Shawn Karol Sandy

No one and I mean NO ONE loves it when I’ve ever asked them to role-play a sales scenario. It’s hard to explain how many times I’ve gotten eye rolls when I brought up role-playing through a scenario. Why do we hate it so much? Well, it’s awkward. Everyone’s staring

Many times when a new client reaches out or “sends up the bat-signal” it comes after one or more significant sales losses—especially if the loss is an existing account and it came as a shock. This has happened to me when I was an account executive and I see this

Why do we love toddlers and small humans in weddings? It’s not because ring bearers and flower girls perfectly execute their duties with the style and panache of professionals. It’s because, in spite of rehearsals, practices and coaching, we know that they are a wild card and are capable of

Do you remember the old instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle? I think there are still a few around with those instructions: For best results, Lather, rinse, repeat.” This was actually one of my super successful sales mantras when I was a sales account executive in television, commercial

Over these past few weeks, I’ve had strong reinforcements of my core beliefs about sales training: Most of it needs to be undone. I see proof every day that sales onboarding is upside down or backwards. I see sales training that is hype, technique and manipulation-based vs skills focused. Much

Potatoes, Eggs, Bacon, Croissant, Orange Juice, Dolphins. See what I did there? Your brain started looking for a pattern: Food, Breakfast Foods…then, BAM. Disruption. Want to Get Someone’s Attention? Disrupt Patterns and Expectations Our brains are—say it with me now—FUTURE PREDICTION MACHINES and we’re constantly surveying and assessing for what

My agile, fit, 71-year-old mother came over this week after cleaning her gutters. They were pulling away from the house so she climbed on a ladder and in the 90 degree Memphis summer heat, cleaned the debris and gunk out of her gutters. The rub came later when she was

I helped a friend out a few weeks ago. She has built a team of salespeople underneath her in a business that sells global products made by artisans paid fair wages. The organization commits the profits heavily to humanitarian efforts around the world as well. Her team members are NOT

Let’s talk about your sales and profit margins. How effective do you think your sales and/or marketing messages are? Are they compelling and converting leads in to opportunities and opportunities into customers with strong and healthy margins? At what rate? And at what cost to acquire a new customer? (If

Our clients are usually classified as “Small Business”—though I absolutely DESPISE that term. The US economy is POWERED by small business! In fact, as of the 2010 census, small businesses make up to 99.7% of employer firms in this country (a “small business” is defined as having less than 500