bid for 10 months. However, as the CEO and his team put our process to work, the situation changed dramatically. The prospect decided to partner with our client to craft an arrangement to benefit them both. The contract never went out for bid: Our client and the prospect signed a five-year contract for $5 billion-that’s right, $1 billion each year. Our client doubled in size and was named *Fortune’s fastest growing company for the year. (How did it happen? To find out, see the 75-second video*, “The Billion Dollar Sale.”) **Key Point:** This example isn’t about the size of the sale. It’s about the power of being willing to listen, learn, and “leap,” especially with the right training and coaching supporting your efforts. **Know Thyself:** *The top producers who wanted more.* From time to time, salespeople who already earn in the high seven figures take our course. They are often the hungriest to learn more, to discover something they didn’t know, or to be reminded about something they used to do but have forgotten. They want to really understand what makes them successful. They want to leverage their time and improve the coaching they give others. Many top producers we meet say they have been unsuccessful in “passing down” their own success factors. **Not Just Beginner’s Luck:** *The rookie who became the top producer.* One of our graduates had never sold anything before joining his new employer and taking our course. (A former law enforcement officer, he decided to change professions after being fired upon one too many times.) When he learned the many ways he could create value for his prospects and customers-and did the work necessary to use those ways in the field-he shifted into high gear and became a top producer. Already the Best? Get Better! The top producer who wanted to be coached. One of our clients has closed some of the largest industrial commercial real estate deals in the country over the past five years. We’ve trained many people at his firm, but he requests more coaching on new deals than anyone. I’m writing this on a Saturday and have already spent over an hour with various emails to him and his team on another new opportunity involving a finalist presentation within the week. **What You Don’t Know *Can* Hurt You:** *The sales rep who didn’t want anyone to know what she didn’t know.* One course participant was afraid others would discover what she didn’t know, and she refused to open the course workbook in class. She wouldn’t need it, she said, because she already knew all about sales. After about an hour I could see discomfort on her face. She wanted to take notes, though unwilling to show her colleagues. She finally gave up the charade and started to take notes (lots of them). **If at First You *Do* Succeed, Try, Try Again:** *The top producers who repeated training.* Graduates of our FOCISconsultative selling program can re-take all or part of the four-session course at no charge if they are with the same firm that sent them originally. We want people to be as successful as they can be with what we have taught them. The rainmakers in one law firm have taken the course three times, learning something new each time. Then, this firm asked us to coach its attorneys through an important RFP. The lead attorney felt his team wasn’t applying the concepts we had taught them, and he didn’t know how to turn things around. When we got the call, the firm was in last place against five other firms. We coached the attorneys on how to rework their usual presentation completely. The firm was jubilant when it won the account-its largest ever-and needed a full additional floor in their office building to handle all the new business. **Golf Lessons? Who, Me?** *The reluctant golfer who saw the light.* Talk about coaching reluctance. Improving my golf game has been an ongoing goal with one condition: doing so with only small, easy-to-implement changes. I liked my swing and didn’t want to change it-at least not very much. I didn’t want lessons to threaten the success I already had, which can only be called “average.” But, recently, I realized that lessons have never worsened my game. So, I asked a pro to help me learn something simple: to hit the ball straight. Instead, I learned something profound, at least for me. Hitting the ball straight, he said, is what average golfers want, but it’s not what the pros want. To gain more control, they draw each shot left or fade it right. With that revelation, I began taking lessons again. The jury is still out on the results, but now at least I’m confident that I will get better. Please get in touch to learn more about how training and coaching in consultative selling and persuasive communications can help grow your business. Reach us at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1, or, occasionally, on the links. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Trade Show Success: What’s the Secret?](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/trade-show-success-whats-the-secret/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **Why do companies attend trade shows?** Answers vary, including the completely unacceptable, “Not sure, but we’ve always done it.” Trade shows aren’t for everyone but if you’re going to go, don’t just attend- *participate*. After all, you can see as many or more people in two or three days at a show as you might otherwise see in six months. Most business people understand that concept, so why don’t more actually do it? We’re going to talk about how to participate in three steps. ### 1. Get Ready The first step to getting ready is to understand why your company is attending . . . we mean, participating in, . . . *this* specific show. The “why” is crucial because it drives the “what” and the “how.” But understanding still isn’t enough. You have to say it out loud, write it down, and promote it inside your company. For example, do you want to: - Sell products or services? - Get leads? - Introduce one new product-or more? - Learn about the latest trends? - Gather intelligence on the competition and the market? - Entertain prospects or customers? - Identify and get to know new distributors? - Test out a new promotional approach or sales technique? - “Fly the flag” to build your brand within the industry and market? - Play defense: competition will be there, so we can’t stay home? Targeting more than one goal is fine, but unless your company has the resources (especially the human resources), three key goals are probably the limit. Ideally, the various goals revolve around a common purpose, even theme, and opportunities are coordinated so they aren’t missed or double covered. That type of mistake not only wastes your time but also, much too often, a customer or prospect’s time. If a show provides an attendee list ahead of time, be sure to set up appointments with people you want to meet with at the show. Share names internally who are already customers to provide value to them at the show. Without a list, just contact people on your VIP list you think might be attending. **Sounds basic, doesn’t it?