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The most effective way to prevent deals from stalling is to schedule an advance on every sales encounter. This is difficult, but it is still much easier than having to reengage the prospect later. Read More

In a perfect world, every employee would understand that what they do is really in some way to serve a customer. That is what organizations with customers are designed to do. Too often, though, little silos and fiefdoms develop. Many of these silos and fiefdoms believe that the responsibility for serving customers and for growth belongs to someone else. It doesn’t. Growth is always easier when al Read More

Self discipline is truly the foundational attribute of great performers, including great salespeople. It is this discipline that allows them to take the actions that some put off and most never take. It separates the top performers from the rest of the pack. More often than not, it allows those with less skills and more desire to outperform those with greater skill and less discipline. Read More

It is easy to feel good about letting yourself be taken out the sale. It feels right: The prospect asked for something, and we always try to give the prospect what they asked for. But sometimes it is isn’t right to give the prospect what they ask for. Sometimes it is better to do the right thing and to sell the idea that something else is needed before pricing, proposals, or presentations can be Read More

Could it be that some salespeople are more effective than others at calling and gaining appointments with C-level executives? There is no reason that you, as a professional salesperson, cannot pick up the phone and call C-level executives, providing you have great ideas (and you do have great ideas!). Read More

Mutual exclusivity means that I can have either A, or I can have B, but I cannot have both A and B. The myth of mutual exclusivity in prospecting goes like this: “If I use inbound marketing methods, then I can’t use cold calling methods.” The problem with believing that any method is mutually exclusive is that it believes one choice is always the right choice. Read More

Less in not more. But more is not always more either. In sales, we too often believe that simply increasing activity is enough to generate increased sales. More often than not, it requires an increase in effectiveness. The key is treating activity problems and effectiveness problems differently. Read More

Two posts over the last two days have generated some interesting comments and feedback. The first was a post titled Quantify Yourself. This post explained that sales is not a numbers game and suggested that you quantify your own personal sales metrics as way to understanding what you might need to improve to improve your sales results. Read More

Sales has changed radically over the past decades. We are less ignorant about what it takes to succeed and how to create value for our clients. Many of the mistakes we now make are mistakes of ineptitude. We don’t take actions we know are necessary. Read More

Activity doesn’t precede sales. Effective activity precedes sales. But all activities are not created equal. Some activities offer you a way out-sized result for your efforts. Other activities have no return on the time invested at all. You have to choose carefully where, and on what, to invest your time. There is no such thing as time management. There is only “me management.” Read More