Category: Leadership

Yesterday, a sales leader asked me a question that sales leaders should ask more often: “How do I get my salespeople to prospect?” In this case, the leader explained, his sales force didn’t believe they should be calling their clients and…

During a conversation with some well-recognized leaders in the sales-improvement space, the topic turned to ways that sales managers spend their time. Generally, most spend it poorly, responding to internal demands and other distractions that…

The best sales organizations have a positive culture of accountability. There are very few leaders who would argue that accountability is necessary for sales, but very few talk about high standards and accountability with their sales force, a…

There is an order to grow. First, an individual grows, becoming something more than they once were. Then their results grow, the natural product of their personal and professional growth.

Most people stop working on the first part of this…

When clients call to tell a salesperson they chose their competitor, much of the time they point to the fact that their competitor had a lower price, something that is sometimes true and sometimes a nice way of letting the salesperson down without…

Some salespeople believe their CRM is a waste of time, that it doesn’t help them improve their results. They treat it like a task—one that they should avoid. Others believe that it is Big Brother, a tool used to spy on salespeople and monitor…

In August of 2017, I wrote about the fact that the linear sales process is broken. Because the sales conversation is nonlinear, it isn’t easy to follow a linear path from target to close. How could it be otherwise in something as dynamic and…

This is the first in a series of posts for sales leaders.

There are a few common reasons sales organizations struggle to produce the revenue necessary to reach their goals. Still, one of the most common causes is a lack of new opportunities.…

The word "demand" or "demanding" can induce an adverse reaction, and not without good reason. The way we are using the word "demanding" here does not point to the autocrat or despotic leader, who doesn't care about their people. The term "demand"…

You may have heard some sales leaders call the “pipeline” something like “pipe-lies.” You may also be familiar with forecasted closing dates as “Hopeium.” Under the very best of circumstances, forecasting can still be incredibly…