(And What Overscheduling Is Quietly Costing Your Sales Culture) We usually think trust erodes because of dishonesty, missed commitments, or unethical behavior. But there’s another, far more subtle trust-killer plaguing sales teams today: being overscheduled. Overscheduled salespeople and leaders rarely see themselves as the problem. They see themselves as hardworking. ...
What if there was a product that could accelerate learning, improve collaboration, and increase retention—all while boosting both top-line growth and bottom-line results? You’d ask, “Where can I buy this?” Here’s the good news: you don’t need to buy it. But you do need to install it. I’m talking about ...
Sales managers have long coached reps to uncover a prospect’s pain. And for good reason—pain often drives urgency and action. But there’s something equally important to uncover: the scar. Scars are silent reasons behind a prospect’s hesitation. They are the culmination of bad experiences with vendors. These purchasing scars are ...
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 ...
Here’s an “ugghh” statistic from Gallup: only 23% of employees worldwide—and 32% in the U.S.—are engaged in their work. But here’s a “yay” statistic: Gallup found that managers and team leaders account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Another key finding? Having a best friend at work significantly ...
In today’s fast-paced sales environment, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest technology, tools, and trends. Sales professionals hear messages everyday urging them to innovate and reinvent. While these innovations have their place and can enhance your approach, don’t forget about time-tested principles that drive lasting success. My ...
Some of your best salespeople are self-directed, highly motivated, and consistently hitting their quotas. Great, right? Not so fast. The challenge with this scenario is that a few rock stars—or rock starlets—can’t scale a company. One or two top performers may carry the team now, but sustainable growth requires everyone ...
It’s easy for all of us to fall into all or nothing thinking. In this day and age, the thinking is that we must teach our teams artificial intelligence skills. That thinking is correct because AI is here to stay and the power of AI is in its’ infancy. As ...
Anyone that knows me well also knows that I am an avid reader. I’ve always believed that to be a “thought leader” a person must be exposed to new thoughts. New thoughts and ideas help sales professionals create new and innovative ways providing value to clients and increased sales. One ...
Sales and sales management is a series of conversations. The quality of your conversations equal the quality of success in life and business. However, an increasing problem in sales is the lack of quality conversations. You sent your team to a great sales training workshop where they learned the right ...
In leadership, it is crucial to understand the power of both the heart and the head. Every decision, every strategy, and every argument should be grounded in a combination of rational thinking and emotional connection. In this thought-provoking discussion with David Hennessy, VP of Sales at Kite Pharma, we dive ...
In this blog, we showcase a recent Sales Leadership Awakening podcast episode where Steven Rosen and I interviewed Keith Rzucildo. He is Vice President of Sales at Miller Electric and a seasoned leader who has successfully navigated the complexities of gaining buy-in for a new vision within his organization. Here ...
Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so.” That quote is about living a “no regrets” life. No regrets thinking is great mindset to install into your sales organization. It ...
As the new year rolls in, we embark on goal setting with good intentions and enthusiasm. We might attend a goal setting workshop. We create a vision board. All good tactics and strategies EXCEPT they won’t work unless you do one thing: Make a decision. Get rid of wishy-washy words ...
Feeling the pressure? It’s 4th quarter and year-end sales goals must be achieved while setting up an epic Q1 of next year. More than one sales leader will shout the following battle cry to their sales team: Put your foot on the gas and go. My suggestion: Put your ...
College graduates are embarking on their next journey to becoming full-fledged adults. They’ll be charged with making a living, making their own decisions and…living with the consequences of those decisions. If I was making an appearance as a commencement speaker, here would be my advice to graduates with college degrees ...
Sales managers are often frustrated because their sales team’s performance continues to fall short of expectations. The reason for such frustration is that dedicated sales managers invest time teaching and coaching salespeople only to keep running into the SAME sales team performance issues. Maybe you can relate to some of ...
Are you the smartest person in the room---that no one likes? Likeability is important in achieving the sales quota. A prospect must like a salesperson before he or she will trust a salesperson. It’s the old adage, “People buy from people they like and trust.” However, I have observed smart, ...
“The race is not to the swift but to those who keep on running.” The author of this quote is unknown; however, selling in tough economic times means you finish the race in order to achieve your sales goals. Selling in tough economic times is similar to running a marathon. ...
Wondering how to improve emotion management? A mentor of mine has a great mantra. “If you are not STABLE, you are not ABLE.” Translation for sales professionals: If you are not able to manage your emotions, you will not be able to execute the right selling behaviors. The ability to ...
How to attract and retain top sales talent is top of mind for CEO’s and VPs of Sales. Companies have made positive changes offering better compensation packages, flexible work schedules or the ability to work remotely. However, I believe that many organizations are not fully utilizing a proven strategy. And ...
I was recently reminded of an important interview question that gets missed when interviewing a potential sales candidate or not explored in enough depth. That question is: Are you coachable? This reminder appeared after reading the book, The Trillion Dollar Coach. It’s the story of the late legendary business / ...
Sales team development takes work, discipline and empathy. It takes work to meet with potential sales candidates. It takes discipline and self-awareness to execute a consistent coaching cadence. And empathy is important in learning how to work with each member of your sales team. Add one more item to ...
When I first heard the term psychological safety, it didn’t even occur to me that psychological safety could have an impact on sales. Frankly, it sounded like the latest fad put out by business and human resource consultants. After all, aren’t sales professionals supposed to be hard charging, thick skinned ...