When we are born, we know nothing. We are an empty vessel. The great mass and wealth of human knowledge is unknown to us. We each start completely from scratch, possessing none of what humanity has captured over the centuries. Animals need only their instinct to survive. We need … [Read more...]

We gripe and complain that salespeople sell products instead of selling solutions or selling the value that we create. Then we send them to sales training and sales kickoff and spend all but an hour dumping mountains of product knowledge on them, hoping some of it will help … [Read more...]

My territory sucks. My commission structure sucks. My company’s policies suck. My competitors have a better products and services. My competitors have lower prices. My competitors are too aggressive. Everybody wants to work with a smaller, boutique firm. Everybody wants … [Read more...]

If you take a person’s money, you owe them the work. This is true when the person is your client, but is equally true when your company pays you. If you collect a paycheck, you owe your company the results that they are paying you to produce. If you are paid to sell and you … [Read more...]

Nothing has a greater impact on your sales results—or your results in life in general—than your beliefs. Your belief system is your blueprint of how you believe the world works. It is your personal psychology. A poor psychology equals poor results and a life that is less … [Read more...]

Every salesperson should have a list of target accounts. Not just a list provided by management or marketing or a list that provides you with the ability to make your number this year either. Every salesperson needs a target list of their dream clients that they are committed … [Read more...]

A long, long time ago, I had a very difficult client. She was nice enough to give me her business, but from that point forward she was anything but nice. I had handled demanding clients, but I had had few that were so short, so mean. When she called to place an order, she ripped … [Read more...]

Some salespeople work for rather small companies. The way things work in a small company or a small office is different than a larger office or a larger company. In larger companies, there are more people and less need to pull salespeople out of the field to help with … [Read more...]

One salesperson has a territory. They complain about that territory. They argue (endlessly) that there aren’t enough targets. They grumble that there are too few prospective dream clients. They bitch and moan that the competition is too tough; there’s an old boys network … [Read more...]

Sometimes you run into a decision-influencer that is an obstacle or roadblock to a deal. Worse, sometimes it’s a decision-maker that, for some unknown reason, prevents you from advancing your opportunity. You can try to go around them. You can try to go over their heads. … [Read more...]