** But it’s truly easier said than done. Companies sometimes come to us because they know they’re “not getting the desired return on investment” from trade shows. They’re frustrated because they don’t know why. They might invest $30,000 to $40,000 on exhibit preparation, travel, and innumerable fees. (Beware those warehouse delivery deadlines!) They might have been doing it for years without any measureable return. Focusing on one or two goals will make measuring results a lot easier. Every year one company we know uses a major industry show to entertain its distributors with a special reception and dinner. Doesn’t sound all that exciting, does it? But the distributors, who are mainly smaller companies in niche markets around the world, look forward to this event as a highlight of the show. The company uses it for face-to-face networking with its distributors and as a show of appreciation. But it goes further: It conducts a separate workshop that introduces new products, announces new promotions, and provides training in sales and marketing the distributors can use with any of their other customers, too. The distributors receive value no strings attached. This company knows why it’s *attending* this show and it knows how to *participate*. ### 2. Get Going. If you’re serious about Step #1, you’ll no doubt find myriad tasks, activities, and “surprises” to get ready for. Now it’s time to make the most of all that preparation by executing your plan in an organized way. Again, the objective is pretty basic, but once more, easier said than done. Trade shows are exciting, confusing, distracting, and demanding. A good plan that answers the following questions, among others, is the first step to staying focused. Enforcing the plan is the second. - Who sets up the booth? - What sales support materials are needed? - Who staffs the booth and when? - What do they do in the booth? What is each individual’s role? - What don’t they do? - What are their objectives in the booth? - What do they do when they’re not in the booth? - How do they account for their activities and results and to whom? - Are daily staff meetings necessary or will texts and phone calls work? - Can we get a list of those planning on attending the show, and if so how will we best use it? - Is your traditional sales process best for this show or do you need to modify it? Clearly, those questions need to be answered in Step #1. We’re putting them here because, even if you have answered conscientiously, poor implementation means wasted time both before and during the show. For example, let’s look briefly at behavior in the booth. Here are some guidelines (dos and don’ts, if you will) that our clients have found useful. **Do have the right number of people (yours and visitors) in the booth** -not too many and not too few. Either one will keep people away. The first because the booth looks crowded already; the second because they don’t want to monopolize one person’s time. **Do know what to say after you say hello.** More important than it sounds, sticking with this rule requires some before-show practice. Your goal is mainly to learn if a visitor has a problem that your company-or you-can help solve. You know why you’re at the show; now find out why this visitor is at the show. Questions work best. After a *brief* elevator speech about your company-or even before-ask a question along the lines of “What brings you to the show?” or “What are you hoping to find at the show?” That will get the ball rolling. You’ll learn quickly whether a visitor’s objective relates in any way to what your company does-or if you can help in some other way, say, by providing a referral. The right kinds of questions on banners or signs help draw people in. (We have helped our clients create those questions for specific shows and events.) **Do not . . . eat, drink, sit, or talk on your phone or to each other.** Sound harsh? Booth staff must always look as if they are *available* to talk with attendees and want to talk to attendees. Any behavior that sends a different message should be avoided. If you need to use your phone, step out of the booth and walk away for a while. (Don’t stand nearby and slow traffic.) If you must say something to a co-worker, then do it but don’t linger or appear to be socializing. Sitting is inconsiderate-after all, attendees are on their feet all day, too-and shows a lack of interest. **3. Keep on Going.** This means after the show. You’re going to return to a pile of work (on your desk and in your e-mail) you didn’t get to during the show. Without specific plans to keep working on the show, you’ll dive right in to do that undone work. Clearing your desk might make you feel better. But it won’t provide as much ROI on the show as will following up on leads, confirming appointments, sending samples or other materials, or building relationships. There are even ways to get a head start at the show. Enter leads into your own database during the show or e-mail them to an assistant at the office. Routine follow-ups can then be done almost seamlessly. A set follow-up process will also provide a measure of the ROI, even if only in activity, not revenue or profit. **Key Point:** Immediate follow-up-within a week or so-is crucial to making the most of whatever investment your company makes in a trade show. And keep in mind that many, if not most, companies do not follow up immediately, including your competitors. You’ll stand out if you do. The best follow-ups are your people. But if you are not going to do it within a week, outsource the follow-up to us or a firm like ours that makes outbound calls for clients. **Give us a call at 847-446-0008, Extension 1, or e-mail us at **. We’ll talk to you about other ways your company can improve ROI at trade shows. What about the times you aren’t going to trade shows? We can offer our thoughts on driving sales then, too. **Categories:** Productive Strategies, Inc. Blog --- ### [Leveraging Time in the Sales Process](https://productivestrategies.com/business-growth-strategies-blog/leveraging-time-in-the-sales-process/) **Published:** April 6, 2026 **Author:** Phil Krone **Content:** **What’s your number-one sales challenge?