Donna Valente Joins the BDU Team

Donna Valente joins BDU

Business Development University is pleased to announce that Donna Valente, Executive Consultant and Sales Coach, has recently joined the BDU team. Donna brings decades of sales, management and recruiting experience working for high-growth organizations, especially in the educational technology and e-learning markets. She has a reputation for being a sales professional who has generated substantial revenue growth for start-up companies. … Read More

Don’t Waste the Season: Fall Tips for Strong End-of-Year Results

Don’t Waste the Season: Fall Tips for Strong End-of-Year Results

Last month, we provided some tips for maximizing your summer business efforts to keep your progress moving forward despite the common myth that business doesn’t happen over the summer. Now, as we head towards September and prepare to enter the final third of the year, there are only a few more months left to hit your goals. In addition to … Read More

Don’t Waste the Season: Tips for Maximizing Your Summer Business Efforts

Maximize your summer business activities with these tips from BDU!

We’re in the middle of summer, and you may have heard over and over again that it’s a terrible season for business activity. We often hear that people are not motivated to move forward with new deals, sales are slow and everyone is on vacation. However, before you completely write off the summer months as a waste of time, flip … Read More

The Five Keys to an Effective Negotiation

During a recent visit to the gym, BDU’s CEO Lisa struck up a conversation with one of her workout buddies. The topic quickly turned to business, and Lisa’s friend excitedly shared with her that, after much negotiation, he had just signed a large contract for his company. This was a huge deal for him, and he was very proud of … Read More

“Spring Cleaning” Your Business Development Efforts

Spring clean your business development efforts with these tips from BDU!

Consider doing a little “spring cleaning” on your business development efforts to remain focused and purposeful in your activities: Reevaluate and make a plan. Don’t just wing it. Be purposeful in your approach. Update your “to do” list. What items reoccur on your list week after week and don’t get accomplished? Does it still make sense to execute those tasks? … Read More

Sales: The Best Career Out There (If You’re Ready For It)!

Lisa at Temple's event

BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin had a wonderful time recently when she spoke with a group from the Professional Sales Organization of TU, a student-run association from Temple University. They held a Fox Sales Challenge event, breaking into groups of two to analyze a case study and showcase their presentation skills for a panel of judges. Lisa is very passionate about … Read More

Lessons from a Sales Story: How to Maintain Existing Business

Maintain your existing business with these tips from BDU!

It’s so much easier to keep your existing clients or customers than to spend time and effort seeking out new business. How do we maintain our current business relationships to make sure our clients or customers stay satisfied with what we’re providing them and to anticipate their needs if they should change? BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin recently met with a … Read More

CEOs Say THIS Is Their Number One Business Priority for 2018

CEO Think Tank recently published the findings of their 12th annual growth strategies survey, data compiled from businesses in and around the Greater Philadelphia area, and what we’ve learned from the results isn’t the least bit surprising. According to the CEOs surveyed, 40% say “increasing revenues” is their top priority for the year. It appears they’re facing the same challenges … Read More

Business Development: It’s Not Too Late for a Strong 2018

Three tips for a strong 2018

Time goes by so quickly and it’s difficult to believe we’re already in March! It’s easy to become discouraged if you haven’t yet set your business development goals for the year or determined how you’ll carve out the time. Rest assured… it’s not too late! Seize the opportunity today to evaluate the beginning of your year and plan for the … Read More

Eight Tips for Improving Your Sales Performance

Lisa’s Interview with Temple’s Fox School of Business As a Temple University graduate, BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin is proud of the time she spent at the Fox School of Business earning her MBA. She was so honored when they recently reached out to her for an interview on her secrets to sales success. Read the full article, where Lisa discusses … Read More

SELL: It’s Not the Bad Four-Letter Word You Think It Is

Learn BDU's 8 tips for sales success without "selling"

Non-selling professionals such as lawyers, accountants, consultants and small business owners need to grow their client base, but they want to do so without coming off as too pushy. It’s hard to walk that fine line between gently pursuing new leads and aggressively going after them, so how exactly to do you sell without being too “salesy?” BDU has eight … Read More

