If you’re a salesperson and your company isn’t investing in helping you build responsive sales skills, that really stinks. Maybe we should have a talk about why that is and where you are. In the meantime, if you’re a sales leader or managing a line of business and a sales

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to earn a response from a prospect these days. In 2007, it took almost 4 touches on average to get a response. Since then, the average has been more like 8 to 12 but hold on to your lunch . . . According to the Sales

The stats on prospecting that have been quoted (me included!) for the past several years go something like this: 48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect 25% of salespeople make a second contact and stop 12% of salespeople only make three contacts and stop 10% of salespeople make

What would you expect from Ivy League MBA students when it comes to selling? A while back, I had a really cool privilege to offer a sales coaching session to Harvard MBA students! Harvard’s School of Business created an extensive buyer/seller scenario for their students which culminated in a role

How often do you face a stalled sale or wilted opportunity after you propose a solution? This is a GIANT bummer because we know how hard it is to get a prospect’s attention. We hustle and grit it out to make the calls, emails, and connections payoff with conversations and

It’s presumptuous to think that your customers don’t already have a solution for the service or product you provide. Perhaps presumptuous isn’t the right word. “Naive” maybe? Of course, they already use someone else. Their need doesn’t usually fall into your lap unless you’re strictly an inbound rep responding to

I remember a funny moment about 10 years ago when a client figuratively slammed the door on me. I had set my sights on this customer as an ideal prospect for my printing solution. I found the right contact, called, emailed, called, emailed, called, called, and one day she answered

Whether I’m working with a fresh-faced new seller or a seasoned pro, one thing that almost every seller does is under prepare for meetings and calls. Even when they know I’m going to join them, listen in, or attend the meeting with them, they grab a blank notepad and dial

I surveyed a sales team recently prior to a Skills Building session on Pushback, Objections, and Negotiation, and asked them some of the most common obstacles they face in business development. Their answers didn’t surprise me, but one of the things about their answers that I pointed out really made

We spend a huge amount of energy working with our clients on the early stages of their pipeline. Right now, the demand for our customers’ attention is intense. We are fighting to be able to get in front of buyers for those first precious impressions and to be able to