Andrew Rudin
Why Ensure is the Most Dangerous Word in Business
In the undergraduate IT courses I teach, my students examine written project management communications, including scope statements, business cases, retrospectives, recommendations, and situation analyses. We dissect sentences and scrutinize project documents saturated with word salads of participles such as maximizing, optimizing, prioritizing, focusing, and...
Time to Retire Customer Obsession
We’re better off applauding customer obsession for its marketing impact, acknowledging that operationally, we’re probably not as obsessed as we think we are, and that in a customer-obsessed world, customers aren’t always the beneficiaries.
12 Signs That You Should Quit Your Sales Job (and Look for Something New)
In the late 1990’s, I had an ideal job in IT sales. My company innovated great products, and I loved selling them. My income grew. I was having fun every day, and I felt immensely fortunate. There’s a saying that all good things come to…
How to Knock the Competition without Ever Having to Say You’re Sorry
“Never knock the competition!” The admonishment emerged in the early stone age, and it has enjoyed a long life, immune to skepticism and philosophical challenge. Unfortunately, this once-useful wisdom has become stultifying to salespeople, causing them keep an important arrow in the quiver, so to…
Sales is a Profession of Words. Choose Them Wisely
“Nothing happens until you sell somebody something.” When salespeople gathered in offices, this Zig Ziglar quote adorned the walls. A nearly identical aphorism is attributed to a salesman from Minnesota whose name is lost to history, but not his product, which according to the record,…
Please Hold. Your Call Is Very Unimportant to Us
Lying isn’t cheap. Ask former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. Dominion Voting Machines filed a lawsuit against her for $1.3 billion – with a “b” – for defamation. “Acting in concert with allies and media outlets that were determined to promote a false preconceived narrative about…
Would an Idiot Do That? A Practical Guide for Ethical Marketing Decisions
In the fall of 2016, my son headed off for his first year in college. Compared to today, it was a halcyon time to leave the nest. I envisioned him frequenting bacchanalian block parties before Summer faded into Fall and his classes reduced the time…
Let’s Restore Sanity to Stretch Goals
Stretch goals are “deliberately challenging or ambitious aims or objectives.” Known colloquially as BHAG’s – Big Hairy Audacious Goals – they are ubiquitous in revenue planning and deeply entrenched in sales culture. Fittingly, stretch goals themselves carry a bold sales pitch: Outsize performance reaps outsize…
The Road to Trust Begins with Intent
In the 1980’s, I demonstrated my company’s accounting software to a prospective buyer, the CEO of a large lumber and plywood wholesaler in Virginia. A few minutes into our meeting, I showed him how a credit hold worked. “If an account is delinquent,” I said,…
Time to Re-Think Your Company’s Sales Compensation Plan
Years ago, a recruiter for an IT company asked me for details about my earnings history in a prior sales role. Although many hiring managers make the same request, hers went further. She wanted copies of my past three years of W-2’s. “It’s part of…
On My Honor as a Salesperson. A New Look at Why Sales Ethics Matter
Which risk poses the greatest threat to a company’s market value – Pandemics and natural disasters? Terrorism? Product defects? Patent infringement? Theft of intellectual property? Lack of moral boundaries? If you answered anything but the last choice, think again. The decimation of market value at…
Are Your Decisions Risk-Informed? Six Missteps to Avoid
“In April 2017, Kevin Johnson took over the reigns as CEO of Starbucks, the iconic coffee giant. He faced a number of key decisions to keep the global retail giant competitive, but one in particular loomed large . . . Were there certain...
Why Good Salespeople Do Bad Things. And How They Can Avoid Going Astray
Most salespeople believe they are ethical and committed to customer success. Our mantra: “Treat customers like you would like to be treated.” If we could, we’d brush our teeth thrice daily with these words. Unfortunately, companies worshipping at the Maximize Shareholder Value altar have...
Fired Boeing CEO’s Severance Defies Explanation
This past December, I envisioned an article I wanted to write titled Things in Business That Defy Explanation. I had artifacts in mind, including why consumers buy Vegemite more than once, how the Pontiac Aztec ever got into production, and why Boeing CEO...
Discounting Belongs in Every Marketing/Sales Toolkit
Discounting gets a bad rap, and it just isn’t fair. Critics consider it an act of desperation, a reflexive last-ditch tactic vendors try when buyers seem reticent. Discounting is a Sure Sign of Sales Failure, proclaims one recent headline. Others reflect similar disdain: Salespeople...
Customer Retention is Overrated
Remember the listening game you played in elementary school - the one where the first kid introduced a word or phrase to the group by whispering it to the next kid, and that kid whispered what he heard to the next kid, and so...
#wayfairwalkout: Employee Activism Collides with Revenue Growth
Peter Drucker’s pithy idea, “The purpose of a business is to create a customer,” has been drummed into the marketing psyche for as long as I can remember. But when Drucker referred to customer creation, I wonder if he had immigrant detention centers in...
Voicing Values: Employee Exposes Seamy Sales Training
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs reports that in 2019, more than 50% of its complaints about solar energy companies involve deceptive sales practices. And this month, a local TV station appears to have uncovered at least one smoking gun. At a sales...
Employee Values: Filling the Gap between Business Dream and Decision Reality
In business, we exhort ourselves to achieve dreams. “Client interests come first!” and “We are committed to full and fair disclosure!” These are dreams because business doesn’t work this way. When the decision rubber hits the road, there’s conflict. When executing strategy and tactics, we...
Giving Voice to Values: Essential Nutrition for the Fiscally Fit Organization
Suppose you were at a large networking event and accidentally dropped a priceless piece of jewelry on the floor. Your favorite whatever, and now it's lost. You need help finding it, and you want someone who would be unlikely to keep the item for...