42 Bytes of Babette – 2013 Edition, Part 1

Here’s a recap of tweetable quotes from some of the top posts on the Sales Aerobics for Engineers® Blog this past year. You know the answer is always 42. Enjoy!

1. Sometimes your company’s fantasy is not aligned with your customer’s reality.
2. Professional success involves assumption of risk: taking chances on yourself and others because you have confidence.
3. While you over-think competitive positioning, your competitors are out there competing. Customers don’t know any better.
4. The quality of referrals, and their quantity, are up to you. Not all referrals are equal.
5. Wear your value proposition like a second skin. It is inseparable from Who You Are as a Business Person of Worth.
6. Grow your credibility as a CEO-peer to prospects and investors. It is a continuous exercise.
7. Understand the terrain before you start out on your business development journey.
8. Customer engagement leading to buying decisions isn’t achieved via sales chit chat.
9. Your Network makes a tremendous difference. Don’t take them for granted.
10. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Walk around for a while.
11. It seems that everyone is waiting for Someone to hand them a Recipe for Their Success. Don’t hold your breath.
12. If you are the CEO, you sell. If you are building it, you are responsible for selling it.
13. The network you build, and interaction with that network, are more valuable than you think.
14. Once you give away your services for free, that is the value that marketplace assigns to them.
15. Are you under-utilizing the depth of your sales team’s DNA by focusing on homogeneous outcomes?
16. Are you actively engaged demonstrating why your company needs to be top of mind to customers?
17. Adapt your sales strategy. Communicate with your technical, as well as business, counterparts.
18. Business development and entrepreneurship are messy. That’s the beauty and challenge of business.
19. I don’t know what you mean unless you make an effort to communicate it to me.
20. The success of your company is driven by your ability to develop business. Are you reluctant to lead the charge?

Babette N. Ten Haken, President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, catalyzes business transition, startup growth, and professional development. She works on revenue-producing collaboration strategies with non-traditional sellers, engineers, manufacturers, and technical startups. Contact her here.