This year we had the opportunity to work with the fine folks at NAVCO to improve their sales performance. Continue reading
Millennials and Sales: can this generation sell?
We are often asked if we think the Millennial Generation has what it takes to be successful in sales. It’s been my experience that they are often the BEST salespeople – as long as you set up the system to ensure their success. You can read my observations on that here.
Hiring Best Practices
We suggest you make two very important lists before hiring. Make one list of requirements to be successful in the job and another list of traits that will ensure failure. Once you are clear about what you want – and what you don’t – the right candidate will become clear. Continue reading
Improve Your Cold-Call Conversions by 5x or More
Cold-calling is by far the most controversial topic in sales. Does it work? Is it worth it? We have a few practical tips that we can almost guarantee will improve your results by five times – or more. Spoiler: call them again. Read the tips>>>>
The Familiarity Scale
There is one thing we believe helps move the needle in sales more than anything else; it’s called Familiarity. The more familiarity we build – with our brand, our product, our services – the easier it becomes to drive the sales process. Continue reading>>>>
Aligning Sales & Marketing
Have you ever had a time when sales didn’t leverage the tools that marketing built? Has there ever been a time when the tools that marketing built didn’t create any uplift in sales? Most of us have. These scenarios are unfortunately all too common for most companies. Organizations that successfully align sales and marketing efforts will see big returns. Learn …
The “right answer” vs. the “right conversation”
This week I was listening in on one of our virtual Sales Wisdom workshops. After hearing the candor between the instructor and the participants about how to respond to a particular question, it struck me that there is a big difference between the “right answer”, and the “right conversation”. The role play in the workshop takes real world situations that the participants experience, and strives to have them rethink their automatic responses in tense or confrontational situations. The hope is to engage the conversational partner in a meaningful dialogue rather than directly answer their question (which often can shut down the conversation). Naturally some participants are a little uncomfortable with this approach and have been inclined to answer the question right-out, especially when they did not see any adverse effect on their or their company’s position by doing so.
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Our Perspective is the Root of Success or Failure
When we are leading, influencing, being called upon as trusted advisors or salespeople, the perspective we choose to take in a situation is fundamentally linked to our success or failure in that situation. Perspective tends to drive how we react instinctively, and our reactions drive our attitudes and our behaviors which then drive our outcomes.
Cold Calling is a CEO Agenda Item
Cold Calling is a CEO agenda item. I have become convinced of this as I work with various companies in a broad variety of businesses. As leaders of our companies, if we don’t establish the culture of picking up the phone and calling people we don’t know, it just doesn’t happen.
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Prospecting and Selling are Different Things!
Prospecting, (“cold calling”), has been a hot topic 
with our clients this year. A few months ago we launched a prospecting crash course to help companies build this essential skill on their teams. One of the key aha moments in the workshops has occurred when we discuss the idea that Prospecting and Selling are two completely separate processes with different intents, approaches and measures for success.
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