How Important are the First 5 Seconds Of a Conversation? All psychologists agree that the first impression is formed within the first second of a visual encounter and the first 3-7 seconds of an auditory one. After that first impression, people subconsciously look for confirmation of the first impression to see if they were right, so reversing it can be a chore. Since I study and write about sales psychology, I process first impressions at a snail's pace. Like a “finish carpe

This appeal is ongoing until we establish a culture among our DirectFlow clients that will give them the results they desire from their investment. This isn’t boardroom fodder. This is the REAL WORLD! This is not being broadcast to anyone outside the DSD family. FACT: Meta’s Andromeda does NOT care if you sell pianos. It cares about one thing: its profitability - which hinges upon people being addicted to and staying on their platform. I’m appealing to you once more today to

synergy /ˈsinərjē/ Synergy is the combined power or interaction of two or more elements, organizations, or individuals that produces a total effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. It is the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts The best way to illustrate the conundrum called “synergy” is with a short story: Travis was very tired of wrenching on his old riding mower. The mower repairman had warned him that the day was coming when getting

Dear Direct Success Digital Dealer Principals, We are initiating to a new policy beginning June 1, 2026. We need to eliminate the collections activities required to keep our ad spend fully funded for the sum total of our customer base. We are especially grateful for those clients who trust us and our efforts on their behalf enough to be on by be on AutoPay. Beginning June 1 your monthly invoice must be satisfied by the tenth of each month to keep your ad series running withou

The Antidote For A Shrunken Industry Survival has become a common goal for the industry, and closest to my heart, the independent dealers who serve the piano needs of their respective communities. The narrative of late has been this question, ”Are you a part of the survivor’s club?” The pie, the whole of the piano sales to be had, has indeed become a ghost of what it was in its heyday. The talk at industry cocktail parties often harkens back to the “good ole days” when the p

WHAT LEADS SHOULD I CONCENTRATE ON? There are bottom feeders, entry level and intermediate buyers, whales and people online just wasting everybody's time. Wouldn’t it be great to know how best to cherry pick leads and only spend time on the ones who will pay off? Time is money, right? I need balance in my life, you say, I don’t have time to chase all these prospects and imposters around, sometimes for months or years before they buy! Plus you never really know who will buy be

The world of luxury marketing has changed so dramatically the last few years. Last year, the advent of AI was the largest seismic shift in its history since print waned into a support role and the tsunami of technology took over. In our newest “new normal,” digital marketing content creation and management are the keys to luxury marketing success. You don’t buy in? In denial of the new landscape and its value to your company and sales success? Allow me to state some irrefutab

How do you define a good sales day? One without rejection? A day where the consumers of the world are more receptive than normal? A day with a significant sized sale surely qualifies. A day where you score an appointment that sounds and feels like a great potential deal. The day at the end of the month when you’ve met your sales goals, that is a great day, especially if you met a company goal and won a bonus! That is definitely a good sales day. The good sales days I want to

Tasks are now online Hello Dashers! We’re excited to announce that Tasks are going live this weekend! You can now create Tasks in the main Tasks section that are either tied to a Lead or not tied to a Lead. Tasks that are not tied to a Lead are perfect for general reminders, to-dos, or important meetings that are not connected to a specific prospect. Tasks tied to a Lead stay connected to that client’s journey, keeping everything in context and easy to track. You can sort Tas

Have you noticed that in recent years, breaking through the barrier as a sales professional takes more than in the past? Do you feel separation anxiety over the lack of “live” shoppers because everyone is online? Have you wrapped your head around the fact that the vast majority of relationships start online, even though we’re not talking about dating? If these are feelings that have taken up real estate in your head then your saw is not even close to sharp enough. In fact, yo

Kind of a contentious title, don’t you think? I apologize mildly but when you get to the end of this simple set of guidelines, you may not require one from me. Why? Because, as I’ve stated repeatedly over the years – fundamentals are never obsolete and it is NEVER time wasted to review and self-examine, especially if done earnestly and not defensively. It always, ultimately, leads to improved performance. Diplomacy and good chemistry are the keys to a good sales culture. The

The parallels and differences between selling and farming are an interesting study. One huge similarity is the presence of storytelling. Farmers have historically been creative in communicating with their community by sharing true life stories because the farm teaches them about all aspects of life at an early age. They eat what they grow; they eat what they kill. They encounter many challenges along the way, some unexpected, and it takes some problem solving to fix those si

How Much? This question has been the bane of the existence of luxury marketing sales professionals for years. Why? Because too many shoppers want to make hasty decisions based upon information without context, and ruin their chance at having the benefit of the proper selection experience. In our instant gratification, technologically driven world, we have an awkward circumstance with droves of shoppers rushing to qualify and disqualify things of an important nature. They know

The commoditization of the piano is a blight on the efficiency of the industry’s sales population. How much meat do you think has been left on the bones because well meaning piano sales representatives didn’t have the proper follow up passion and protocol? I guess we’ll never know. Have you heard the pitch by sales coach Jason Evans? It’s a little schlocky and lacks some finesse for the luxury marketing space, but the statistics he rattles off on his radio pitch are solid

Hello Valued Direct Success Digital Clients! We are going to request some sensitive information therefore it comes with a promise: We do not and will not share any proprietary information with any outside resource or reseller. The information we receive from our clients is 100% secure in our keeping. Over the last several decades we have handled millions of sensitive records from piano dealers, manufacturers, universities and arts organizations without a breach or incident a

I can answer that question as it pertains to selling luxury items because I’ve seen the value in action. The answer in performance mathematics is double. Twice as many sales than the marketing and sales persons who don’t capture and post or publish them? Double the sales? Really? I have proof: my sales and general manager Claudio “Clyde” Ochoa. He doubled the closing ratio of the average sales professional. We were serving up leads to over 200 to sales people when he outper

Subject: Some important information for all Dash Users Hi everyone, We’re excited to share a helpful workaround that allows you to use Dash on your mobile device while we continue development on a dedicated Dash mobile app. By downloading the Opera browser , you can open Dash in desktop view on your phone or tablet, giving you access to the full platform on the go. A huge thank-you to Rick Aquino for discovering and sharing this solution with us while we’re building out na

Hello Dash Users, We wanted to share a few recent improvements we have been making to Dash behind the scenes. Our ongoing goal is to make Dash easier to use, more efficient, and more intuitive. Based on your feedback, we have made several enhancements to lead navigation. What’s new: You can now move to the next or previous lead directly, without returning to the main Leads section, so you do not lose your place. Leads can now be filtered by a custom date range , making it ea

In a recent internal organizational meeting, I asked our staff about what we could improve on from last year and we were pretty much on the same page, knowing the things that needed improvement and what the priorities are. "How we can best serve our clients' needs" was the topic and something great came out of that 2026 kickoff meeting. My staff, which I affectionately call the “A Team", had the opinion that we are poised to be operating at an unprecedented high level in the

Before we have an intelligent, in context, examination about the makeup, nature and value of online leads, the first reality that needs to be acknowledged is that consumers buying commodities and services, with universal appeal, are not one and the same as luxury marketing purchasers. There is a marked difference in the purchasing behavior of a person buying a $150k item and one buying something for $5k or less. Lead generation in the luxury marketing space is about making