Sales Strategy

10 Tips to Avoid Stealing Your Sales Reps’ Spotlight

When a salesperson invites you or any other company expert to a prospect meeting, your goal should be to pitch in when your expertise is needed and avoid the temptation to hog

Scour LinkedIn before setting up a sales meeting

A New Strategy to Improve Email Quality and Response Rates

At my company, we just recently upgraded to Microsoft Office 365® and, so far, I couldn’t be happier with the transition. The new products seem to be improving my team’s productivity and

6 Email Personalities to Avoid if You Want People to Like You

For those of us who have been in sales for longer than a decade, it’s easy to sometimes long for the days when customers waited until they met you (or conducted several

Turn “NO” Into a Turn On

An sales, we’re often trained to become numb to the word “no.” We hear it at the very start of the sales process and, depending on how our interaction with contacts goes,

[Video] How to Uncover the Best Sales Leads

All too often, we expect immediate results after even the smallest investment of time or money. When it comes to lead generation, however, instant gratification is rarely a possibility — and there’s

Staying on top of your “Sales Game”

Whether you’re a lifelong salesperson or just starting out in sales, I think you’ll agree the world of selling is changing faster now than ever before. If you’ve ever found yourself worrying

[Video] 3 Practices to Determine Sales Rep Closing Competency

Many sales reps are capable of generating leads and nurturing opportunities, but only the best (and, really, the most valuable) salespeople possess true closing competency. Find out the three techniques for identifying

When Your Sales Career is Stuck in a Visibility Vacuum

For months (or maybe even years), you’ve been a high performer at your business. Your pipeline is consistently healthy. Your forecasts are spot on. And you perpetually hit or exceed quota and

Make sure you have a follow-up plan in place

Two Reasons Your Sales Closing Rate May Be on the Decline

Dealing with a drop in closing rates can be quite a testy experience for managers and no joy for reps who have otherwise seen a great deal of success. Consider a scenario

Call 9 times or more to reach your prospect

Want to Win More Sales? Improve Your Body Language!

Just for a moment, imagine that you’re meeting with a financial advisor to discuss your investment strategy. As you look across the desk at him, you notice that he’s sweating, twisting his

[Video] Hitting Your Sales Targets this year

Every salesperson wants – and, really, needs – to achieve the sales targets that are set for them. But true sales success and greatness is often measured by more than that. In

What You Can Learn from the Denver Broncos About Protecting a Lead

In case you haven’t heard, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had a pretty decent season. (Being from Denver, I’m following this pretty closely, of course.) The future Hall-of-Famer threw for 5,477 yards

Tips for Winning a Sales Gold Medal in 2014

Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of spending a few days doing something I love — skiing the beautiful mountains in my home state of Colorado. The scenery was beautiful, the

Don’t try an extreme makeover

Thank you Wonderful Friends!

Thank you everyone for your votes as I compete for Top Sales Book of the year and Top Sales Webinar. I appreciate all your emails and yet – I really did respond

Sales Isn’t Sleazy – If You’re Doing it Right

In the 1987 movie “The Tin Men,” a flick about competing salesmen who push unwitting homeowners to buy aluminum siding that they don’t really need, the movie opens with a classic exchange

What Obamacare Can Teach Salespeople About Appealing to Executives’ Value Curve

Three weeks ago, the United States government finally ended its highly publicized shutdown and got back to work. The standoff between political parties over the adoption and implementation of President Barack Obama’s

First or Third Person: Which Voice is Right for LinkedIn?

Imagine for a moment that by-lined articles (like the one you’re reading right now) and blogs were written in the third person rather than the first. They would probably read a little

Vacation Time: Why Even Salespeople Need a Break

Click here to view a full-size picture If I were to give you one guess as to which country in the developed world is the only nation without a legally required paid

How Believing in Your Products Impacts Sales Success

Recently, someone said something to me that stopped me in my tracks. “A good salesperson doesn’t have to believe in their products,” this person said. “They just have to believe in themselves.”

Negotiating and the Three Ts: Trust, Time and Tactics

Successful negotiating requires you have a strategy. The clearer your strategy before negotiating, the more successful you will be. At the core of the strategy is what I refer to as the