BDU’s Top Five Tips for Success in the New Year

Jump into the new year with these five tips from BDU

Happy New Year! Now is the perfect time to evaluate your past year’s performance and put together your game plan for the year ahead. BDU has five important tips to help you plan for success in 2018: Take a minute to reflect and reset. There is nothing you can do about last year, last week, the other day or even … Read More

Jennifer Einhorn Joins the BDU Team

Jennifer Einhorn

Business Development University is excited to announce that Jennifer Einhorn, Executive Consultant and Sales Coach, has been brought on board as the newest member of the BDU team. Einhorn spent the majority of her career in technology and software sales, as well as in customer success. In her previous roles, she built and managed sales and customer success teams, was … Read More

End-of-Year Triage for Successful Sales Leaders

Sales Leaders end of year triage

BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin recently spoke to a group of Vistage members on the topic of “Sales Superstars: Getting the Most out of Your Sales Team.” One of the main takeaways from her talk was that as a sales leader you have a one line job description: to maximize the potential and performance of your sales associates. How do you … Read More

The Keys to Sales Success – Lisa’s Q & A with Advantages Magazine

Read the full issue

We’re so excited to share this recent spotlight on BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin for ASI’s Advantages magazine! In Lisa’s Q & A, featured in the magazine’s “The Experts” section, she discusses what she’s discovered to be the keys to sales success.   Advantages is the leading industry publication for distributors with content that “regularly gives distributor sales people a leg up on their … Read More

The Five Steps to Navigating the “Picky” Stage

Regardless of industry, there comes a time in every sales person’s career when they enter the “picky” stage. It’s the stage when, due to time and bandwidth constraints that come along with maintaining, up-selling and cross-selling existing customers, a sales person needs to be particular with the business they take on and the customers they pursue. It is just not … Read More

Closing “Elephants”

Close more "elephants" now with these tips from BDU

I remember early in my career at ADP when I was really struggling with my sales and not hitting my monthly quota. I spent most of my time focusing on very small accounts; they were easy to get appointments with but were extremely price-sensitive, and there was not a lot that I could “sell” to them since their needs were … Read More

“Squeeze the Lemon”: How to Get the Most Out of All You Do

Squeeze the Lemon

At BDU, one of our core philosophies is the concept of “squeezing the lemon.” It’s not about turning lemons into lemonade. It’s the idea of “squeezing” the most out of everything we do and maximizing every opportunity to make the most out of a situation, whether it’s for business or in our personal lives. Even something as basic as taking … Read More

Want to End the Year Strong? Do These Three Things Right Now

With the summer months quickly coming to an end and the fall season right around the corner, now is the time to make sure you’re not only hitting but exceeding the goals you set for 2017. There are only a few short months left until a new year begins, so you need to make sure you’re preparing yourself or your … Read More

7 Steps for Successfully Building a New Business

Learn Lisa's 7 tips for budding entrepreneurs

As the Sales Executive in Residence at Temple University, BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin had the opportunity on Thursday, July 20th to present at the Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s Startup Studio, a forum for new and upcoming business leaders. In her talk, given mostly to the 2017 BYOBB finalists and other new entrepreneurs, Lisa covered the key aspects of growing a young … Read More

The Top Four Reasons Sales People Quit (and How to Keep Them)

If you’re responsible for managing a sales team, it’s likely you’ve seen your sales associates come and go. However, have you ever wondered if you could possibly do things differently in order to decrease a rapid rate of turnover and keep a strong sales team in place? Here are the top four reasons your sales people are most likely to … Read More

Words of Wisdom from Expert Kim Richmond

Kim Richmond

In May, BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin had the opportunity to once again join a panel of “sharks” for “Sales Shark Tank,” a presentation for Kim Richmond’s Personal Selling course at Rutgers University in Camden. During the “Sales Shark Tank,” teams of students from Richmond’s class practiced demonstrating their sales skills by presenting various products they’ve created to the panel of … Read More

