Sales & Motivation

  With the development of the internet, social media, and the “new” relationship and solution selling techniques, there seems to be a belief out there that today’s salespeople are superior to those of the past. As you can probably gather from the title, I don’t necessarily agree. Here’s why.   Three key factors that give

If your business runs on the calendar year, it’s that time of year again. As of January first the “new-business” slate has been wiped clean and the pressure is on to produce. We all know the basics: come up with goals and objectives, develop a plan, determine why you absolutely have to make it happen,

Lately I’ve heard several politicians saying that America is rigged so that only the rich can win. They’re dead wrong. America is still rigged for the people who are willing to roll up their sleeves, work extremely hard, and sacrifice short-term pleasure today for long-term gain tomorrow. It’s rigged for those willing to stick a

There continues to be controversy as to whether or not cold calling works and whether or not you should do it. First, yes, it does still work. Second, yes, you should still do it. Here’s why and here’s how.   Why You Should Cold Call   Cold calling is the most difficult sales task and

In an article a couple of months ago I mentioned that one of the biggest issues I see when it comes to managing sales teams is a lack of accountability. Because it was only mentioned briefly as one of several issues, I’ve had many people come back to me asking for more on this particular

In my article two months ago, I mentioned that any time the subject of relationships comes up and I ask how important they are in the overall sales and business process, I usually get the answer that they are the most important part. I think we all know that the more a prospect or customer

While there are lots of potential obstacles and roadblocks to building a great sales organization, there are several blatant issues that are responsible for about 90% of failures.   The Five Biggest Issues that Derail Sales Organizations   Issue #1: No solid hiring process A solid sales organization starts with solid people. Having solid people

This past week an insurance agency called me for help because they just lost their largest account that they’ve had for the past 24 years. When I asked how that happened, the clear, confident response was, “Price!” The only piece of good news I could glean from this initial exchange was that my gag reflex

These days there seems to be more competition than ever, in addition, the competition seems to be more creative and relentless. Whether it’s the low-price ankle biters, or the large companies with huge marketing budgets, our competitors seem to be everywhere. That being said, we can still win and keep more than our share of

One of the most frustrating aspects of selling is having a great list of potential leads and then being unable to actually get through to and talk to those people. It may be a receptionist with bullet-proof teeth, the person you never seem to be able to get on the phone after the initial contact