We’ve all had special people influence our thinking that stamped our souls with virtues, principles, beliefs, and life lessons. Teachers, coaches, parents, ministers, bosses, and neighbors. When I was in high school some thirty-plus years ago I had one of those experiences with my sophomore high school basketball coach. His name was Eugene Zuccarini. Everyone called him “Zook”. At seventy-plus years old he’s still teaching golf. Mentors never cease their passion, do they? Read more

Where do you find good salespeople? First, you have to define “a good salesperson”. With no college curriculum or extensive certification process for someone to be called a salesperson, a “good” salesperson is a highly subjective definition. Here’s the acid test for executives as to whether or not they know a person is a “good” salesperson or not: Can the executive make an accurate evaluation without looking at the sales numbers or track record- and will the sales numbers verify the executive’s decision to hire? Would an executive of a prominent electrical wholesaler hire a food server at a restaurant with the intent of making him an outside salesperson? John Walter of Walter’s Wholesale Electric did that very thing about twelve years ago. Read more

Some executives may feel that only way they can be sure they are going to get what they pay for is to ask the training provider to guarantee an ROI. This is a bizarre twist of everything we (and any executive) experienced from kindergarten through college. Accountability to learn the course material rests entirely on the student to study course material, pass the tests, pass the class, and earn a degree, no matter how good or bad the professor is or how relevant or irrelevant the course is for the student. Additionally, there is some substantial financial skin in the game on the part of the student. Read more