Road tripping this to a volleyball tournament a while back, I had 3 hours to spend in the car with my 12-year-old daughter. We listened to hundreds of songs on my iPod. Rolling through several decades of old and new ones. At one point, she marveled at how many songs she knew – as in...Read More
A common sales problem came to light for me a week or so ago when a vendor reached out to me to suggest as the year-end was near, they might be able to consider lowering their price to close another deal before ending their year. Now, I am truly in the “consideration” or “evaluation” phase...Read More
Way back when I started my first sales job, I had a pretty tough product to sell. I’m sure you’ve heard me mention this one or two dozen times, but I was selling advertising for the WORST TV station in the market. We had to really hustle and get mega creative to earn our customers...Read More
Sales is exhilarating. Selling is grueling. Sales is non-stop activity. Selling is exhausting. Sales is juggling competing priorities. Selling is chasing a constantly moving target. How do you keep filling your new business pipeline, juggling activities, reports, administrative stuff, client relationships, and AVOIDING burnout? Considering the recent (various) reports that suggest nearly 7 out of...Read More
Look, y’all, you know the saying about “Opinions”, right? That everyone has one and everyone is entitled to one. My “opinion” about Sales Advice is very strong and I give it freely – as a friend most recently described, I’m going to be “as honest as a toddler or yoga pants” with you. There is...Read More
Last week I decided to try something new with my sellers. I recognize this look of exasperation when I ask my sellers about their latest selling activity: prospecting, pre-qualifying, meetings, et cetera. For Account Executives or Account Managers, making time for Business Development can be incredibly tough with all they have to get done in...Read More
“Oh crap. Is it too late to resuscitate?” Recently, a sales team found out the hard way that a client was pissed about something that happened several months ago. Unfortunately, they found out because they are being shut out of an enormous opportunity. They were coming at the opportunity from several angles with several divisions....Read More
What do YOU think would be the response when asked, “What are the top challenges sellers and sales pros face today?” Up until 5 to 10 years ago, you might have heard a resounding, “Lack of leads!” coming from salespeople. Nowadays, in this lightning-fast digital world of social platforms and instant communication, that’s not so...Read More
My husband sent me this email earlier this week. He’s such a good sport. I truly think he may listen to what I say about sales and selling and I’m convinced he may even read my blog posts. He knew he had an example of a #SalesFail. A case study of what NOT to do...Read More
Does this sound familiar? The last several years have been pretty good. Successful, even, in the arena of sales. Strong economy. Low unemployment. Customers have been buying. You’ve competed to keep your customers. Service them well. Then, out of the blue, COVID-19. A global pandemic blows up your business base. Everything is on hold. The...Read More