** What obstacle, if you overcame it, would most help you increase sales? We ask that question when we survey participants before the first session of our consultative sales training course, FOCIS. The survey helps us understand how to tailor the course to the needs of any given company, class, or business developer. Specifically, the survey helps us to help participants make the most of three key components of the course: 1. Developing consultative selling skills 2. Building a sales process customized by industry, company, and business developer 3. Coaching on current sales opportunities. **Answers to that important question vary,** but many revolve around the same issue: *not enough time*. You’ve probably heard the phrase “the time value of money.” It simply means that a dollar in hand today is worth more than a dollar in handtomorrow-provided you invest today’s dollar wisely. (Making that happen, of course, is another matter.) Well, in selling, we think in terms of “the money value of time.” The more wisely you invest your business development time today the better your dollar returntomorrow. Again, not so simple to do. But at least our training makes it easier. How can you, your salespeople, and your business developers increase the money value of your time? **\#1 Accomplish two things at the same time.** We’re not talking about *doing* two things at the same time. We’re talking about getting two things done at the same time. Business developers we train who are not professional salespeople spend the bulk of their time performing their “main job,” often a professional service-law, accounting, engineering, managing. Yet they are expected to perform those jobs at a high level and bring in business. How to find the time? One way is to gracefully turn appropriate social and networking events into business opportunities. A common challenge for business developers is a reluctance to do business with friends. But if you can truly create value for customers and clients, why would you not create value for your friends? **Key Point:** Be sure you have developed or been taught the right skills to ensure that this approach is valuable instead of awkward. **\#2 Bend the law of diminishing returns.** We all know that we really can’t “do it all,” even if we’re tempted to try. That said, we often can do more than we think we can. A friend once asked me to accept a position on a not-for-profit board. Concerned about the demands already placed on my time, I was inclined to decline. Then, my friend reminded me of an old, but still true, fact of life: “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.” He also knew that I would do everything that was needed. One of the best ways to leverage time for business development is to spend time when you are not selling to develop the assets that support sales. That includes lists of potential issues prospects might have, probing discovery questions, visuals, appropriate stories, and more. The best sales people are always looking for new “assets” to help them leverage their time with prospects. We regularly help business developers build an “asset inventory.” **\#3 Try something “really different.”** During a recent Saturday golf game, I was talking with a caddy and learned that during the week he was a professional print sales representative-and an experienced one. His family is grown, and he still hits the pavement Monday throughFriday. But on Saturdays and Sundays in the summer, with appropriate discretion and grace, he makes valuable contacts by caddying. Golfers strike up conversations with their caddies, personal information is bound to come out, and the interchange can work out well for everyone. A bonus is that caddying keeps him in great shape. (If you doubt it, try it sometime.) **\#4 Identify your time-wasting behaviors.** Occasionally, students taking our sales consulting course will call me to explain why they don’t have time to do the homework. Each call might take 30 to 45 minutes; the homework takes 15. (I’m not talking about students who need to clarify something they don’t understand.) Usually, such students are the same ones who spend a lot of time working the top of the funnel to develop new prospects. Unfortunately, they fail to invest enough time to fully understand how to create value for their prospects-and move them down the funnel to a sale. This particular sales skill takes time to learn. Once learned, however, it pays big dividends.\* **\#5 Build a strong sales process.** The greatest lever of sales time is a strong sales process. We have never met a sales process we couldn’t shorten, sometimes by months and, yes, even years. Again, building a customized sales process also takes time to learn, but we do it regularly, and it too pays big dividends. We have helped several clients reduce their average sales cycles to one or two months from more than a year. **\#6 Escape to create.** In other words, “getting creative” sometimes means “getting away.” That’s a technique I have used to turn my ideas for our training courses into realities. The results? Our popular FOCIS courses on consultative selling, negotiating, and increasing referrals. Such larger projects can demand this type of discipline and concentration. Envisioning the courses, brainstorming (mostly with myself), developing the “live” sessions, deciding on visuals, and creating workbook content-each required my full, focused attention. That meant no distractions such as appointments, walk-ins, or phone calls. Getting away, often with others, works well for planning complex client sales engagements and presentations, brainstorming with other sales reps about current opportunities or challenges, and developing strategies to find new markets. **How are you using your time?** Too much time filling the top of the funnel and not enough leveraging social situations? Not making the most of downtime to build the resources that support sales? Not defining “away” time so that you can be your most creative self? Don’t wait until you can “find the time.” Take a few minutes now to learn more about how you can get the most money value for your time. Contact us at 847-446-0008, Extension 1 , or [pkrone@productivestrategies.com