Have you ever analyzed the cost of running your group sales meeting? A sales meeting isn't merely an hour on the calendar; it's an investment of expensive selling time. There is the obvious cost: the payroll sitting in the room or staring back at you on video. Then there is ...
I’m puzzled by the number of sales managers that apply for a role which requires human connection, only to see these same individuals try to offload the responsibility to technology and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence can help salespeople practice conversations, analyze calls, summarize meetings and even recommend coaching topics. What ...
Everyone is talking about the importance of human skills in the age of AI. We know that AI can automate information, summarize data, and write content in seconds. But what it can’t do is make that human connection, which still is the number one driver of employee engagement, retention, and ...
If the phrase ‘sales community’ makes you want to do an eye roll, stay with me. I get it. Community can sound soft. A little kumbaya. Not exactly a hard-driving revenue strategy because there doesn’t seem to be a visible impact to the top or bottom line. You might be ...
Sales managers, before your next sales meeting, do some quick math because the numbers just might motivate you to invest more time in planning your next meeting. Include various cost such as: Payroll costs for all participants attending the meeting. The revenue-generating conversations your team is NOT having with ...
Not long ago, sales leaders could roll out a new strategy and have one or two years for their teams to master and implement. Today---not so much. By the time your team gets comfortable, the strategy has changed, the market has shifted, and there’s a new AI tool promising to ...
Why are some sales leaders better at building a sales team that executes consistently and effectively? Top sales leaders do something simple---but it is not easy. They run their sales team like a franchise. A great franchise doesn’t leave anything to chance. For example, a food franchise has a proven ...
You’re getting to the end of first quarter. Some of your reps are on plan and then you have a few stragglers---and it’s frustrating because you did: Great territory and account planning. You didn’t set one-size-fits-all goals. So why isn’t everyone achieving their goals? You may have missed three areas ...
When you are stable you are able. These words from one of my mentors nicely sum up the power of emotional intelligence. Stability equals ability and in sales that equates to being able to apply the knowledge, habits and skills that you know will lead to success. So, if emotional ...
You invested in sales training with a reputable sales training firm. You’ve got a sales book / podcast club started at your organization. And you consistently conduct one-on-one coaching sessions. So why are some members of your team still failing to apply what they are learning? This question requires pulling ...
“Why are you acting this way?” That’s often the silent thought running through a sales leader’s mind when well-intended feedback is met with defensiveness, excuses, or blame. When this happens, apply an emotional intelligence skill called reframing—the ability to change how you interpret a situation so you can change how ...
Most of us take our car in every six months for a check-up and every few years for a full tune-up. Smart sales managers act like good auto mechanics. They get under the hood of their sales car and run regular diagnostics on their teams. So, before you add more ...
Great sales managers are masters at holding their teams accountable to activity metrics and results. They track dials, demos, discovery calls, and deals. But here’s the irony: while sales managers are busy tracking everyone else, few people are tracking them. What Gets Measured Improves — Even for Managers Most organizations hold ...
A recent conversation with a long-time friend made me laugh and think. She said, “I don’t have that fearless factor you have…I mean, you moved to Denver, Colorado to start a brand-new career in sales training and speaking, without knowing a soul.” When I pushed back— “Oh, you’d have done ...
Calm in the chaos. Consistent despite distractions. Self-aware and other aware. These aren’t just admirable traits; they’re the defining attributes of emotionally mature sales leaders. And in today’s challenging sales environment, they’re not optional—they’re mission critical. When sales leaders lack emotional maturity, the cost is steep. Gallup reports that managers ...
You’ve probably heard the well-worn story about the genius engineer who charged a hefty fee for what seemed like a tiny fix. Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865–1923), the electrical wizard of his time, was called in when Henry Ford’s River Rouge plant faced a stubborn generator problem that baffled Ford’s own ...
Sales enablement investment is up 381%. Research shows that structured coaching programs in sales organizations produce a 28% higher win rate. And yet only 53% of sales reps are achieving quota. Despite the overwhelming evidence that coaching matters, most sales organizations do it ineffectively or inconsistently. Why? No one is ...
Every sales manager knows that effective coaching isn’t a copy-paste process. What works for one rep might miss the mark with another. However, after coaching hundreds of salespeople, I have found a few questions that consistently open eyes, shift mindsets, and help salespeople uncover the real reasons behind stalled deals ...
The late Wayne Dyer said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” He was talking about a powerful sales skill; one you might be overlooking: reframing. Straight out of the psychology world, reframing is the ability to look at a person, situation, ...
The next wave of sales professionals are arriving to the workforce. They’re smart, educated---and they’re anxious. This is the generation raised on smartphones, social media, and professionally managed childhoods. Dr. Jonathan Haidt calls them the “Anxious Generation,” and they’re entering the workforce with new strengths—and new challenges. If you're a ...
If you’ve been in business as long as I have, you know the sales profession comes with its own built-in roller coaster. Good markets make us feel like geniuses. Bad markets? Well, it feels like we’re auditioning for a reboot of Survivor: Sales Edition. Between increased economic uncertainty, global unrest, ...
What do medical teams, military special forces and airline pilots have in common? They all engage in debriefs after critical moments to ensure continuous improvement and learning from experiences. Medical teams review surgeries to refine procedures. Navy SEALS conduct After Action Reviews to improve future missions. Commercial pilots and crews ...
My husband, a retired lawyer, conducted over 150 jury trials during his career. While our professions seemed worlds apart, I always noted striking similarities between effective sales and effective lawyering. If you want to improve your sales team effectiveness, train your sales team to approach their profession like a trial ...
Allison Wood Brooks, author of, “Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves” coined the term Boomeraskers. She explains that Boomeraskers are individuals who ask a question, allow the recipient to answer it, only to redirect the conversation back to them. She likens the behavior to a ...