Super successful sellers have some similar key characteristics. Self-starting, hard-working, disciplined … there are core traits and outliers that show up on personality tests. However, more telling to me than any of those core traits is the investment someone makes in their own career and skills. Well-rounded people have interests in many things and that...Read More

In the last post, I started down the road of what makes a well-rounded sales pro. First and foremost, I think Super Sellers are self-starters who continue to invest in their own success with a continuous love for learning. Buying has evolved at warp speed over the last decade so sellers need to continue to...Read More

What does it mean to be great at SELLING? What makes a Super Sales Person? There’s a remarkable amount of time, energy, and money wrapped up in building an effective salesforce – rightly so. Sales teams are the revenue drivers for the organization so we’ve got to invest in the vehicle, right! Like most things...Read More

What thoughts go through your head when you call someone and don’t get a callback? How do you feel when you get no response to an email you sent a prospect? Sellers tell me that the biggest frustration and source of pain in their job is feeling like they’re being ignored by potential customers. For...Read More

A while back, I gave away a bunch of copies of Jill Konrath’s new book, MORE SALES. LESS TIME. I tied those giveaways to an offer of a free consulting conversation about the struggles business owners and sellers face to be productive in this stressful and ever distracting “shiny object” environment. My purpose was two-fold:...Read More

Sometimes, when I’m talking with salespeople, something comes out of my mouth and I think, “Damn! I wish I’d recorded that. That was a really great sound bite!” It happens A LOT. Last week, I actually stopped to write down one of those verbal gems while discussing time and productivity with a team member. This...Read More

It’s a brand spanky New Year. As most people are, you’re probably pumped to put the last year behind you. The New Year always feels like a clean slate – full of promise and possibilities. Many of you may have plotted out budgets, planned expenses, or set goals and perhaps cemented your strategies with a...Read More

Everyone hates to fail. We don’t want to admit to failure. I despise it. Even though we’re familiar with sayings that tell us how much we learn from failure, how it makes us stronger . . . and all those other rah-rah messages. Sure, we learn what we SHOULD have done. That’s easy to see...Read More

If you’re in my salespeople posse, around this time of year, we start talking about getting through the Holiday season as productively and profitably as possible. Inevitably, the talk comes up about To Gift, or Not to Gift customers at this time of year. I have strong opinions about this and it goes like this...Read More

What would you expect from Ivy League MBA students when it comes to selling? A while back, I had a really cool privilege to offer a sales coaching session to Harvard MBA students! Harvard’s School of Business created an extensive buyer/seller scenario for their students which culminated in a role play where students each took...Read More