Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category
The Art of Storytelling for Business Success
Are you a compelling storyteller? Not sure? Let me rephrase this question in terms of two fundamentals to your business’ growth, profitability and longevity: (i) Do you inspire prospects and clients so that they genuinely want to purchase your products/services? (ii) Do you effectively excite your employees so that they feel good about what they do and are always looking for ways to innovate?
The most successful entrepreneurs have long recognized that to achieve these two mission-critical goals requires the ability to use stories to capture the hearts and minds of bright, busy people. And yet, so little attention is actually devoted to helping entrepreneurs hone their storytelling skills. That’s why for BusinessCast episode #131 — The Art of Storytelling — we sat down with Chris Carder, President of ThinData. A Transcontinental Company.
Chris, who is an accomplished business storyteller, shares his insights about what goes into an effective story and shares great example of a ThinData story that has a long history of getting propsects, clients, employees and strategic partners alike truly excited.
Listen to BusinessCast episode #131 — The Art of Storytelling carefully and you will become a stronger storyteller — and that will mean more business success.
Other storytelling resources that are practical for entrepreneurs include:
- A Leader’s Guide to Storytelling – Stephen Denning.
- The Story Factor: Secrets of Influence from the Art of Storytelling – Annette Simmons
- Khruschev’s Shoe and Other Ways to Captivate Audiences form One to One Thousand – Roy Underhill.
Business Success: It’s About Time!
One of the many things that all successful entrepreneurs have in common is an insatiable need to bring their innovations (i.e products, services and/or processes) to the market. But, a key question that often gets trampled in the midst of entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm is “When is the right time?”
Because short- and long-term success depends so much on timing, for BusinessCast episode #128 Robert and I sat down with Steve Taylor, President of Resolver Inc. to gather his insights about evaluating the right time to launch/grow a successful business.
Listen to BusinessCast episode #128 to get a clear sense of some of the key timing considerations and how you can ensure your success by increasing your state of business readiness.
Business Crisis? What Crisis?
No-one likes a crisis. That’s why it’s far too common for even the most successful entrepreneur to overlook crisis planning. The challenge is that once you’re in the middle of a true business crisis, you rarely have the time or the resources to deal with it as well as you would want to.
After all, you could find yourself thrown into a very tense situation — trying desperately to deal with members of the media, angry clients, disenchanted employees, wary investors, intrusive regulators and other critical stakeholders.
It’s an emotional time and all it takes is saying ONE wrong word and your business can suffer. That’s why in BusinessCast episode #123, Robert and I “pick the brains” of one of the Nation’s leaders on crisis communications. Dr. Allan Bonner and his team have advised Canada’s most senior business leaders, political figures and sports figures to successfully avoid a crisis, deal with a crisis and turn around a crisis to their advantage.
Listen to BusinessCast episode #123 and get some practical insights on how you can make sure that you’re prepared when a crisis hits your business.
Smart Book Smarts — Key Entrepreneur Resources
Every year a slew of business books arrive in stores claiming to help entrepreneurs become more successful. But which books are really going to help you tackle your short- or long-term challenges?
Since Robert and I are always searching online/offline for resources that are truly practical and relevant for entrepreneurs, in BusinessCast episode #122 — Smart Book Smarts – we review three books that effectively address some of the most common and critical entrepreneur challenges.
The books we review in this episode are the following:
1) Selling to the C-Suite. What Every Executive Wants You to Know About Successfully Selling to the Top;
2) The Inspiring Leader. Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate; and
3) Upstarts. How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business.
Listen to BusinessCast episode #122 — Smart Book Smarts to get a flavour of these resources and decide for yourself which one(s) are most appropriate for you.
A special thanks to McGraw Hill who graciously provided these leading-edge entrepreneur resources.
Entrepreneurs — In Action
Robert and I are always looking to identify events that help entrepreneurs succeed. Given that there is such an array of online and offline activities, it’s difficult for any entrepreneur to know which events and forums are truly worth their time.
That’s why we’re so pleased to have been invited to be official media guests for the 7th Annual Business Networking Night. The event has become one of the most worthwhile and fun evenings for up-and-coming business leaders in the City. In BusinessCast #121 – Robert and I captured the energy and enthusiasm from the event — organized by Toronto’s leading business networking facilitator, Jennifer Beale.
While at the event, we spoke to dozens of entrepreneurs and asked them two key questions:
- What is their biggest business challenge today; and
- How are they overcoming that challenge.
Listen to BusinessCast #121 and tap into the secrets behind how entrepreneurs are successfully tackling today’s most difficult challenges.
BTW, we’ve just added a new title to our ever-growing library of books — available for any of our listeners at no charge. The new book: “Upstarts: How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business.”