Influence Gone Wrong: A Lesson from the Desert
If you’ve been following me recently, you know I’ve been head down writing my next book, Influenced from Above: Where Faith and Influence Meet. It’s due out this fall, and it’s a project that’s deeply personal because faith is the most important part of my life. My goal with the book is to explore how […]
The 10% Advantage: How Ethical Influence Unlocks 33% More Sales
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But in sales—and influence—it turns out that small changes can lead to big results. These are, in Robert Cialdini’s words, “Small Bigs.” Let me show you what I mean when it comes to your sales. Let’s Look at the Math Imagine you’re working deals with […]
How a Simple Essay Contest Influenced a Company-Wide Culture Shift
In September 1996, John Petrucci joined State Auto Insurance as an Agency Development Specialist. That’s when our focus on sales really started to come to the forefront. I had the good fortune of learning more about sales in that first year with John than I had in my previous ten in the industry! John resurrected […]
Our European Adventure
You may have noticed there haven’t been any blog posts for several weeks. That’s because Jane and I took a vacation to Europe with two of our closest friends. We started in Lyon, France. Lyon is set on the Saone River. What a beautiful city and so easy to access by foot. From there we […]
Kindness or Conflict: What Cycle Are You Creating?
What does it mean to be virtuous? Most of us would say it means having good character—being kind, honest, and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. Now consider the opposite: to be vicious. That might sound extreme, but it doesn’t have to mean physically violent. Viciousness can show up subtly, and not so subtly, as […]
