Stop making sales more complex that it needs to be. Here’s an example of that. I frequently get questions from sellers about how best to connect and build rapport with buyers. I turn the question around. I ask them “Did you ever learn how to make a new friend?” I’m sure that you know how […]

Are you making the false choice between learning and doing? Many sellers do exactly that. I was once asked if the reason that more salespeople don’t invest in their own development was that it was difficult for them to make the connection between investing their time to learn and their professional successes. In other words, […]

“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.” That’s from the famed philosopher, Bertrand Russell. This especially applies to sales. We’re stuck on paradigms of how we sell, how we train and develop sellers and how we manage and […]

In sports, coaches help develop the athlete’s and the team’s strengths, identify weaknesses, put together plans to improve performance, and drive them to perform at their best. All elite athletes at the top of their game have coaching. In fact, all professional musicians also have coaches. And all movie stars have coaching. Virtually everyone at […]

I read so much nonsense about relationships in sales. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been writing about this more recently. (I admit; I get triggered by it…) The problem many writers and commentators have is that they can’t get past a single definition of a “relationship” as an “emotional bond between people.” (AKA a friendship.) […]

Sellers have to invest the time and effort to think about their future and anticipate what it will hold for them. How will your markets, buyers, companies and careers be disrupted and transformed by rapidly changing technologies and evolving buying behaviors? What will you have to learn today to be ready for tomorrow? I’ve spent […]

Your victories and failures do not define you. Unless you let them. In sales, we experience victory and failure in roughly equal measures. It’s the nature of the beast. All of our victories, and failures, are transitory. The joy and pain equally fleeting. If you hit quota one month, on the first day of the […]

It seems like hardly a day goes by without reading some nonsense online about why relationships aren’t important in sales. Anyone who says relationships are unimportant in selling is wrong. It seems clear that they don’t understand what a relationship is. Let’s keep it really simple. A relationship is defined as the way two or […]

What’s your buyer’s ROI on the time and attention they invest in you? B2B buyers want to make purchase decisions faster. Up to 40% faster according to one study. What’s holding them back? Empty, valueless sales touches that don’t help the buyer make progress toward making a purchase decision. Take a second here and estimate […]

I was thinking about my friend Don this morning. Years ago Don and I swam in the same Masters swimming program. We often swam in the same lane; though he was faster than I was and I usually spent the entire workout chasing his feet. Don is a successful entrepreneur and a very positive thinker. […]

Every top sales professional I’ve worked with, shared that common trait. They broke the “rules.” I’m not talking about ethical violations. I’m referring to the rules defined by rigid sales processes and methods that are forced onto sellers. Rules typically that are established by managers and executives for their own convenience. Or to operate within […]

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. According to a recent Johns Hopkins study, 26% of US adults suffered mental illness in 2020. Research suggests that mental illness among sellers is even more prevalent. And it’s been compounded by the unprecedented stresses brought on by the pandemic. And by the transition to work from anywhere that […]