This story is often attributed to Chinese leader, Chou En Lai, and has been rewritten in multiple forms by authors unknown. As the story goes, there was once a farmer and his only son in the days just before the Civil War. Having only one horse, the farmer and son worked long hard days, sun up to sun…
In my previous X5 blog, I discussed five characteristics of success that contribute to the development of great sales teams. In this edition, I build upon each of those characteristics and discuss how you may apply those principles to your business and sales/service teams. 1. Hire Great People You need to know the skills you…
Building a team is easy. All you do is hire people that you like, put them all into a group and the team will form. Or is it that simple? As a society, we have been inundated with sports highlights of the stars making a great shot, the great play, the ESPN or TSN play…
The first Thursday of each month features a “best of” X5 Management blog. The intent is to showcase and revisit some of our blogs from the past. We hope you enjoy them! When you mention the idea of training or professional development to your team, how do they react to this? Does your team recognize…
As the end of October approaches and the weather changes, businesses are gearing up for a strong finish to 2015 and may already be preparing plans for the coming year. How does your organization approach planning involving your sales and customer service teams? Do you have a strategy to approach important topics involving customer needs…
When was that last time you provided Service above yourself? It was about someone or something else, and you expected nothing in return. I was privileged to be a Rotarian for 14 years. Rotary International is a global organization guided by the concept of “service above self” and it is all about making a meaningful…
It beats the alternative, doesn’t it? I have a great amount of respect for people and organizations who think big! You can’t help but admire the vision and excitement that goes behind all of those BIG thoughts! In life, sales and business, I know many people who Think Big! They want their cake and eat…
The first Thursday of each month features a “best of” X5 Management blog. The intent is to showcase and revisit some of our most popular blogs from the past. We hope you enjoy them! This is a very simple concept but may businesses struggle to consistently achieve it. In our Business Consulting practice we work…
I am the eternal optimist and “almost” always see the glass half full. Do you see your glass half full?….or half empty? If we can spend more time thinking about what we have, or what is possible in our life, there is a greater opportunity to be optimistic…agreed?? “Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals…
This is a concept I learned from Darren Hardy, Publisher of SUCCESS magazine and author of the New York Times Bestselling book, “The Compound Effect” It is simple to understand, but more difficult to implement. If you think about your day like a bookend, your morning is on one side and your evening is on the…
