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Keys to Delivering White Glove Customer Service
Whenever I’m going about my daily life looking to do business with someone, one of the most important qualities (maybe the most important quality) that I look for is what kind of service they provide. It doesn’t matter whether I’m looking for new shoes, a nice dinner, or the latest gadget: my experience as…
Where Does Programmatic Advertising Fit Into Your Marketing Plan?
One of my early businesses was in the advertising industry. I came up with the idea after a long flight, and quickly succeeded in finding partners and customers to make it a reality. We would sell ads to print on airplane ticket jackets. The fundamental advertising principle we were following was to show up where…
Why You Need to Become a LinkedIn Thought Leader
I’ve never believed in “selling.” I’ve never been one for all the hard-hitting aggressive sales strategies: the hard sell, arm-twisting that we’re all too familiar with. What do I believe in, then? I believe in relationships built on trust. We’re more likely to do business with people we know, like, and trust. So my…
Going Outside the Road Map
After my 18 years in the NFL, I’m no stranger to game plans changing. Every game that I played, we had a specific plan based on our opponent and what we wanted to do each week. But the adjustments weren’t just game to game – once we kicked off, we adjusted things quarter to…
Ideas at Work – How to Be Discerning With Disruptive Technology
People often associate me and my football career with scrambling. But what people might not realize is that’s not how I played in high school or college; I developed that style when I arrived in the NFL, and it came from a very specific need. In my rookie season, the inaugural season for the…
Ideas at Work – NFTs and Intellectual Property
I learned very early in my life that I don’t know everything. When I want to learn about something, I seek out someone who is a real expert, I ask questions, and I listen. It’s a simple formula that’s proven successful. During my NFL days, I tried my best to be a sponge for learning—and…
Ideas at Work – Developing a Deep Bench
In the 2000 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots decided to select a quarterback in the 6th round. That late in the draft, they weren’t looking for a starter; they already had former #1 pick Drew Bledsoe. They didn’t even need a backup; they had two other quarterbacks on the roster, too. But head…
Ideas at Work – AI: Hope or Hype?
One of my favorite parts of being an NFL quarterback was getting to install the offense every year during training camp. Football is a constant chess match between offenses and defenses, and there were some truly exceptional defenses during that era, so it was a real challenge to find ways to beat them. During my…
Ideas at Work – It’s Time to Be a Front-Facing Leader Again
On the wall in my office I have a framed picture of one of the great mentors of my life: Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. He was one of the greatest business leaders to ever live, and I had the great fortune to get to know him and see how he did things. Everything…
Ideas at Work – Six Ways to Make Your Marketing Budget Go Further in a Recession
My first NFL coach was Norm van Brocklin and he was a Hall of Fame quarterback. But he was a pocket quarterback. It was 1961. Nobody was a scrambler. I came up and I was a mobile quarterback. I would buy myself time running back and forth or up and down and so forth. I…