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Andrew Rudin

Andrew Rudin
Andrew (Andy) Rudin is Managing Principal of CONTRARY DOMINO, and faculty at George Mason University's School of Engineering and Information Technology. Andy provides comprehensive services to companies for sales governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC). Andy has a BS in marketing and an MS in information technology, both from the University of Virginia. In 2018, he was recognized as a Hall of Fame author on CustomerThink.

Loyalty Derided: It Pays to Look Before You Leap!

"No thanks. We are completely happy with our current provider." It's a loyal sentiment that stops many sales conversations cold. If my customers always swatted...

Can Sales Productivity, Ethics and Shareholder Interests Coexist?

"I don't care how you make your sales number, as long as you make it!" Fifteen years ago, that was my Intermec sales manager's guidance...

PLEASE Buy From Me! The New Ann Taylor Shopping Experience

Get ready for a new low in customer experience, brought to you by Ann Taylor and their new Ann Taylor Labor Allocation System, or...

The Winner’s Curse: Sometimes It’s Better to Lose a Sale

The happiest event in a salesperson's life is winning a major sale against an archrival competitor. The second happiest is losing a sale to...

“That’s Not Our Policy–and No, We Don’t Want to Hear From You!”

How's this for a conundrum? Help the customer or enforce company policy. Enforce policy or help the customer. Office Depot's management created this...

Don’t Bother Me With Social Media–I Have to Sell Something! (Part II)

Can salespeople gain measurable business value from social media? Reactions to Part I were mixed: The skeptical: ". . . we need real benefits,...

Don’t Bother Me With Social Media–I Have to Sell Something!

It's old-school thinking, but I hear it all the time: "If we can just get our product in front of the right people, it sells...

How Do You Stop a Great Product From Drying Up?

What do community swimming pools and pencil sharpeners have in common? In twenty years, both might be remembered as once-valuable products that are...

Why Do You Use an Umbrella?: The Best Sales Questions Dig Beyond the Obvious

Why do people use umbrellas? It's not a trick question. But before you answer it, substitute your own product or service for the word...

What Would Mark Twain Click On?

Imagine you're living in 1895. You've just sat down to dinner with your family when you're interrupted by a knock on your front...

“Our Computers Don’t Talk to Each Other.” No Kidding!

In May, my client told me they have a project for me in Tel Aviv. The bad news is I had to fly...

Asking to Send Literature Is Not Lead Qualification

Some people collect stamps, some collect coins. The salespeople I spoke to at a recent technology trade show must think I collect PowerPoint...

A Telcom’s CRM System Shouldn’t Add Static to the Contact Center

What if you invested in a company that risked $23 billion on a flagship product and plans to have it available to 20 million...

Is There “White Space” in Your Customer Relationships?

When managing sales relationships with major accounts, is it better to have more points of contact between vendor and customer—or fewer? The answer depends on...

Does Your Company Differentiate by Offering Good Products With Virtue?

If you want to become wealthy, "create good products with virtue." The man who made that recommendation, Ted Leonsis, should know. As...

“Age Verification Bypassed by Cashier”

It all started with a half-case of Corona beer . . . Amid the routine supermarket cacophony of bar code scanner beeps and crying...

Do You Know What Your Customers Are Really Buying From You?

How does an enterprise create sustainable value? Through listening to customers and innovating products and services they want to buy? Or by...

Strategies–Not Products–Create Lasting Market Disruption

"I just saw our software demo," I said to my company's VP of sales. "I can see how its features will be valuable for...

Honor Thy Customer Before He Leaves–Not After

In three years, I've never felt as loved as I do now by the cable service I just dropped, Cox Communications. Why? ...

Strategic Questions Will Uncover Strategic Opportunities

The late Peter Drucker said "true marketing starts out with the customer, his demographics, his realities, his needs, his values. It does...

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