Love him or hate him, Al Davis, the maverick owner of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders football team, guides his beloved franchise from the premise of three simple words:

“Just Win, Baby!”

And more often than not, for the past 35 years—recent times notwithstanding—that’s exactly what the Raiders did.

Can Al’s little aphorism be applied to jumpstarting a business? Sure…the quick and easy answer would seem to be:

“Just Sell, Baby!”

Sounds easy enough, but we all know the sales process is a tricky road to navigate. A breakdown in any number of areas quickly turns, “Just Sell, Baby” into “Hasta la vista, Baby!”

More than ever, what’s needed is a proven strategy for accelerating the sales process, and there’s no one better qualified to provide that strategy than internationally acclaimed speaker, author and seminal thinker on sales and marketing issues, Neil Rackham.

Here’s what you need to know:

Rackham has written five of the bestselling career sales training books of all time, including his phenomenally successful, “SPIN SELLING,” “Major Account Sales Strategy,” “Rethinking the Sales Force,” “Getting Partnering Right” and his latest release, “Escaping the Price-Driven Sale.”

More than half of the Fortune 500 companies pay major bucks to establish employee training and development programs using Rackham’s sales models. Unfortunately, however, because of the high demand for his corporate sales training programs, very few people from small and mid-size businesses get the chance to learn from this living legend.

That is, until now.

On December 4 at the Radisson Hotel in Piscataway, NJ, Move Ahead 1 will host Neil Rackham in his only live area appearance for an intensive sales training workshop. Throughout this high-end direct sales training seminar you will:

•    Learn how economic conditions are changing the world of selling
•    Discover how the worlds’ best sales forces are using value creation strategies
•    Learn what scientific research tells us about successful selling
•    Learn the art of asking powerful questions that change the way customers think
•    Acquire the keys to building a high performance sales culture

These core sales skills are crucial for competing in today’s super-tight economic conditions, where everybody’s walking on eggshells and the market has more ups and downs than a gymnastics trampoline competition.

If you want to “Just Sell, Baby,” then treat yourself to the best holiday gift you could ever receive and register now for this seminar while there’s still seating available. Otherwise, it’s “Hasta la vista, Baby!”

Okay, so we all know the economy is tanking at the moment. No news there. But have you thought about how you can use this to your advantage? All it takes is a little negotiating savvy and an eye for spotting opportunities. Check it out:

I recently read a business negotiation article by Eileen Alt Powell in the Home News Tribune that gives some very interesting statistics regarding the rise of bartering for goods and services in lieu of cash payments. This includes consumers looking to trade items or services with other consumers, as well as businesses that might be looking to trade services or work off excess inventory in return for new customers.

Jim Buckmaster, CEO of the online classified ad and forum giant, Craigslist, estimated there were more than 140,000 barter posts this past May, more than double the number from a year ago. Tom McDowell, executive director of the National Association of Trade Exchanges, also cites a down economy as the catalyst for the rising number of barter deals between businesses.

Another article found in Money magazine (Bob Tedeschi, August, 2008) flatly states if there’s any silver lining to our sluggish economy it’s that the consumer is back in charge with a lot more power to name his or her price. Here are a few examples the article cited:

• Mortgage Brokers: Volume remains low for those brokers that are still in business. When buying your next house, use that leverage to cut commissions.
• Health Clubs: Besides a downturn in business due to the aging of the Baby Boomers, the economy is keeping new signups to a minimum. It’s a good time to negotiate reduced rates on initiation and monthly fees.
• Cell Phone Service: If your contract has lapsed or is about to lapse, call your company’s retention department and tell them “the other guy” is offering some pretty attractive plans. What are they willing to do to keep you as a customer?
• Cable/Telephone/Internet Services: Like cellular phone service, play one company against the other. Mention competitors’ rates and tell them you’re considering switching to save some money.
• Electronics/Clothing/”Stuff”: Retail sales have been sluggish all year and as a result, consumers are often able to get significant additional discounts on big-ticket items. Use a comparison-shopping site to find the lowest price, bring it to the store, and find the person (usually a supervisor) that has the authority to “okay” a lower offer.

Two important things to know before you head out on the bartering trail:

First, like the proverbial “party poopers” they are, Uncle Sam’s eyes and ears at the IRS say some barter transactions are taxable. According to them, “The fair market value of goods and services exchanged must be included in the income of both parties.” That figure then gets entered on Form 1040’s Schedule C, which is titled Profit or Loss From Business. So, it would be in your best interest to consult a tax expert before proceeding in a barter deal. ‘Nuff said.

Second, if the extraordinary opportunities that exist out there have tickled your “barter bone,” you want to make sure you do it right and give yourself every advantage possible. What’s that mean? It means sharpening up your negotiating skills on September 18, 2008, at the Radisson Hotel in Piscataway, NJ, when the world’s foremost negotiator, Herb Cohen, presents the fine art of negotiating a deal.

In an exclusive New Jersey appearance promoted by Move Ahead 1, Herb, a worldwide bestselling author, will share his strategies and unique insights for reading people and situations, and negotiating from a position of strength. Learning Herb’s skill sets will help you to deftly manage negotiating situations in all walks of life, including business, personal relationships, and of course, bartering!

Don’t even think about it; register now! Your one-time investment will bring you a lifetime of returns. And you can take that to the bank!

I recently returned from an extended stay in Walt Disney World. Now, many people know I’m a big fan of Uncle Walt. The man’s determination to turn his dreams into reality was second-to-none. Along the way, he encountered plenty of pitfalls and obstacles and he surmounted every one of them.

And fortunately, he had his brother, Roy, to provide the safety net.

