The buy-cycle begins with one person with an idea – a recognition that things could be better. Whether from a discussion with a salesperson, idea from an article, or just the exasperation of an every-day issue, one person starts the journey toward a purchase – and meanders, falters, through all of the change management issues that [...]

I recently purchased my 4th Plantronics hands-free phone. I love these phones. They last for years, and offer me the qualities I need, including a long battery life.
This time, however, I’m not happy, and am being made unhappier daily.
This time, the dial-pad came with several problems, and it refused to reset, or upload, or connect [...]

In order for any change to occur – whether it’s a decision to purchase a product, or an implementation to add new technology - whatever touches the ultimate solution must buy-in to the change.
Often our focus is on getting the end-result we think we want. We forget that without buy-in from the necessary  people and policies that maintain the status quo, we face the [...]

What criteria do you use to compensate your sales folks? Some combination of salary, commission, and year-end bonus, based on industry standard? And how do you know that that is the appropriate standard?
I believe we are currently paying our sales folks to waste 90% of their time. They are spending time  pushing solution information to the wrong people at the wrong time, and have no idea [...]

Austin is both a cool city and a hot town. It’s hot during August and September – furnace hot, actually – but every town has its drawbacks. And since the weather is mostly temperate year-round (except it does get down to near-freezing a couple of days during December), we happily complain for 8 weeks about [...]

Until the people that will touch a potential new solution buy-in to altering the status quo (their policies, relationships, rules, past decisions, job descriptions, etc), they will not make a purchase or a change: they will continue the dysfunctional behavior through time, even when an ideal solution is right in front of them.
Does this make sense – to keep [...]