It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to earn a response from a prospect these days. In 2007, it took almost 4 touches on average to get a response. Since then, the average has been more like 8 to 12 but hold on to your lunch . . . According to the Sales Development Technology Report by...Read More

Not to name drop but I have some extremely smart friends and colleagues that have written and are writing amazing sales books. I’ve reviewed a lot of them here on The Pipeline blog and usually bring a few with me when I go to train a sales team. Many of my clients are devout readers...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

Putting together a speech for an upcoming keynote and looking for insights about growth and learning, I ran across a quote and the work of Joe Dispenza that describes WHY it’s so hard to learn as an adult: “Psychologists tell us that by the time we’re in our mid-30s, our identity or personality will be...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

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 Washington DC giving a spectacular talk on Personality as a Seller’s Competitive Advantage. Along with my co-host of The SellOut Show, Dianna Geairn, we were invited to speak to the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) membership audience and as a mutually beneficial perk, the day before our early...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