Todd Cohen

Networking at Work!

I recently attended a networking seminar (actually an informal gathering of bright people) that was inspired by the Seth Godin book "Purple Cow". It was a fun and interesting event punctuated by excited folks sharing their entrepreneurial ideas and...you guessed it- great networking! What struck me the most was the amazing cross section of people, what they do for a living and the ideas they brought to the seminar to pitch. The concept is simple: you pitch to the group your idea and ask for feedback and advice. It is fun and energizing. Everyone I met I now consider a part of my expanding network and some have joined the ToddCohen.com ...

Can Lawyers Be a Part of a Community of Sales Professionals?

Sales Community members... I have been asked several times to share my thoughts on the intersection of the practice of law and the ART of sales! Wow...anyone who has ever met me or has read my stuff, knows that I passionately believe that we are ALL in Sales, so my initial "answer" is YES, there is a clear connection. So, rather than just throw my thoughts out here (and you know I have them) I really want to invite the lawyers in my community ( yes, you know who you are!) to help on this ever so lively topic. Here is one thought starter...with respect to this topic, is there a difference between "business development" and "sales"? ...

The Secret of Sales is……

Sales Community Members... 

What do you think the secrets of sales success are? Is it a vast well of closely held deep dark secrets that only a few master or is it there right in front of you? I have talked, held sales coaching classes and lectured on this for years and thought about my own successes and almost successes and I keep coming back to one common denominator.

Building a True Community of Sales Professionals.

For many years now, the concept of an online community has grown from dreams to reality. Many different organizations and groups have formed some really amazing communities. I was once part of a great company called Pensare where the mission was to build communities of MBA candidates getting their degrees online! That was a fun time for me in my professional sales career. We learned much about getting people to be online with peers. Online communities are fun and are a place where real conversations occur in real time and people work together to learn, develop and grow as professionals. We get better by not being in a vacuum. We bet better by working together and

Excellent Sales Management Means to Communicate Obessively!!

Leadership and communication are intertwined and dependent on each other. This is not news nor is it a revelation, just my observation! Good leaders communicate well and good communication skills are essential to be a good leader. In my sales career, I have never stopped thinking about what a great leader is and I want to communicate my belief that as leaders in sales we must communicate obsessively! This means that we must communicate obsessively with our clients, our partners, peers; management and anyone part of our virtual teams! Read my full thoughts here and please blog your thoughts and ideas as well!

Dress for Success?!

Lately is seems to me that many people have been "debating" what is the right way to dress to see a client-especially a new client. I have always defaulted to what I have termed "full battle dress"..or simply a suit, not a sport coat and slacks etc. I think that people make a judgment call as soon as they meet us and obviously a good impression is all important. I have stories from my "dot com" days of never wearing suits ( and this was normal) and having clients tell me not to come to see them under-dressed. I still wonder some days when seeing a new client if I could get away with dressing casually, but never ...

NEVER STOP NETWORKING!!

Many of you are naturals at the "art" of networking. Some have to work harder at it. Some are terrified to network. I have always enjoyed the process because I have always thought and believed that it is just a natural extension of what we do as sales pros! Meeting and greeting with a "mission" in mind is not a bad thing. Everyone does it. Even non sales professionals! I do think that we have to approach networking essentially the same way when we are pursuing business development or perhaps engaged in a job search. If you are skilled and comfortable at developing and nurturing relationships in your personal life, then I think you ...

Closing the Deal!

Closing the Deal. What we all strive for and what puts food on the table. There is nothing like the rush of seeing a prospect we have been cultivating finally spill ink on the contracts in the form of a signature! I have seen ( and done) some pretty inventive things to close the deal. ONe story that comes to mind from many years ago was when I once overnighted a series of contracts to a prospect and asked him to either: Please sign the deal. Please sign the attached document explaing that he did not want to save money and rejected our offer. I explained in this letter I had to prove to my boss that this deal was ...

Getting in to see the “C” level

Why is is we have such a challenging time to see the "C" level at our accounts? Do we want to sell as the "C" level all the time? Are there times when this can hurt us? We as sales professionals have always looked for better and more efficient ways to open that door to the executive suite. I have seen people try a myriad of different things ranging from interesting letters, unique cold calling campaigns to using 3rd party houses to help open the door. So, my blog question to this sales community is what has worked for you? Share and help us all get better.