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

Having a conversation with a Sales Director the other day about his sales team and he remarked that only one seller made their quota last year. Several of the team members were new (6 months in), and the others . . . well, they’re struggling. The one Account Executive that made quota has been there...Read More

Most of it, anyway, is actually terrible. I write this knowing that it could be confusing since many of you would consider what we do at The Selling Agency as “Sales Training.” Hear me out. When I look back at my years as an Account Executive in multiple organizations, I can recall almost every single...Read More

How often do you face a stalled sale or wilted opportunity after you propose a solution? This is a GIANT bummer because we know how hard it is to get a prospect’s attention. We hustle and grit it out to make the calls, emails, and connections payoff with conversations and meetings. It’s frustrating when prospects...Read More

A while back I was in Seattle with my favorite group of women and my favorite conference of the year. The Women Sales Pros gathers for a two-day learning extravaganza every fall and I always walk away dizzy with new ideas to implement and new insights to bring to my clients – as #LearnHarder is...Read More

As a salesperson, this is a tough time of year. In addition to being difficult to move business forward during summer, it’s hard not to hyperventilate or get all crunchy when it comes to YOU taking time off for vacation. What happens if that elusive buyer is FINALLY ready to roll when you’re out and...Read More

It’s presumptuous to think that your customers don’t already have a solution for the service or product you provide. Perhaps presumptuous isn’t the right word. “Naive” maybe? Of course, they already use someone else. Their need doesn’t usually fall into YOUR lap unless you’re strictly an inbound rep responding to inquiries or leads – which...Read More

We talk quite a bit about asking questions in the sales process. Ask better questions. Don’t assume. Listen. Don’t “tell”. And there is one more super-fantastic way “questions” can be the MVP of your sales game. Ask questions about your prospect’s questions. What? I started paying attention to this a few years ago. As a...Read More

I remember a funny moment about 10 years ago when a client figuratively slammed the door on me. I had set my sights on this customer as an ideal prospect for my printing solution. I found the right contact, called, emailed, called, emailed, called, called, and one day she answered the phone and said, “Tell...Read More

Whether I’m working with a fresh-faced new seller or a seasoned pro, one thing that almost every seller does is “underprepare” for meetings and calls. Even when they know I’m going to join them, listen in, or attend the meeting with them, they grab a blank notepad and dial or walk into a meeting. I’ve...Read More