Here’s the general request from management: “Interview potential consulting partners and then hire the ‘right’ one for the organization.”  Hiring the “wrong” consulting partner is costly and avoidable, so before you conduct your first interview, make sure you and your organization are prepared. Understand project goals and costs Craft well defined requirements or update existing …

Salespeople want to know how to cold call because they want to make more sales, hit their quotas and keep their jobs.  They want sales now, a sales pipeline for the future, job satisfaction and new business contacts.  They know prospecting for new business is important and they think they know exactly why they should …

Successful cold calling liberates employees and enriches business owners because new business opportunities offer freedom, flexibility, self-sufficiency and revenue.  Furthermore, prospects like to see the entrepreneurial spirit in others and like to buy from people they can relate to. Therefore, employees who cold call effectively often retain their jobs, achieve higher levels of compensation and …

If you define a lead as someone who is going to buy something you offer in the near future, naturally you’ll want to generate more leads. Yet, other definitions and buying stages exist for leads, such as “information gathering”. If you are becoming concerned about the time it takes to nurture leads and convert them …

Last night, I went out for nice dinner but vaguely noticed the chair I was sitting on was a little hard. There was a thin cushion that kept me comfortable enough for about an hour but at an hour and a half, I thought, “for what I’m paying, they should get some better chairs!” But …

On Black Friday, consumers will be at traditional retail stores at midnight, in Cyber Black Friday and discovering Mobile-Only deals. Two years ago, major retailers began offering Black Friday-type deals online. They figured crazed shoppers and deal-hunters would rather click for deals than stand in lines. But they didn’t offer the same deals for online …

Like the Occupy Wall Street protesters, entrepreneurs wake up one day deciding they want change. They find work space and start getting their ideas heard. They say they’ll do whatever it takes to get their ideas, products and services into the marketplace. In many ways, entrepreneurs and Occupy Wall Street protesters are similar: Entrepreneurs: • …

The Beacon Hill Times leaves its newspaper door-to-door for Beacon Hill businesses and residents. It provides local news, sells local advertising and when Beacon Hill resident or business populations rise, the paper benefits. This occurs the same way for most newspapers, because usually circulation (now 9,000 for the Beacon Hill Times) forms the basis for …

The September 2011 issue of Inc. magazine briefly highlights a company with a store on Newbury Street in Boston named Johnny Cupcakes. They’ve earned a place on the Inc. 5000 three years in a row and The Boston Globe named its founder one of the most innovative leaders in Massachusetts. What some people don’t know …

The November 2011 issue of Scientific American tried to put Scientology under a microscope. It says followers of the Church attribute their career success to Scientology. Then it says testimonials from successful followers don’t count as scientific evidence. It suggests Scientology is not a science because controlled studies haven’t been done. It questions whether Scientology …