Four Steps to Making Time for Rainmaking

making time for Rainmaking

“If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” Those words of wisdom from Ben Franklin were a focal point of BDU’s CLE workshop, Making Time for Rainmaking. BDU’s Beth Rosenfeld and Heather Herrington held several interactive sessions on this valuable topic. The 90-minute sessions focused on developing individual plans for carving out time for business development and marketing, as … Read More

Three Secrets of Sales Success

Do you want to know the three secrets of sales success? BDU’s CEO Lisa Peskin uncovers these “expert secrets” in this short, informative video by ASI. (Read their full post at www.asicentral.com.) Want to learn more from Lisa? Join her at the next ASI show in Chicago!

Heather Herrington, Esq. Joins the BDU Team

Business Development University (BDU) is pleased to announce the addition of Heather Herrington, Esq. to the BDU team as a Professional Services Coach and Trainer. Prior to working at BDU, Herrington was a practicing attorney for 12 years. She’s an avid networker and connector who has held leadership roles on the boards of both industry and non-industry organizations. Throughout her … Read More

The Six Questions You Need To Ask Yourself This Month

Did You Know?

December is a great time to reflect on your past year and plan for success in the year ahead. At BDU, we take a “triage approach” to business development. This process helps individuals and companies determine the three areas that, if approved upon, will have the biggest impact on performance. Here are six questions to ask yourself to help you find your “triage … Read More

Lisa Peskin Interview on WNJC 1360 AM

lisa

Our CEO, Lisa Peskin, appeared on WNJC 1360 AM on Thursday, June 23, as part of Brian C. Greenberg’s the “Greenberg News Show.” Peskin was brought onto Greenberg’s show to highlight women who have broken through glass ceilings in their careers and industries. Her growth personally and with Business Development University, through what Greenberg termed ‘cutting edge’ business strategy and … Read More

‘Tis the Season…to Evaluate Your Sales Activities

The holidays are truly a time to appreciate the company of good friends, family and loved ones.  But between all the eggnog and cookie tins, it’s easy to forget that the New Year is also a wonderful time to reflect on the past year professionally. It is a time to review your progress on last year’s goals and to set new … Read More

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not a day goes by that we don’t appreciate our team and our clients too, It’s a shame it takes Thanksgiving for us to thank each and everyone of you. And to thank you for your business may seem so very cliché, But without your trust and commitment we wouldn’t be here today. We couldn’t be more grateful or thankful … Read More

5 Tips for All Sales Managers

How to Get Your Team Hitting Their Goals

Every Sales Manager has a one-line job description – to make their sales associates as successful as possible. There are 5 key areas that every Sales Manager should be focusing on so that they have a handle on their team’s goals and motivations: Average Sale – If we divide out the total sales needed by the average sale, it will … Read More

Simplify, Eliminate, Delegate and Outsource

Back in my days as VP of Sales, I used to say I could spend the entire day, every day, engaged in mail management.  Every day I would get upwards of 30 voice mails, more than 50 emails, and a stack of paper that was responsible for the death of a small forest.  But I quickly learned that spending too … Read More

The 3 Questions All Sales Professionals Must Ask Themselves

Sales and business development are a function of three key areas.  So if your sales aren’t where you think they should be, you need to ask yourself three questions: Am I doing the right activities to fill the pipeline with qualified prospects on a consistent basis? Do I have a good process, once I’m in front of prospect or suspect, … Read More

Sales Managers NEED to Use the “R” FIVE Approach

In order to maximize top line growth, it is important to examine 5 critical components of a sales organization by asking the following question: Do you have the Right number of the Right people doing the Right number of the Right things Right? The first aspect of growing a sales organization is to evaluate whether you have the right number of sales people working for you. As companies grow, there … Read More

11 Strategies Sales Professionals Need to Manage Their Email

Weeding through and responding to email is one of the most time consuming activities we might have on a daily basis. When I was VP of Sales at ADP, between snail mail, email and voice mail, I could spend all day with mail management.   Today, it is primarily email that bogs us down and the most frustrating thing about it is … Read More