Top 10 Blog Posts for the Week of May 8, 2011

This is getting increasingly more difficult. I'm having to cut out a lot of really good articles. You may be tempted to think that it's a stretch to find 10 decent articles per week but, with the abundance of content out there, I could easily do a "Top 50" without including anything mediocre. The posts that I have selected are both inspiring and enlightening. You are doing yourself a great injustice if you do not read them.

10. Scott Ginsberg - "How to Stop Editing People"

Takeaways: People want to be accepted for who they are. They want to be listened to rather than corrected. It is often self-deceipt to think you are solving someone's problems when you are often merely stripping them of their freedom of expression.

9. Mark Hunter - "Sharing Something from the Past is a Good Thing"

Takeaways: The second time you meet with someone, repeat a piece of your previous conversation. It will make the person feel as though you listened and cared about what they had to say.

8. Nancy Bleeke - "Top 10 Big Questions for Sales Success"

Takeaways: As salespeople, we spend a lot of time focusing on the questions we are asking our prospects. Sometimes, we need to take a moment to think about the questions we ask ourselves.

7. Dave Brock - "Sitting on the Customer's Side of the Desk"

Takeaways: A common mistake that salespeople make is attempting to sell their products through the lens of the way they think the product should be helpful rather than selling it through the lens of how the customer needs it. Relevancy is above all.

6. Dan Waldschmidt - "Stupid People Are Your Biggest Threat to Being Successful"

Takeaways: The biggest obstacle to success is the people who tell you to play it safe so that you don't get hurt. They may be well-meaning, but they are keeping you from greatness.

5. John Jantsch - "Are You Food or Foe?"

Takeways: Customers are like wild animals--they either think that you are a predator or prey. They either run away from you in fear or the draw upon you for survival.

4. Craig Rosenberg - "Reports of the Death of the Salesperson Are Greatly Exaggerated"

Takeaways: Sales isn't dead. The role of sales has merely changed. Salespeople who don't change with the role are the ones who will die.

3. Kelly Robertson - "Have You Got the Courage to Ask?"

Takeaways: All salespeople ask questions. Asking the tough questions that cut to the heart of problem resolution is what sets a great salesperson apart from a mediocre one.

2. Seth Godin - "Self Directed Effort is the Best Kind"

Takeways: Anyone can be successful just following the orders of someone else, but whose success is it really in that case? The best kind of success comes from self-motivation.

1. Anthony Iannarino - "Cynicism is a Recipe for Mediocrity"

Takeways: The biggest killer in a sales organization are the people who think they are too cool to believe in what they do, and let everyone else know it. Cynicism kills passion and, without passion, there can be no success.

Quote of the Week: "You may believe you are too cool to drink the Kool-Aid, but by not drinking it you are cheating yourself, you are cheating your company, and you are cheating their dream clients. Either drink the Kool-Aid or go find some Kool-Aid that you will drink." - Anthony Iannarino