You see, as much a visionary as Walt Disney was, it’s common knowledge that he was virtually clueless about managing money. He’s even quoted as saying, “All I know about money is that I have to have it to do things. I neither wish nor intend to amass a personal fortune. Money may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me.”

Well, that’s all fine-and-dandy, but we all know that without money, things don’t get done. And that’s where Roy Disney came into the picture.

Roy was to money what Walt was to creativity. And I think it’s fair to say that without Roy, there would be no Disney Empire today. Roy, a banker by trade, was the one who finagled the loans, took out the mortgages, and begged and borrowed from relatives when Walt told him how much his next idea or initiative was going to cost.

Did Roy like it? Heck no! Being frugal by nature, he often fought with Walt tooth-and-nail, claiming how they couldn’t possibly incur any more debt. It got to the point where the two brothers wouldn’t talk for weeks at a time, instead sending handwritten notes to each other from their separate offices in Disney studios when they needed to communicate.

But through it all, Roy loved and believed in his brother and somehow made it happen.

To simply say that Roy was good with money would be like saying Michelangelo was good with paints. No way. Roy was nothing less than a master negotiator to be able to pull off the deals he did to keep the fledging Disney company afloat.

Through it all, Roy proved that principles of negotiating go far beyond simply haggling over money and shaking hands over an agreed amount. It’s a mindset. It’s problem solving. It’s the ability to endear your self to another in order to bring about favorable results. It’s about understanding people’s true interests and finding a common ground.

If you’d like to acquire some of these high level, business-building negotiating principles that Roy Disney employed, then I strongly suggest that you take advantage of an opportunity to learn from the best negotiator in the world. Register now for Herb Cohen’s only New Jersey appearance at Move Ahead 1’s business development seminar on Thursday, September 18, 2008.

There’s one other quote of Walt’s that stuck with me from my trip. It’s on a sign in the “One Man’s Dream” attraction. It reads: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Okay. I quit talking. Now you begin doing.

If Herb Cohen was a chef instead of a world-renown bestselling author and master negotiation skills trainer, I’m convinced he’d be one of the Food Network’s top personalities. I doubt if he has the culinary skills of Emeril, and Lord knows he doesn’t have the looks or allure of Rachel Ray. In fact, I have no idea if he knows how to season food, what temperature to cook at, or even the right ingredients to use. But I know he’d be in a primetime slot.

Why?

Simple—Because he knows how to sell it, baby. All you have to do is read his book, “Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much” (Warner Hardcover, September, 2003) to know that much. Heck, this guy could sell a box of frozen fish to an Eskimo. (Ring Dings in a French bakery? Hamburgers to a vegetarian? You get the idea….)

And you know why he’s so damn good? Because—admittedly—he cares, But Not T-H-A-T Much.

It’s a compelling strategy worth learning…and relearning. And then learning again. It’s creative problem solving at the highest level.

Throughout the book Herb reveals details regarding his 30-plus years of being intimately involved in the mediation process of some of the world’s headline dramas, from hostile takeovers to hostage negotiations. He recounts colorful stories from the war rooms of some of the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies. And along the way he delivers what you picked up the book for in the first place — technical negotiation techniques geared towards the achievement of your business and personal negotiating goals.

Think you can learn something from this guy? Well, here’s your chance! Take some action right now and purchase a ticket for Herb’s only area appearance in Piscataway, New Jersey, on September 18, 2008. MoveAhead1, New Jersey’s premiere sales, marketing, leadership and professional business development promoters, will host him.

If your professional life involves any type of negotiations (and what professional life doesn’t?) and you choose not to attend this event, sorry, but you’re crazy. This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from…well, the guy that literally ‘wrote the book’ on persuasion techniques and the mediation process. If you’re not there you’ll be missed…But Not T-H-A-T Much!

Carpe Diem!

See you back here in a couple weeks.

New York Times’ bestselling author Herb Cohen’s reputation as a master of negotiation techniques is unparalleled around the world. And since I have the honor of being part of the Move Ahead 1 team that will host this legend at a sales training seminar on September 18 of this year, I wanted to know more about him. I mean, let’s be honest…when you look at him you think more in terms of someone’s kindly “Uncle Herb” rather than an individual that’s been intimately involved in mega-deals, hostile takeovers and hostage negotiations.

But don’t let the unassuming look fool you. I quickly found out that although he may look like someone that sells used suits off the rack this guy has provided his considerable negotiation strategies for high level business dealings and conflict mediation around the world.

Remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the skyjacking of TWA Flight 847? How about the seizure of the Achille Lauro? Herb’s considerable negotiation skills were utilized for all of them. His expertise in dispute resolution has been sought by the White House on a myriad of other problems as well, such as The Gulf Crisis, The seizure of the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, and The Camp David Mideast Peace Talks. His list of clients is a “who’s-who” of top business executives, entrepreneurs, sports and theatrical agents, large corporations, and governmental agencies such as the Department of State, F.B.I., CIA., The U.S. Conference of Mayors and The U.S. Department of Justice.

Put it this way: He’s one of Trump’s heroes! What’s that tell you? Here’s what the King of Bad Hair Days had to say:

“There’s an art to deal-making and negotiating, and it’s an art that few people possess. Herb Cohen is one of those people. He knows what is involved in negotiating, as well as the indispensable tools required to be effective.”

That’s pretty high praise coming from someone who fancies himself as the guru of persuasion techniques.

Over the next week or two I’ll be reading Herb’s bestselling book, “Negotiate This! By Caring But Not T-H-A-T Much.” (I just leafed through the first few pages and was hooked before I got through the acknowledgments.) In fact, pick up a copy yourself and let’s find out together what “Uncle Herb” is all about. See you back here soon….