Most sales leaders find themselves in an endless struggle to find time to coach and manage their teams. As a result, rep performance suffers, leading to stalled deals, missed quota, and slowed growth. If this sounds like you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. And it’s not your fault! Every sales leader these days struggles to […]

There’s a reason why we have mirrors in gyms: they provide instant feedback, letting us know if we have the right form while doing exercises. We can see if our bodies are making the wrong shape, and we can make adjustments accordingly. It’s a perfect feedback loop. The mirror helps us to correct every mistake, […]

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, […]

Objections. They’re a pretty hot topic (did that sentence make you feel like you had on a Nirvana shirt?). The other day, I heard an ad on the radio from some guy who claimed to be “the world’s best sales trainer.” He was selling his sales program, and said he could teach you how to […]

Here’s something to ask yourself. Are you afraid to change? Consider this quote from WH Auden’s long poem The Age of Anxiety: “We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment and see our illusions die.” Auden accurately captured the state of B2B […]

The building blocks of great conversations never truly change. Whether you’re trying to sell a product, talk to someone on a first date, or even just chat with your kid to find out how they’re doing, the same rules apply: listen actively, ask open-ended questions, be confident, and have empathy for the other person and […]

“He doesn’t sound like a salesperson.” The organizer of an event at which I was speaking overheard one audience member say this to another about me. This is one of the greatest compliments I’ve received. Not being “salesy” is something I’ve worked on my entire career. Truth be told, I’m not entirely certain what a […]

Sales coaches and mentors are a crucial part of the sales ecosystem. If sellers aren’t taught how to sell effectively, then they’ll have a much harder time hitting quota. But what about when your do reps have access to sales coaching and mentoring, but they just… don’t remember it? Unfortunately, this happens all too often. […]

Have you ever wondered why some of your reps consistently outperform their peers, while others struggle to hit their quotas regularly? It’s the classic bell-curve problem, where 10-20% of sales reps simply seem to be better than others. There’s two ways to fix this: either figure out how to only hire the best reps in […]

Telling stories is important in sales. But, not when you’re telling them to your sales boss. For instance, fiction doesn’t strengthen a forecast. As humans, we hate ambiguity. We feel a burning need to make sense out of uncertainty. So, in situations where we don’t have a complete set of facts, we take the limited […]

You don’t have to be a manager to be a coach. In my career, some of the best coaching I received was from other sellers; my peers. In addition to helping others, peer coaching is also a great way to learn how to improve your sales skills Want to learn how to take your sales […]

Don’t let other people define you. You can achieve success on your own terms. Check out the evaluation of Tom Brady by NFL scouts prior to the NFL draft in 2000. “Poor build, Skinny, lacks great physical stature and arm strength, Lacks mobility and the ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm, […]