Truth be told about business development

Gotta love the free sales training provided by our Presidential candidates. Imagine paying supposedly expert consultants big six-figure salaries and still screwing up big-time!

There are a couple of super-powerful lessons to learn that will boost your closing percentage for years to come, if you just analyze what these contenders are doing right – and wrong.

Plaintiff’s exhibit #1: Mr. Romney.  C’mon now – did he and his buds not think that the competition would beat him up over his days as a “vulture capitalist?”

We are witnessing the power of Thought Leadership right before our eyes on a daily basis in the presidential sweepstakes.  Most people don’t realize that politics, especially running for president, is the ultimate marketing campaign and dog and pony show.

There’s lots of value to being a Thought Leader:

Running for President is the ultimate marketing campaign and the Presidential Debates are the definitive dog and pony show.  

Presumably, the best and the brightest are hired for millions of dollars to get their candidate to the top. You don’t have to be interested in politics to learn from their wins and goofs:

Used to have a client in a faraway city that required me to rent an apartment there. It was a very nice place: furnished in a beautiful condo building.

One night I got the munchies in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen. I wasn't the only one hungry; about 1,000 cockroaches were in the kitchen, too. It was like a nightmare.

Got a voicemail recently from an old business associate, “Hi, it’s Gary. I just turned 50 and am finishing a new book. Want to tell you what I’ve been up to.  Give me a call…”

Why would anyone want to return that call?