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

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

If you take a trip to pretty much anywhere there are always those areas that are tourist traps full of t-shirts,  magnets, key chains, and “I was here” merchandise with the name of your destination labeled on everything. Recently, I vacationed to the gorgeous island of St. Lucia and traveled to its capital city, Castries,...Read More

Many businesses in a B2B channel get their start by filling a need or having a solution that provides a jump on the market. Or maybe, you, as the owner, took your experience and started your business with a front loaded customer base that followed you. However your business got started, there comes a time...Read More

Watching the sales activity of several sales teams lately, I have come to the conclusion that these teams are truly confused about the differences between MARKETING and SELLING. I work with many small businesses where the business owner and/or the small sales teams sell and there is often NOT a marketing department within the company....Read More

Having spent many of my first sales years in the TV industry, I absolutely LOVE seeing the new fall shows in the July upfronts. We got a sneak peek into the new shows and the returning favorites. I still get giddy at fall previews and this year, couldn’t believe that Survivor was coming back for...Read More

In the previous post, we took a hard look at building a more flexible sales process that is completely centered around your customer starting with Assessing Your Features From Your Customers’ Perspective. This practice helps you build your selling messages around the variable points that are truly meaningful to your customers. But wait! There’s More!...Read More

How many times have you been “pitched” to or sat in a meeting with someone blathering on about the “Features and Benefits” of their products? I say “blathering” because that’s what it feels like when someone is sitting in front of you talking about their product, their features and what THEY believe are the benefits....Read More

Where does blog inspiration come from? Many, MANY posts over these last few years have come from being on the buying side – analyzing and reverse engineering my experience as a customer to share the Do’s, Don’ts and #SALESFAILS that can help my clients and audience build smarter sales strategies. Many blog posts also come...Read More

“Everyone’s on vacation”, “It’s too hot to get out and see a bunch of people”, “No one is making decisions right now” . . . Recognize these statements? They’re the little lies we tell ourselves because during these Dog Days of summer, we’re hot, we’re tired, and either trying to catch up from being on...Read More