Changing the Sales Conversation: Connect, Collaborate, and Close

 Foreword

There’s no better way to learn about people in depth—to get to know their every move, to understand how they think, or to predict what they will do next—than to compete against them. For many years, and with dozens of prospective clients, Linda Richardson and I were fierce competitors. Often from an initial list of eight or so contenders, she and I were almost always the last two standing. Whenever I heard that she was one of the finalists for a project where I was in the running, I knew that it would be tough; whenever she wasn’t on the list I breathed a sigh of relief. We regarded each other with that unique combination of respect and visceral competitiveness that salespeople everywhere reserve for the one competitor who keeps them ...