Shawn Karol Sandy

Super successful sellers have some similar key characteristics: self-starting, hard-working, disciplined—there are core traits and outliers that show up on personality tests. However, more telling to me than any of those core traits is the investment someone makes in their own career and skills. Well-rounded people have interests in many

Sometimes hard problems can have easy answers. Well, simple perhaps, because it requires effort and work. Sometimes, as an Account Executive or Business Development Rep, the grind of prospecting and pipelining new opportunities made me feel like Fred Baker from those old Dunkin’ Donuts commercials where he zombies about saying,

How excited does your prospect get when they see your email pop into their inbox? Wouldn’t it be great if they had a Pavlovian response and immediately expected to see something cool, interesting, or insightful when they clicked on your message? Sadly, most clicks on sales messages—especially cold or following

About a year ago, I researched some software to execute some processes in my business. This was a significant investment for me—more so in scaling my business than in price—it was an important decision. Between three options, I chose the one that had the best features for me and the

What thoughts go through your head when you call someone and don’t get a callback? How do you feel when you get no response to an email you sent a prospect? Sellers tell me that the biggest frustration and source of pain in their job is feeling like they’re being

A while back, I gave away a bunch of copies of Jill Konrath’s new book, More Sales. Less Time. I tied those giveaways to an offer of a free consulting conversation about the struggles business owners and sellers face to be productive in this stressful and ever distracting “shiny object”

Sometimes, when I’m talking with salespeople, something comes out of my mouth and I think, “Damn! I wish I’d recorded that. That was a really great sound bite!” It happens A LOT. Last week, I actually stopped to write down one of those verbal gems while discussing time and productivity

It’s a brand spanky New Year. As most people are, you’re probably pumped to put the last year behind you. The New Year always feels like a clean slate—full of promise and possibilities. Many of you may have plotted out budgets, planned expenses, or set goals and perhaps cemented your

Everyone’s making big promises, resolutions, and vowing to make changes right now just as the ball drops on this New Year. I’ve never had much use for making grand proclamations of my intent or magically thinking I’ll turn into someone who loves running, eating steamed broccoli, or clearing my pantry

What’s your focus for improved sales results this year? Cleaning up my office this week and the biggest stack of papers on my desk is my “session notes” pile. It’s the colorful printouts of PowerPoint decks and session worksheets that are scribbled on in blue, purple, hot pink, and aqua